Jets Game Card Pickups!

Hey guys, Drew back here. As you may know, my dad may have more of an urge to buy me cards than I do. He doesn't collect, but he sure loves when I collect. Here are some things he got me at the Jets Game:

1. 1 Jets 100 Card Lot of Random Cards

I've gotten quite a few of these in the past, always something you will find at the Meadowlands Stadium. Usually nothing overly exciting, but sometimes you'll find some cool inserts. I've gotten a majority of my Curtis Martin and Keyshawn Johnson collections from these, as majority of the lots have at least 10 Curtis Martins and 5 Keyshawns. Not bad stuff though, liking the Curtis Martins!

2. 2009 UD Rookie Premiere Set

This is a pretty cool set of 30 cards highlighting the future stars of the 2009 Draft. It has rookies of some of the NFL's new talents, such as Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford, Josh Freeman, Percy Harvin, Kenny Britt, Hakeem Nicks, and LeSean McCoy, as well as many other highly touted young guys. The design is nice and the shots are nice and bright. Definitely am a fan!

3. 5 Packs of 2010 Panini Adrenalyn and 5 Packs of 2010 Score

I haven't tried much of any 2010 football releases other than some Donruss Elite and some Topps flagship, so it was nice to crack open some newer packs. The Adrenalyn stuff was ok, it's more of a kids game, similar to Topps Attax in baseball, so it kinda is kiddish. Since that is the purpose of the product, nice job Panini! The design is decent, but my favorite part is the extremely cool look of the players on the cards. It seems like they added some sort of effect on the players, and it looks cooler. Lastly, I pulled 3 "special" inserts of Rey Maualuga, Jamaal Charles, and Jets running back Shonn Greene!

Score was a nice surprise for me. I like the look of the splattered paint, its pretty fresh and I guess clean! I pulled quite a few decent base cards as well as some rookies and nice inserts! The Dez Bryant Hot Rookies insert was sweet as well as the odd Aaron Rodgers big head insert. But whats this? More?

Yeah, we hit an autograph! It's of Redskins safety LaRon Landry! Not a huge pull, but it has decent value and its of a solid player, so I'm happy. If anybody wants the card, let me know if you have anything I would like to trade for.

Thanks so much as always dad! See Ya!

Yankees "Perfect" Pickup

Hey guys, Drew back here. I still have a little more to talk about for the Jets game, but I'm gonna change gears to baseball for this one. At this time about every year I tend to get bored of baseball and focus more on football. The last 2 or 3 years though, I still have maintained somewhat of an interest still. This year, I'm not sure, so I decided to pick a nice card up to help that. Check it out:

2003 Topps Finest #FMA-DL Don Larsen Autograph

Don Larsen wasn't the greatest pitcher for the Yankees by any means, but he has a very special significance to the Yankees. As you all know, he's the only pitcher in World Series history to throw a perfect game! On October 8th, 1956, he left the Dodgers hitless and the Yankees won the game 2-0! Even though that was extremely long ago, when you think of Don Larsen that may be the 1st and only thing that comes to mind. Other than this game, he jumped around to a bunch of teams, even without free agency. He played from 1953-1967, and is currently 81 years young.

This card definitely looked nice for me to get, I already have a similar Goose Gossage early 2000's Finest auto. While I'm not a huge fan of the autograph on the opposite direction as the rest of the card, this one is a nice one for sure. I figured I should get one that says something about his perfect game on it, which I definitely did. Mission accomplished!

See Ya!

Jets Game Last Night!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Last night as you may have read about already on the blog, my dad and I went down to the Meadowlands for the Thanksgiving Night Game! Instead of the traditional family thanksgiving we have, we decided to mix things up this year and go to the game! We arrived extra early, perhaps because of the fact that we didn't know how traffic would be, and we wanted to get there early to see what the new stadium was like. Not only was it our first game to the new Meadowlands Stadium, but it also was my first football night game! I pumped myself up in the car listening to some Jay-Z and Eminem stuff, and I was ready to go!

