SoCal Autograph Odysses

 I haven't ever participated in buying any hobby boxes from Panini Contenders, so instead recently decided to just get a couple singles for rookie wide receivers I like. If you aren't aware, Panini doesn't have agreements with many of the NFL rookies, so the rookie auto list is pretty bare. Topps (and therefore Fanatics) has the agreement with a lot of the big-name rookies so you have to look at Topps cards to get autos from some of these guys. Of course, the downside to that is then that Topps does NOT have the NFL license, so the autos you pull do not have team logos or team names on the cards. As such, I went with what is considered by some to be some of the cooler rookie NFL autos you can pull, Panini Contenders. Both of these are on card autographs, meaning they aren't on stickers. Ladd McConkey had a fantastic rookie season with the Chargers and his card is the red variation. The Brian Thomas Jr. is numbered 005/149. I think both of these autos look good and go wi...

Last year, I had a lot of luck with my Bowman blasters. I pulled nine autos out of ~30 or so blasters and hit some big names like Paul Skenes and a Colton Cowser rookie auto /99. I also hit quite a bit of color last year with 1st Bowmans and the like. Bowman is always one of the biggest baseball products of the year because it's where you can pull the coveted '1st Bowmans' of prospects which, if they pan out, can lead to some very valuable cards down the line. The consensus every year is that there are a select few high-end ceiling players that people want but the reality is with baseball, you never truly know which players will go boom and which bust.  As you can see, the three autos are all 1st Bowmans, which is nice. The top card is numbered /99. I've opened about 20 blasters and three mega boxes this year and only pulled these three autos. I believe I heard somewhere that they increased the print run and I can believe it based on how many fewer autos I have gotten i...

 One of the few remaining old time baseball Hall of Famers that are still living and whose autograph I don't yet have, Tony Perez is a guy I've been looking to send a card into for some time. I came across a signing recently that he did that was cheaper than I had seen in the past so I decided now was the time.  This was a vintage 1960s second year Topps card and even though I didn't get the HOF inscription as anticipated and paid for, I'm happy with the result. 

 I sent a card in a couple months ago to a signing with one of the best hitters of his era, future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera. I bought a Topps rookie card off eBay and used it as the card I sent into the signing. I'm very happy with the result.

 I attended a card show a few weeks ago but haven't had the time to post about it yet. The card show was called Front Row card show and I bought a VIP to enter the venue an hour earlier. However, I severely underestimated how many people would be there and even though I showed up 45 minutes early, I couldn't find parking near the venue and had to park a few blocks away. I then stood in an entrance line thst had to be 1000 people long to get in. I still got in earlier than the general admission though. My intent was to drop some Lamine Yamal rookies off with PSA but instead I ended up selling a couple cards and buying a couple soccer autos for less than what I sold my cards for. I sold the Ethan Nwaneri rookie auto /50 I posted about on here as well as a downtown Marvin Harrison rookie I finally pulled from Optic. I bought these two cards which I'm happier to have in my collection.  A Jude Bellingham Merlin rookie mojo auto /99 and a Vini Jr auto /99 from Topps Finest.

 For the first time in a long time, I attended an in person signing. This one was held with Padres young star and last seasons rookie of the year runner up, Jackson Merrill. The signing was hosted at Honey Hole collectibles in Mission Valley, San Diego which is about 40 minutes south of me. The signing was to start at 6 and my brother in law showed up at about 4:45. The line to check in and get our tickets was already quite long. We ended up about halfway back in line, maybe a bit more, so we didn't actually get up to meet Jackson and get our cards signed until a bit after 8pm.   He was in a good mood, was talking to everyone, and taking a lot of photos so the line was moving pretty slow until a few of the Honey Hole employees came out and saw just how many people were still waiting. As you can see above, I used a Topps Chrome /199 rookie signed in yellow paint pen as well as a Topps Chrome sapphire rookie signed in yellow paint pen as well. I'm not super thrilled with ho...