Dodgers are Good as Gold!

The Dodgers are absolutely on fire right now, and it's always extra fun to collect when your favorite team is doing so well.  This is always a fun time of year, because Topps releases a lot of new products back to back.  With the new Museum coming out, and my ebay bucks coming in, I knew exactly what I wanted:  2017 Museum Kershaw gold framed auto.  At this point, I have all of the gold framed autos, except for the virtually unattainable 2011 Marquee gold frame.

I was lucky enough to find a 2017 gold framed auto on ebay a few days ago, and I immediately jumped at the price, because my ebay bucks covered most of it, and it already had 10 watchers and was literally just listed.  Thanks to my ebay bucks I now have exactly what I wanted:

Rare Kershaw Topps Now Auto

I am always on the look out for rare Kershaw autos, so when the limited release Topps Now auto /25 was released I figured I would try and get one. To date there have been no auctions for this card, and the BINs were all priced over $1,000 (totally insane). This card was extremely limited and only sent to Topps Platinum Members, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a BIN/OBO with a decent listing price. I quickly made a very low offer which I expected to be rejected outright, but to my surprise there was no counter offer, and he actually accepted. I checked this morning and saw one listed at $350, so it seems like the prices are coming back down to earth, but either way, I got this for a great price, and I absolutely love the card:

Give Verdugo a Shot!

The Dodgers top outfield prospect Alex Verdugo, is ready for his chance at the Big Show!  The only problem?  There's no room for him at the moment.  I'm a huge Joc Pederson fan, and I hate to say it, but I really think he needs to be sent down to AAA to work on his swing. It's more than a slump at this point.  He looks completely lost at the plate, and his swing looks horrible.  Why not call up Verdugo in the mean time, and test him with some MLB pitching?  Verdugo has a canon for an arm (he was a big time pitching prospect), and he hits for average.  He's not hitting for power yet, but he still has plenty of time to develop that aspect of his game.  Anyway, here are a few of the Verdugo's I have.  I'm working on the rainbow for this years Bowman Chrome release, but I'll show those another time:

Better Late than Never...

My chance to pick up one of these for 10 bucks is loooong gone, but hey, at least I have one now. The key to this Kershaw rookie is to wait for an auction to pop up on ebay, and there are usually quite a few. The BIN's are way overpriced, so after a few months of trying to win this card, I finally won it at my price. The card looked like it was in pristine condition, but I quickly spotted two tiny imperfections on the surface. I'm thinking a 9.5 is not totally out of the question, but I also don't feel too confident in it. I'm not sure why I didn't pick up one of these sooner, because the card is really nice. I guess my autograph quest kind of blinded me. Oh well, now I finally have one!

2017 Topps Heritage

I have mixed feelings on the 2017 Heritage product.  In general the burlap design pales in comparison to the last few years.  One thing that made Topps stand out in the 50's and early 60's was the beautiful card designs that they would come out with year after year, but for some reason the burlap design was always ugly to me.  It seems like Topps continues to get lazier and lazier with the products they put out  For example, the action shot card of Kershaw is the exact same pic that was used in a previous years release.  Couldn't Topps at least use a different "action" shot?   With that said, I still wanted to pick up another auto of Corey Seager, and I figured it would be my only 2017 Heritage pickup.  These cards don't photograph well, but they actually look good in person.  This wasn't cheap, but I'm happy I was able to add it to the collection:

The Most Annoying Fans in the World!

Trying to watch last nights game against the Rockies was absolutely mind numbing.  Somehow two drunk apes were able to secure tickets right behind home plate (and right next to the mic), and they decided to heckle the Dodgers, especially Corey and Cody the entire freaking game.  I will admit, much of my anger was because the Dodgers were losing, but seriously, hearing these idiots say stupid things the entire game really started to piss me off.  At one point they stood up to reveal their lame Blue Jays uniforms, which is funny, because the Blue Jays suck!  Go back to Canada you idiots!

What a Game by the Kid!

