Sports Card of the week

This sports card of the week is provided by Rob Harris (aka GoCubsGo) from Chicago, IL:

Back in 1976, I was a kid who was just getting into baseball. Topps had the hobby market all to itself, but there were other ways to get baseball cards, too. Hostess had cut-out cards on the bottom of Twinkies boxes, Kellogg's had these cool 3-D cards inside some of their cereal boxes, but the Crane's potato chips cards were the coolest. I had dozens of these things, and the baseball panels on the edges were all different colors. I still remember that Nolan Ryan, the He-man of all players back then, had pink edges for his card. But they, like all the other cards I had back then, vanished into the mists of time, probably sometime in the 1980s.

After I started up with collecting baseball cards again in the early 2000s, I saw a set of four Cubs cards from the Crane's set listed on Ebay, and I snatched them right up. I think they were a few dollars, but you can't put a price on memories, can you? So a few years later, the Cubs had Jose Cardenal, one of my favorite mid-70s Cubs players, at the annual Cubs Convention in Chicago. Jose played for lots of teams over his long career, but for Cubs fans like me (and Eddie Vedder, I've read) Cardenal has a special place in our hearts. So having a chance to meet him, and get a signed Crane's card with his image on it (in Cubs' blue, no less!) was an awesome experience for me, and the card shown here is one I will always treasure, not for its monetary value, but for the associations it has to my game and my team and my youth.

This sports card of the week is provided by Michael Redmond (aka slim.dela.creme) from, New Castle Delaware:

Hi, Mi name Is Mike I just started collecting again. What made me get back in the game was when I went to my mothers house. Well I went into my old room and the memories. As I was looking threw my things, and there they were my books of cards. I opened up the book and it was sorta like finding the holy grail as I looked at my first page of all Michael Jordan. Right there in the middle was my 97-98 Spx Hologram Jordan. Which is my favorite card. It was my favorite pull then because of the cut and shape as it was an x. Even though I just found out the card is only worth $20 bucks back then. I took my books of cards home look threw them and was in awe like a kid all over again. The very next day I went to the card store and brought a hobby box of 09-10 ud basketball and pulled and jordan/carmello game used. I was like wow they put pieces of jerseys and autographs in boxes now. I have been collecting again ever since (8/2010). Thanks for reading my story. Mike

This sports card of the week is provided by Michael Abbott (aka suncactus9) from, Phoenix AZ:

My Best Hockey Card Story!

A friend of mine discovered the joys of baseball card collecting this year, and it reminded me of my old hobby that I dropped in the early 1990s. Wanting to take part in his new hobby, I purchased a couple of packs at the local store and all the fond memories came back to me. I'm hooked once again!

I decided to go overboard, and one of the bulk online retailers had an amazing sale on a case of hockey cards. I purchased the case of Upper Deck Victory hockey cards, and as a bonus, the merchant included 4 packs of 2008-09 Upper Deck series 2 hockey cards. There are 20 boxes in this case, and I've been opening a box a day for the past couple of weeks when I decided to say, "What the heck - let's see what's in these free bonus packs..."

Sometimes the best foundation for excitement can be laid in the absence of any expectations. I had no idea what I was opening. All I knew was that it was Steven Stamkos' rookie season, but I knew that I couldn't get his card because it was in the Series 1 set. Anyway, I had my wife (yes, she likes cards too) pull open the pack, and what did we find? A serial numbered Steven Stamkos card!!! Holy cow! Beckett indicated the card goes for $100!! So out of a free pack of cards came the most unbelievable pull! Not to be outdone by my wife (haha), I ripped open another of the free packs and pulled a Martin Brodeur jersey card!! It was just incredible! Four free bonus packs and a retail value of $125 just in two cards.

It was my most memorable card story, and I'm sure there are more good ones to come. Part of this reborn passion has been this site, which I've only been on for three months and I've already made 30 trades! So cool to know that there are other card-crazies out there like me!

Cheers to you card collectors! Your next great pull is right around the corner!

