Just Showin' Off

 My completed 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts Auto-Facts Signatures set. I am like a proud Papa.

#500

Today, as I fight this virus, I will celebrate a couple of things.
First, I got the last two cards for my 2006 Upper Deck Auto-Facts Signatures set in the mail today. Chris Duffy #2/5 and Dontrelle Willis #28/50.

All credit for the Duffy catch must go to Tim over at the Great Sports Name Hall-of-Fame. Amazingly, he found a guy on a message board that had one. The Willis was an eBay score. The 89 card set is now finished.  It took me just under a year to finish it. Here the set is all laid out together. Seems odd that it would have 89 cards and not 90. You can see the awesome checklist here.

Second; this is my 500th blog post. I started this blog back in early December 2009. I have had a blast sharing my collecting experiences with my readers. As a way to say thanks 'sew' much, I am giving away a box of cards. Nice new unopened packs. I am also going to throw in cards of players from your favorite team.

Here's all you have to do. Leave a comment on this post with your favorite baseball or football team. I will take entries/comments until Saturday morning. Please, just one comment per person. After all the entries are entered, I will pick one at random. That person will get the prize.

Gaylord Was a Mariner? Huh.

If I can get one of these patch/auto's from the 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts set cheap enough, I get it.
Maybe it's the whole 'pitchers aren't as collectible as hitters' thing. Maybe it's that Gaylord was not a Nolan Ryan type of dominator. Perry cards are relatively cheap. The guy is a hall-of-famer.
When I bid $11 bucks on this card, I really didn't think I would end up owning it. It's numbered 05/30. I got it for just over $10 bucks shipped.
I didn't really take a good hard look at it when I bid. I saw a hall-of-fame pitcher, a low serial number, an auto, a patch, and it is from a set that I am tinkering with.
Today, I took a close look at it. It features Perry in a Mariners uni. I have no recollection of Perry as an M. Wanna know why? HE PITCHED ONE SEASON FOR THEM! 1982. Odd that UD would select a Mariners jersey and image for him. He did pitch 10 season for the Giants. You know what would be cool? A card of Gaylord with swatches from the seven teams he pitched for.

Set Collecting

I like to collect sets. I have a quite a few complete sets; 2008 UD Goudey, 1989 , 1990, 1991 Topps, 1989 Upper Deck, 1989 Score Football, 2009 T-206, and a few others.

I also like to collect parts of sets. I completed the 2008 Goudey Graphs set (55 on-card auto's), the 2009 206 framed Relics set (25 cards), the 2010 Topps 2020, to name a few.

My current mini-set collecting goals are the 2006 UD Artifacts Auto-Facts Signatures set (89 cards), the 2010 Topps Magic Game-Used Jersey set (68 cards all #'d /25), and the 2005 UD Origins Authentic Memorabilia (42 cards). 

I am oh so close to knocking out the 2006 Artifacts Auto-facts set. Today, I got this Magglio (#74/437) in the mail. It popped up on eBay last week, and I won it for $20.30 and that included the Chad Cordero auto/relic #10/30 from a different Artifacts set of the same year. That leaves only two of the 89 cards... Dontrelle and Chris Duffy. I am beginning to wonder about the Duffy. Thanks to the Daily Dimwit for finding a checklist at UD, according to the checklist for this set, there is a Duffy. I have never seen a Duffy, or any mention of an auto'd Duffy anywhere in my searches of the interwebs. 

Not Exactly What I Was Looking For

In my daily checking of eBay for the last two remaining 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts Auto-Facts Signature cards, I occasionally come across similar cards.

Here is an example. Joel Pineiro Game-Used / Auto. #27/30. I snagged it on eBay for $4 bucks shipped. I am not building this set, but I will pick the cards from it when I can get them cheap enough. The cards from this set are serial numbered to either /10 or /30. A tall order to collect for sure.

The set I'm working on is an auto only set. Consisting of 88 cards, the serial numbering is quite random. Some examples:

Eric Davis /487

Luis Aparicio /250

Ken Griffey Jr. /800

Joe Mauer /400

Derek Jeter /100

Dmitri Young /300

Kent Hrbek /239

I am down to three cards needed to finish off this bad boy. Chris Duffy, Magglio Ordonez and Dontrelle Willis. If anyone sees one of these anywhere, please, let me know. I have posted numerous forum messages at The Bench, and Freedom, with no replies.

I Am Still Here

Hey everyone...

I have been on vacation for the past nine days. While I was gone, a few bubble mailers made it to my porch.

First, the 2006 UD Artifacts Auto-Facts card of Marcus Giles. This is the first one of these that I have seen since I started building this set last Fall.

Next, a couple of PSA graded cards. 1968 Topps Al Kaline graded 8, and a 1981 Sweet Lou graded Gem 10.

While away, the sewingmachinegal and I took in a game at Chase Field. The Cincinnati Reds behind a great game from Bronson Arroyo beat the home D-Backs. The weather was a bit cool, so the roof was closed.

I found time to hit a sports card shop in Phoenix. The Batter's Box is the oldest in town. The guys working there were very helpful. I knocked off four of the big boys from my 79 want list.

The rest of our trip out west was spent hiking around Sedona.

More Than One Way to Skin a Cat

While sitting around waiting for my limo to whisk me away to the airport this morning, I did a search that I have never done before.

At the top of my Google homepage, there is a link for 'shopping'. I clicked it. I entered 2006 Artifacts auto Magglio. Nothing. same search with Dontrelle. Nothing. Same with Cabrera. Nothing. Lastly, same with Giles. Bam! A hit.

I clicked on the search result. It brought me to a Vendio site. I am not sure if it's called First Choice Collectibles or Sportscards Charleyyy. You can see the site here. A couple of clicks later, the Giles had been paid for with my PayPal account. $9 bucks. I was beginning to wonder if this card even existed. Since I have started to build this set, this is the first one I have ever seen.

My point is, there are more places to buy cards than ever before. Don't just use eBay, COMC, and Sportlots. Look around, you might find what you have been looking for. I did.

Cards Ace Carpenter /51

The 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts Auto-Facts Signatures set has some crazy serial numbering. This most recent acquisition is serial numbered 14/51. Fifty one? Why not fifty?

I am oh so close to closing the book on this 88 card set. I would link to the set info at Upper Decks website, but they must have hired the same worthless morons that are in charge of Topps's website. Absolutely pathetic.

Baseballcardpedia doesn't have a page for the set yet either. Maybe I will add a page.

All I need to complete the set are Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, Dontrelle Willis, and Marcus Giles.

Dan Johnson

I picked up this game used apparel auto card on eBay for $8 bucks. Serial numbered to 30.

It's not part of the set from 2006 UD Artifacts that I'm building (the Auto-Facts Signatures). When I can get one of these cheap enough, I bite. You can see the auto set that I am close to completing over to the right of this page.