Mail Day - Part Two - The eBay Pick-ups

Yes yes, I know, it has been a LONG time coming and any of you that have been waiting can finally relax, it has arrived. 

Sometimes you just have to wonder why some sellers don't put more into their listings...especially something as important as...say...a picture or a scan?  Case in point, rather, two cases in point highlight some of my recent pick-ups...both from the same seller and both did not provide a picture of the items up for auction.  Now typically I try to avoid these like the plague since if they don't/can't take the time to post a picture of the item(s), how do you know if they really have them (or just as bad, taking the "stock" photo from the Upper Deck website)??   Now I give the seller credit as they listed all of the cards that were in each lot in the description, but still, unless you take the time to look at the it, would you really never know what was in there??  How many times have you been scrolling through page after page of eBay listings and happen upon something that catches your EYE that gets you to look at it further and read the description?  Its all about how you dress it up!!
For these two, I decided it was worth it...and I am SO glad I did...

The first lot (link:  LOT ONE) simply stated "06-07 SP Game Used GOLD CARDS ROY + others".  Starting price was $4.50 (yet another deterrent for some people).  The description stated the following: 

You have jersey cards and numbered cards. All Gold. They are:

#92 Alexander Steen card 068/100
#53 Patrick Roy card 046/100
#22 Martin Havlat card 010/100
AF-SK Saku Koivu jersey card 35/100
AF-SU Steve Sullivan jersey card 100/100

So what did I get you ask???  How about as stated???
 

Very not bad if I say so myself!!!  This one ended up costing me $4.50 plus a little for shipping!

The second lot (link: LOT TWO) was also simply stated as "2010-11 Crown Royale, RC's"...um OK...really???   Starting price on this one was $4.99.  The description (and yes they mis-spelled "your"):

These great rookie cards will help you complete yourf set. The cards are priced to sell, so don't be afraid to bid. The cards included are:

#139 Kyle Clifford 128/499         
#145 Anders Lindback (2) 334/499, 490/499
#146 Marcus Johansson 249/499   
#165 T. J. Brodie 200/499
#166 Luke Adam 219/499   
#171 Nick Palmieri 340/499
#172 Kyle Palmieri 361/499

Seeings as how it included a RC for MoJo from my squad I figured what the heck??  So what did I get???  Lets see:

WOW!  All hard signed RCs!  What a sweet find and very welcome additions!! 

So for about $13.00 I think I made out pretty good, do you agree???

I have a few more eBay finds that I will post "shortly"...haha...

"THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT"

Chris

LIVE HOCKEY!!!!!!

Watching Senators-Leafs via NHL GameCenter Live...LIVE HOCKEY!!! WOO HOO!!!  Oh how we missed ye!!!!!

Tyler Bozak is just flying around the ice and is looking good...

Mail Day - Part One - The Trades

Just a few recent pick-ups from some fellow bloggers:

Paul at Cardboarded (http://cardboarded.blogspot.com/) sent me over the following Hasek SPX Jersey for a MVP Stanley Cup Edition Gold Script (he also sent me some cards I was needing from my want list):

Thanks Paul!!!

Dave at Wax Stain Rookie (http://waxstainrookie.blogspot.com/) sent me a number of cards in exchange for an equal number going back (all New Jersey Devils of course..which should be there ANY day Dave) that included the following:

Former Capital Jason Allison

I already had this card, but mine was a crappy white swatch, so this was a very welcome addition!  Since its game used and blue (and not the current bit of blue that is on their jersey's right now I believe), there is a chance it could have been from his rookie season...or 06-07...either way...still not a crappy white swatch!!

Three more Young Guns to move a little closer (sort of) to having the 2007-08 set.

Thanks Dave!!!

And last but not least, Sal from Puck Junk (http://puckjunk.blogspot.com/) sent me the following:

This is one from the set I have been looking to get for a while...

Thanks Sal!!!

Please take the time to visit my fellow bloggers sites and give them some love!!  I surf around to their sites (at least) 3-4 times a week and there is almost always something new and interesting to read (unlike here where I just don't have the time I would like to spend on it)!!

Thanks again guys and I look forward to dealing with each of you again in the very near future!!

Mail Day - Part Two - eBay Acquisitions will be forthcoming with some recent eBay steals...sorry...DEALS!!!!  Try not to lose too much sleep waiting for this one...

Chris

Today

You know where you were on this day 10 years ago...that feeling of venerability, emptiness, of loss, for someone you knew that were consumed by the events of that day or for just your fellow Americans.  Many of the wounds have healed, replaced by scars…its time to reopen those wounds and remember…and do not forget that this is a reality of the modern world that will never go away…its was a day that welcomed America into the brotherhood of terror that so many others around the world live with each and every day… today is a day to remember those feelings of sadness, venerability, and American Pride!!  Grieve for those lost…but remember, Democrat or Republican, right or left, conservative or liberal…WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!!!

Today is a day to remember those feelings of sadness, venerability, and American Pride!!  We have lost a lot of this pride over the past years.  We are a country divided in many ways...black or white, rich or poor, old or young, Democrat or Republican, right or left, conservative or liberal…put it aside and grieve for those lost…but remember, WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!!!   Stand up and be proud!!  Fly on a plane, visit the city, continue on and be an American.  If we stop, then the terrorists have won...put away our partisan ways and join together in giving those who wish to hurt us a big old middle finger and tell them that they have not won, nor will they!

I, like many of you, watched in utter horror and disbelief as the day progressed and further details came to light on the…unfathomable…events that took part on that day.  I recall coming home to find my wife holding our [then] young son watching the newscasts…why can’t they just leave us alone she asked?  That night in bed, alone, I wept for those lost…some of whom I had worked with only briefly (at AON and Marsh) when I will still in DC…but mostly for those who had lost so much on what had started out as a glorious fall day.

These types of outright and unjustifiable acts of hatred are common place in other parts of the world…suicide bombers attack on an almost daily basis in the middle east where living with the threat of extremist violence is real.  Never us, never here…the talking heads always used to say.  Sure, we have had a few episodes of terror inflicting its wrath on the American psyche, the first Twin Towers bombing, the Uni-bomber, Oklahoma City, Columbine, and of course 9/11.

Remember...never forget...GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!

I am at a loss for words...

A plane crash in Russia has claimed the lives of a number of current KHLers and former NHLers including Coach Brad McCrimmon, forward Pavol Demitra, defenseman Ruslan Salei, forward Josef Vasicek, defenseman Karel Rachunek, forward Jan Marek, forward Alexander Vasyunov, defenseman Karlis Skrastins and goalie Stefan Liv.

The plane was also carrying former NHLers Igor Korolev and Alexander Karpovtsev.

So sad...too many players gone...Rypien, Boogaard, Cavanagh, Belak.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=587792

Ice Ice Baby!!!

There is just something about those little pieces of acetate that just gets me all goo-goo eyed...
I am referring to the annual set put out by our oh so favorite card producing mogul Upper Deck.  The current sets feature base cards produced on a thicker card stock and usually feature the player photo raised on the card.  The rookies are always printed on acetate (plastic) cards and garner some major attention by collectors, especially those looking for those hard to find rooks numbered to 99.

However, the first few years UD produced the cards, they were all printed on the acetate stock.  A trend that continued until the 2003-04 release when they switched to the current iteration.

OK, enough history...I happened upon an auction last week for a near complete box of the 2001-02 Upper Deck Ice release.  It featured 15 out of the 18 packs that come to a box...so I figured lets go for it.  I ended up getting it for $16.95 with $6.95 for shipping...really a small price to pay in my mind in the quest to complete these sets!

It arrived yesterday and I wasted no time at all ripping into the packs.  Each box of 2001-02 Ice cards contained 18 packs with each pack containing 4 cards.  These sets were never loaded down with tons of inserts, just slick base cards as well as jersey, stick, and autographs (on acetate one and all). 

Odds for finding the inserts are stated on the back of the box:

The packs and box featured Pavel Bure on them.  Here is a scan of a pack front and back:

 

So what did I get you ask...well...plenty of base cards...a sampling of some of the cards follows:

 As for inserts...well as any of you that have purchased loose packs from eBay can attest, you are never quite sure if you are getting packs that have been tampered with or not.  HOWEVER, I can say with some certainty that my worries about tampering on these was quickly abated by ripping my first pack and seeing the following:

Well BOO-YA!!  A hit on the first pack!!  I LOVE these jersey cards!  The use of the acetate to produce the card just fits the whole ice theme so well.  The other cool feature on the card is found on the back where you can see the other side of the jersey swatch...

So I was honestly happy at this point...if the rest of the packs were base, I would have been OK with it given the ratio of 1 jersey per box hit rate...I use the word "if" because three packs later I pulled...

Oh yeah, I have a reservation for a rookie card of a player that debuts in the 2001-02 season...of course the redemption period expired seven years ago...the card itself still must hold some collectible value since it is numbered 1359/1500.  I would have to imagine that this very card is sitting in some UD warehouse waiting to see the light of day, one day hoping to be redeemed and go to a collector who will keep it forever...if it was not for that darn redemption period...I pressed on...the very next pack produced the best pull of the box in the form of UDs first hockey jersey/stick combo card for the aged Mike Modano!!!  WOOHOO!!!  Grade A hit baby!!!

So now, as you might imagine, I was absolutely thrilled with this purchase...a nice looking jersey, and sweet stick/jersey card, a numbered expired redemption card, and a bunch of base in a pear tree!!!!

But wait...what was this...how about ONE more jersey???  Yup, just one more...

Granted it is for Patrick "I flubbed an empty net goal, landed on my @$$ and it ended up costing my team the game" Stefan...you know what I am talking about:

OK, so in review, I defied the odds by getting two jerseys and one jersey/stick combo card as well as nearly completing the base set (I am only missing #7 Amonte, #10 Bourque, #15 Yzerman, & #22 Gaborik)...all in all...not a back buy!!

BTW, if anyone who reads this is looking for a base cards from the set, LMK, as I have a few now!!!

