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!!

  

  

  

  

A helping hand

Competition isn't always bad. It's always cool to run across fellow Braves collectors where we can help each other out from time to time.  Awhile back a reader contacted me about something...can't remember what exactly.  Turns out he too was a Braves fan and was looking for new trading partners.  From time to time I send him Braves stuff and he sends me Braves and Panthers cards.  He even started his own blog not too long ago, Chipp 'n' Dale.  Recently he contacted me about a Steve Smith card and tossed in a nice little bonus...

2012 Panini Prime Signatures (426/499)

92-93 Fleer Ultra RC

I love getting old Hornets cards!  I'm not as big a fan of the NBA now as I was in the early 90's, but that doesn't stop me from wanting more old school Charlotte Hornets...you know, the real Hornets.  I really really hope Michael Jordan renames the Bobcats the Hornets again since the name is being freed up.  The whole city is behind the movement.  Come on Jordan, Bring back the Buzz!

Steve Smith re-signs with Carolina through 2015 & a SMG sighting!

Earlier today it was reported that wide receiver Steve Smith has re-signed with the Carolina Panthers through 2015 with an option for 2016.  Steve Smith holds just about every team receiving record and has been the heart and soul of the team...even if he has let his anger get the best of him a time or two.  I'm sure having Cam Newton as the starting QB influenced his decision to stay in town and hopefully retire as a Panther.

Speaking of Steve a few weeks back I got a package in the mail from the sewingmachineguy.  In the past we've routinely exchanged cards with each other, but I was expecting anything from him so I was already surprised.  That surprised turned into glee when this card slid out of the bubble mailer.

2010 Topps Magic jersey (25/25)

I love this set.  2010 Magic was the first football set I wanted to build.  I stayed away from the relics because of their low numbering and high price, but the art on the base cards is just beautiful.  I knew that the sewingmachineguy had been breaking up parts of his collection to sell, but no way did I expect him to send me this card.  I know he could've sold this on eBay and it probably would've fetched a nice amount so I can't think him enough for his generosity. 

Super Bowl Countdown - Carolina Panthers Patch Edition Day #7

It's game time in the National Football League!  Hopefully you can pull yourself away from the riveting pre-game on television long enough to read this post.  Today is a bittersweet moment.  It's the game we've been looking for to all season.  On the other hand it also means the end of the season and August seems so far away.  Here in Carolina waiting to see what Cam can do with this offense will seem like an eternity!  Hopefully I can get the rest of my Panthers game-used and autos scanned into my virtual album before the 2012 season kicks off.  For know I share one last Panthers patch card.

2011 Panini Rookie & Stars #26/50

Super Bowl Countdown - Carolina Panthers Patch Edition Day #6

It was so happy to see Cam Newton single handedly rejuvenate Steve Smith's career in 2011.  Combine that with this nice Panini Threads design and you've got a winner of a card!

2011 Panini Threads #112/170

Super Bowl Countdown - Carolina Panthers Patch Edition Day #2

5 more days until the big game my team has nothing to do with!  Staying on offense we'll head over to the WR position and check out a nice card of Steve Smith.  To bad the shiny foil front of the card doesn't show better in the scan.

2007 Donruss Gridiron Kings #07/50

Life and Baseball Cards...on top of a refrigerator

Early in December I got an e-mail from Life and Baseball Cards that he had a bubble mailer full of cards to send to me...but he misplaced it and only recently found it on top of his fridge!

When the package finally arrived a week or so ago I was surprised at just how much he was able to cram into a single bubble mailer.  The cards inside just about covered all of my collecting spectrum.  Baseball, football, a few basketball, wrestling and even some Marvel Comics cards!  I won't bore everyone with all the cards, but here are a few that jumped out at me.

I'm slowly working on this nice looking foil insert set from 2008 Topps.

  

Delhomme was fun to watch because you never knew if he was going to throw for 4 TDs or 4 picks.  He had a "connection" with Steve Smith (not to mention their Bojangles commercials!) when he played for the Panthers.

LeFors was another NFL QB bust, but I'll still add these jersey cards to the Panthers collection.

I don't normally bother with the collegiate stuff unless it's NC State, but I really like DeAngelo Williams so these were a nice surprise.



Since I don't buy a lot of football packs I don't have a lot of cards of either Carson Palmer or Kurt Warner.  I especially like the Gridiron Kings Warner card.

Love me some old school basketball cards - especially old Charlotte Hornets cards.  I went to many games at the Hornets old arena affectionately nicknamed the Hive.  Burrell was a great small forward out of UConn I believe. The fact that this is a sticker card gets bonus points!



If the sheer amount of cards weren't enough this Marvel Comics sketch card was also included in the stack.  I wasn't sure at first glance it this was a genuine 1/1 at first.  I have a good knowledge of the Marvel Universe, but I can't quite identify this character.  Any one care to help me?