This sports card of the week is provided by Dane Clarke (aka ddclarke007) from, Rolling Meadows IL:

It's 1976, and I am 10 years old (yes, yes....that makes me 44 today). It was summer time, and I had caught the flu or something (i just remember that I was sick). Anyway, my brother was going down to the local candy store, and asked me if he could get something for me since I was ill and could not leave the house. So I gave him some spare change that I had in my pocket (candy bars were only 15 cents back then), and asked him to get me a Snickers bar or something (i don't recall specifically what I asked for). So he left, and about an hour later he returned...but he did not have what I had asked for. The store was out of whatever candy bar I wanted, and since he did not know what to get for me, he just guessed..(uh oh).....and then he handed it to me......one pack of football cards. "Football Cards?", I said..."What the heck am I suppose to do with these? This isn't candy!" I was stunned and upset. So I opened this 'boring' pack of football cards....and the top card was a 1976 Topps Mick Tinglehoff, a center for the Minnesota Vikings at the time. So, who is Mick Tinglehoff, you ask. Well, he is actually nobody special in the hobby world, but I always remembered that he was the FIRST football card in my soon to be extensive collection of football cards. After that, I was hooked (like any other kid my age), and I collected and bought football cards at every opportunity. It opened a whole new world in my childhood, and I had my brother to thank for it.

Then (fast forward 25 years to the year 2002), as an adult, I was playing around on ebay one evening, and I happened to stumble upon a discussion board where the topic was "What is your favorite sports card?". As I read the responses from several different people, I noticed that the majority of the responses were from people whose favorite card was basically a card that was very valuable (moneywise, that is), and most of their stories lacked any sentimental value. So I added my story to the board (the one i just told you). And a few people replied to me saying that they really liked my story, and that it was refreshing. (BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE)

....(fast forward again, another 5 years to 2007)......5 years after I wrote that entry into a meaningless ebay discussion board....long since forgotten by me.....I received an email on a Sunday morning from a person I have never met or talked to before in my life who lives in Indianapolis. He informs me that he met Mick Tinglehoff recently, and he googled Mick Tinglehoff on the internet, and he came across my story.....MY STORY!!!....that I wrote over five years ago!! Anyway, he emailed me to tell me that he loved my story, and asked me if I still had the card (which of course, I do). He said that he was trying to find Mick Tinglehoff cards to purchase, but could not find any because Mick Tinglehoff was a relatively unknown player back in the 70's. He asked me if I had any duplicates of Mr. Tinglehoff, and if so, would I sell them to him. I looked through my stuff, and did find one extra card of the Mick. I emailed the person back, and said to just give me a dollar for the shipping and handling, and I would be happy to send it to him. So he did, and I did. It made me so happy that something I had written over 5 years ago would cause a total stranger to contact me, and I was able to bring a little happiness to him with a 34 year old football card that is worth all of about 25 cents. And when I think that the whole thing started back 34 years ago when my brother went to the candy store for me. I will always treasure that memory, and I will always treasure that card.

This sports card of the week is provided by J. Miller (aka Jx2reds) from, Madison IN:

Ive been into the baseball and the hobby since 1986. Living just a few hours outside of Cincinnati I heard all the storys of the great Big Red Machine. So it just seemed to be that I became a Reds fan. In 2006 I had a son, and this year he begins his first year of tee ball. Since then he's taken some intrest into the hobby as well, but at 4 years old it doesnt hold his attention past a hour or so yet. I had him help and we sent several cards to Cincinnati a few months back trying for some autographs. Ive done this over the years, but hadnt in a few. I knew he'd forget about it before if we got one back. Last week we got our first one back. It was personalized to by son by Micah Ownings. Ive obtained about 50 TTM autographs and this makes the first personalized Ive seen. Its even sweeter in eyes that he signed it to my son. To me this is a fine example of just what kind of athletes are still out there!

