When is a Topps Certified Autograph NOT a Certified Autograph?

Before I get to my story, I'd like to update you all on my 400,000 card collection haul.  I have gone through the majority of it, after hours of hard work (poor me, lol!)  I will be fulfilling an order very soon for someone, and the majority of the collection will be a part of it.  Thank goodness too ... we need the space!  A friend of mine will be loading me up with another 200,000 cards soon to fulfill the upcoming over. 

Working through all this cardboard is time consuming, but sure is fun.  It is nice to be able to sit back and look at all the freebies and such you have after all is said and done.  I'll probably be posting pictures at some point in the next few weeks what was found, so stay tuned!

Ok, so the question in the title:  When is a Topps Certified Autograph NOT a Certified Autograph? 

A few days back, someone texted me and asked if I was interested in a 2012 Bowman Chrome Rookie Autographed Refractor of Yu Darvish.

Ummm ... yes please! 

He said it booked for $350, and would take $200 for it.  I wasn't a buyer at $200, but if he could be talked down, I'd sure be happy to consider it!  I asked where he got it from, and he said he traded a guy for it with his PS3. 

I asked for a picture ... here it is!

Preeeeeettttyyyyy

Very nice looking card!!!  One thing that was strange though, was that when I was doing my research, I couldn't find a single autographed card that looked like this ... not one!  This is normally a *very* good sign, and heck ... maybe $200 is worth it after all! 

Then I continued on my research.

I found a number of these "Topps Certified Autograph" Darvish cards (that is what it says on the card itself!) without an autograph!  Apparently, a number of these were made as "proofs".  They could be approved by the higher ups at Topps before going into production. 

"So why was this one autographed?" I thought to myself. 

Click on the image, and compare the signature to what else you see online.  See any problems? 

Part of me wanted to go back to the guy and say Yu didn't sign this ... You signed this!

But part of me was worried that maybe he was just an unknowing person in all this, so I didn't quite know what to do. 

And then I remembered his text from him a few days ago. 

"Why would a card say 'Topps Certified Auto' on it and not have an autograph on it?"

There is the smoking gun. 

Look out everyone - you have no idea how many scammers there are out there!  You never can be too careful with autographs!

400,000 Card Haul!

So, this past weekend, a good dealer friend of mine contacted me asking if I was interested in seeing someone's collection.  He said he was not going to be able to make it because he was having some car issues.  Anytime he makes a suggestion, I listen, so I called up the guy to hear what he had. 

On the phone, it sounded like the typically over inflated common lot from someone who wanted way too much for everything.  I wanted to try it anyway though, because my dealer friend mentioned something about some 60's cards.  It was hearsay from another friend of his, but either way, I figured ... what the heck.  Sure, it is a half hour away, and if it truly is nearly 400,000 cards, my cardbord mobile would have to make two trips.  Automatically 2 hours time right there!

The guy was very nice.  We agreed that after I finished things for the day with my family, I would call him, and head up there to take a look.  I gave him a call, while I was on my way, and he didn't answer.  I texted ... nothing.  I left a message, still nothing.  I was 10 minutes into my trip or so, and decided to turn around.  I was almost back home, and got a text:

"Sorry, I was at a restaurant and got drunk." 

Hmmmm.  Do I really want to go over to this guy's house now? 

Of course! 

So I went there, and sure enough, he had tons of cards.  Everything was nicely packed, and his new Z06 Corvette looked super pretty in there also.  I asked him the story on it, and basically what he said was, about 10 years ago, someone was about to start up a shop.  They got sick with cancer and died.  To help out, he ended up buying it all for $15,000.  He assured me he wasn't looking for anywhere near that, though it did make me a bit nervous! 

I looked and there were some lower end rookies of Pujols & Jeter, which showed me that it wasn't all just commons.  There were all kinds of other neat cards as well.  After a while though, he pulled several other stacks of cards from inside of his house. 

I'm glad I waited for a while before making an offer!

I decided to finally make an offer, and we came to an agreement.  Here are some pictures!

From day 2 of the haul

From day one of the haul

The funny / slightly stressful thing about it all is that this was a day after we bought a TON of stuff at garage sales.  AND when I got home, my wife mentioned her sister was going to go ahead and bring over stuff that she wanted us to sell for her.  Needless to say, we are looking like a bunch of hoarders right now! 

