Topps Tier One Gallery and Kershaw card of the day

The new Tier One is a mixed bag, with some really nice autos, and some not-so nice autos.  In years past I collected every single auto parallel of Kershaw that I could get my hands on, and this year will likely be no different.  I got a decent jump start yesterday, when I purchased the bronze ink auto /25 via BIN.  I may have slightly overpaid by 10 or 20 bucks, but I've seen how some of the other players bronze ink autos turned out (not good), and I wasn't going to take any chances.  Here it is

KOUFAX AND OTHER THOUGHTS...

Before adding this to my PC, I was sitting on two Koufax autos for quite a while.  I have said it before, and I will say it again.  Five Star has always been one of my favorite Topps releases.  When this Koufax auto turned up at auction I decided to go for it against my better judgment.  I hate to use the word “waste,” but let’s be honest; buying autographed baseball cards is a huge waste of money.  I just can’t get enough of them though.  I suppose this is no different than being addicted to drugs, but at least I’m not hurting my body or other people.  The only thing I’m really hurting is my wallet.  I won the ebay auction and I'm happy to have another Koufax in my Dodgers PC.  The pick is a bit blurry, but the card itself and the autograph are flawless.  I'm no professional grader, but this has 9.5 written all over it...
 

Kershaw Gypsy Queen 2016

After adding the orange auto /25, I really wanted to snag a red /5, but I figured it would be impossible.  Lucky for me, someone ended up listing a red, and although I figured it would be a long shot, I ended up winning the auction, and best of all, I paid only slightly more than I had for the orange.  The card is definitely not 9.5 material, but I've noticed that the Gypsy Queen autos in this years product have had a lot of imperfections and corner dings.  I'm starting to feel like Topps purposely does this!  The card itself is really slick, and IMO it looks better than his auto card from 2015 Gypsy Queen.  Overall it's a nice addition to the PC, and I'm happy to have it:

Kershaw Rarity Finally Attained

When Topps 2013 Archives was released, it seemed like all Dodger collectors wanted to get their hands on this card, and I saw people paying prices north of $200.  That seemed a bit high to me, and I decided to wait it out.  Unfortunately, the wait for this card ended up being years.  I figured I would never see one of these on the market again, because of the limited run /10.  So imagine my surprise when last weekend this card popped up on ebay.  I submitted my best offer and asked the seller to give me priority since I had purchased Kershaw's from him before.  5 min. later my offer was accepted, and I am now the proud owner of this awesome throwback.  I hope everyone has a nice weekend.  It's feeling like summer!    

Kershaw FTW!

The game has just gotten underway, but I'm hoping Kershaw can put a lid on the NY Mets crowd. Go ahead guys, keep boooooing Chase. The Dodgers needed something to light a fire, so let's hope this is only a start of better things to come. I'm pegging Kershaw for an 11 SO/1 earned run game. Let's see if I'm right! Go DODGERS! My latest Kershaw pickup from 2016 Gypsy Queen:

Julio Mania!

So the day has finally arrived.  The 19 year-old "phenom" is making his first start in the big leagues against the Mets in what's sure to be a very hostile environment.  I have heard that nothing really bother Urias, so I don't expect the crazy NY crowd to get to him, but of course you just never know.  In honor of the kid, here are some of my cards:

“We’ll take ‘em any way we can get ‘em.”

I have been so torn this year regarding the Dodgers.  I tune in to listen to the legend that is Vin Scully, but it’s becoming more of a chore to watch the Dodgers as of late.  How many times can one watch the Dodgers get runners on and no outs, and do absolutely nothing with it?!  It’s literally starting to drive me crazy.  I mean look at last night for example.  We are facing the Reds, who are by all accounts one of the worst teams in MLB this year.  We managed 1 meager run in 9 innings, and the runner scored on a double play, but hey, whatever gets the job done, right?  “We’ll take ‘em any way we can get ‘em.”  Of course, the one glaring bright spot is Clayton Kershaw.  He didn’t strike out his usual 10 plus, but he only gave up 2 hits and thankfully his pitch count was low enough that he could go all 9, which was vital, especially after the 17 inning marathon yesterday.  Kersh is such a gamer! 

Kershaw card of the day: