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.

My First National: NSCC 2019, TTM return

The National feels like it happened a million years ago now. I have had 0 time to post anything about it. I have grand intentions of making a decent youtube video for first timers before the next National show. I feel like every "tips for first time nationalers" posts all say the same thing; wear comfy shoes, take out an extra mortgage, bla bla bla. I definitely have some tips that I haven't seen mentioned other places to share.

Overall, my brother and I had a blast. We left physically sore but content with what we found in Chicago. The show is big and busy but not as elbow to elbow as I expected. Probably 3 or 4 times my typical card show sizes. Dennis can attest; I have a tendency to attract fellow card show shoppers who lack proper personal space etiquette, this show was no different. Although, I did find some of the large, greasy stinkers to be a little more "humpy" at the National. I guess this show would be the professional level for this type of overly-friendly-reachy-feely creeps who have no patients and only want to take cards from the same row you are thumbing through. I did throw a few satisfying, well placed elbows.

I really had no focus coming in and ended up looking for bulk amounts of cheap cards over higher end collection pieces. I do not regret that decision. I never spent over $2 on any single card and the cards I bought would cost me up to 10X the amount I was finding them for if they were priced here in Detroit. We shopped at dime boxes, quarter boxes, dollar boxes and two dollar boxes. We looked through higher end boxes but once I found a card in a $5 box that I also found in a $2 box that same day it turned me off from those boxes.

We spent the majority of our time at The Singles Club, which is the card show equivalent of a dollar store if the dollar store sold normal-sized name brand items you actually want. I found new and vintage cards there and bought some packs. We shopped there 3 separate times. One of the times was during their "Happy Hour" in which you received a raffle ticket for prizes for every $10 you spent. I ended up winning a 1989 Bowman Complete set. Later, I won a 2019 Topps complete set from Ebay so I gave the Bowman to my little brother.

I am just going to purge the pictures on my phone for this post to give a sampling of what I brought home. I don't have the time or memory to put together anything clever let alone entertaining. If anyone has questions about my experience at the show or has questions they think should be answered on my upcoming youtube video please message me. Remember, none of these cards cost me more than $2 and overall I would estimate 50% were 50 cents or less, 30% were $1, and 20% were $2. Most of the relic and autos were $2.

Bright and early the first day (Friday) with maybe 40 people in line in front of us. 

There may have been some other conventions going on. That or Chicago police are from the future.

I won this set from The Singles Club!

I won this contest for a 2019 set too from ebay.

This is basically the total haul. May not look like much but those boxes are full of $1 cards that are really $2-5 in value cards.

I would love to have this Upper Deck themed couch!

I am still kicking myself for not buying 10 of these Chronicles blasters. I love me some Chronicles. 

The haul from day one back at the hotel.

Oh, the sorting.

My best find. $1 !!!

These dudes became Tigers just hours before I found these cards. My first actual purchase at the show!

Someday I'm gonna play this game.

Found some JJ's.

How cool is a piece of Shibe Park?!

State variation RC.

1959 Armour I believe. 

Lots of Stewie

These came out of some packs from The Singles Club

Another Singles Club pack.

Love this.

Promo cards from Pristine Auctions

Clemens bat relic for $2!

These are easily $5+ cards at my local show. Exactly what I was looking for.

Young Pistons.

$1 Cards! Singles Club finds.

Singles club and even some 50 cent Bregman RC finds!

Quarter box RC's

The Springer RC is /150! 

Cheapy Bball autos.

A sealed cello pack from a prior national.

Both /25. I had them traded (in my mind) to my favorite Phils collector on TCDB before I even paid for them. Singles Club!

Knowing your Heritage numbering for SP's can be awesome in a dimebox. Also, stickers telling you it is an SP help too.

Some oddball stuff. Always make good trade bait on TCDB.

Ebay gave out $10 coupons. I used mine to pick up this Casey Mize 1/1 off ebay when we got back.

The "Card Saver" is the worst invention of modern times. They cut me up around my thumbs and I have to cut cards out of them. I have no idea how people get the cards into these stupid things in the first place!

This is my chewed up thumb 10 days after the show. Eff Card Savers.

One of my favorite parts of Trading Card Database is the stats you can see corresponding to anyone's collection. I have been bouncing between #1 and #2 on there for the top spot for JaCoby Jones cards. Dylan aka DVick on TCDB also @talksports16 on twitter is my JJ rival. This guy sends me the card below for nothing. One I needed and is #'ed /67! Talk about a total power play. This actual card put me back in #1 over him, lol. I owe Dylan big time.

Some recent retail pickups:

/150

My first TTM return in a long while. Probably the coolest Torre card in the world now. 

This is a bar back in my home town. I am not going to give them a shout out since I hate their rival softball team but these murals are okay.

If all that wasn't enough; I got a NPN back from Upper Deck. What a sweet couple of weeks!