Talk about a Surprise and Luck and look Mom no postage.

 As a serious Boston Bruins autograph collector, I have come to realize that there are several players who do not like to sign cards. I do not understand why but I have a few reasons that could be accurate. I have discussed this with several other autograph collector buddies, and they believe some players feel that the cards they sign are sold online. That could be a possibility or one that I believe is that some players don't want to waste their time signing and dropping off the return envelope either at the post office or in their mailbox at home. I have had two players actually stick the cards back in the return envelope but do not sign the cards and send them back. I get a bit upset about that because it takes 5 seconds to sign a card and the time, they take to just throw the cards back in the return envelope, that bothers me.

The fun thing about sending for players autographs through the mail is checking the mail everyday by using the Informed Delivery tool which shows you your mail for the day you check it with a nice clear scan of each piece of mail. So, this morning I checked the mail to see if maybe just maybe I would get an autograph and sure enough there was one. The odd thing is it had the Yellow Return to sender sticker across the front. I said something is weird about this and the weird thing was it had my mailing address because it was the return envelope with my address label in the top left corner and in the middle. Then I finally figured it out. The player never put any postage on the envelope but that should have been put on by me. Unless I had no stamps because it was sent to another country. Sure, enough that was the case and on the reverse side of the envelope there was a light tan label in green lettering and the box checked off says Unknown. The cancellation stamp is light, but I can make out the word Teplice so I figured the only way to see where these cards came from was to open the envelope and upon doing that the three enclosed cards were all signed by Jiri Slegr and the cards show Jiri wearing the Bruins jersey. The three cards are the 2005-06 MVP hockey, and the other card is from the 2005-06 Upper Deck Series 2 set and there were two cards from that set. I remember sending these were sent well over a year ago.

The good thing is I needed Jiri Slegr's autograph on a card showing him in a Bruins jersey. I scoured eBay for such a card with his auto but I never found any. These are the nice surprises that keep me loving the autograph collecting and I thank Jiri for taking the time to sign and mail. What really surprises me is these cards took quite a trip over the first time and then back and there is no damage to the cards whatsoever.

I can now happily cross Jiri Slegr's name from my Bruins autograph want list and not only was this a surprise it was a lot of luck because of not being damaged during shipping which was postmarked 11/25/22 which tells us it took about a month to arrive. One thing I will always remember about getting Jiri Slegr's auto the story that go along with the autograph.

These four cards are the first in my Hockey Hall of Fame Snubs Autograph Collection. Neal Broten played 1099 games over 17 seasons in the NHL. Scoring 239 goals 634 assists for 923 points. He also won a cup with the New Jersey Devils 1994-95 team, and he scored 7goals and 12 assists for 19 points and 4 of those goals were game winners. Sure, would be nice to see him in the HHOF.

The next player is Tom Barrasso who played 19 seasons in the NHL. Tom won the Calder and Vezina Trophies his rookie season 1983-84. He also won back-to-back Stanley Cups the first in 1990-91 and 1991-92. He went on to win 369 games, losing 277 and in the playoffs, he won 61 lost 54 in 119 games. I hope to someday see him in the HHOF.

The next player is Pierre Turgeon who was the number one pick during the 1987 NHL entry draft. He would go on to play 19 seasons in the nhl. He played in 1294 games scored 515 goals and added 812 assists for a total of 1327 points. I would have thought that scoring 500 or more goals should be an automatic and he had over 1300 total points. He definitely should be in the HHOF at least in my book.

The final player is Bernie Nicholls who played 18 seasons in the NHL appearing in 1,127 games. He had 475 goals, 734 assists for a total of 1209 total points. I hope to someday see his name in the HHOF.

I hope everyone has a great and Happy New Year and as always Happy Collecting and Stay Safe!!!

Merry Christmas to All

 I thought I would take the time to say Merry Christmas to everyone who reads and follows my blog. I am going to start adding more content with more posts as we begin a new year. I hope all of you get some nice presents like a couple boxes of cards to open or anything else related to the hobby.

Enjoy the time with family and friends some that we have not seen in a while. It's nice having a meal together with the family, chatting about things like thinking back to things we did years ago and most importantly remembering how life used to be back in the day.

