The evolution of Kershaw's Autograph

His original autograph on the UD USA cards was a bit messy, and the word "jagged" comes to mind...


 The following year it changed just a bit...

These days his autograph looks more like hieroglyphic than cursive (what's a number 4 doing in there?), but it's awesome nonetheless...Now the question is, will he change his auto again?  Probably not, but it's still fun seeing how it has morphed into what it is today.  If you look at the evolution of the Harper auto, it went from a full signature to a boring and messy, "B H."  That's all for today, and next blog will feature some of my recent ebay pickups.  As always, thanks for stopping by.

Topps Redemption Day

My frustration with Topps has been at an all time high these past few months.  One of these redemptions has been live for a long time now, and the other two should have been shipped to me months ago.  I guess it's only fitting that these were delivered on Good Friday:
I'm a little bummed out about this one, because I've seen some very nice Strata Patches on ebay.  I hate being a "Debbie Downer," but I have to keep it real.  This redemption was very pricey, and unfortunately I got stuck with a dud.  I guess I should be happy I even have one, but after waiting so long to get this, it was a letdown when I saw a tiny portion of the red number while all of the other ones I've seen have giant portions of the Dodger logo. In any event, I'm still happy I have this in my collection as it's my first strata patch auto. The Stadium Club gold Kershaw auto /25 is one of my favorites, because it shows him celebrating his nearly perfect game against the Rockies(Hanley who?). When this product was first released I picked up a redemption for the black parallel /50, but for some reason Topps only produced the gold card, so of course I went right back on ebay after seeing he had signed the gold parallels, and I bought the redemption knowing that the card was now live. I got a really good price on it thankfully. I was really looking forward to getting this graded, but after looking at it closely, there's no way this would get a 9.5. Even though it won't be getting slabbed, it's still such a cool card of an even cooler moment. I love it, and the grainy pic from my phone doesn't do it justice.. This last one is another nice card that has been live for a while. It could possibly get a 9.5, but I'm undecided at this point if I want to get it graded. I don't have many Urias autos, so I'm extremely happy to add this to the Dodger PC! HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE!

138 and Counting...

When I first started collecting Kershaw autos, I never expected to have anywhere near 100, but I did a quick count last night and realized I'm pushing the 140's now.  I have three more Kershaw auto redemptions from Topps that are set to arrive on Friday, and trust me when I say, they are BIG ones!  There is one in particular that I'm hoping to get graded, and I'm usually not into slabbing cards unless they're rookie or draft cards.   In the mean time, I thought I would post a few of my favorites.  Ebay is a crazy place sometimes, and although both of these Gypsy Queen cards are similar and numbered /25, I got this first one for $75 through a PP direct deal, while I ended up paying A LOT for the second card.  I'm almost embarrassed to say, but I believe it was somewhere in the 180's?  I remember being so intent on winning the auction that I placed a high bid of 220.  That's how badly I want the card in my collection.  I just love the look of the tan card set off by the black boarder, and the fact that the card was so scarce made it a must buy for me.  Well that's it for today.  Enjoy! 

"Another one bites the dust..."

Bad news from AZ today as it was revealed Ethier is out for 3 months with a tibia fracture.  To make matters worse, Kershaw got rear-ended by a Douche-Backs fan, but he's going to be ok...so they say. 

In honor of Dre, here is my favorite card of him (picked this up super cheap on the Bay when he was riding the pine in 2014):

Card of the Day...

Today's card was one that I didn't expect to be able to acquire due to the scarcity and high price tag that came with it.  Upper Decks designs were far superior to Topps IMHO, and I really wish they were still in the baseball card business.  Every once in a while there is seller that is so eager to get some quick cash that he is willing to sell something way below market value.  I understand that some people frown on asking ebay sellers to make offsite deals, but I really don't see any issues with it.  I simply messaged the seller and asked for a PP direct deal, and he was totally fine with it.  What I didn't expect is to get this card for only 72 bucks shipped!  That may not seem like a "deal" to some people, but considering it's numbered out of 25 AND it's graded 9.5, I think I did pretty well for myself.  On a side note, this card was acquired a year and a half ago, but the prices for Kershaw were just as high, if not higher.  Okay, here it is:
   

