Tuesday, 15 March 2016

Will the third time still be a charm?

Continuing on from yesterday's post I am going to show some of the cards that I needed from a third 400+ lot of Browns cards that I ordered from the same seller. One thing that I didn't mention, though, was that this lot said that it included four jersey cards in it, and had a photo of them. So while bidding on the auction I knew that I needed two of them for sure.

I won the auction for $4.50, and shipping for this order was $9.00. Again, knowing my luck with the two previous lots, and figuring that the seller must be running out of unique cards to send, I didn't really set the bar high - I would be satisfied if I could add at least 25 new cards to my collection.

Let's start with the two jersey cards that I knew that I needed.

l - 2002 Leaf Certified #108 Andre Davis 684/800
r - 2002 Pacific Private Stock Titanium Post Season Edition #86 Tim Couch 313/435
I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I complain about how many memorabilia cards are out there, but I'm always happy when I add another Browns one. I don't really care whether the jersey is "event-used" or "game worn" as the two cards above, I just like seeing that little piece of fabric there. I'm such a sucker. And in a way I would rather the jersey that was cut up was just used for an event, a practice, or made for the occasion as opposed to actually destroying one that was worn in a game.

Each of the lots had a small amount of pre-move Cleveland Browns. This lot had one that I needed, a nice gold parallel of a card of which I already owned the regular version.
 
1993 Power Moves Update Moves Gold #PMUD3
It is funny that Vinny Testaverde was Bernie Kosar's college backup in Miami, and then was signed as his backup and replaced him in Cleveland, and that he was 12 days older than Kosar.

Of course I'm not going to get 1999 expansion Browns cards without getting some Tim Couch and Kevin Johnson cards that I need.

The Collector's Edge Odyssey card on the right is a base card that I needed
3-2 in 1999 cards shown, but I picked up more needed Couch cards than Johnson ones in the lot
I was happy to get the base cards below from the 1999 Upper Deck Victory set. They bring me down to only needing three more base cards from that set.

I love seeing the helmet on the checklist card
From what I remember when I sorted this lot, the largest piles were from 2000 and 2004. I needed 13 cards from 2000. Add that to the cards shown above, and you can see that I made it over the 25 cards I wanted from the lot.

I love Ozzie Newsome as a player. It really hurt to see him wearing his Ravens golf shirt in the "A Football Life: 1995 Browns" episode. Yes, I know he needed to be interviewed, but he could have worn a neutral shirt. Just an extra way after the fact jab to this Browns fan. Watching that episode hurt, and just thinking about the move still causes me to get angry. I'm not over it.

I like getting the various Metal cards, but don't think that I would want to see them brought back as an actual set.

Not living or going to school in the US, I don't have a natural college team to support. As a kid I started cheering for different colleges in the different sports. This being March, I will be cheering for the Arizona Wildcats who I've been cheering for since Kenny Lofton played with Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr in the late 1980s. Arizona isn't my favorite college football team, but I still find myself somewhat following them (sort of like I can't help but read Indians and Cavs articles/headlines on Cleveland sites) so it is nice to see the Dennis Northcutt card in his Arizona uniform.

Most of the cards that I needed from 2000 were from the Skybox Dominion set. I just showed these three because I liked the players and photos.

Obviously there are insert and base cards among the cards that I needed, but some of them were numbered.

Okay, the Gerard Warren is just a regular un-numbered base card
With the Quincy Morgan cards, the 2001 Sage Hit is an Emerald Die-Cut parallel #/299. The 2002 Fleer Tradition is a Tiffany parallel #/225. The 2003 Fleer Authentix is a Balcony parallel #/250.

The 2003 Fleer Showcase Tim Couch is a Legacy parallel #/125.

There were also a couple of numbered Leaf Limited cards (from 2005 and 2006) in the lot.

A sampling of the 2004 cards I needed
In a common theme, I was hopeful when the Browns signed Jeff Garcia. I liked watching him in the CFL and was happy with his success in San Francisco. As much of an optimist that I am, I'm having a hard time seeing the positives this off-season, although I'm still going to try to wait and see how the front office does over time before I go off on a rant.

I really like the 2004 Fleer Tradition cards and still have many of the parallels to hunt down. I was happy to see this blue Winslow card.

Although the card design for the Platinum Youth Movement card doesn't fully fit the retro feel, the picture does of the player in a stance in front of empty stands.

Above I wrote about being an Arizona fan in college basketball. In football it has always been Notre Dame since I was a kid. It is one of the few teams that I cheered for that was the same as who my father cheered for. It might have something to do with growing up Catholic. Anyway, being a fan, I was happy when the Browns drafted Brady Quinn.

I don't want to re-use a Brady Bunch reference from yesterday, do I?
All in all, I needed 54 cards from this lot, which means the post-shipping cost works out to $0.25/card. I'm happy with that. Now, do I quite while I'm ahead if this seller lists another lot? Surely he can't keep coming up with so many cards that I need.

Anyway, trying someone else, I just bought a 300 card lot from a guy on eBay today. Eventually they won't work out, but until then I'm happy to fill holes with the cards they provide, and I'm getting all these cards for under the cost of a blaster.

2 comments:

  1. I like relic cards but I don't go too much out of my way to add them to my collection.

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  2. Not sure how I missed Jeff Garcia with the Browns. He's one of the few 49ers I've actually cheered for... since he's a fellow SJSU alumni. As for memorabilia cards... I straddle the line. On one side... I'm sad that manufacturers ruined so a cool concept by flooding the market with event used trading cards. The idea of owning a piece of "game used" jersey was just so cool. On the other hand... at least collectors can find memorabilia cards for a fraction of the price they once commanded. I used to be shocked when I'd see a common jersey card in a $2 bin. Now days... you can find HOFers for that price... and I've seen guys selling memorabilia cards of commons for less than a buck... which is AWESOME for anyone trying to pad their collection.

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