I can still remember as a collector buying boxes and boxes of cards and back then the inserts were not jersey cards, they were the numbered parallels and the certified auto cards were not in existence yet but were not that far off.

So, thanks to my followers and readers who enjoy this blog, and I will be adding more in the new year and if you enjoy my blog please follow.

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

More Hall of Famer Auto's Hockey style

 So, with all of the hockey hall of famer autographs that are coming in I thought I would show them in today's post.

My goal is to get as many as possible and currently I have over 50 and these 50 do not include any of my Boston Bruins player autos as i have just about all of those Bruin's autographs. In every collection that I do, each different has its own album. So that means I have to get all the Bruins I don't have for the HOF Album.

I also have in the works an album for the Hockey Hall of Fame Snubs which are players that have the credentials but for some reason have not got the nod but hopefully someday they get the nod that they deserve.

The first card is the 2020-21 Artifacts Lord Stanley's Legacy signatures of Hall of Famer Dick Duff. The moment I saw this card I wanted to find one at a decent price and I believe I did as I grabbed this one for a cool $20. Dick Won a total of 6 Stanley Cups 2 with the Leafs and 4 with the Habs. Dick was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006.

This card is the 2000-01 Upper Deck Epic Signatures autograph card of Michel Goulet. There are a lot of collectors and hockey fans that may not remember just how great Michel was as a player. When I looked at his stats, I never knew he had 4 seasons scoring 50 or more goals from 1982 to 1986 and his best season was the 1983-84 season when he had 122 points with 56 goals and 66 assists. Michel had 548 career goals and 605 career assists for a total of 1,153 points. Michel was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998.

This card is the 2008-09 Upper Deck Masterpieces autograph card of Bernie Federko and is serial numbered 02/35. These cards are a canvas card with a frame that looks like it has a matt. The color of the border is green with a gold lettering and design. Bernie never won a Stanley Cup but did go on to score 369 career goals while adding 761 assists for 1,130 career points. Bernie was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

This card is the 2008-09 Upper Deck Masterpieces autograph card of Guy Carbonneau and is serial numbered 19/35. Guy won 3 Cups two with the Montreal Canadiens and 1 with the Dallas Stars. Guy scored 260 goals while adding 403 assists for a total of 663 career points. Guy was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.

My next post will be about my newest collection as I am starting another, and I am calling it My Hockey Hall of Fame Snubs autographs. So, check back and please remember I enjoy the comments. Happy Collecting and Stay Safe!!!

Non-Sport and Sport, A Pelican, Western and Blades.

 Well as an autograph collector it can at times get to be boring once you are close to all autographs needed for the team you collect. To spice things up I am starting to collect Hockey Hall of famer autographs along with the female hockey players autographs. I have added quite a few more to the hall of fame collection and I also am starting to get interested in the non-sport cards. 

The cards I found to be very interesting are the 1910 American Caramel Wild West cards these are the E49 American Caramel cards. These cards feature a colored lithograph photo of the subject, and the reverse is a checklist along with the American Caramel Co. There is a total of twenty subjects including cards of Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett and the top one has to be Buffalo Bill and this one of Kit Carson. There is a total of 20 different subjects and the cards are colored lithographs with the name in light blue.

Why I am able to start collecting non-sport cards is because I love history and these little trinkets show these individuals. There are some non-sport cards that offer a nice write up about the individual. I will show the few that I have and show the reverse side where the description can be seen. There are several tobacco cards issues that interest myself and one is the N 151 W. Duke, Sons & Co., N.Y. Celebrities & Politicians. There are some very famous ones like U.S. Grant, Abe Lincoln just to name a few. These cards look a lot like the Old Judge type of cards with the sepia toned photos and they all have that light caramel color. The cards read: Honest Long Cut Chewing and Smoking The best tobacco sold 2 OZ. for 5 CTS.

My interest in the duke tobacco cards is because years ago I collected all the Baseball tobacco cards and I owned many of the players who played in the very first year. Those little cards hold a special place with me as they tell a lot about the players, the players from the Old Judges show the player catching a ball hanging from a string or about to hit the hanging ball with a bat. Topps has made some of the Allen & Ginter and they try to make the cards have that uniqueness, but they fail. You would think with the technology today that they could, but the cards issued back in the day are simply breathtaking and, in my mind, there has never been anything close to the beauty of those tobacco card trinkets. One of my favorite tobacco cards was the T-210 Old Mill Red Border card of Shoeless Joe Jackson. The card shows him with the New Orleans Pelicans.