The Jets were playing the Cincinatti Bengals, who were 2-8, having lost 8 games in a row leading up to Thanksgiving Night. We sure did have an advantage going in, but over the past 3 weeks we've barely been able to hang on to beat some of the worst teams in football (Detroit, Cleveland, Houston). Still a wins a win and it doesn't necessarily matter how you win, as long as you win.

So, we arrived and were in amazement of how nice the new field was! It was somewhat similar to the old stadium, but a whole lot nicer! In each corner of the field is a large HD screen that showed all the game live, as well as statistics and other information. I took quite a few pictures, so I'll let them tell the story for a little while...

I took quite a few Bengals pictures because they warmed up on our side of the field. This one is definitely my favorite one though, showing kicker Aaron Pettrey warming up. I've never heard of him but it seems like he's young and not so trusted by his team. I say this because late in the game they went for it in his field goal territory.

Yeah, there's me by our seats. We were in the 4th row in the middle level. Every seat was a good seat at the stadium for sure, even though they were small with not a lot of space. The rows were high enough behind the row in front of it that you could see well unless the people in front of you got up. Unfortunately, I was stuck squished in my seat by a big guy that sat next to me and took up majority of my seat hahaha.

The Jets were pumped and ready for this one for sure. Unlike the last few games, they were actually able to take a somewhat good lead. I'm not going to go into depth on the game because a lot of you already know that the Jets kicked butt, 26-10 final. Special teams talent Brad Smith made 2 key plays, a 53 yard run and an 89 yard kickoff return touchdown! Sanchez didn't have his strongest of games, but he managed to throw a touchdown to Santonio Holmes. All in all it was an extremely good game, and I had a great time with my dad! Heres a few more pictures I took throughout the game:

See Ya!

Awesome Day Tomorrow!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Last week, my dad surprised me with 2 tickets to the Jets vs. Bengals game on Thanksgiving Night! I really wanted to go to a game, but the tickets were really expensive. Dad didn't care however as he also really wanted to go, and here we are! I've never been to such a big football game, and a night game too, so I'm really excited to go!

The Jets haven't played extremely well as of late but they've been able to come back and win the last 3 games. My finger nails are practically bitten off and goose bumps have came to me too often, but it's worth seeing Mark Sanchez march down the field leading the Jets to victory. He's gonna be great, I can almost guarantee it!

I might try for some autographs before the game, unfortunately the security guys are pretty strict there. I'll try the best I can though, planning on bringing a football and a silver sharpie. Let me know if you have any advice for me! Wish me luck! Before I go, since I won't be here tomorrow, I just want to wish everyone a great Thanksgiving! Thank you for everything you've done to keep this blog the way it is today and for all the support you've given me since I began to write on this blog! You're all becoming great friends and I love trading and connecting with you guys!

See Ya!

TTM #33

Hey guys, Drew back here. I finished my 1st quarter in school a week or so ago, and got my report card back. 96 overall average! That is probably the main reason I haven't posted much lately, that, and I don't have an awful lot of interest in cards as of now. I have my ups and downs often, unfortunately nothing exciting is coming out and I don't have many ideas for future autograph pickups. Anyways, I got a TTM back a few days ago, and didn't get around to posting it until now. So, without further adieu, here it is:

Giants Hall of Famer Harry Carson signed my custom! As you can, it did not came out all that well, but I'll gladly take it nonetheless. Carson certainly was a great player although he has been extremely overlooked by Lawrence Taylor. He made 9 Pro Bowl teams and won a Super Bowl with the Giants in 1986. Being in NY a lot of my Giants fan friends (iwww) like this, so it's cool to get a New York legend to sign for me.

It took Carson about 12 days to return my custom for me, which is very quick. Thanks so much! See Ya!