I was up until about 2 am with the first haul trying to shoe horn it in my garage.  It sure was tiresome, but the juice was definitely worth the squeeze. 

Nolan Ryan Rookie Card Mail Day!

Need I say more?   :)  I got this in on a trade/cash deal from one of the deals I did about a month ago.  This deal was done 2 days ago, and it just came in.  This is my first Nolan Ryan rookie I've had, and he is proudly displayed on the left of my monitor, just across from my Jeter SP rookie.  #HappyFriday

A Busy Month

So, it has been a while since I have posted.  I have been itching to put up something, so I figured heck - it is the end of the work day, and nothing on my plate, so now is as good a time as any! 

Deal #1
I scored a great deal a little over 3 weeks ago from a guy who seemed to be genuinely nice.  As a manager of a well known restaurant chain around here, I thought I could trust him.  We agreed on a price, and part of the agreement was that he was going to bring over a card to complete the deal.

That day never came. 

Instead of holding up his part of the bargain, he decided to push me off repeatedly, promising he would bring the card the next day ... then the next day, until he just avoided me and wouldn't return my calls.  He would continually lie saying he sent the card, and he didn't get my messages. 

After a few calls to his work, he finally did text me and made what sounded to be a threat, and that he would deliver the card when it was convenient for him.  Left to his own devices, he probably never will send the card.  The thing that is frustrating, is that either this guy is a slime ball, or he thinks he gave me such a good deal after checking out what I was selling on ebay, that he doesn't feel the need to live up to his word, and just not deliver on his promises. 

Either way, the man lied and has not delivered, but regardless, it was a good deal.  Of course it was a good deal - otherwise I wouldn't have gotten the cards!  It is unfortunate that I had to run up against someone like this, but I guess in life, you meet unpleasant people from time to time.  This just goes to show you - you can't judge a book by its cover!

The contents included about 500 jersey / autographed cards.  I try not to think of who they came from, but they are really neat, and I have enjoyed putting the time and effort into selling and trading.  There were things from event worn pieces of Justin Bieber, to astronaut relics, to a piece of the statue of liberty, to many other things.  The majority were football and baseball though. 

Deal #2
After going back and forth with some people for about a week or two, they decided to take the drive out and show me the cards they had - it was probably a 1 1/2 hour drive round trip for them, so I was a little nervous about having them come here and having to say no. 

It was a husband and wife duo, and they brought their kiddo as well.  They had over 25,000 cards, parked in the street in front of my house, and began setting all the cards up on the street!  I had them park in the drive way instead, and they started setting them up there, too.  It was a sight - I never had seen it before, though I'd imagine most of my blog followers probably think my driveway is normally paved with cardboard. 

After sifting through a lot, I didn't find much, so I offered $90 for everything, if I recall correctly.  The wife was noticably upset #awkward. 

I told them that I would probably not be able to make off of them what they are asking to have me buy them for, so I would pass.  Immediately, they started packing up, so I then asked if they would be open to selling some.  I found some vintage off brand stuff, a few binders, and a 2005 Topps set I said I would take $30 for.  The wife immediately said "I don't even think so...these are worth money!" 

When I heard that, I whipped out my phone, to show the sales on ebay, and sure enough ... her position softened.  :)  I was able to pull some Sandberg rookies and a Pinnacle Jeter rookie, which was cool.  It wasn't a jackpot hit, but being able to make a few bucks, enjoy getting some new cards, and not having them walk away with just a big hit in gas made it all worthwhile!

Deal #3
A week later, I finally was able to meet up with yet another person I had been speaking with via text for a month or so.  They were looking to move their grandfather's collection.  Initially they wanted $5,000 for everything, but I got it for a fraction of that.  Included was some really cool stuff! 

 

Definitely a nice haul!  Included, if you can't see the pics above, are autographs of Yogi Berra, Johnny Mize, Enos Slaughter, Musial, Koufax, Paige, Hubbell, Medwick and DiMaggio. 

 

Deal #5

I was offered up another one of those Satchel Paige autographed plaque post cards by someone else.  This deal came with a binder of beat up cards from the 50's, so, strangely enough, I now have two Satchel Paige autographs!  



 

Did I mention I got an autographed bat of the all time home run king Barry Bonds?  I traded it for some boxes I got from Black Friday. 