I bought this card around 1982 and I paid $125 for the card and within a month I called my friend up to see if he had got anymore T-210's in. He replied hold on I am going through my mail now. So, he comes back and says do you have your checklist ready? I replied Ready!!! So, he said Jackson and I said which one because there were around 5 different players with that last name, he says Joe. I said OK I will take it. He comes back saying but you already have one. I said I don't care so I was able to get that one for $100 and the card was about the same in condition, so I was very pleased two Jackson cards from the same dealer and I paid a cool $225.00 for both. This card is from Series 8. Now this is the only photo I have of this card, and it was a scan black and white, but the color of the borders is Red hence the name Red Borders.

Now here are some new additions to my Hockey Hall of Fame Autograph collection. My goal is to get a certified autograph from as many certified autograph cards that are available. What I really like the most are the older certified autograph cards.

Starting off with this 2001-02 Upper Deck NHL Legends autograph card of Gilbert Perreault. He is another one that has a very nice auto and each one he does they all look identical. I wish today's players would do the same instead of a quick scribble of letters or initials.

This next autograph card is the 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics Signatures autograph card of Bill Barber. His autograph is another nice one that when I see the autograph first, I know the player just by the autograph.

This autograph is the 1999-2000 MVP Pro sign autograph card of Dave Andreychuk. His autograph is somewhat legible as I have seen many others that look alike especially easy to see the first name than the last. This is a tougher one to locate as the autograph inserts from MVP are difficult pulls. So, I was glad I was able to grab this one.

This is the 2004-05 Upper Deck Legends Classics Signatures autograph card of Dickie Moore. As usual the players from the good 'Ol Days have beautiful penmanship as with the case for Dickie Moore's sweet signature.

This card is the 1999-2000 Upper Deck Retro Inkredible autograph card of Tony Esposito. A nice-looking autograph that is consistent each time. His Brother Phil Esposito has a beautiful autograph and like Tony's it is consistent every time.

This card is the 2013-14 Panini Play Book certified autograph card of Phil Esposito. You can see the beautiful signature and I love how he crosses the "T" from the letter "O". I wanted to show this card to compare with his brothers autograph.

This card is the 2004-2005 Upper Deck Legends Classic Signatures card of Andy Bathgate. This is another on card auto and another legible and beautiful autograph. every letter is easily read unlike today's players. I think they should bring penmanship back.

This card is the 2001-02 Topps Heritage autograph card of Henri Richard. His autograph is always identical looking, and I can see the letter "H" for Henri and the rest of his last name. Very glad to add his autograph to my Hall of Fame collection.

This card is the 2004-05 Upper Deck Legendary signatures autograph card of Doug Wilson. Another nice-looking autograph. I like the design of these cards and another on card autograph.

I wanted to get this post up yesterday but because I had a few cards in the mail yesterday I waited to get them into this post. I plan on doing more non-Sport posts on the Wild West cards and other cards I pick up that just seem to give me that pizzaz feeling of wanting them. Yes, it is that feeling of being bitten by that collecting bug many, many years ago. Happy Collecting and Stay Safe!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

 I thought it would be nice to wish everyone a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving. We will be traveling north to be with Mom and siblings. We are thankful that the weather has no precip in today's forecast. I am working on my next blog post and should have it up tomorrow. The post will include some Non Sport cards like the wild west and other older cards and of course some Hockey Hall of Famers.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

This Card Design is Super Cool

 Ok so I decided I would do a post on one of the new inserts from 2022-23 Upper Deck Hockey cards. I am not a collector that believes in having my cards graded or my autographs authenticated. I choose not to because those holders are too bulky, and they are easier to view in the card album. I brought the card grading up because of the new insert, it is called Population Count and it looks like the card is inserted in one of those holders. The cards are very beautiful as they look to be a metallic type of design.

As you can see with my David Pastrnak card and notice the count on this one is 1000. There are certain tiers, 1000, 500, 100, 50, 25, 10 & 1. I am not attempting to go for the rainbow unless I find the lower numbered cards at a reasonable price.