Five Star Kershaw Gallery and the Kazmir Dilema

On July 30, 2002 Scott Kazmir was traded by the Mets to the Rays for veteran starting pitcher Víctor Zambrano and minor league reliever Bartolomé Fortunato.  From about 2004 to 2008, Scott Kazmir was a damn good pitcher.  He could be downright dominant at times, and the Mets front office got a lot of shit for the trade.  A lot of people thought Kazmir would be a superstar for years to come.  Personally, I didn't understand the hype.  He never had ace stuff in my opinion, but then again, he was facing juiced up hitters in the dominant AL, so maybe I should backtrack on my last comment.  In the following years Kazmir lost a lot of velocity and had to deal with a bunch of injuries.  A lot of people wrote Kazmir off, and by 2011 he was among the worst active starting pitchers in all of baseball and was eventually released by the Angels.  In 2012 he played independent ball, and this gave him time to work out his mechanics and get some of his velocity back.  In 2013 he was back in the majors with the Indians and the following year the A's deemed him worthy of a two year contract.  He was surprisingly good, and though he wasn't blowing anyone away, he was a crafty lefty that had learned how to pitch.  With all that said, why on earth would a team like the Dodgers want to sign this guy?  His prime years are waaaaay behind him, and there were plenty of other options.  I know it's a short contract, but he has looked horrible so far.  What worries me the most is that his velocity is way down in the 80's again.  Jamie Moyer proved he could get guys out with a 80 mph fastball, but Kazmir is a much different pitcher and he needs every little mph he can muster.  The Dodgers starting rotation is in shambles right now, but I refuse to give up hope.  I am routing for Kazmir, but the verdict is out.

Ok, now on to the cards!  Topps Five Star is one of my favorite releases with on card autos.  I don't care about getting the cards graded, so the chipping that they are notorious for doesn't bother me one bit.  I hope you enjoy browsing my gallery:

All Gold Everything

Don't believe me, just watch...
When I first got back into collecting the Topps Museum gold framed autos were the big standouts for me.  They were literally like pieces of art, and I knew I had to get my hands on one.  Over the last few years I've been able to get my Kershaw gold frames for really good prices simply by being patient.  The trend with gold frames on ebay seems to be people rushing on line to grab one as soon as the product is released, paying exorbitant prices, because they want instant gratification.  I have learned that when it comes to the gold frames, the exact opposite approach works best.  My collection is almost complete, with the exception of the 2011, which I have not seen anywhere in years.  Here they are...

The Color Orange Sucks

I usually stay away from anything orange for obvious reasons.  If I had a dollar for every time a Giants fan (gloated) reminded me it's an even year, I would be filthy rich.  As a lifelong Dodger fan it has been painful having to endure the Giants winning the World Series on even years.  Their lame fans love to call Dodger fans "ghetto," and take pride in chanting "Beat LA" every chance they get.  Dodger fans have resorted to chanting "Giants suck," which is honestly a really stupid chant.  I LOVE the rivalry though, and I like that both teams have been good the past four seasons.  The rivalry just isn't fun when one team is so much better than the other (Flashback to the McCourt days-Ugghhh). 

But here is the thing, when a rare card pops up on ebay of a player I collect, sometimes I just have to give in to my hatred of the color orange.  Enjoy the cards and HAPPY FRIDAY to everyone!

Extremely rare orange ice /5

And not quite as rare...

Topps Industry Summit-Cards of the Day

One of the fun aspects of collecting is finding rare cards with low print runs, and the Topps Industry Summit cards are no exception.   Even though they aren't on-card autos, the cards themselves are exciting to track down and usually feature photos not used in any other Topps release.  As you guys know, Topps likes to recycle the same photos for different products, which in my opinion is pretty lame.  So anyway, one of my personal "Chase cards" was the Clayton Kershaw Industry Summit from 2014.  I was able to work a pretty decent PP direct deal with an ebay seller that is infamous for schilling and overvaluing his cards.  I couldn't believe how easily we came to an agreement on price, because this was the first and only time he had been reasonable.

Last week I was able to pick up the 2016 Summit cards of Corey Seager and Kershaw from the same ebay seller.  He gave me a really good deal on both, but they definitely were not cheap.  Thanks for reading and here are the cards:

Yet another reason why Kershaw is so awesome...

Around May of last year I decided to mail a Topps Gypsy Queen base card to Kershaw at Dodger Stadium in the hopes that I would eventually get it back signed.  I've heard that Kershaw pretty much signs for everybody, but I was still shocked when I got this card in the mail yesterday.  It was post marked from Dallas, so I already knew without opening it exactly what to expect!  The fact that the best pitcher in baseball takes the time in the off season to sign thousands of TTM's never ceases to amaze me.  I am still patiently waiting for my AJ Ellis TTM to arrive, but I'm not going to get my hopes up, because I don't think he signs TTM.  Just for kicks, I'll post a pic of the Ellis card that I sent. 

My First Red Ink...

For some reason red ink autos get people all excited, and yes, I will readily admit I'm one of those people.  It is very rare that a Kershaw red ink pops up at auction, so when I saw this card, I knew I had to at least try to win it.  I could be wrong, but I believe this was contained in a rip card, because if you take a close look you will see a long razor blade-like indentation running along the right side of the card.  It's not really noticeable unless you're looking for it, and it doesn't bother me one bit.  This was graded by PSA, with a very low grade.  Not a big deal, because I won't be re-selling.  Here it is:

The Kersh Dynasty

My initial impression of Topps Dynasty was that it wasn't worth the hefty price tag.  I was even more skeptical when I found out that this years release would have black ink on a white background.  It just seemed boring and uninspired, but after seeing the cards in person, I completely changed my mind.  I got a pretty decent price on this one with a PP direct deal, and while the Dodgers uniform doesn't have any fancy designs or patches, the "LA" logo on the sleeve was exactly what I was looking for.  Now I have a home jersey "LA" patch and an away jersey "LA" patch (last years version).  Here they are:
 
 

Sometimes Patience is a Virtue...

