30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 6

30 DAY BASEBALL CARD CHALLENGE

DAY 6

A card you spent more than $10 to get

I'm going to cheat a little with today's challenge. When it comes to acquiring new cards I'm cheap. While I love autographs and relics, I don't always open up the wallet. I opt instead of looking for base cards, parallels or odd ball cards versus the big purchase.

I acquired 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot auto of Greg Olsen at the last card show I attended...several years ago. He was just coming into his own as a Carolina Panther and I liked what I saw of him on and off the field. He was an easy selection to become one of my newest PCs and this was a beautiful card. I don't recall paying much more than $10 (because I'm cheap), but it was at least $10. The card looks much better in person than in the scan as the front is that mirror board, or whatever it's called. The signature is small and you have to hold it in the right light to see the blue ink against the blue Bears helmet.

Goodbye 2016

Looking over my post history for 2016 is a quick reminder of just how busy I was...or was it that blogging about cards lost some of it's appeal. Or was it a little of both?

I'm still not able to put a finger on it, but regardless a new year is upon on so why not take a few moments to look back at the past year...and share some images of cards I've picked up, but never posted about.

2000 Upper Deck

2005 Fleer Showcase #035/183

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like my player collections keep changing. I tend to pick players that don't always get a lot of cards or the players just drop out of the limelight all together, but one guy that I've stayed with is Tim Hudson. I have a good many of his cards already, but I'm amazed I keep finding cards of his that I don't own...especially cards of his pre-Braves days. Tim isn't going anywhere and I look forward to resuming my search for his cards in 2017.

2016 Topps Update Black parallel #60/65

The 2016 Braves may not have been the best team the club has assembled nor did they have the success I'm sure they were wanting, but one good thing did become of the season. Frenchy. When he signed the minor league deal during spring training I was beside myself. However I really didn't think he had a snowball chance in Hell to make the team. I was glad I was wrong. Early in the 2016 baseball card season I had to settle for cards of Francoeur in an ugly Phillies uniform, but towards the middle of the season Topps finally corrected this and issued a few proper cards of him in a Braves uniform. I was glad to have more cards of his to chase, especially trying to complete the rainbow of his 2016 Topps Update card seen above. I believe I'm still lacking the pink parallel to finish off the "set".

2015 Topps Heart of the Order

Freddie was back to his normal form in 2016. He was just as much fun to watch as ever, especially now that his eye sight issues that plagued him in 2015 seem to have been corrected. It was also fun following his journey becoming a dad for the first time during the season. After the Braves shipped Hector Olivera off to San Diego in exchange for Matt Kemp, Freddie was finally given a good power bat in the line up to compliment his game. The Braves may have not had the success they wanted, but they seem to be heading in the right direction and I'm glad that Freeman continues to be leading the way.

2016 Topps Gold Label

It seems as if you can always find new cards of your favorite players, even if they aren't playing the game any longer. I recently picked up this metal gold framed auto of Andruw Jones for about $5. These cards are much more beautiful in hand than they appear when scanned.

 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Relic

I don't actively seek out Chipper cards, but I pulled this GQ relic from a blaster while working on completing my 2016 GQ set (which I still need to do).

 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Relic

 2016 Topps Triple Threads Legends Relic #13/27

2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Framed Mini Relic

 I will seek out new cards of Smoltz however and I was glad to pick up these relics. I don't normally bother with Triple Threads, but this particular one caught my eye and the price was right.

Do you like the fact that Topps (and even Panini) are still mixing in retired players into current product checklists?

 2016 Topps Heritage

2016 Topps Gold Label

How can you talk about the 2016 baseball season and not bring up the Cubs. While I'm not a fan of the team, I was glad to see David Ross pick up a World Series ring. In the aftermath of the Cubs win I did manage to pick up a few Cubs cards of his before he rode off into the (retirement) sunset.