 

Speaking of which, the hustling has paid off - I have now turned a profit from both the big January Card show as well as the Black Friday boxes I purchased.  It took a while, but it was worth the work - I now have tons of boxes (opened and unopened) for free, basically.

 

Deal #6

Remember that Griffey autograph you saw from Deal #1 above?  Well, I was able to trade it for about 21 awesome jersey / autographed cards.  From Berra, to McCutchen, to Kershaw, Griffey, Seaver, etc.  It was a very nice lot. 

 

Deal #7

I heard there was a card show in town a few weeks ago, so after I made my rounds at the garage sales, I decided to check it out.  For the heck of it, I decided to bring what was left of the cards from Deal #1, and I'm glad I did.  There was absolutely nothing there that piqued my interest.  I ended up doing a cash/trade deal for what I brought, and that was about it.  I ended up getting 6 boxes of cards with some cash from the cards I brought.  The boxes had some cool stuff in them.  I also got the dealer's #, and ended up going to do ....

 

Deal #8

I was going across town to sell a 1920's sewing machine I just picked up from a garage sale, but only because I was going to be in the area from buying some legos.  The legos were a bust, but the sewing machine was a sale.  While I was doing that, I called up the dealer from deal #7.  He said he had about 21 boxes of cards.  We had a good time talking - and a lot of it was deep spiritual stuff.  Very enjoyable, and I have found a friend in him. 

 

Deal #9

A few days later, a friend of mine came over, and he brought with him a very cool autographed used official major league baseball of Roger Clemens.  It is psa/dna certified and has the inscription of the strikeout number + date of that strikeout # that put him #2 all time on the strikeout list.  I have a ticket to that game as well!  He traded me this for one of the boxes I got in a deal from deal #7.  While he was here, he picked up all the boxes from deal #8 as well. 

 

Phew!  That is a lot of deals in the past 3 weeks or so.  It has been very fun, for the most part though.

The Quest is Over!

A while back, I remembered seeing online that someone was selling/trading their Josh Hamilton 1999 Topps Traded autograph.  I contacted them, and didn't hear back.  I tried again, and they continued to ask me to make an offer.  I said I don't really do offers, and they said they would take $500.  I told them that was more than I could get one for on ebay, and said I was thinking less than half. 

I never heard back.

Flash forward to now - curiosity struck me, and I tried searching for it again.  The ad was a few weeks ago, but I figured I'd try.  I emailed - no response.  I texted, and finally got a response. 

Apparently, the card was his brother's, so he said he would have to get back with me.  I checked in with him again, and finally ... finally he said he could get the card!  He forced me to offer, so I gave in.  I told him I think they go on ebay for $200-$250, but don't want to pay that, and would be a buyer at .... $125.

After a little more back and forth, they said they would meet me about 20 minutes away from where I live.  His brother apparently had a collection as well, so I told him to bring those too, if he wanted to sell.

I halfway figured they would be a no show, or something would go wrong.  I was a bit nervous.  Not only was I about to make a purchase of this card ... it was to finish my quest! 

They come up and show me all the cards and ... well ....

GOT HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!  I picked it up for the $125 I traded/sold my way to. 

I have not kept up my blog for this quest like I should have, but the other deals ended up in cash, plus I was able to trade 2 jersey cards for this:

I wanted to keep this a secret, but it didn't work out all nicely as planned ... the other card I traded for was this (which by the way, I would have traded straight up for the Fleer set anyday!): 

2007 Turkey Red Josh Hamilton Rookie Autograph!

I found it funny that an autographed Josh Hamilton rookie was one of the cards I got in this trade string. 

I also got this beauty trading one jersey card for this beauty:

Triple Threads 15 piece Game Used Jersey Card of Alex Rodriguez # 36/36

The icing on the top is that both these cards are now freebies, on top of the Hamilton! 

I got the Turkey Red Hamilton from a guy who runs a website on doing in person and through the mail autos.  He documented everything for every player, and this one caught my eye. 

But the story doesn't end there, boys and girls. 