Depending on who the player plays for the cards background reflects the teams color and each tier number is based on different colors. This is one insert that I applaud Upper Deck and it looks like it will be a hit as it has hooked myself. 

As for the other new inserts there is Attacking Zone which is a SP and I like the looks of the Freestyles cards. I still will not buy a box because it is too risky as I would rather put my money towards a card that I need but there are others that enjoy trying to pull the bigger hits. Good luck to them and I am glad there are lots that still open the boxes because if not for them the cards that I need or want would not be available.

No Not Leaving!!!!

I was asked by some if I was going to keep this blog going and yes, I am. I stopped because of being busy with my job. I will be doing more posts in the future as I have lots of cards that I have picked up that I will be discussing and showing. If there are certain cards you would like to see, or certain player autographs please reply in the comments.

Happy Collecting!!!

I got two more......Quite Happy and do I need glasses??

 Ok yes it has been a while since my last post and it is mainly because I have been doing things around the house getting ready for winter. I am not a fan of huge winter storms, and I am not a fan of humidity, so I look forward to some cooler weather this winter. I hope we don't go into a deep freeze as the cost of staying warm for some will be a challenge.

Ok enough about the weather. About 3 days ago I got these two cards of Jeremy Swayman autographed through the mail and one of the cards was one I pulled from opening a box of 2021-22 Upper Deck MVP and the last pack I got his Rookie card. So, I sent this card out over 8 months ago and I thought I probably will not get the rookie card back but wow I got it back and a nice Sway siggy in blue sharpie.

The 2021-22 Upper Deck MVP Rookie card looks to be my favorite as far as the autograph goes. 

I was also thrilled I got this autograph card of Manny Fernandez, this is my second one of this card. I know that this autograph card of Manny was not an easy find. I actually got this one for a steal $12 and my first one I paid $35. This is a card that if I see at a reasonable price I will grab.

One other issue that I want to discuss is the Beckett annual price guide. I would like to purchase the annual for a reference not so much for the prices but if they don't include a magnifying glass, I won't be buying one. Has anyone ever tried reading this book, you must squint to see even when I put on my reading glasses I still can't see. Does anyone else have problems reading this??? I do subscribe to the Beckett Hockey Monthly only because I get it for under $40 for a one-year subscription mostly because I refuse to buy it at the bookstore for $9.99. I actually can read the whole thing in 20-30 minutes as for the price guide I have to squint to see so I don't put any effort into even trying. It would be nice if they printed large type.

It looks like the MLB playoffs are down to the final 4 teams and this season I will be pulling for a national league team. I will be mostly rooting for the San Diego Padres as it would be nice to see them beat either the Astro's or Yankees as I am not a fan of those teams, sorry Astros and Yankees fans. Years ago, I was a huge red Sox fan, but I am not that much into Baseball as I was when I was younger. It was fun when I had my grandfather to watch it with me but now that he has passed on, I just have lost the will to want to watch.

That's all I have today, and I am going to try and do more posts in the future so until then, Stay Safe and as always Happy Collecting!!!

What a feeling!!!!!

Today the last day of the month and I have finally hooked one of my White Whales. I have been searching for a certified autograph card of Michael Ryder showing him in a Bruins uniform for over 10 years now. I am excited to say that the 10 plus year streak has ended. I made a deal and landed this card: 2011-12 Upper Deck Signature Sensations certified auto card of Michael Ryder wearing a Bruins jersey. 

As a collector when I finally get a card I have been after it makes me feel good but as I have been told by others it does not end there. Collecting cards or autographs it just keeps happening with the additions of new players with new cards so yes collecting is an addiction like a disease, but I prefer it over drinking and smoking neither that I do or have ever done.

As a collector it seems that I get cards or auto's in multiple fashion, I just made a deal for these two Boston Bruins cut autos of two players from the 1920's. 

This cut auto is of Hal Winkler, Winkler set the Bruins single season record of 15 shutouts in a season with 15 during the 1927-28 season.

This cut autograph is of Myles Lane a defenseman who won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins their first ever Cup in 1929.

I know there are a lot of people that have told me that collecting is crazy and that it can be costly, I mostly hear that from my Wife but I will say that she understands that once you have been bitten by that collecting bug there really is no cure unless you decide to just call it quits and the day I do that is the day I retire so until then I will keep collecting because until you land that tough card you will know what I am talking about: WHAT A FEELING!!!!!