This sports card of the week is provided by Erik (aka ejpalm) from, Sarasota Fl:

On my 7th birthday, I got a pack of 2006 topps devil rays team set. It included sean burroghs, jorge cantu, mark hendrickson, julio lugo, rocco baldelli, scott kazmir, carl crawford, jonny gomes, Danys baez, toby hall, nick geen, doug waetcher, and aubey huff. When i opened it, I was amazed. I thought that these were all cards of fictional characters from a book or movie. A week later, I went to my first Devil Rays game. I was amazed. I was sceaming, Daddy Look Carl Crawford is real! And so is Aubrey Huff! the whole game. Carl crawford got 3 hits and a stolen base that game and ever since, He's been my favorite player. When i look at those cards I still give a little chuckle about that first game.

This sports card of the week is provided by Ralph (aka onewatts) from, Jacksonville Fl:

This card is a 2001 Topps Reserve Rookie/Auto Albert Pujols.
I started in 1999 trying to learn about card collection.
I started collecting a few sets which now are still incomplete.
In 2000 or 2001 I purchase this box of cards and BEHOLD! This Pujols card was inside. I did not know much about him or how valuable this card until a few collectors at the store offered a high price for the card.
My job cause me to be on the road a lot. But I always kept this card with me. Today I still have this card and I value it as my most precious possession. This card changed my whole outlook on card collecting.

I was in 5th grade when Alex Rodriguez was an up and coming Mariners short stop. My mom use to take my brother and I to the local card shop every other Saturday to spend $10 on whatever cards we wanted. My choice one week was the 1994 Upper Deck SP. I pulled some good cards that day, one of which was A-Rod's rookie. Now being in only 5th grade I wasn't in the know necessarily on who was who in baseball and who would become a future hall of famer. I went to school that week with my cards in hand to trade with my friends. No one had anything good I wanted except for one kid (Paulo), an exchange student from the Philippines. Paulo was offering up baseball cards with pictures of great looking girls in bikinis!!! Me and all of my friends jumped at the chance to trade with him any of our cards (one of which was my A-Rod SP rookie) for these girls. 2 days later myself, Paulo and my other friends were called down to the principles office. We found out that our teacher had seen the cards Paulo traded to us because my friend John had dropped one. She found the cards offensive and decided to take the matter to our principle for a good slap on the hand and a little scolding. He called our parents and let them know what had happened. Before we left the office I asked Mr. Gustitice if we could give the cards back to Paulo in exchange for our baseball cards and he said, "No. I hope you have learned your lesson. He hustled you."

This sports card of the week is provided by Lauren (aka philliesgirl) from NJ:

After school let out for summer, I knew that I needed something to keep me occupied. One day while wandering around a store, as my mom shopped, I came across packs of 2009 Upper Deck baseball cards. Even though I'm a girl, I am a huge baseball fan. In fact, baseball has been my favorite thing in the world since I was 8. (I'm 14 now) It occurred to me that in all of my years of loving the game of baseball, I had never purchased an actual pack of baseball cards. As we left the store, I had a brand new pack of 2009 Upper Deck baseball cards, containing 18 cards.

The second I ripped open the pack, I was instantly hooked. I bought an even bigger pack of 75 cards the following week and purchased an album to keep them all in. After collecting the cards for a few weeks, I discovered an even greater hobby: getting my cards autographed.
It seemed like a too-good-to-be-true idea at first, and I wasted no time picking out 10 of my cards I hoped soon would have a signature on them. I placed the card, letter, and s.a.s.e. into an envelope. All of them were sent c/o the team they played for, except for one, because the player was in rehab after surgery, and I sent it to where he was rehabbing. Everyday I waited for the mail to come, only to be disappointed when I found no s.a.s.e. mixed in with the bills and junk mail. After a few weeks of this, the too-good-to-be-true idea seemed like a failure.

On Monday afternoon, while watching a baseball game, I noticed that the mail was exceptionally late. It usually arrived around 2, but it was past 4 and the mailbox was still empty. Finally, at about 4:15 the mail man arrived. Being the only one in the room, I went outside to collect it. As I lifted the letters out of the box, I caught glimpse of my name. I became overly excited when I discovered that it was a s.a.s.e. (one I had sent to a baseball player.)