When I bought the 1999 Topps Traded Josh Hamilton autographed rookie, I also picked up his entire collection for $250 - it had a lot of great stuff!  Probably over 100 jersey/autographed cards including Bobby Murcer, Bob Gibson, etc. a handful of 50's/60's vintage hofers in what I would consider NM shape, a buyback Bagwell auto, the big name early 80's rookies, etc.  I *immediately* went to work when I got home to start working my network to move some of these pieces, and it looks like I'll already be in the black with this collection, with a lot more left over. 

And we all lived happily ever after.  At least until .....

With the door of my vehicle open, to put the cards in, and block the wind, I got up and shook his hand to say good bye.  I heard something drop.  We both looked for a split second and didn't see anything.  Oh well.  I proceeded to close the car door.  It opened up again.  I looked down.  Hmmm, that's weird.  my phone fell out.  Oh well.  I picked it up and ....

 

NOOOOO!!!!!! CELLY!!!!!!!!  This is an extension of myself.  I can't believe I did this.  I take very good care of my phone, and yet this happens. 

Here is the lesson of the day:  If you hear something drop, do not stop looking until you find it!

So, thus concludes the book "Quest for Hammy".  A story with lots of twists and turns, and ultimately turns a 1989 Fleer set into a 1999 Topps Traded Josh Hamilton rookie autograph, a 2007 Turkey Red Josh Hamilton autograph and an ARod Triple Threads ... Oh, and plenty of new trading buddies along the way!

I supposed my next should be Quest for Celly - the replacement phone, using nothing but the profit I get from the collection I just purchased!  That should be a piece of cake though. 

THE END

An Update

I was able to sell the Bo Jackson ball really quickly - it surprised me!  Someone also ended up buying the rest of the autographs on the same day.  After fees, the Bo went for $49.  After selling the other autographs, I was at $64.

After this, I found a nice little lot of jersey / autograph cards for $70.  I talked him down to $50, and ended up selling many of them lightning fast!  There were some really cool ones, too.  When I got the cards in, I was super happy. 

1 went to a Redsox fan for $1. 
5 or so went to an Astros fan for $15
1 patch card went to a super collector for $6.50
A part time dealer bought the majority of what was left (45 of them) for $50

So ... BAM!  This leaves me with $86.50 cash AND 8 really nice jersey / autographed cards as shown below.  The Bagwell and Konerko are gone already from the deals above, but I did want to mention what I had left.  For anyone out there, I'm looking for $45 for the other 8 shown below. 

 

This quest for Hammy is going really, really well so far - and I am having a blast doing it!

The Quest for Hamilton Continues

After going back and forth with someone online for a few weeks, a guy was finally able to break free from his engagements, and come over.  He brought with him a few items that we had talked about over email.  A Barry Bonds autographed baseball bat, and a Nomar Garciappara autographed baseball.  He traded those for some unopened boxes I had left over from my Black Friday monster purchase, so I'm now enjoying them in my office! 

 

I particularly enjoy the Bonds bat - I mean, what's not to like?  The all time home run king autographed this puppy, and it is sitting right next to me as I type this! 

 

Perhaps the more exciting thing for me was another item he brought.  A Bo Jackson autographed baseball!  I am a big fan of Bo Jackson.  The stories of him are stuff of legend.  He grew up playing catcher with a milk carton as a glove.  He once ran for a touchdown and was going so fast, he couldn't stop until way beyond the end zone.  He ran up the wall in the outfield, etc.  Bo was the man!  And now, I have his autograph.   

 

 

 

The guy the came over with them, had it signed himself when he was stationed in Alabama several years ago.  The cool thing is, is that Jackson put #16 on it - that is quite rare on his signatures!  Oh, and it is on an Official American League baseball.  Gotta love it! 

 

To top it all off, I was able to get this beauty (plus a few bucks) by doing some trading with the cards in my Quest for Hamilton.  So, I started off with an...

 

'89 Fleer baseball set. 

Sold for $10

Invested the $10 in 12 jersey/autographed cards

Sold some of the jersey/autographed cards for $8 and traded for the Bo Jackson autographed baseball

So now, I have Bo Jackson autographed baseball, $8 and 5 autographed cards.

 

I'm really happy with how this trade up thing is going so far!  1999 Topps Traded Josh Hamilton is not too far off in the distance for me, so it seems ... though I may have a hard time parting with Bo!  I have considered splitting off, and using just the $8 + the 5 other autographs and trying to get the Hammy, while keeping the Bo, but it would be so much quicker to use the Bo in this deal.