If you enjoy my blog please follow me and tell your friends and as always Happy Collecting and Stay Safe!!!!!

1986 Topps Baseball: Pete Rose Tribute

With the fall weather kicking in (Not complaining) and it is rainy I decided to go through the over 30 Topps baseball albums and I started with the 1986 Topps. The first 7 cards are all of Pete Rose and I thought it was very interesting that Topps showed all of his card's numbers 2-6 as 4 cards per front like a collage and the first card Pete's 1986 Topps card # 1.

The older cards of Pete bring back memories as I enjoyed the older issues because the action photos were interesting and some from spring training because of the palm trees in the background. Let's look at those 6 cards and card number 7, I have a question to ask but let's start with them numerically

This is card # 2 and as you can see the first four years of Pete's Topps cards starting with his 1963 rookie card showing three other rookies: Pedro Gonzalez, Ken McMullen, Pete Rose and Al Weis. Of these four cards I like the 1965 Topps card best, the small pennant icon showing the Reds older logo is cool.

This one is card number 3 showing four more years of Pete's Topps cards. The Topps 1970 I dislike the most from these four and I like best the 1967 Topps card because of the size of the photo and with borders.

This card is number 4 and these four my favorites would be the 1971 Topps and 1972 Topps. The 1971 I like mostly because of the black border as it made trying to get a mint set difficult and that is what I enjoy the most is the challenge. I dislike the 1973 Topps card; the 1974 Topps is ok but again not that great.

This card is number 5 and my favorite is the 1975 Topps because that is one of my favorite Topps designs, the 1976 Topps I like because the photos were bigger, and these were difficult to find centered because of the photo size.

This is card number 6 and I like the 1981 Topps best followed by the 1982 Topps. I will say that I do not care to see facsimile autos on cards because if you like the cards design and you want to get it autographed it is in the way and if the player signs over it it looks terrible and messes up the original auto.  

This is card number 7 and the final Rose tribute but if you look at the first photo you see Rose thinking of a player. Can anyone name who that player is?? I have my answer but won't reveal until I read what others reply. My favorites here are the 1983 & 1984 Topps cards I love the small inset but I am leaning towards the round inset versus the square inset, your thoughts on the inset???

The number one card is Petes 1986 Topps card and these cards I liked because of the black area on the top of the card. I will be posting more Baseball cards and if anyone would like to see a certain set please comment and I will do my best to post that set. Until next time I hope everyone is enjoying these posts and remember Happy Collecting and Stay Safe!!!!!

What is your favorite Baseball set??

 Instead of just doing a new post about what I have I thought I would do something different and discuss some of my favorite sets and cards and autographs. Probably my favorite modern baseball set would be the 1975 Topps set. I love the colors used as the design was different from there earlier sets.

 My favorite Baseball card there are several but if I had to choose one, I would say the 1956 Topps Ted Williams # 5. I love how the card has an action photo plus the portrait, Ted's famous swing as it looks so sweet in the photo.

My favorite autograph would be a hockey one and there are many to choose from so I will show my top 5 starting with number 5.

How could I not choose this beauty the one reason I chose this one is because of what he added, "The Sheriff". Of course, I asked him to add that and as you can see, he did.

This is a favorite because of how the autograph is so perfect, look at how the letter "G" looks. His autograph is always identical, and he signs through the mail every time I have sent.

I chose this one not because of his popularity but because of his autograph looking so good. I have seen many of his current autographs and I can start to see some shakiness in the hand. One thing I have noticed in studying Bobby Orr's autograph. He signs it two ways, the way in this card is my favorite as he has the loop in the letter "Y". The other way is he just go's straight down on the letter "Y" with no loop and I prefer the loop.

This is favorite number 2 and yes, I know it is not a Bruins player which is ok, but I always loved seeing Mr. Beliveau's autograph. Look at how he underlines it with that fancy design. I have a friend who went to a game and got Jean to sign for him and Jean told other players to take pride in signing their name for the fans. I wish the players today would feel the same way. These autograph's of today's players I call them SCRIBBLES, it is just awful!!!

This autograph of Bobby Bauer is my number one favorite autograph. This is a very difficult oine to find because Bobby Passed away in 1964 and this autograph came from a team signed photo with many others that I got from the photo. Beautifully signed in black fountain pen and this is probably one of the boldest and clearest looking Bauer autographs and one that I proudly own.

These last three are my Honorable mentions, Eddie Shore, Bill Cowley and Don Sylvestri. The Shore and Cowley are from the same team photo as the Bauer and the Sylvestri is one that I was very lucky to have got through the mail. He is a extremely hard one to get TTM.

Well, this ends todays post and I hope I hear from others as to their favorite sets or individual cards and autographs. Happy collecting and Stay Safe!!!!

I Finally Landed his autograph

 When it comes to autographs especially ones of my favorite players or team my ears perk up. This last week has been very eventful in that I was very upset that I missed out on two certified autograph cards that I have been chasing since their inception. Those two cards that are still on my want list are these two: 2009-10 Upper Deck Signature Sensations Michael Ryder #SS-RY, 2013-14 Upper Deck Trilogy Jaromir Jagr #32 and I could have had both for less than $50 but it was not to be. I did get over it as time went on, but it is a collecting memory that will stick with me, and I will now have it for a new conversation with other collectors that I chat with or talk to directly in person. I can also add better with this bad part as it seems this time it evened out.

As an autograph collector and I am a team collector trying to get every player who has worn the Bruins spoked "B" autograph. Now that I am down to needing around 275 autographs and most are of players who have passed so it is a challenge getting their auto's. What I pick up now are the autograph of Bruins rookies and if these players do not get a certified autograph, I will send them an autograph request through the mail.

Yesterday's mail was a mail day that I will remember for some time. I keep a written journal of all the players I send to along with the date sent date received and their address. So yesterday morning like I do every day I check the informed delivery to see what I have for those days incoming mail. I saw the cancellation state and first three of the zip. It was Eastern Maine 044. So, I check my journal and I did not see it on the ones I sent out withing the month. Then it hit me there was a Bruins player that I have wrote to a few times for his auto, so I said that has to be the one.  I was excited to get that auto so I could finally cross it off my want list.

When our mail arrived yesterday, I rushed outside to get it and I just had to open that envelope up and after I carefully opened it my smile grew much bigger as it was not from the player whom I had thought it was. It was from Bruins Goalie Jeremy Swayman. I did send to Jeremy but I sent it to his address, but it came back from a Maine postmark. Jeremy did play for the University of Maine Black Bears so maybe he was up there before he reports to the Bruins training camp but whatever the reason I don't care as I am just pumped up to get his autograph through the mail as a lot of players from today's game do not like to sign through the mail.

This is the card 2021-22 Parkhurst Rookie and his autograph on his certified looks identical just the letters J and S and #1 for his jersey number. I also picked up other certified cards yesterday in the mail and this next one is from a player whom I enjoyed watching as a player, but he was traded earlier this year, so I had to grab this card for now. I did get his base card with him as a Bruin, and I did send it to his new teams address for his auto request but chances are I will not get it back but those are the chances you take doing TTM autos.

That certified auto card is the 2018-19 Upper Deck Signature sensation card of Eric Haula. I am hopeful that I get his Bruins base card back signed and you just never know when. I have had cards show up at my mailbox three plus years and I have read where some players have taken over 9 plus years can you imagine?? I could never imagine finding a letter of 9 years' worth of mail, but it does happen.

Well, I look forward to reading your comments and I also enjoy replying to your comments and I do enjoy seeing others follow my blog so if you like please follow me.

Goodbye until next time and as always enjoy what you collect and Stay Safe!!!

Is it even worth it anymore????

Today I want to discuss sending autographs through the mail. I started doing this 5 years ago and my success rate for getting positive returns was around 77%. I spoke to others who have been doing this for 20+ years and they said back then you got almost everything back that you sent out. I have also noticed that the players from today's games mostly scribble their autograph so why would any collector want their autograph in the first place. My answer is because as a collector of my teams autograph and trying to get every player that ever wore my team's jersey, that is why I do it.

When I send out to the older players, I get beautiful looking autographs that are easily read and if I send to an older player, you can see the shakiness in the autograph, but it is still better than these players today. I sent out 27 autograph requests on August 25th and to date I have only got 2 back. Yesterday I sent another 10 out and some I did not have the players address so I try sending to the team the player plays for.