I went to my room and paused as I put my ready-to-rip-open finger at the corner of the envelope. Bad thoughts began to flow through my head: "What if he returned my card unsigned" "What if he wanted a fee for signing it and he sent it back unsigned" "What if it was just a stamped signature that he had someone stamp onto the card." I pushed these thoughts out of my mind, and tore into the envelope. Reaching in slowly, I removed the card and flipped it over. There on the front of my 2009 Upper Deck card was a fresh signature in fine tip blue sharpie from Minnesota Twins relief pitcher, Pat Neshek. It had been the one card I had not sent c/o the team, because he was rehabbing after surgery. I quickly put it in my album, for protection and have been staring at it ever since. I just couldn't believe he had actually signed my card. It will probably be the greatest and most memorable moment of my card collecting ever. Thanks so much Mr. Neshek!
-Lauren

This sports card of the week is provided by Joey Zarzynski (aka UptonFan) from Tempe, AZ:

Well, my name is Joey Zarzynski and i just got back into The Hobby. I stumbled upon a local card shop to pick up a Beckett because I was curious about how much my old cards were worth. To my disappointment, they weren't worth very much... However, while I was in the shop (hadn't been in one for years) I noticed a particular series of cards called Allen & Ginter. They immediately caught my eye because of the unique style. I bought a couple of packs just to see what they were all about. I pulled a 01/10 David Price cloth mini in my first pack!

I then bought a box of it out of sheer impulse but don't regret it one bit. I pulled a Justin Upton jersey relic (who is my favorite player) and have begun my quest in collecting Justin Upton cards.

Thanks,
Joey

This sports card of the week is provided by Mike B (aka BA Benny) from New York, NY:

This card of the week is about a card I received via trade here on SCF recently. I normally wouldn't write about a card from a trade but this one has some meaning. I was lucky enough to have some auto cards Jay G was interested in so he offered me some real nice NY Mets in return. The 08 UD Heroes Billy Wagner GU Auto #'d 4/5 was sweet and bv was higher, but it was the 08 UD Heroes John Maine GU road jersey #'d 1/25 with a piece of number that made it a 4 color GU jersey that really made this trade great. What put it over the top was the day it arrived. They happened to show up in my mailbox just a few hours after I was told about my Mom's passing. Even though she was ill for a while it is never easy to hear that Mom is gone. The arrival of those cards was a bright spot on an otherwise dark day and I will always hold them in a little higher reverence for that reason.
Thanks,
Mike

The first one is from Mike B (aka BA Benny) from New York, NY:

This card of the week story comes from an hta box of 09 Topps. I went by my usual card shop to begin my 2009 card quest with a nice box of Topps jumbo packs. I also grabbed one Upper Deck jumbo pack just to see what their 09 stuff looked like. I opened that first and was stoked when I pulled a David Ortiz dual jersey sn'd /149. That was a nice start to a great box break day. On to the Topps now. First pack was good, showed the nice 09 design and a gold /2009. By the end of the 4th pack I had seen a nice variety of inserts and a parallel SP.The next pack yielded the first hit, an auto of a low level player I never heard of but I was still optimistic for the next hit. Sure enough it was a big jump as I hit a Cy Young commemorative patch letter N sn'd /50. I figured whatever the last hit was wouldn't reach that level but I was happily mistaken. Two packs later it came, a Roy Halliday All Star "In The Name Of" letter patch sn'd 1/1! The capper is that it was the letter "L" from the jersey he wore at the 2008 All Star game at Yankee Stadium and I was there! By far this was the biggest pull I ever had and hope to top it some day soon. I finished up the box with a black parallel /59 but the Halliday 1/1 was by far the highlight of a real good day.
Mike

The second one is from Jay G (aka JayG) from Dunkarico, NY:

The Mojo Hand!!
Missing the Wally World exit I decided to head of to the only hobby shop in town to pick up a cheap box of wax. Upon ripping open my 30.00 box of S.P Rookie Edition I noticed the Tim Lincecum card # 166 had an auto on it?? Unable to find pricing on this card I wondered if it was the Holy Grail of Lincecum cards. A week later, and 2500 emails I still cant find info on this card. Does it exist? Anyhow it beat the 20.00 dollar blaster I was going to get in its place.
Jay

This weeks Card Story of the Week is by Chris LeBlanc (aka herc009) from Seekonk, Mass:

Sorry I don't have a scan of the card but once you get the description you'll know the card if you collect hockey.