A Few Recent Trades

Hey guys, Drew back here. I got 3 packages in recently, and I guess you can consider them all trades although I haven't been all that active in the trade world due to schoolwork lately. Might as well get to it now, the first trade was with Max of Knuckle Ball Blues. Max has been caught up with a lot of schoolwork lately as well, but me and him were able to work out a nice little trade. I sent him one of my 3 Billingsley TTM autos and got these in return:

3 2010 Topps Pro Debut cards. This set kinda bores me a little, although I do like the Yankees and Renegades. The cards are nice though, being the 1st taste of the product so far for me. We got Austin Romine, Adam Warren, and a blue border Jesus Montero numbered out of 369. Very nice stuff though!

Yes that would be a Topps Pro Debut Jesus Montero sticker autograph! Jesus is one of the Yankees top prospects and I have 2 of his autograph cards now! I think he has the potential to play for us next year, maybe as a backup, but then take over as the starting catcher in the future! I'm definitely psyched to get this card, thanks Max!

Next I made a trade with Rhubard Runner of “é rayhahn, rayhahn". Him and I have tried to work out trades in the past but they haven't worked out right, until now. Check out my part of the trade:

First, a bunch of Yankees inserts, including 4 2009 Topps gold cards (Phil Hughes, Mark Melancon, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Brett Gardner), and 2 2010 Topps gold cards (Jeter/Andrus, Swisher Home Run Derby!), including a Swisher for the PC! Also got an orange refractor of Nick Johnson from Topps Chrome, which is a very nice card despite the player.

The meat of this trade were these 2 relics. First, a Jason Giambi jersey from 2009 SP Legendary Cuts. Giambi is pictured as a Yankee on this card but it says Athletics everywhere, a collectors pet peeve. I don't like that personally, but the card is nice and I sure miss the stache!

The second relic is of my homeboy, Nick Swisher! This card is from 2009 Upper Deck Goudey, which in my opinion was a boring ripoff of the 2007 set. But this card is fairly nice, it says Yankees as the team but he is pictured as a White Sox player, unfortunately, considering he played his worst year in the MLB with them.

Thanks so much Rhubard Runner! On to the last one, which was a very small trade that I almost forgot about (sorry!), which turned into a much larger and nicer trade! Jeremy of "no one's going to read this blog" sent me a bunch of sweet stuff with a special surprise!

First, some 2010 Topps set needs, and a 2010 Bowman Chrome card of Yankees prospect Corban Joseph, who I haven't heard of before. Not much super special to write home about here, but a definite thanks for helping with the set!

That wasn't all however! He also included a bunch of Jets including a few Panini Adrenalyn cards, which actually are pretty cool looking! Also included was a nice chrome Cotchery card from 2009 Topps Chrome, a sweet Sanchez from 2010 Epix, and a Cotchery blue refractor from 2007 Topps Finest numbered out of 299! This card is sweet!

Jeremy has a certain talent, and he likes to share it with other collectors! He is a great artist, and he made me this sketch card himself of Robinson Cano!

I can't describe how awesome this is! I'm glad to add this 1/1 sketch card to my collection! Thanks SO much Jeremy!

Thanks again to everyone mentioned in this post! See Ya!

TTM #32

Hey guys, Drew back here. Sorry it's been a few days, school is starting to heat up work wise and I can't see myself being able to post as much in the near future. Anyways, I got a TTM back yesterday, check em out:

Former Dodgers Third Baseman Ron Cey signed 4 cards for me! Cey was a very good player back in the 1970s and 1980s, and I'm very happy to see a nice success back! He hit 316 home runs and made 6 All Star Teams, as well as being named the 1981 World Series MVP after the Dodgers beat my Yankees. Cey got all 4 cards signed for me, unfortunately the custom came home very banged up, but it may be good enough to survive for now. The other 3 look great!

What do you think? He only took 7 days! See Ya!

A Jets Pickup after a Jets Win!

Hey guys, Drew back here. I got a nice autograph of a player that I've wanted for a while yesterday, and since the Jets had a not so graceful victory over the Browns, I figured I'd share it with you all! From eBay, a new big Jets autograph pickup!