During the said Cubs World Series win aftermath, I found out that the Cubs reliever, Carl Edwards, Jr. was from my hometown of Charlotte, NC. I don't always actively collect cards of players from my hometown or from NC, but I found myself with yet another beautiful Gold Label auto. I'm not sure if he'll gain a spot in my PC, but it's still a nice card to own none the less.

 2016 Panini Instant

After the Braves season ended I was all ready to shift my focus to the NFL and my Carolina Panthers. The 2015 season fell just one win short of being magical, so I and many other fans thought we may be able to recreate that same magic in 2016. Wrong.

I guess one of the things that bothered me for much of the season was Cam Newton's play and the media. Cam had a bad year. The team had a bad year. Judging from the media though a player can't have a bad year. According to the media the MVP season Cam had a year a go was a fluke. According to the media Cam is the only QB in the NFL that is a sore loser. 

2016 Panini Prizm Intros

Why does everyone love to hate this guy? I've seen countless number of videos of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and others throwing tablets, cussing up a storm on the sidelines and throwing their own versions of temper tantrums...yet the media acts as if Cam is the only one that is so emotional playing this game. While I won't and don't defend Cam 100% of the time, I do get sick and tired of the double standard.

Does Cam need to work on his mechanics in the off season to improve? Definitely. Is he a bad QB? Heavens no! Some fans say the Panthers should cut him. I wonder how many other fanbases would love to have Cam as their QB. The 49ers? Rams? Vikings? Eagles? Jets? Whatever the problem was for the team and for Cam, I hope they are able to work on it in the off season. I hope that the team management is able to take some of that cap money they didn't use in 2016 and go and sign some good veteran free agents to help solidify the offense line. Go draft some much needed young guys to fill in the holes on this team. 

2016 Panini Playbook Yellow Printing Plate 1/1

Regardless of the teams performance, I still sought out new cards at different times throughout the season. When your team isn't playing hard it's a little harder to get excited to hunt for new cards, but this printing plate of Greg Olsen is one of the best cards I picked up all year. You couldn't tell from that guy's play that the team had a 6-10 record. BTW, congrats to Greg for becoming the first TE in the NFL to record 3 consecutive seasons with 1,000 or more receiving yards.

I let a lot of things slide in 2016 and I plan on fixing those things in 2017. I have a lot of sets that I've never finished collating, yet along made lists for. I slacked off of trading and I'd like to get back to helping fulfill other collector's lists. My organization has been horrible. I've got some many stacks of cards all over my office and in my man cave down stairs that I can't remember what's going on. Thankfully that should be addressed really soon as just today a huge order I placed with BCW arrived. Too bad I had to leave to go out of town today, otherwise I would have dropped what I was doing to start to get organized again. Look for a post on this process in the near future.

I'm excited for the new year and what it will bring. The release of 2017 Topps Series 1 is just around the corner, the changes made to '17 GQ have me excited and before I know it I'll be busting a box of my annual favorite, Allen & Ginter. Let's just hope I don't lose this renewed energy and I can't keep it going for another year. Thanks to everyone out there in blogger world for the continued support. Here's to a great new year.

A Little Love for my 7-0 Carolina Panthers

Going into the 2015 NFL Season if someone had told me that the Carolina Panthers would be 7-0 entering week 9 of the season...without Kelvin Benjamin I would have laughed. It's not that I doubted my team, but to be undefeated without our number 1 wide receiver? If I'm being honest, and I am, I didn't see this coming.

All season long I've heard the critics say that Cam Newton isn't a franchise quarterback. He can't win without real "weapons" and the wide receivers on our team are horrible. I've heard that the Panthers haven't beaten anyone. Basically I've had to sit all season thus far and listen to the nation say the Panthers suck.

I've been a fan of the team since 1995 when the team played their first game. I'm not a bandwagon fan so all this criticism eventually gets to you. I'm so proud that this time has come together and strung together the wins they have. They have a big hurdle in their way today in the form of the Green Bay Packers. If the Panthers are going to go 8-0 they will need to play their A game as today's match up won't be an easy one.