I was at my store when Be A player cards first came out and learned that because they were not sanctioned the team logos were erased from the cards themselves... anyway while talking to Pete (the shop owner) he was telling me of the Wayne Gretzky auto card (Because I collect Wayne) and the rarity of it. I told him that it would be a great pull but knowing my luck I wouldn't get it. So with that in mind I didn't by any of the packs and instead bought some football cards. Leaving the store my next stop was to by a pack of smokes after that I was walking to my car which took me by my card shop, thinking for a second I decided to go back in and by some of the Be a player cards. Pete was laughing when I came back in and said, "couldn't resist huh?" I said no and asked him for the box. I picked out 4 packs and started to open them. My first auto was a PJ Axelson, the next two were minor players I don't even remember who, but the last was a surprise I stared at the card for several seconds then showed it to Pete. He congratulated me and said "See good thing you came back or some kid would have gotten it and not appreciated it as much as you do." He then went in the back and retrieved a screw down holder and there it has sat since I pulled it that day.

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Mike Guilfoyle (aka BA Benny) from Bellerose, New York:

My card story is about a printing plate frame I pulled. I was going to pick up my son from his high school football practice and saw that I was early so I stopped by a card shop by his school to pick up a box of 08 Topps series 2 to complete my set. The shop had none so I took his last 2007 heritage box. I am not a huge Heritage collector but liked the idea of 3 hits per box. I parked by the school and waited for my son and decided to open the box. Started out nice with A-Rod box topper oversized card. (I am a Mets fan but like the Yankees also) Now into the packs I go. Nice cards coming, some Mets, Yankees and Stars that I collect then the first hit, A Steven Pearce auto, my second one of him from 07 Heritage. Then the next hit, A Jose Reyes jersey card. I am real happy now, get a hit from my favorite team. Then the third hit comes and it is a Tim Hudson jersey card, another good player to add to my collection. Now I go to finish the last 4 or 5 packs very happy already when to my surprise an extra hit. This must be my lucky day. As I revealed the card I noticed a very different feel to it. Look at that, a yellow bordered printing plate of #241 Ryan Sweeney. My first 1 of 1 and first plate. As far as collecting goes, I like the Game Used, Auto, SN'd cards the most so to pull a plate was a real thrill for me.

Thanks Dave And Adams For The Free 1 of 1 .
I recently purchased A box of Topps series 2 Jumbo baseball from D and A's. With the box came 2 free packs of 2007 Baseball Upper Deck Masterpiece. Upon opening my first pack I noticed A hit. To my shock and surprise it turned out to be one of my favorite players!!! A 1 of 1 Coco Crisp Captured On Canvas Bronze Bordered Game Used Jersey!! WoW. Thanks Dave And Adam. You made my holidays.
Jay Ghazaleh Dunkirk N.Y

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Greg Fisher (aka Fisherg98) from West Henrietta, New York.

I quit buying cards in 1981 and didn't start again until my daughter became interested in baseball in 2005. A lot changed in 24 years! We were buying a few packs of Topps per week with a goal of collecting all the base cards. We hadn't even figured out what insert cards were all about when we pulled this Matt Holliday autograph card. I remember us trying to figure out if the autograph was real or not until Tom, a guy at our local card shop told us what it was.