2010 Prestige Darrelle Revis Xtra Points Auto /100

Finally a piece of Revis Island has arrived in my collection! Revis took a long time to holdout, which caused him to be out of shape for the first few weeks, but now he appears to be back on track! His autograph is very sloppy and can be read as "D R #24". It used to be more legible, but he's gotten sloppier over the years. I don't blame him considering he has to sign so many cards!

Anyway, it's so awesome to get an autograph of our Pro Bowl cornerback, and I'm excited to see how his career turns out! See Ya!

Card Shop Pack Breaks!

Hey guys, Drew back here. On Friday night my dad had to go get some hunting supplies at the mall so on the way back we made a quick trip to the shop. I bought some toploaders and magnetics, because it seems like I always run out of them so fast! Also got 3 packs, 1 2009 UD Draft football, 1 2010 Topps football, and 1 2010 Topps Update Jumbo Baseball pack! Here are the results:

2009 UD Draft Football:

- Fenuki Tupou RC
- Knowshon Moreno RC
- Jonathan Luigs RC
- Alex Mack RC
- Jared Cook RC
- Ian Campbell RC
- Jairus Byrd RC

- Peyton Manning All Americans Insert
- Peyton Manning Draft History
- Eli Manning Draft History
- Troy Polamalu Draft History

Interesting product, never opened any of it before. The cards look great for TTM'ing, and they have a nice glossy cover. The only notable rookie in the pack was Moreno, and getting 2 Peyton inserts is ridiculous but he's a good player to get multiple inserts of. All of these are for trade.

2010 Topps Football:

- David Garrard
- Tony Romo
- Robert Meachem
- Kyle Wilson Gold Parallel /2010
- DeAngelo Williams Draft Anniversary Insert
- Adrian Peterson Topps Attax
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Houston Texans
- Brandon LaFell RC
- Patrick Robinson RC

Not a really exciting pack unless your a Jets fan! And guess what, I'm a Jets fan! Yay! As you saw yesterday, I got Kyle Wilson back TTM a few days ago, and now I pull his numbered Topps rookie! Sweet!

2010 Topps Update Jumbo Baseball:
- A Bunch of Base, Ivan Rodriguez and Jose Bautista were highlights
- All Star cards of Heath Bell, Jose Valverde, Jon Lester, Matt Holliday, Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre, Vladimir Guerrero, Justin Verlander, Torii Hunter, Jose Bautista, Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann, Jason Heyward, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson, Phil Hughes/David Price, Vladimir Guerrero/Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols/Ryan Braun
- Home Run Derby cards of Matt Holliday, Chris Young, and Nick Swisher

- Bengie Molina Gold /2010
- Steve Carlton/Jon Lester Legendary Lineage
- Roy Campanella Million Card Giveaway (Redeemed: 2002 Eddie Taubensee)
- Colby Rasmus Peak Performance
- Ian Stewart Turkey Red
- Theres No Tying in Baseball Tales of the Game
- Don Mattingly Cards Your Mom Threw Out
- Adam Wainwright Topps Attax

- Colby Rasmus Peak Performance Autograph!

The autograph was certainly surprised and I'm happy I landed it! If I didn't, that would have definitely been a waste of 10 bucks. Rasmus is a solid player, not sure if he'll amount to a whole lot but he hit over 20 home runs this year so you can certainly do worse! Also got a Swisher, which doesn't do much considering its for the set and not my PC. It's a great looking card of Swish though!

It was a good little trip to the shop for sure! If anybody is curious in trading for any of these cards, please let me know. Most of the Topps Update base and inserts will not be for trade, but the football stuff is and the Rasmus Auto.

See Ya!

TTM #31

Hey guys, Drew back here. Yesterday I got a nice TTM success back, check it out!

Jets rookie cornerback Kyle Wilson signed a custom for me! Kyle was the Jets first round pick last year, the 29th overall pick. He played for Boise State and was considered one of the top cornerbacks available during last years draft! He's been a disappointment thus far this year but hasn't gotten too much of an opportunity, and he's very young, so Jets fans still confidence that he will be a good corner!

Kyle signed the card in 25 days, "To: Drew, Kyle Wilson #20"! It looks really nice as do all of the Jets customs when printed, the light color background makes for a great signature on the card. Out of the 4 cards I've gotten back from my new design with the soft color logo behind the autograph space, 3 of them have been personalized! Hopefully I get many more of these, because I like them more than I do some Topps and Upper Deck autograph designs!

Thanks Kyle and Go Jets! See Ya!

Pointless Pieces of Cardboard Part 4- The UD Ballpark Edition

Hey guys, Drew back here. I've been so caught up with school work lately that it's been hard to find time to find time for cards. When I do at this point, I make a ton of custom cards. I've so many of late, because I don't find any of this years Topps offerings exciting enough to buy a lot of. I haven't done one of these posts in a while, so I was looking around on Check Out My Cards and I found a few worth showing.

2009 Upper Deck Ballpark has a nice clean design. It's pretty expensive, but 7 times out of 10 you'll get something worth talking about. Unfortunately, it suffers from "Whattheheckaretheseplayersalldoingonthesamecarditis". Here are a few examples:

First of all, since when is Hank Blalock a star? Since when is he able to be on the same card as Prince Fielder?

Oh, I know this one, 2 old guys that shouldn't have been playing at that age. Two future Hall of Famers if you think Delgado is worthy. These AL and NL stars sure have a lot in common to be sharing the same card!

Yeah, I'm just as clueless as you are.

For the sake of shortening the post, I'll move to the quads. Please know that I can find 15-20 other dual jersey cards that have no meaning to exist. I mean, if they are on the same card or are stars at the same position, or have comparable statistics, go ahead! But a pitcher from the AL and a hitter from the NL? Huh?

Ok, so we have a Pirates pitcher displayed in the wrong uniform, an Indians pitcher, a Braves second baseman, and a Yankees middle reliever! What the heck is up with this set? What is Upper Deck smoking?

Oh this one makes lots of sense. A Rays starting pitcher, Red Sox closer, Diamondbacks outfielder, and an Astros outfielder! How can you be excited about these cards?

Angels outfielder, Mariners pitcher in the wrong uniform, Athletics outfielder, and an Orioles pitcher. Just because you are Upper Deck and you have sucked collectors into collecting every product of yours does not mean you can put these awful groups of players on the same cards!

Again for the sake of space, we'll see Exhibit C, the 6 swatch cards.

Way to poorly execute a good idea. This is one card. 3 swatches on one side, 3 swatches on the other side. We have Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett displayed in Marlins uniforms for some odd reason, Jason Bay in a Red Sox uniform, Rich Hill (again), Aubrey Huff, and Luke Scott. I've given up on further comments, this is sad.

I'm sure your eyes are all burning up enough, so I'll stop there. I can't see how the demand of these cards can possibly be high! Sure, there are some gorgeous cards, like the quad jersey of Yogi Berra, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Robinson Cano that I own, one of my favorite cards in my collection. But, for all you that are wondering, THIS IS WHY THEY LOST THEIR LICENSE!!! Putting 6 random players on a card has no meaning, no value in my mind, and no fun.

I normally like to have a positive attitude about my hobby, but this is just something that's gone too far. I opened a tin of 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic baseball for my birthday on July 24th, if you may remember. I pulled 2 base, 2 plain jerseys, and an expired redemption of a Harold Baines autograph. I emailed Upper Deck a few days later. They forgot about me, and I emailed them again in early October. They responded telling me to wait 8-12 MORE WEEKS! Their Customer Service is terrible, and their quality isn't much better. I sure miss the mass amount of products per year, but I don't miss things like this.

Feel free to chime in. See Ya!