Thursday, October 3, 2019

Uh-oh; Another Blogger Goes on Hiatus & 2019 Bassmasters Angler of the Year

What's new?

First off, my newest cards...

Probably the last cards I will be purchasing for a long time. I will explain in another section.
Stewie Auto /150 from Ebay/Twitter. Honestly, I hate when someone adds me on twitter and instantly dm's me with cards they have for sale. This time, however, I made an exception and bought this card for next to nothing. 

Finally, finally, finally. I have been chasing this simple SP for months. Got it on ebay for a 99 cent auction. Patience pays off. 

/25 ebay steal.

My first Brandon Dixon AUTO! When JaCoby Jones went down Brandon became my Tiger to follow for the year. 

I am 0/4 on my last breaks for hits. I don't know where my typical luck has been but only base cards from the last few case breaks I've bought into. Rough too because prices have been really inflated lately and this is the haul from a 2 CASE bowman chrome (bought Stewart) and 1 case Chronicles break (Bought Stewart and O'Hearn). Ugh.

Casey Mize was 99 cents shipped on ebay auction. Max was $2 shipped along with an Ike Davis relic card from the same set. The Ike Davis was the pic for the listing so that must have been how I got both for $2. Eloy sticker was from a blaster a few weeks ago.

Hunter Greene ebay 99 cent auction win. Numbered /25 and diecut!

On our way back through Canada on a trip to the East coast, I grabbed 3 packs of Tim Horton's UD Hockey cards. 




What Have I Been Up To?

BASSMASTER Elite Series Angler of the Year Tournament @ Lake St. Clair...

Bassmasters finally came back to Lake St. Clair. For those that don't know there was a recent huge shake up in pro bass fishing leaving anglers to decide whether to stay with BASS or join a hot newcomer organization. This tournament didn't have any huge names but a lot of guys I follow. Two years ago I was at a similar event at the same park and I was the only amateur photographer there. This year, I had a lot of competition and even some passive aggressive scuffles with the Pass Credential photographers who followed me to get into my shots or steal them all together. Whatever. I got the ink I wanted. 
The anglers starting to come in for the weigh in. 

Probably my coolest auto'd 8X10 in my collection. The scan is crappy, it looks cool in person. A couple years ago I took this pic and thought it was awesome Paul Mueller was holding his son at the weigh in. While I was waiting for his autograph I noticed his wife and son standing by me. I asked his son if that was him on the picture and he asked if he could sign it. Heck yes! I got the father son duo on it. Look for the young Mueller to be famous 16 years from now or so. 

Chad Pipkens is one of the local Michigan anglers and one of my favorites. Walmart didn't give me the best print of this pic as it is a little darker than I'd like but still cool. Just need to find Brent Chapman someday to add to it.

Another Pipkens auto.

Brandon Lester threw some ink down on a 8X10 for me too!
I have been continuing my quest for angler autos on the Allen and Ginter Sport Fish cards. I slacked a lot this time and only got four sigs. Rookie of the Year Jake Whitaker, Drew Cook, John Crews, and Garrett Paquette.
Yes, I do always need more of these A&G fish insert cards, or any fish cards for that matter BUT:they are dime box cards at best. Please do not message me on here or TCDB asking if I want to buy them at $1 each. I pass them up at 25 cents all the time. I am pretty sure there are only a handful of people who even collect this insert set and of those I might be the only one who has completed but still wants more. I have a ton of them unsigned so I am not in need of them but will accept them in trade. I will throw up some more pics from the event at the end of this blog. 


What's next?

Looking to the future for me, my collection, and this blog...

I am currently starting a long hiatus from buying and trading cards. Years ago I started this blog to keep track of my TTM collection. I quit that pretty quickly when I moved to Maine, I let other passions take over my time, and had a kid. I started this thing back up under the current name a few years ago when we moved back to Michigan and the hobby I was most passionate about became cards again. I just got back from a week in New England with my family. The purpose of the trip was for my wife to interview at 4 different hospitals as her residency is coming to an end in July. So, with job offers coming in instantly I must announce we will be officially moving back to New England (most likely New Hampshire this time) at the end of next summer. We have until then to save up every penny for the move and finding a new home. Thus, I will not be buying cards or paying off USPS pensions in shipping costs for a long time.
What does this mean for the blog? Not that anyone is on the edge of their seat since I have no clue how many people follow this thing and I don't post enough or do giveaways often enough to attract a lot of traffic. But, I definitely thought that the blog and my hobbies would swing back to hunting and fishing the way it did last time I lived there. BUT, while visiting with an old friend his son mentioned out of nowhere he recently got into collecting baseball cards. These guys had no idea I had any interest in or collected cards at all. This 7 or 8 year old kid brings out a bunch of binders he got from a garage sale. We spent the next half hour going through the cards together and I introduced him to TCDB. It was a definite sign that I need not worry about losing touch with or quitting cards. So, for now, the blog will stay as alive as it is now. 

My son and I were stuck without a vehicle at the hotel most days. We passed time playing Lego video games and catching creatures in the tidal creek down the road. 

We did some lobstering one of the days. 

Some more pics...

Here are some more raw pictures I took at the BASS weigh in. I don't know if I will be able to hit any more pro bass weigh ins ever again so I have plenty of time to let them sit before I edit them. Bass pros don't find their way to New England very often. I will miss being so close to one of the greatest fisheries in the world. 
Brandon Lester


Chad Pipkens 

Clark Wendlandt 

Lee Livesay

Garrett Paquette is a local guy who guides on this lake so the home town love was strong in the crowd.


Drew Cook

Drew won Rookie of the Year as this was BASS's last tournament of the year other than the Classic.

Stetson Blaylock

Family support is huge for these guys and you can see it with his family right up in the first row while he weighs in.

Seth Feider won the tournament by a landslide but the big trophy for the event to be awarded was Angler of the Year. When Seth was asked what he was going to do in his off season he said "I'm gonna get my wife pregnant." 

Chris Zaldain looking cool waiting to weigh in.




Scott Canterbury won Angler of the Year.



6 comments:

  1. Congrats on the new endeavor in new England! Enjoy the hiatus, and we loyal readers will be back when you are!

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  2. New England is awesome. Welcome back! I gave directions to one of the bass guys in Lake George a while back. He took the wrong fork in the road which put him on to the road my motel was on.

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  3. New Hampshire sounds nice. Glad you found a young collector to hang with and good luck with the move!

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  4. Congratulations to your wife, she must be pretty good at what she does to get so many offers! Sounds like you're going to be kind of close to next year's National too, or at least closer than you are now :)

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  5. Awesome idea to have those A&G cards signed. Best of luck on the saving... and eventually the move.

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  6. Congrats to your wife (and you as well). Good luck on the move. As far as A&G fish cards go, I recommend the original A&G Fish set: http://fanofreds.blogspot.com/p/1889-allen-ginter-50-fish-from-american.html :) I actually collected the more modern version of the fish set as well and I consider it one of my favorite insert sets from that year.

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