An Update on the Personal PC Vol. 1

Back on March 31, I set out to tell a story about making my collection more personal through sharing the experience with my daughter and searching for players with whom I share some sort of direct connection. If you missed it the first time around, it can be found here. In brief, I detailed my search to find the second of two 30+ year old, obscure, minor league team set issued cards. Shortly after publishing that post, P-Town Tom wrote a comment that led me on a very fruitful, month-long quest. Tom's comment was a heads up that there were several copies of the 1990 Star Erie Sailors Brian Golden card available on Sportlots. I had heard about the site from many in the hobby community and even signed up for an account a few years back, but never placed an order. This news was all the motivation I needed to break that ice. I spent a good bit of time searching the inventory of the various sellers that had my targeted card listed. In the end, I filled my cart with about 20 cards(rest to be shown in a later post) and checked out. Then I waited. I found the process to be very smooth and I appreciated the notifications when my order had been picked and shipped. A short while later, the package arrived.

This is what I was looking for! With it in hand, I thought this personal PC was complete. I shared the new acquisition with my daughter and we went out to my TCDB checklist to add it to my collection. That's where our story takes an unexpected turn. We checked it off the wantlist and I clicked the link to show her that this collection was 100% complete at 2/2 cards listed. Instead of seeing that, we were met with 'your collection is 66.7% complete at 2/3'. This was interesting because we had just checked this prior to checking out on Sportlots. Where did another card come from? A 'Platinum', limited version of the 1989 Hamilton Redbirds card from my original post on this topic was now listed. There was no scan of the card so I had no idea how it differed from the 'regular' version. One user had it listed in his collection. I sent him a message asking about the differences between the two versions. Then I waited. In the mean time, I began my eBay and Google searches for the newly discovered set/single. At first, the searches didn't produce anything useful. No current or recently sold listings matched. I took a shot and ran the search without the 'platinum' qualifier. I found many of the same listings that had been there before I acquired the base card months ago. After scrolling through results for a while, I found my first lead. A complete set was listed, but the pictured card had a light blue border instead of the red/yellow border on the one I had. I thought it was a listing error, but the description listed the complete checklist and Brian was on it. I messaged the seller, asking for confirmation that the entire set had the blue border. Then I waited... I hadn't received a reply from the TCDB user in over 24 hours and I hoped the eBay seller would give me some good news relatively quickly. A few hours later, the eBay seller replied. He told me that he had previously sold the blue set and all he had left was the red/yellow bordered set. I was disappointed, but seemingly had confirmation that the platinum set had a blue border. I added this search back to my eBay saved list and left it alone. As expected, there were no new notifications after a few days so I decided to stop waiting. I altered my search a bit, checking for '1989 Star Hamilton' instead of adding the team name. A bunch of the same results I had seen before came up with a few guys who had the last name of Hamilton mixed in. I hit the jackpot when I got to the end of that search. The first listing in the section labeled 'results matching fewer words' was for a '1989 Hamilton Cardinals' set. The description seemed to match, but the picture had multiple sets shown and was not clear enough to confirm it was the blue bordered set. I messaged the seller. They replied quickly and told me they had both the blue and red/yellow sets available. They sent me a link to their listing for the blue bordered set and I was shocked by the price they were charging. We negotiated back and forth 2-3 times at which point I was told they wouldn't go any lower for such a limited set. I politely declined telling them I understood, but their price was higher than I was willing to pay since I only wanted the single card. Again, I was disappointed, but at least I knew of a set that was on the market. About a week after our negotiation, I received one of those 'seller has made you an offer' messages. The seller had decided to drop the price by ~$10 which put the asking price just a little higher than my previous top offer. I mulled it over and ultimately decided to accept. I definitely paid more than I wanted to, but the search was over. Then I waited. Several long days later the set finally arrived.

I am simultaneously thrilled and bummed to have these two new additions to my 'personal PC'. Thrilled for obvious reasons, but bummed because the hunt appears to be over(that's part of the fun after all)...or is it? I wonder if there is a 'platinum' version of the 1990 Erie set floating around out there somewhere. Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps I should be patient and wait.

Either way, huge thanks go out to P-Town Tom for helping push me further down this particular collecting road. I suppose I owe him twice the thanks. Not only for the assistance in finding the two new PC cards, but also for providing the motivation to take the Sportlots plunge. I'm sure that I'll spend quite a bit of time down that 'rabbit hole' in the future! Thanks for reading.

The Second Cardpocalypse Goes To...