Thanks!!
Chris

UPDATED - Summertime Flying Blues - Deplane Boss-Deplane!!!! & More Adventures!!!!

Well...made a little progress...we got on the plane, all settled in...and then told we had to deplane as Philly asked the pilot to wait another hour...ho hum...

So from what I understand, this flight goes back and forth between Philly and Richmond all day long.  So now that we have waited so long, the people are now here for the later version of this flight...so things are starting to spiral a little out of control at this point...rumors are that might cancel one of the two Philly flights...

Ain't modern air travel fun???

UPDATE

Waiting in the ticket line at about 7:45 pm waiting to speak with a US Air rep, they finally announced that our flight had been cancelled!!!  Not much of a surprise given that other flights in and out of Philly had already been cancelled.

I had been talking with a guy I had met from Tolland Connecticut (Ray, who also happened to be on the same flights as me on Thursday) and we had made tentative plans to rent a car and head up to DC where I have family (and he a brother) and then make our ways home in the morning.  Also in line behind me was a guy from Manchester NH and one from southern Maine where were all also trying to get home.  We had actually joked about the four of us renting a card an as drop people off as we worked our way through New England...

He got to the front of the line explained the circumstances...the girl working the desk (who I did not find to be all that with it earlier in the day) had been dealing with lines of annoyed people for hours, but seemed to be holding up pretty well.  Her partner at the other computer at the desk had a separate phone in each ear and was talking to a person trying to get them home as well.  I have to give them a lot of credit...they were troopers who most certainly went above and beyond the call of duty for sure.

I mentioned to the girl that if she found something for him, she could kill two birds with one stone, since I was headed to the same place.  At the last minute, she found a flight from Charlotte NC to Hartford that was leaving a little after 10:00...but the last shuttle to Charlotte has just finished boarding just across the terminal...she frantically printed the ticket and we bolted to the gate...

Just before the discovery of the new flights, I had asked about retrieving my bag that I had "gate" checked (as opposed to checking it at ticketing) my bag as I was boarding the plane the first time (BTW - this is a very sneaky way to avoid those annoying ASS fees that the airlines have started charging...as they don't charge you to check at the gate...the old "Oh...I did not realize it would not fit in the overhead" trick works every time!!!).  As I started to run away, the girls asked about my bag...to which I replied loudly and with much excitement..."Keep the damn thing, the suit smells [it could use a dry cleaning], my underwear is old [and yes, the used pair may has smelled as well]...and I don't give a shit!!!!!!!" Which garnering a chuckle from the crowd in line...always looking for a laugh I am...besides, the tag had my name on it and it will makes its way here eventually.

We arrived at the gate and the attendant was frantically trying to open the door (she fumbled the code input twice)...she opened it and we bolted down the Jetway just as the flight attendant was starting to close the door!  WHEW!!!  I was perfectly fine with having to fly several hundred miles south in order to cover the same distance to get home.

Walking down the isles to find a seat, I saw many familiar faces who had all be stranded in Richmond that I talked with through-out the course of our time in limbo...all going to different places like Syracuse, Buffalo, Binghamptom...since their connections in Philly were cancelled and they had found ways home from Charlotte.   I settled into a seat in an exit row and started talking with a few ladies...one of whom turned out to be headed to Hartford as well.  It seems that she had started her day much earlier in Greensboro NC (which is about halfway between Richmond and Charlotte - Geography Lesson HERE FOLKS!!!!), flown to Richmond and was supposed to be on the same flights as me to Hartford.  Very nice lady named Eve.

Since we were destined for the same place, Ray, Eve and I walked [what seemed miles] to the terminal in which our next flight was departing.  Thankfully, the flight was running only a few minutes late which gave us about an hour to kill...I noted that our terminal had a Phillips Crab House and suggested that take a reprise there while waiting for our flight, as I was famished.

Anyone who is from Maryland (which I am) will tell you that we are famous for a number of things including, but not limited too, crabs!!  For all of you sickos reading this getting a chuckle over the word, since I know that I most certainly would, crabs are a serious business in Maryland, especially along the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland's Eastern Shore (which, while it is in fact the eastern shore of Maryland, last time I checked, it does not have a western shore).  Phillips Crab House is one of the most popular places to eat in Ocean City Maryland, with people traveling hundreds and thousands of miles just to eat there (okhttp://www.phillipsseafood.com/index.cfm?page=menus&id=24 & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Foods,_Inc._and_Seafood_Restaurants) due to its outstanding all you can eat seafood buffet that includes, yup you guessed it, crabs!!!  Since we did not have time to enjoy the finest that Phillips had to offer, I went for a basic grilled chicken to which I added plenty of Old Bay seasoning...the Old Bay was just enough to take me back to the shores of OC and Bethany Beach DE from my youth...

Sorry...back to the present...we ate, boarded our final flight of the evening, went up, went down, deplaned, bid each other a final handshake goodbye...and went our separate directions.  An anti-climatic ending to a rather whirlwind two day trip to Richmond...all I can say is that after all of this...I so better get this job!!!