I have lost out on numerous cards over the last few years, mostly because I was too tentative and figured the card would pop up again for less money.  Unfortunately that's not always the case, but this time it actually worked out for me.  I had wanted the Topps Supreme Kershaw/Puig dual auto /25 ever since I first saw it on ebay.  The card had a super clean look that really caught my eye.  The Puig auto on all 25 copies is a sticker, but certain copies of the card had an on-card auto from Kershaw.  I had never seen a single copy of this card up for auction on ebay, and the ones that were listed as "Buy it Now," all had ludicrous price tags. 

About three months ago I finally saw a redemption for this card listed at auction.  I had a strong feeling that some people would stay away from this, because of the never ending nightmare that is Topps Redemptions.  Knowing that the card was now live, I figured I had to pull the trigger this time.  Sure enough, I won the auction, redeemed my redemption, and waited about a month and a half before Topps finally got around to sending me the card (Typical Topps).  Lucky for me, I got an on card auto of Kershaw.  Thanks for stopping by.  Here it is:

So I guess I'm a Blogger Now...

Dodgerpenguin hooked me up with a lot of cool people, and it's only the first day!  Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment and look at the page.  I have a feeling this is going to be a lot of fun.  Before I show the next card, I wanted to let everyone know a little about myself  and how I got into collecting cards.  First off, I'm a female collector in a male dominated hobby, which is very rare these days.  When I was a little girl I always tagged along with my dad and brother on their weekly trips to Northridge Collectibles (shout out to the owner, Brian and his bid board).  I can still remember my first pack of cards- 1988 Topps, which is still one of my favorites of all time-yes, I'm biased.  Inside that pack was a Orel Hershiser card, and from that moment on, I was hooked!  To me cards are like pieces of art.  If I think a card is ugly, I move on.  No point in spending money on a card that isn't visually appealing.  Anyway, I digress.  From about age 5-12 I collected every year of Topps and practically memorized every single players stats.  Baseball was literally my first love!

Flash forward to 1993- Mike Piazza was the man!  I had a little crush on him and his fu manchu, and I loved the way he crushed the baseball.  I started collecting all the Mike Piazza cards I could get my hands on.  Then around age 13-14 something happened----puberty lol  I decided I liked boys more than baseball cards, and I completely gave up the hobby.  So how did I get back into the collecting game?  Let's just say it was a total accident.  I was looking at random Dodgers videos on youtube when I stumbled across a video titled something liked "Dodgers PC."  I watched the video and couldn't believe how much cards had changed from when I first started collecting.  Certified autographs, patches, bat barrels, whaaat?  The cards were literally like pieces of art!  Then I started reminiscing about the old days of busting packs with my dad and brother.  My dad passed away in 2002, and collecting cards with him was always one of my favorite memories, so maybe this was my subconscious telling me to do it.  All I know is, that very night I went on ebay and bought the Clayton Kershaw Bowman Chrome auto and the following day the '05 Matt Kemp Bowman Chrome auto.  The rest is history.

Now on to the card:  This was given to me as a gift by the very same guy whose video got me back into collecting.  He decided last year that he wanted to sell his entire collection and move onto other things.  I wish Alex the best, and I totally wish he didn't stop collecting, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  This card was his very first Kershaw card, and it happens to mean a lot to me.  Here it is in all its glory:


Thanks to everyone that took the time to read this and GO DODGERS!

Kershaw Card of the Day-The One that Started it All

I'm a huge Dodger fan (Hardcore since age 4!), and I got back into collecting around 2013.  That's when I decided to collect the best pitcher on the planet, CK!The Bowman Chrome '06 auto is the first Kershaw card I acquired, and believe it or not, I got this for $72.  Amazing what a few years can do as far as the value of a card.  The thing is, I don't collect cards to make money.  In fact I have never sold a baseball card in my life.  I only purchase cards I like, and I've also never made a trade.  As cliche as it may sound, every Kershaw card means something to me and none more so than this one.  Since this is my first post, I have to give a shout out to Dodger Penguin whose blog inspired me to start one of my own.  I love how he doesn't just show off his cards.  He has a story for each card he acquires, and it's comforting to see other Dodger collectors that have similar views on collecting.  In my opinion collecting cards should be about love, not money.  I have a motto when it comes to collecting:  "REMEMBER KIDS, A CARD IS ONLY WORTH WHAT SOMEONE IS WILLING TO PAY."  What that said, collecting Kershaw has become a very pricey endeavor for me.  Long gone are the days of $20 autos.  I always expect to pay around $100 now, but I just can't stop collecting him.  CK rules and is an amazing human being.  I was lucky enough to meet him a few years ago at the LA Car Convention, and he is the nicest baseball player I have ever met-totally humble and approachable.  

I wonder if anyone out there will actually read my blog???  I've never done one of these before, so this is all new to me.  I would love to get feedback, so please drop me a line!