Once again I want to thank everyone who participated this week. A few minutes ago when the claiming window closed, there were 6 entries. Based upon the typical page view numbers that football related posts draw, I fully expected the lower total, and was happy with the end result. I was even more pleased with the emergence of an unintended strategic element to the contest. A comment was posted about wrestling with the decision to enter this week and possibly miss out on the chance to win something more desirable in the coming weeks. I had a separate Twitter message conversation with a different reader on the same topic. I hadn't planned the contest in this manner, but the layers that have emerged are a welcome and happy accident. Is there anyone else out there sharing the same thought process? Perhaps. Either way, I hope it adds to the enjoyment of the month's festivities. I'll try to live up to the expectations of something better each week. Without further delay, let's head to the randomizer!

Here is the entire list pasted into the box, ready to be shuffled.

Here is the screenshot of the list after the standard 7 rounds. Remember that the time stamp on the randomizer is set at UTC(Coordinated Universal Time) which is 4 hours ahead of EST. This week, the winner is Night Owl! The very popular Jim Kelly/Thurman Thomas dual materials card will be headed your way along with some 'mystery' cards to keep it company. NO, you are not eligible to enter in weeks 3-4, but I hope to see you back here in week 5 for 'Anything Goes' week.

Now that two weeks are under the belt, I'd love to hear any thoughts about this concept. Positives? Constructive feedback? Maddening frustrations(I hope not)? Suggestions for edits? My ears/eyes are open to it all. I think I'd like to make this a semi-regular fixture here if readers out there are enjoying the participation as much as I have enjoyed picking cards and piecing together the Cardpocalypse package that was sent to last week's winner, Dimebox Nick.

Check back here this Sunday to see the basketball cards up for grabs in week 3. Thanks for reading.

Cardpocalypse Part Deux

First things first, Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there.

Welcome back for the second week of my blog re-launch contest. This week, we focus on football. Once again, a brief recap of the rules: Nine cards will be posted every week. Each reader can place a claim on one card per week. Cards can be claimed by more than one reader. Claims serve as entry into the contest and must be made with an associated name(no anonymous or unknown). The claim period will be open until Monday night at 8pm EST. At the close of that period, I will enter a list consisting of 'reader-card claimed' pairings into a list randomizer. The reader/card combo at the top of the list after 7 rounds of shuffling will be the winner of the week's Cardpocalypse package. The winnings will include the card they claimed and some cards that will remain a mystery until the package is opened. Packages will be sent on Thursday each week. Readers can only win once during weeks 1-4. Week 5 will have multiple winners(number yet to be determined) and the four previous weekly winners will be eligible to enter again.

Some rookie materials including a Saint(partial inspiration for the title).

More rookies/rookie year cardboard with a little ink mixed in.

An auto, an older school tandem, and a HOF refractor. The combo materials is /99.

...And We Have A Winner!

To everyone that participated in the first Cardpocalypse contest, I want to say thank you. At the close of the claiming window last night at 8pm EST, we had 12 entries. There was a 13th entry that I was forced to disqualify because it was from an 'Unknown' author. I tried to comment back to that reader asking for definitive identification but did not hear anything back. Going forward, I will be clarifying the need to know who is making the claim in the rules recap while posting pics of the cards of the week.

           

Here is the total list entered into the randomizer. Note the time on the screenshot.

Here is the screenshot of the list after 7 rounds. The time stamp on the randomizer is set at UTC(Coordinated Universal Time) which is 4 hours ahead of EST. With all of the verification mumbo jumbo out of the way, I want to say a huge congrats to Nick! You are the winner of the first Cardpocalypse giveaway. The Gleyber Torres Finest Blue Chips will be headed your way along with some 'mystery' cards to keep it company on the journey up to IL. Nick, you are not eligible to enter in weeks 2-4. I hope to see you back here in week 5 for 'Anything Goes' week.

Check back here on Sunday to see he football cards up for grabs in week 2.

May the Fourth Be With You

Happy Star Wars Day!!!

I'm celebrating by finishing my kids' schooling early and then watching their choice of Star Wars content. We plan to start the festivities by lunchtime. This year the 'holiday' is probably an even bigger deal around my house than in the past. Despite the hole left by the lack of a Durham Bulls' Star Wars Night game this year(which has become an annual tradition for us), we will rejoice in the escapism the films enable. We will put on our franchise-themed gear, talk about our favorite scenes or characters, and spend time together.

Is there a more fitting day to show off one piece of a (not so)recent Zippy Zapping? I think not. This awesome manu-relic arrived in an extremely generous package back in mid-January. I highlighted several of the incredible cards from my first official Zapping in a Twitter thank you post at the time. I was very happy to receive this Rey since she is a character that my oldest daughter and I both like. I'm sure she will be the topic of several discussions as the day unfolds. I'm off to put the finishing touches on some Wookiee Cookies and pretzel light sabers. If you're not into Star Wars, try to find something else to be positive about. If you haven't already entered for the chance at some free cards, the claiming window is still open until 8pm tonight. Check out yesterday's post for details. Who isn't positive about free cards? Everyone stay safe and hang in there through these rough times.

May the force be with you! Thanks for reading.