The only problem is if I send to the players home address, he may be leaving for the training camps, so it is a risk either way. There have been some players that are great and sign but as a collector I think many will agree that I hate the waiting. I use the postal systems informed delivery every day to see if I have any coming in for that day and it is quite depressing when day after day, I get none back.

I see this happening with all sports, and I wonder if the pandemic has hurt in that players don't want to open mail during this time. It is not only depressing but it is getting more costly with the rise in postage, the cards I buy are common cards and I usually only pay about 18 to 25 cents a card and I only send 2-3 cards because I think the players get upset when one sends in over 5 or 6. So is this even worth it anymore?? I would rather get a certified autograph card but not all players have one so the through the mail route is the only way to get that autograph. There are some players that do shows but again there is a fee and depending on the players overall performance as a superstar the price can be several hundred dollars.

I sent this baseball card to Bernie Carbo a couple of years ago and as you can see Bernie kindly signed it and it was back to me withing a week or two.

Before I end this post, I thought I would throw in a little trivia. See if you can name this Baseball player and the team he played for on this card and the set designation. I bought this card back in 1982 and I bought a second one in 1983. Sure, wish I still had them. Thanks for the visit and if you like this blog please FOLLOW and leave a comment below about today's content or what you would like to see.

Happy Collecting and Stay Safe.

What is your insert????

 Well today I thought I would discuss insert cards. I thought about this topic when I was going through my cards and saw the different inserts. There are so many inserts that I could never have my all-time favorite, but I thought I would show some of mine. What makes an insert card popular for me is the overall appearance and card effects. The numbering is not that important for me as I look for that special kind of effect like a card showing the cracked ice effect. There are lots of collectors that just call them shiny cards because of the metallic appearance which has either gold, silver or even bronze but wait there is more. My favorite is the Ice Blue, and my second favorite is the Emerald Green and we can thank Pacific cards for these colors and what a great bunch of cards they produced. Let's take a look at some examples.

This first insert is the 1997-98 Pacific Paramount card of Joe Thornton. This color is the Copper version of the card.

This card is the 1997-98 Paramount card of Paul Kariya and I am showing it for comparison as this one is the Ice Blue version and neither the Thornton Copper or Kariya Blue Ice is numbered. The scan does not show the blue as it does if holding the card in person but if you look at the top left corner you can see it better than you can looking at his name.

This card is another Pacific card and this one is the 2000-01 pacific base card of Joe Hulbig. The base cards all have the silver color and the next card we will compare to another color from the same set.

This card is the 2000-01 Pacific card of Eric Nickulas and is the Ice Blue version as you can see this scan shows a clearer view of that color. Notice this one is numbered as the number is located in the bottom left corner. This is numbered 06/45 which indicates that only 45 cards in the ice blue were produced. I like the Ice Blue color the best as it is a perfect fit for hockey.

This card is the 2000-01 Pacific Revolution card of Teemu Selanne. This version is the base card, so the color is silver and not numbered. These cards are beautiful because of the way you move the card it glitters, and it shows these like diamonds of purples and blues.

These cards are the 2021-22 Upper Deck Dazzlers Green and Blue of Patrice Bergeron. These cards are cool when you move them, they glow and seem to throw the color right at you. They are nice but I still favor what Pacific did years ago as they seemed to be ahead of their time.

This insert card is the 1999-00 SP Authentic Supreme Skills card of Martin Brodeur. Another card that you appreciate more when you hold it and move it as it changes the cards background, this scanned shows us a blue background and if you tilt the card you can see the rainbow of colors, green purple and a hint of pink.

This card is the 2017-18 Ultimate Collection card of Anders Bjork and is serial numbered 026/149. This card is very nice because of the three colored swatch and the stitching marks plus the autograph.

This last insert is the 2003-04 Topps Pristine card of Stanislav Chistov autograph card. These cards are unique because they have the Chrome look and what I love about the Topps autographs where they put a sticker on the back of the card with a number which is proof the auto is authentic. You can see on the Topps cards that they use the silver stamp Certified issued autograph.

Well as I showed only a few different inserts how many of you like the colored lettering or the colored background or just the autograph itself or how about the jersey and autograph card, what is your favorite? So, before you go, please leave a comment. Happy Collecting and Stay Safe!!!