eTopps In Hand Delivery Part 1

I’m not sure if eTopps is circling the drain yet or not.  There seems to be a lot of tension on the message boards (what else is new though), but there also does not seem to be a lot of excitement or effort coming from eTopps at the same time.  Maybe it’s slowly dying away, who knows.  Since points will no longer be able to be used for shipping, I took a decent size delivery of cards I wanted in hand last week, and they arrived today.  No matter how annoyed I get at the operations at eTopps, I have to say these cards are just sweet.     

First, here are some T206:

 The backs are cool too:

I had a lot more of these, but as I started getting back into cardboard much more heavily, I sold all of them to fund my paypal account.    I got these three through trades.

 Here are my Razorbacks.  Love the Cliff Lee card with the big Indians logo from the 2008 set.  The checklist for that set is pretty weak, but the cards are sharp. 

 I got some Rangers too.    The Young card is much nicer in hand that in port.

Tomorrow I'll show the eTopps Football cards I got as well as few other misc cards.

Etopps In Hand

As those of you who read this blog probably know, I am an advocate for eTopps.  My portfolio is not nearly what it used to be though- I sold a LOT of my cards on eBay and cardtarget.com to have funds for my re-entry into the cardboard part of the hobby.   My spending balance between eTopps and cardboard used to be about 90%/10% in favor of Etopps, but it’s completely reversed now, and I mostly buy cardboard as I try to catch up and complete a bunch of sets I started working on in the 90s and early 2000s.    But I digress…  

Even though I love all of the online features that come with eTopps, there still is no substitute for having the cards in hand.  So for those that have recently joined eTopps, but have not taken any cards for delivery, here are some images of cards I have had shipped over the years, and what they look like in real life:

One of my eTopps boxes.  Everytime I open this box I get excited.  I just want to spread these encased-and-sealed-in-lucite-beauties all over the bed and roll around on them.  But I don't.  Let's look at some cards.  Pardon the cruddy photography and scanning:

All eTopps cards come individually bagged, encased and sealed with an eTopps hologram sticker.

Etopps periodically issues special Allen and Ginter and T206 cards, which are very popular.  The cards are standard mini sized, and look like A&G and T206 cards, with a high tech style.  They are some of my favorite sets.   I liked them so much, I sold them all except this Jimmie Foxx card so I could spend more money on cardboard.   Eventually I'll get them back.   I do have a Allen & Ginter Football set I will show some other time.

All eTopps cards come individually bagged, encased and sealed with an eTopps hologram sticker. 

Most cards have serial numbers printed on the back.  The 2005 cards had a COA send with each card, which is kind of a hassle.  Glad that was short-lived.

Before doing the Allen and Ginter, Etopps issued a "Classic" set over the course of several years which was pretty nice.  I have almost completed the classic set. 

It's hard to take a half ass picture of these without getting a glare from the flash. 

 Here are some of the big names from the Classic set.   I enjoy all of the features associated with the eTopps but it's the end result- the cards themselves- that make this offshoot of the hobby a success in my book.

Cyber Monday- Etopps T206

Ok, so I'm late on my Sunday book review, and early on my etopps preview.  The book review will be up probably tomorrow.  I happened to be looking around on etopps tonight and saw they had the "coming soon" cards up earlier than normal, so I thought I would bang out the "heads up" now.

I hope Etopps has it's stuff together this week better than last week.  I was bummed that the Buster Posey we were expecting was never offered, and by the looks of it, never will be.  I hope the same thing doesn't happen for these two:

Monday's offerings will be Joe Dimaggio and Walter Johnson.  I am all over these two, especially the DiMaggio!  I do not know what the cost or print run will be, but for DiMaggio, it won't matter.  Again, if you are interested, be sure to be online at 1 pm est when these are posted.
I assume 2011 Baseball is not far behind.

Cyber Monday- Big Etopps Week!

Etopps continues it’s T206 offering this week, and it’s a big one!  It’s been a long time since they have offered 4 cards at IPO, and the cards this week are outstanding!

 Sandy Koufax

 Buster Posey

Ryan Howard

Walter Johnson is the fourth card, but no image is available yet.

The Koufax and Posey are must buys, regardless of print run, and I’ll wait and see what the prices and print runs are for the Howard and Johnson.    I’m pretty sure I’ll get the Johnson too.

Be sure the order at 1 p.m. est, as these will likely be hard sellouts.

****UPDATE******
Looks like the Posey and Johnson will not be offered this week. 

Etopps 3/28 Offering- T-206 is Back!

Love, love, love etopps T206 cards.  These are beautiful cards, especially in hand!  For those who are not etopps members, this may be a great week to get started.

This week:

Hank Aaron

Tim Lincecum

More information here:

Lent is officially over for me!