I need to get busy and pull some cards to send back to show my gratitude.  Thanks for helping me end 2011 on such a great note!

I guess having an off season hurts your eBay value

Let's face it.  It was hard to be a Carolina Panthers fan in 2010.  The team's offense in particular was horrible.  Actually horrible is the best word I can use to describe the team.  There were so many things going wrong last year.  Out standout WR Steve Smith had one of his worst seasons in the NFL.

It does seem to help that Panther cards are showing up again in droves thanks in part to #1 draft pick Cam Newton.  I've run across a couple of good deals of players not named Cam.  One in particular I was super happy to score:

 

Look at the patch!  It's too bad you don't get to see the nice shiny Longevity sheen going on here.  I also like the fact that the black Longevity theme blends in well w/ the Panthers' team colors.  Low sequentially numbering too.  The best part of the whole deal?  The price!  $.99 baby!  I had to pay $3.00 to have the card shipped to me...which sucks.  I hate paying more than $2 or $2.25 to have a single card shipped...but I guess I can't complain to much.  $4 bucks for such a beautiful patch card is still a winning deal in my book.  I do wish Panini had used a different image for the back.

Now let's hope Steve and Cam Newton's off season practices translates into some good chemistry this season.  If that does happen I expect to see both Panini and Topps insert Steve into more of their inserts and sets.

The NFL Pre-Season is OVER!

I'm one of the few that could care less about the start of the college football season today.  I'm just excited that the first NFL game of the new season is less than a week away.  With this excite comes my optimistic views on how the local Carolina Panthers will fair.

No Jake Delhomme.  No Mushin Muhammand.  No Julius Peppers.  No Chris Harris.  Some people think that since the Panthers are "rebuilding" they don't have a chance at even being competitive this season.  I tend to think different.  I'd be lying if I said the offense didn't concern me going into the season since they didn't score not even one offensive touchdown in the pre-season.  Steve Smith (the real Steve Smith, not that scrub that plays for the Giants!) didn't play one snap.  Jonathan Stewart (the other half of "Double Trouble" didn't play either.  Jeff Davidson was trying several different things with the offensive since the O line looks a little different and we've got a new QB leading the team.  The offense may not look all that pretty this year I'm not giving up hope.  We've got too many weapons.  Smith will lead the receiving team as always.  Question is who will be the #2 receiver that will step it up when Smith gets the inevitable double team?  Will Jarrett finally step up to the plate or will one of the many WR rookies like Brandon LaFell step into the spotlight?  DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart make a great one-two punch, but let's not forget about Mike Goodson.  He's a different type of RB and he showed a lot of promise last year (I thought) and was the one bright spot on special teams in the pre-season.

Defense looks to be very solid.  Everette Brown is starting to make people in Carolina say "Julius who?"  Ron Meeks has crafted a very good defense so far and I can't wait to see how they perform as a unit in the regular season.  The defense is young, but very talented and will only get better when veteran LB Thomas Davis returns to true form.

Yes, the Panthers may not make it into the playoffs or to the Superbowl (can I say that or do I have to say the "big game"?), but this is one fan that is glad to see the team return to the field.  In my excitement of the looming NFL season I hit up eBay looking for some Panther goodness and was surprised to find so many good deals on some nice autographs.  Here are a few that I've recently picked up.  As the season progresses I'm sure I'll be back with more.

2010 Panini Adrenalyn XL 

Jon Beason Extra #E5

Jonathan Stewart Special #S9

2009 Bowman Chrome Mike Goodson #151

2009 Score Red Zone #373 (22/30)

2009 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection #198 (277/375)

2009 Topps National Chicle #NBA-MG

2010 Donruss Elite David Gettis #106 (241/499)

2007 Upper Deck Artifacts Thomas Davis #NF-TD

2005 Upper Deck SP Authentic #SS-TD

2010 Panini Classics Steve Smith (250/299)

2010 Panini Classics Jonathan Stewart (034/299)

My first eTopps haul arrived!

I'm a little late posting this as my first shipment from eTopps arrived sometime last week. I took advantage of the shipping sale Topps was running and finally shipped some of the cards I've had in my portfolio since I started buying in 2002! I am really impressed with these cards even though they aren't desirable.

Let's start w/ the Braves lot:

2009 Jordan Schafer RC, 2005 & 2006 Jeff Francoeur & 2006 Bobby Cox

2002 DeShaun Foster & Chris Weinke, 2004 Keary Colbert, 05 Stephan LeFors, Julius Peppers & Eric Shelton, 2006 Steve Smith & DeAngelo Williams

I got a few Panthers team cards that I didn't bother scanning. I've learned however that I ought to hold off buying some of these players when they are first released as the prices drop rather quickly on eBay. I paid full price for all of these and now could be had for a buck or less. Oh well, live and learn I suppose.