The Holy Grail

Hey everyone. I hope you're all well and finding gems of sports cards in your packs.
I was checking out my local online edition this evening, and came across an article about an old Mayo football card. I thought, "I gotta share this with my peeps."
Here is a link to the story.
Basically, a guy found an old football card in an old family photo album. I used to keep cards in photo albums when I was a kid. The card that held the honorary first page spot?

Surprised it was not a Lion? Well let me explain. When I was a kid, the Lions sucked. Bad. They didn't have a star. They were not on T.V. often. My kid brother was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and they were on T.V. a lot. Two games a year against the Oilers, and I became a huge Earl Campbell fan. His punishing style was a thrill to watch. Some day, some future family member of mine will find an old card album of mine. In the first 9-pocket page will be my holy grail. The 1979 Topps #390 Earl rookie card. 

Be Patient

If you'll remember, the last big set I was pursuing was the 70-something card 2010 Topps Magic relics set where all cards were numbered /25. I only needed one card, or so I thought, to complete the set. The one card that I really needed was the Dez Bryant. Cowboy collectors are like Pack and Steeler fans. They are ruthless overspending collectors. I had only ever seen two Dez's. One was in the collection of a guy in Arizona. He is building the set, and would not part with it. The other was from an old ebay auction I came across from early 2011. The winner of that card never returned my messages inquiring about it.
That brings me to today. On a little shelf above my desk is a 2010 Topps Magic relic that I never sold on eBay as I was selling off the set. Just for laughs and a little curiosity, I did a completed listings search for the Dez Bryant card. To my surprise, one sold last week for $19.99. A few months ago, I would have easily paid $50 for it, maybe more.
I still have not found the missing 7 relics.
The sewingmachinegal and I had an awesome weekend in Chi-Town shopping, fine dining, and catching 7Horse in concert.
I don't regret selling off the set. I'm just letting all you rare set collectors know that it's OK to be patient. Your card will eventually surface.

Out of the Blue

What's this? A blog post from the sewingmachineguy? Yes. I miss writing a bit. And I miss you guys.

Things are pretty good here in Michigan. The Tigers are slamming every opponent and are in first pla... wait... (runs to newspaper to check standings). Well, not exactly. My team is in a bit of disarray. In 2nd place. With Prince, it was supposed to be a cakewalk. We've been through the whole getting rid of Brandon Inge saga (yes, we had drama getting rid of the 3rd string second baseman), and now have the Delmon Young drunken rant issue to deal with. Crappy defense will doom the Tigers.

I have watched exactly ZERO minutes of NBA play-off basketball. The league is fixed. It has lost me, totally. As long as the Miami loses, I care. I only give a crap about your sport if your anointed super team loses. Not enough to watch though.

My softball season started two weeks ago. We lost 10-4. I played ok. Not good enough for my standards. Booted a couple three grounders. I always like it when old farts say "a couple three". 

On the sports card hobby collecting front; it's been minimal. I bought a rack-pack of Gypsy Queen. I really liked the release last year, and was kinda hoping for a Griffey Jr. card. I tore in at work, and nothing hit me as, "AWESOME! I gotta get more of these!". The cards are on a small shelf by my desk. Maybe I will bring them home and scan them and write about them. Ooooh how I can't wait to write about my Roy Oswalt mini (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

I have sold a bunch of stuff on eBay. I have given away a bunch of stuff. I have a shit-load of stuff to get rid of. Really, shit-load is the best way to describe it. It's boxes and boxes of mostly valueless bits of cardboard. Do I really need this 1980 Kip Young? No. I am not saying I don't value in some way some of the cards in my collection, it's just that there is so much meaningless stuff. I continue to find joy in minimizing and not hoarding. With the extra cabbage generated I have; helped a friend pay a bill, knocked down my credit card bill substantially, made plans to hit Chi-town for the weekend, bought the sewingmachinegal a bouquet of Gerbera Daisies, golfed 9 holes with two old friends, and put some in the savings account.

A few weeks ago, I got a nice envelope from GCRL. We didn't have a trade worked out per se, I had sent him a card and he sent over a cool couple of cards.

 This Tanalizer features a bible verse and auto. John 14:6 ~ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
That pretty much sums it up. The life. I have turned over my life to Christ. I am getting baptized May 20th. 

This is a 1958 Tigers team card. Cool.

Then, this week, totally out-of-the-blue, I got this.

Keep Being Awesome. Three simple words with lots of meaning to me. It means that the path I am on, the light that I am shining on the people around me, it all means something.

As you can see, the Elias Howe (sewing machine inventor) card is small. For comparison, here it is side by side with Yankee outfielder Mariano Rivera.

2007 Heritage Short Print Yellow Letters (Let me know if you want it. It's yours)

Thanks guys. Thanks for remembering me. It's random acts of kindness that keep us motivated when it seems like life is getting us down.

Catch you all later.

Peace.