Matt Holliday autograph

This week's Card Story of the Week is by S & J Sazin (aka WallytheGreenMonster) from Ipswich, Massachusetts

It all started in July of 2007, when I picked up the monthly "Beckett" magazine at a local paper store. I flipped through the pages, and on the inside of the back cover, I saw an ad for the new "2007 Topps "K-Mart" Exclusive Baseball Inserts called "Generation Now Arrives". Pictured on the add were the cards of David Wright, Prince Fielder, and Daisuke Matsuzaka in the middle.

Now, at the time, Matsuzaka was (and, I guess still is), one of the top players people want cards of. And around then, not too many cards of Dice-K had come out yet, so this one a nice, good looking card that I thought I should take a crack at looking for.

I went to my local "K-Mart", and searched the store for a good "Retail Box" of 07 Topps Series 2. I got one for $19.99 (inside, including 6 of the K-Mart Inserts). So, I had six chances of pulling the Dice-K I set out for. I got into the car, and opened up the box. As usual, inserts exclusively from the store are set on top inside the box, so I just had to open those first.
I flipped through real slowly, to find the order of the inserts to be:
1. David Wright
2. Prince Fielder
3. Bobby Jenks
4. Ian Kinsler
5. Delmon Young

Now, by then, I thought, odds were, "Am I going to pull that Dice-K?"
As i slowly turned the Delmon Young to the side......... there it was. Dice-K Matsuzaka's "Generation Now Arrives" K-Mart Exclusive Insert RC. I was stunned. What were the odds? I keep this card on the front page of my Matsuzaka's, just to remind me that, although there are high odds, you could be the one to break them.

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Denny Miller (aka Mr D Cardcollector) from Scottdale, AZ

1959: A Gift From My Grandfather

My Grandfather (still alive and sharp as a tack at 92) was visiting
Galesburg, Illinois on business in 1959 and since I was born in 1957, that
would make me two years old. He stopped into Jimmy Foxx's restaurant,
ordered a "high ball" off the menu for $.60 and steak with baked potato,
vegetables, and all the trimmings for a whopping $2.55 (according to the
Menu). And who walked in to his own restaurant, was none other than Jimmy
Foxx himself. My grandfather quietly finished his meal and strode over and
asked Jimmy, "to sign his Menu for his grandson". To this day, I have a
Jimmy Foxx autograph, "To Denny Best Wishes Jimmy Foxx 1959". You know, the
authenticators need not bother.

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Mark Schmidt (aka Gatorade5) from Chalfont, Pennsylvania

This card was a very surprising pull. I was at a Phillies game and I bought a $10 50-card deck with only Phillies cards, but the people who put it together weren't too smart. Inside that deck, I found this Ryan Zimmerman autograph inside (the book value of this card is about $25). I also pulled a John Mitchell 1988 New York Mets card.

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Sam Portnoy (aka CommonsKing) from Palmdale, California

Back in 1989 I went to many card shows. A buddy of mine and I went to a show in Los Angeles where we met a man that was unloading his pick-up in the parking lot. We talked to him for a bit, hoping to get in on a good deal before his stuff hit the table at the show. He asked if we would help him out with his cards and other memorabilia and we agreed. As we finished carrying his merchandise in, the card dealer held out his hand and said "Thanks guys, my name is Wes". I knew he kind of looked familiar but I didn't want to embarass myself if I was wrong. I said, "Wes Parker"? He said "Yup, thats me". I wanted to get his autograph but didn't have anything on me so I looked around on his table and as luck would have it, Parker's rookie card was sitting right there. I asked him to sign it, and he did. Then he told me I owe him 3 bucks for the card. We all laughed, I gave him 3 bucks and have a fond memory of meeting Wes Parker, a very nice guy if you ever get an opportunity to meet him.

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Bob Perrotta (aka bobfoxboro) from Foxboro Massachusetts

This is a 1954 Topps baseball card of the O'Brien twins. I remember getting this card in 1954 when I was 8 years old. When I opened the pack and saw this card I was shocked. I had never seen anything like it before and ran to show my brother & my friends this strange looking card. It quickly became my favorite card and I've had it since then. All of my friends wanted to trade for it, but there was no way I was going to part with this card. We didn't have alot of money to spend on cards in those days and I never got another. It still rates as one of my all time favorites and brings me back to my childhood and the wonderful times we had buying, trading & flipping baseball cards whenever I see it. It really isn't worth much, but you can never put a price on great memories.

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Mike Pully (aka Michael P.) from Ashland Wisconsin

I have been on a quest for the past three years to obtain Hank Aaron and Willie Mays autographs. Well I am half way there, I scored this awesome Hank Aaron 2005 Donruss Signature Hall of Fame Auto/Bat/Jersey on eBay at a great price. Now I have 50% of my goal left. I still NEED a Willie Mays certified pack-pulled autograph (HINT HINT), So if anyone has one to trade (A Mays Auto), and also to help me meet one of my major collecting goals, that would be awesome! I really like this Hank Aaron piece because it was hard for me to get, and now I have one.

This week's Card Story of the Week is by Kit Okamuro (aka biglittledogs) from Barstow, CA.

"I was doing a card show and this guy comes up and asks me if i have his rookie card. I say I doubt it. He says why not? Its valued at about 100.00 - this was in the early 90s (high book is now $50). I look at this guy like he's crazy and finally ask him who he is and he says Mickey Klutts. I know him as a player, but a 100.00 rc, no friggin way, until he points out he's on the same rc as Paul Moliter!

For the week of January 20th, 2008

This week's Card of the Week is owned by Matt Lepore (aka ml23shc) from Cranston, RI. Here's what Matt has to say about his pick for card of the week:

Here is my favorite card, the 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan RC. I'm a big collector of Ryan cards and the fact that this is his rookie has little to do with why it's my favorite card. When I was younger my grandmother cleaned out her basement and found a shoe box full of my Dad's old baseball cards that she saved (go figure, she never threw them away!). One of the cards that was in that box was the Ryan rookie. He was my favorite baseball player at the time and I had already started to collect his cards so this was like a dream come true...except that it was my Dad's, not mine. That summer my Little League team made it into the town finals and I was scheduled to pitch game #2. To win the game would have been cool enough but my Dad sweetened the pot by writing up a contract that said if I won that game he would give me the Ryan rookie to add to my collection! We won 8-2. That was 17 years ago. The Ryan card is in my house now (along with the 8,000 others I have managed to collect), still in the plastic casing my dad had it in with the contract taped to the back.

For the week of December 24th, 2007

This week's Card of the Week is owned by Lawrence Streeter (aka LAStreeter) from Petaluma, CA. Here's what Lawrence has to say about his pick for card of the week:

A friend and I split a case of 2007 Bowman Draft Picks. He ordered the case and sent me 5 boxes. He emailed me and said he opened his 5 boxes and pulled an ARod Road to 500 Autograph #d 1/1. He also told me that one of his boxes didn't have a Draft Pick Autograph in it so he was bummed about that. Well, the story of the greatest box I ever opened starts when I got my 5 boxes. I opened my 5th box and the box topper had 3 Arod Road to 500 cards in it and one of them was the pictured card here. It was an autograph Alex Rodriguez HR #430 and is #d 1/1. This card is a 1 in 2800 box pull and my partner and me pulled one each from the same case of 10 boxes (UNBELIEVABLE). Another strange thing about my last box I opened, in pack #20 of 24 packs I got a Gold Refractor Auto #d/50 redemption card of Daniel Moskos, I pulled that redemption off the pack and the card below it was an actual Golf Refractor Auto of Michael Main #d/50. Two Golf Refractor Autograph cards in the same pack. I opened pack #21 and got an autograph of Nick Hagadone. I opened pack #22 and got another auto but this was a refractor autograph of Nick Noonan. So in that box I got a total of 5 autographs which were the 1/1 Arod, 2 #d/50 autos, a refractor and normal auto. It was the greatest box I ever opened.

