An Autograph Heavy Mailday Monday
Four packages welcomed me home on Monday afternoon. That's a great "case of the Monday's."
The packages were almost exclusively autographs, mainly from eBay purchases. One such package was not an eBay purchase, and it's my favorite of the mailday.
Ethan Roberts was the Cubs 4th round draft pick out of Tennessee Tech this past June. Ethan was also the first of a few draftees that reached out to me expressing interest in a custom draft card of themselves. I had a few made up and asked him to sign a couple for me and keep the rest. His signed cards came back today, and he had a great signature. Thanks, Ethan. It will be fun to follow his career in the organization!
Another autograph was inspired by my recent trade with P-Town Tom. He's a Dan Vogelbach super collector. I was never a big Vogelbach fan when he was in the Cubs system, probably because I knew he was just trade bait. He was, and I'm glad because the Cubs return was Mike Montgomery. I have an awesome Montgomery store from a late night at the Cubs Convention that I would love to share, but will keep that conversation to myself (and the few friends I was with). Anyway, back to Vogelbach. I felt I should add something Vogelbach into the collection (other than a signed baseball and a bunch of base cards). I found an Archives Signature Series 2015 Bowman Chrome 1/50. Bonus for the number one, and I got it on the cheap. By the way, Montgomery had a better batting average in the season of the Cubs/Mariners trade than Vogelbach had in Seattle...
Another auto I grabbed is a 2016 Bowman Chrome Eddy Julio Martinez. He's one of the Cubs top prospects, though it seems as though he's not as ballyhooed as of late.
The final package was loaded and this is where all of my eBay bucks were spent. As a bonus, the seller sent some extra Cubs including some beautiful Heritage.
These autos and relics were all had for roughly $0.99 each on eBay auction. Great deal! First is Julio Zuleta Royal Rookies numbered to 4,950. Zuleta reminds me of high school when he had a good season in Chicago. One of my friend's dad was also a die-hard Cubs fan, but had a penchant for mispronouncing player names and Zuleta was one of them.
As I've received more and more trade packages I've kind of fallen back into the Wood/Prior days. I think 2016 cured me of blocking out those days of disappointment.
Another numbered /50 autograph here from Kevin Hart. Not the comedian. This is a 2008 Upper Deck Premier 3/50 rookie auto.
Sticker autos get a bad wrap. Sure, they're not as good as on-card, but they can look okay. Some are definitely better than others. Topps Chrome did a nice job with sticker autos in 2007 as seen on this Scott Moore card.
While I wasn't surprised to snag some Kevin Hart, Scott Moore, and Julio Zuleta autographs for a buck, it did take me aback to grab a Carl Edwards Jr. on the cheap. This is a 2014 Bowman Sterling.
My new favorite auto set might be these 2006 Upper Deck Clear Path to Greatness signatures. It's also a sticker auto, but such a cool card of Freddie Bynum.
Brooks Kieschnick was a hot prospect in the 1990's. He did spend quite a bit of time in the big leagues and came back as a pitcher for the Brewers. At one time he was also a fantastic TTM signer.
Another Kevin Hart! This is from 2008 Upper Deck SP Authentic. A couple years ago I bought about 10 boxes on Blowout's Black Friday. I didn't pull much, and opening a box of this product takes as long as a box of Topps series one or two. It took me months before I finished opening my boxes. At any rate, I didn't pull any autos from my boxes, so here's a rookie auto/relic (with a pinstripe) numbered to 749.
Here's another Mark Prior relic from 2004 Fleer Showcase.
Base Baez! I love me some Javy cards. This is a great in action image of Baez from 2014 Bowman Sterling.
Felix Sanchez didn't spend too much time with the Chicago Cubs, but did appear on a 2003 Donruss The Rookies. This auto is numbered 644/1000.
Bat relics are extremely underrated in my opinion. I don't think Max Ramirez was ever underrated, though.
Nic Jackson was a top prospect in the early 2000's. His signature was always great.
Arismendy Alcantara had a lot of ink a few years ago. I was so excited to pull an Alcantara auto from one of my first breaks I participated in a few years ago. Now you can find them in the dollar bin.
A great mailday! I'm just waiting on one more card from my eBay shopping spree. It will be a fun one to blog about, and it has also inspired an additional saved eBay search for another side Cubs collection project. Stay tuned.