A Look At A Few Things From Cleve's Christmas Auction

And I won't be able to afford any of it.  Well, almost any of it. 

Let me take a step back.  I assume most of you who read my blog know that my LCS has a weekly auction that I either attend or submit write in bids for,  and I've come home with some great things over the years.  Every year, Cleve- the owner, has a Christmas auction that features some unreal cards and collectibles.  Most of this stuff goes for big money.  This year should be no exception.  I won't be bidding on any of the "big" items, except one:
 

 I figure this is my best chance to get a Stan Musial for the 1952 Bowman set I decided to start building.  So I put in a big bid on it and have my fingers crossed.

The only other card I bid on was this Adrian Beltre auto. 

Otherwise, I won't be chasing the other stuff, but I won't let that stop me from showing you the goods.  There are about 300 items up for auction, and below are some that I thought were worth sharing:

 This 1954 Wilson Franks Ted Williams is pretty rare I believe.  Cleve expects this to be one of the highest priced items of the night.

I'm really tempted to call and put in a bid on this tobacco card.  I don't remember the details on it, but it's a beautiful card.

And of course, there are tons of Mantle cards and an autographed bat:

And a few other goodies that would be great to have if I were rich:

I've never seen these Topps "Push and Pulls" but they're very clever, and I hope Topps redoes these with Archives sometime.

 Greg Maddux auto

Wish me luck on the Musial!  I doubt I post again until after Christmas, so I send my best wishes for a wonderful Holiday season to you all!

Tuesday Cleve-View: The Losing Streak Stops NOW.

I’ve been out of action at Cleve’s for far too long.  I haven’t been to a live auction in several months, and my write in bids keep getting squashed.  It ends tonight.  Tonight…tonight  I shall feast on cardboard and the blood of my competitors!!!

I’m thinking about how I’m going to make my entrance.  I could arrive early and make sure I get a good seat….OR…. I could wait until just before the auction starts, kick Cleve's front door open and stand in the entrance with my hands on my hips and a toothpick in my mouth, and glare at the other bidders.  I’m trying to imagine how Raylan Givens would do it, since I assume he too collects baseball cards and has dealt with similar situations.  Eh, I’ll probably just go early.  But I’m wearing my Stetson like Raylan, so that no one laughs at me.

Here is some of what I’m after:

This 1955 Phil Rizzuto is the shiz-nit, and it’s my main target tonight.  I might try for that Stan Musial Wheaties card too.

3 Bowman Chrome Jurickson Profars, and International parallel.  It looks like Profar will start the year in AAA, but it’s only a matter of time before he takes a spot with the Rangers and starts lighting up the stage.

Above are a couple of cool Five Star cards:  A Cliff Lee jersey, and Clayton Kershaw auto.  I’ll be happy getting either or both. 

Not pictured are several 2011 Bowman Bryce Harper insert cards that I wouldn’t mind getting.  Not so much because I’m interested in him, but I need them for the 2011 Bowman set I’m trying to finish.

It’s a pretty small auction tonight, only around 60 or so items; so I’m hoping it aren’t too crowded.  I hope so for the other dude’s sakes, because I’m going to be swinging elbows and punching kidneys tonight.

The Elation of a Filled Up Sampler Album Sheet: 1959 Topps

I hadn't planned on showing this page just yet, since I have a few upgrades in mind that I'll likely execute in the next few weeks.  But with the passing of Stan Musial this weekend, I thought I would go ahead and post  up the 1959 page from my sampler album since there are two cards here of "The Man."

I'm relatively happy with the page.  I've got my eye on a Bill White rookie from 1959 and a cool Jr. Gilliam with a pink border that I'm hoping will find spots on this page soon.  Otherwise, it's not bad.  The Don Newcombe and "Hitters Foes" cards aren't in the best shape, but not terrible.

The Musials and Eddie Mathews cards will obviously stay put, unless I find a more centered Musial base card. It was sad to hear about Musial passing.  It's a loss to a sports world (not just baseball) where good and decent people are much needed these days.

I'm showing the backs because I'm curious if anyone knows why some of these cards are brighter than the others.  Is it just the effect the aging process has?  Were some of these cards less subjected to it than others, maybe due to how they were stored?  Or was the card stock just different?  That's what it looks like to me, but what do I know?

Checklist Chipaway: 2009 Topps Sterling

I hope everyone is enjoying the last remnants of the Thanksgiving break.  Ours was quite enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to one last day of rest before returning to work Monday. 

Not sure how many of you took advantage of the COMC.com Black Friday sale, but I for one spent a good chunk of my Friday morning there, piling up a ton of goodies that I'll be showing off once they come in.  I made large dents in many of my set needs.  One of the sets I made good headway in was 2009 Topps Sterling, perhaps my favorite set ever, but one that has been slow going lately.  I picked up a few needed cards on Friday, but also had one important part of the set waiting for me in the mail when we returned home Saturday:

I managed to pick this up under $5 shipped on eBay- a great value and much less $ than I'd seen it go for in previous auctions.

Mail Arrivals- "I Should Not Have Done This" Edition

If you have nothing better to do and have been following my blog for a while, you might have surmised that two of my collecting... "motifs" for want of a better word are: 1) I like to build sets and some master sets with the inserts sets included and 2) I don't typically spend a lot of money on one card.

There are times when these two themes conflict.  Case in point: Donruss Diamond Kings 2003.  I have managed to sneak in several of the Hi Book inserts to my master set and have pretty much accumulated all of the affordable pieces to this puzzle.  There are a few jersey, bat and autos that I am lacking (please see "Current Checklist Progress" Tab for overall quantities missing per set).  They typically have a high BIN price on eBay, but the other day, this was up for bid with a low starting price:

Clearly I bought it, or what a worthless post this would be.  I put in a bid I didn't think had a chance, but was still higher than I typically go.  I've mentioned the feeling before of watching an auction I'm winning come to a close and teetering between hoping I win and hoping I get outbid and am off the hook.  Would that be called "bidder's remorse?"  So I wound up winning.  Man was it worth it!  The gray flannel swatch on this card just looks and feels like a piece of history.  Plus the card is numbered to 50.    If I can do the same with the Ruth and Gehrig I am still needing, I will poop myself.