This week's Card of the Week is owned by Clinton Ruder (aka Ludespeed) from El Paso, Texas . Here's what Clinton has to say about his pick for card of the week:

Well this Is My 1968 Mickey Mantle #280. I saw it in a case at my local card shop around early Jan 05 when I stopped in for some supplies (penny sleeves, top loaders and such) with my girlfriend of about 2 months, Luisa. Nice card but I didn't have the $150 the shop was selling it for. I've been collecting cards off and on since I was about 10 years old and I remember even back then that I wanted a REAL Mantle card. So I finished up my business there and headed out. Well I got sick and had to be hospitalized for a week and a half towards the end of Jan. I got out of the Hospital about the 4th of Feb and the next day headed to work (I work as a nurse in Nursing Home) and once I got there I showed my Sick note/DR's note to the HR people basically to excuse my absence from the past week and a half and they noticed the DR had written that I should not return to work for another 4 days . So i took my note and left. Well unknown to me, my GF who worked at the same facility, had a plan to leave me a welcome back present in my Medication cart while I wasn't looking. I guess her pla kinda backfired seeing how I wasn't at work. Well anyway we met up later that day and she gave me this beautiful 68 Mantle (my first REAL Mantle by real i mean original not a reprint) Its not everyday you find someone willing to put up with my hobby or pastimes let alone buy me something I was too cheap to buy for myself. This is easily my most valued card and I will never part with it (its going in the coffin with me!!) And it wasn't my birthday it wasn't Christmas it was just because she cared (how cool is that?) Well anyways I decided to keep her around but now I call her My Wife. Oh and later that year for Fathers Day she found me a Mickey Mantle Auto'd Baseball. Gotta Love Her.

This week's Card of the Week is owned by Dale Depler (aka MURPHYFAN) from Poplar Bluff, Missouri . Here's what Dale has to say about his pick for card of the week:

My 07 SP auth Papelbon Auto by the letter has been the best auto I pulled this year. I'm a set builder so most inserts and game-used cards I don't collect. I started player collections just in the past year and most of them are pitchers DiceK, Miller, an Papelbon. So this card is great outside of being a simple auto it is part of the jersey as well a great 2 for 1 deal.

For the week of November 26, 2007
This week's Card of the Week is owned by Dax Kinsey (aka vick fan) from Eureka, CA . Here's what Dax has to say about his pick for card of the week:

I am a huge falcons fan and have been collecting for a while now. This is a 2004 Upper Deck Duel Endorsments card of the Falcons DeAngelo Hall and Michael Jenkins. It was pulled by me from the only pack of UD Foundations that I bought. One of the greatest pulls I have ever had. Two of the best Falcons Rc's together on one card and their auto's too.

This week's Card of the Week is owned by Zachary Lucy (aka thejackaryman) from Minot North Dakota. Here's what Zack has to say about his pick for card of the week.

This card is VERY special to me. The great thing about it is, that it's still very new to me. I was at work one day, discussing our recent Hobby Box pulls with my friend and one of my coworkers rudely butted in (I'm very happy she did) and told me that she had some cards in a shoebox in her closet. I told her that I would GLADLY take them off her hands if she didn't have anything else to do with them. Later that night, I stopped at her house to pick them up, put them in the backseat and drove home as quick as I could. I took my time looking through everything, just making myself more anxious. I was looking for anything Ripken, anything Reggie Jackson, but failed to find either. I managed to find a Rickey Henderson RC, a couple Mike Schmidts, Dan Fouts, and several commons cards from the 70's and 80's. There was one card in there that left me completely speechless. I found a 1971 Topps Brooks Robinson (Card #300). My jaw dropped to the floor and I was ecstatic. I ran upstairs to show my roommates (who didn't even care) and immediately ran downstairs to throw it in a screwdown case. The reason this card is so valuable to me is because I am a DIE-HARD Cal Ripken Jr. fan. I've read his books, collect his autos, still have posters from my boyhood and still trade for him. Anyways, Cal Ripken Jr's favorite baseball player growing up, was Brooks Robinson. Now that I have a card of Brooks, I think I'm going to start a card collection of him as well. I'm very excited to start!!!

-thejackaryman