2014 Panini Rookies & Stars Crusade #39

The success of this team all begins with Cam. While his stats over the last handful of games aren't anywhere near the realm of Brady, Manning or Brees, he is still 7-0 and last time I checked that's what matters. Cam has taken huge strides since even last year. Of course it helps that this is the first time in a while that he has been completely healthy...and it shows in his play. I also think that in a weird way, Kelvin Benjamin going down in the pre-season has only made Cam a better QB. It's forcing him to spread the ball around more. He's also doing a fantastic job controlling the running game in the back field w/ a healthy Jonathan Stewart. If Cam can continue to spread the ball around and play smart, I think he has a good chance of shutting up even more of the national critics with his play today.

2015 Topps Valor Shield of Honor autograph patch 05/50

2015 Topps Inception Rookie patch 002/125

2015 Panini The National glove swatch #7

2015 Panini The National 317/499

2015 Panini Rookie & Stars #RSR6

Devin Funchess hasn't panned out to be the wide receiver a lot of fans were hoping him to be. He's dealt with a few dropped passes in his limited playing time he's gotten, but it's still early. Plus I think Kelvin spoiled us fans last year bursting onto the NFL scene with the rookie season he had. I have high hopes still for Funchess and I think he'll play a crucial role in the passing game in years to come.

2015 Panini Spectra auto 67/99

A little known WR from Ohio State University, Philly Brown has been hot and cold with the Panthers. He made some good plays last year w/ his speed, but in the pre-season this year he was known for all the wrong reasons - dropped passes. Philly has recently turned things around and has been a big part of this offense at times w/ his incredible speed. He also has turned around the whole dropping the ball thing and has been awarded with more playing time. He may not be a household name or have the receiving numbers as other NFL WRs, but that doesn't mean he can't burn the Packers later today.

2015 Topps Valor Gridiron Warriors

It's no surprise that Greg Olsen has been Cam's #1 target for most of the season. A great blocking tight end too, Greg has been an invaluable part of this offense. I swear of the last few games though the refs have hit him with a few phantom calls that have resulted in touchdowns he scored being waived off or a big penalty costing the team yardage. However Greg is a great example of the heart this team has and how this team has come together to play as one.

2015 Bowman Rookie Chrome Refractor auto

2015 Topps Inception auto

Cameron Artis-Payne hasn't gotten on the field much this season due to the stellar efforts of Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert, but like with Funchess I think he'll play a big part of this offense in years to come.

2015 Panini Certified auto 83/99

The saying is that defense wins Championships and Carolina has plenty of horses on defense. Thomas Davis, Luke Kuechly, Kwann Short, Josh Norman and others have been in the spotlight, however Shaq Thompson has really burst onto the scene and is putting together a really nice rookie campaign for himself. Shaq missed the Monday night game last week against the Colts, but is back and ready to wreck some havoc against the Packers offense today.

There are of course many, many other players that have factored into the teams 7-0 record to this point, but I don't have any new cards of those players to share! This has been an incredibly fun ride so far and I look forward to today's tough match up. Even if the Panthers come out of today w/ a 7-1 record, I'll still be just as proud of the team as if they come out 8-0. I think one of the things that sets this team apart from the a lot of the other teams is that they believe in one another and play as a team. I know that may sound cliche, but it's true. This team has one another's backs at all times. The Panthers may not be the flashiest team or win the prettiest, but they are finding a way to get things done each and every week and I don't think today will really be any different.

Go Panthers!! #KeepPounding

Catching up with some scanning - Carolina Panthers Edition

I've been a lazy collector.  I've got so many different stacks of cards on my desk that even I've beginning to remember what needs to be done with each stack!  After I put the kids to bed I wanted to sit down and watch some of the Saturday night NFL Wild Card playoff games so I thought why not try and be productive too.  I tackled one stack of cards that I wanted to scan for my team/PC project as well as my Facebook page.  Here are a few cards that I picked up "recently"...like sometime in 2012!!