Julio Urias was super impressive last night, carrying a no-no into the 7th.  At 20 years old, he is mature and carries himself like a veteran, and his calm yet competitive drive is exactly what the Dodgers rotation has been missing (other than Kersh of course).  With all that said, Urias has a pitch that has long alluded Kershaw, and that's his change up.  He has been fine tuning it the last few years, and last night it was on full display.  His command leaves a bit to be desired, but nobody is perfect, especially a 20 year old MLB pitcher.  The game itself was a bunch of highs and lows.  I went from being happy to pissed off at Kike and the bullpen, and back to happy again when Bellinger tied it up.  In the bottom of the 10th they showed my least favorite Dodger (Hatcher) warming up in the bullpen, and I knew that if Hatcher came in they were in trouble.  Austin came up with a perfectly placed double to win it, with Stripling rounding the bases like Forrest Gump.  WOW, what a win, and what an exciting game!  It's a great time to be a Dodgers fan.  Here are my most recent Urias pick ups:
  

A Posey Auto? What?!

I noticed a few 2017 Tier One "Duel Auto" redemptions on ebay, and one in particular caught my eye. A Kershaw/Posey auto, which was not a card I thought I would be into based on the fact that I vowed to never own a Giants card...I'm not even joking, I never thought I would own a card with a Giants player on it. I guess I was wrong, because I ended up with this beautiful autographed card of two future HOF players. I waited it out a few months, because I don't trust Topps and their track record of not producing redemption cards (I currently have seven pending Kershaw redemptions that I doubt will ever get made). However, once I saw that the card was live, I instantly new I wanted one for myself.  The card looks slick, and the autos are perfect.  I am now the proud owner of a card featuring the greatest pitcher of our generation, and Mr. Dodger Killer himself, Buster Posey:  

New Rarity Added to the Kershaw PC...

Every once in a while a rare Kershaw card pops up on ebay, but 95% of the time they are listed at inflated prices and BIN only.  This particular card was a live redemption, so when the redemption popped up as an auction, I knew there was no way I would let anybody outbid me for it.  Sure enough I won the auction at a very good price, immediately redeemed the redemption, and about a month later I had it in hand.  I absolutely love A&G mini framed auto cards, and I have a Kershaw from every year, so of course I was totally excited to get this 10th Anniversary buyback auto.  Hope you all enjoy looking, and of course, LET'S GO DODGERS! : 

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Another Framed Kershaw? Yes Please...

This was a redemption that kept alluding me, but I finally found one on e-bay last month and quickly made my offer.  After some back and forth countering, I got the deal done.  It took about a month to get this from Topps, and after inspecting the card, I quickly realized the mistake I had made.  In my haste to get one of these, I didn't realize that the gold framed isn't numbered out of /25.  I assumed that because the black frame was /10, the gold frame was numbered too.  Unfortunately I totally overpaid for this unnumbered card.  I definitely prefer the gold frame over a black frame, but I'm mad at myself for not taking the time to see that the gold frames were the standard release for this product.  Even with the overpay, I love this card, and I'm glad I was able to add it to my collection:

It's Kkkkkkershaw Time

I am super excited for the season to start, but unlike the "experts," I think the Dodgers are going to have their hands full with the West this year.  D-Backs and Rockies will definitely be better this year, and those pesky Giants always seem to make life difficult for the Dodgers.  I still predict the playoffs this year, but I'm just not so sure the Dodgers will be as dominant as people are saying.  One guy I KNOW will be his usual dominant self, is Mr. Kershaw.  I haven't posted much lately, but I wanted to show off a few of my most recent e-bay purchases as well as some redemptions.  I hope you enjoy, and GO DODGERS!

A New Year and a Living Legend

I took a little vacation from posting on my blog, and I couldn't think of a better card to kick start 2017.  I decided to majorly slow down on the amount of $ I spend on cards, but I just couldn't resist adding an auto of a living legend.  I won an auction for this redemption a few months ago, and knowing that the card was live, I was hoping the wait wouldn't be too long.  I can't wait for baseball season, as I feel that the Dodgers will once again have a shot at winning it all.  But there will be a giant void left by the absence of the man in the booth.  Here he is: