A Close Out Sale

Somehow on eBay I came across a guy who said he was closing his store and was offering six card lots for a dollar apiece. He promised stars, game used, parallels, blah blah blah. Just for grins I bought three lots. Even with the $3 shipping I was looking at 33 cents a card. I figured at the least I'd get some PWE fodder and a blog post out of them.

He said it was a Dutch Auction which wasn't a term I was familiar with. Turns out it means the price drops until he finds a buyer. So I suppose the 6-card lots were higher previously. Whatever.

So, how did I do? Hard to say. Like the answer I gave to a friend who asked if I was disappointed with potus45. LOL It's hard to be disappointed when you have zero expectations.

I received baseball, football and hoops cards. Wouldn't have minded some hockey but that's OK. First off here is my favorite card of the group. I have never collected Frank Thomas and I missed out on a big chunk of his career since I wasn't following the game. But he seems to be a pretty nice guy and he of course is a Hall of Famer. I really like this card.

Next comes a numbered 2006 Topps card of someone named Mike Jacobs.

Best part of this card is the cartoon. Jacobs had a nice debut week apparently.

The most colorful baseball card of the group is this Upper Deck Don Mattingly. It looks like something you'd find in an SI for Kids issue.

I'm not going to go on and on about each card. This UD Clemens is a nicely composed one. I like how the design works with the photo. 

I guess Troy Polamalu is a star. At least his hair is/was. the Kelly/Aikman is an interesting oddball.

Chrome-a-lated Yao Ming. It's just as hard to read in hand as it appears in the scan.

I'm going to put this Emmitt Smith in my fantasy football binder. I always feel like I go my moneys worth when I can add a card to that collection.

Panini Travis Kelce. Texans host the Chiefs again this year according to the NFL schedule released yesterday. I'm tired of them. I think I've seen them four times in the last three seasons.

Another BoSox pitcher. My sons can't believe I rooted for his Boston clubs to win the World Series those couple of years he led them there. Well for one thing league loyalty runs deep for me. And for another I'll admit to being one of  'those' fans at that time...I only got interested when the series rolled around. I didn't feel the rival team animosity as much. Plus, I like Pedro. I have no idea why.

I have no idea who Michael Smith is.

Greg Maddox. This card just looks weird to me.

Big Chuck. He makes me laugh, in small doses.

A Topps Sammy Sosa. The odd 3D sort of effect is not working for me. Or maybe it's just that I don't care much for Sosa.

"Practice?" Just yesterday I saw that phrase as a bumper sticker on a VW Golf. I don't know what it was trying to say to me.

Normally I'd dig an Expos Vlad card. I just wish thet'd have stayed with their original unis.

There were other cards but you get the idea. For $3 plus $3 shipping I'd say it was worth it. But I won't buy more. I can spend six bucks at tomorrow's hotel card show and get 8 or 10 vintage gems. In fact that's what I plan to do. I'll report back.

2006 Fleer WBC Roger Clemens

The other day I saw Roger Clemens pop up in a TV spot that urges Houston area sports fans to lobby their TV provider to add the Houston Comcast Astros/Rockets station. There's a whole lot of hype going on about the situation which I don't really understand/follow/give a rat's ass about. My provider (AT&T) doesn't carry it but I don't care. My son is pretty pissed. He's a Rockets and Astros fan and wants his games televised.

I say put 'em on PPV. If you want to watch the crappy Astros, pay for it. But that's neither here nor there. Let's talk about the Clemens card up top.

I saw a big ad in the USA Today announcing that the World Baseball Classic was cranking up. It's has never been something I followed. It's kind of like the basketball and hockey Olympics now that it's all professionals involved rather than the old days when it was our college and amateur guys versus Eastern Bloc pros. When we actually won (think Miracle on Ice) it was truly special. But that's cool because I know I'm in the minority.

Having said that I like the Clemens card based on it's visual appeal. While it is a little busy on the front I think the design works nicely. Heck, the lighter blue 'border' looks like the layout of the Polo Grounds. And I love that USA uni top Roger is rocking. The cap, not so much.

I'm going to assume that the picture is from the actual game that provided the 'Moment' and is described on the back. If it is, that makes the card even better.