Vote For Your Favorites in the Upper Deck Awards

This year is a first for these types of things, but I think it bears mentioning here. Over on twitter and possibly facebook, Upper Deck is soliciting collector votes for their favorites of the net. Award categories include collector of the year, blog of the year, forum of the year, and the like.

As a person who puts a ton of work into this site, I would love your support for Blog of the Year, but I am not eligible because I contribute to UD's site. Therefore, throw your support to who you feel did the best job this year, and hopefully, they will be recognized.

You can nominate blogs and collectors by responding to Upper Deck's facebook page, and im sure their website will also be a hub for vote collecting. Even if you are not going to be voting for this blog, I encourage you to support your favorites by checking out the contest.

Mauer Signs and I Am Very Happy

I have seriously been watching the Twins' MLB webpage and MLB Trade Rumors like a hawk these past few weeks, and I am very glad to see that Mauer has finally jumped on board for a good part of the rest of his career. His contract may be the fourth biggest of all time, but I believe it was a move that Minnesota could not have done without. Im not just talking about the Twins, but Minnesota in general.

See, in Minnesota, Mauer is like Jesus. If he were to have signed elsewhere come next spring, there may have been a riot. On my end of things, if he came back in pinstripes or in a Sox jersey, I probably would have cried. In that, I dont think I would be alone. He is the hometown boy, and could turn out to be the best catcher in MLB history, so why not throw money at him like we were the Yankees?

A lot of people are questioning the money spent on him as a limitation from signing other players in the future. To that I ask about whether or not we are watching the same team. I mean, I dont think I have ever seen the Twins sign a guy that wasnt on the downside of the downslope of their career, and many of the pieces of their team nucleus are signed long term. Although it will be tougher to afford to resign guys like Morneau in 2013, I would think that the new stadium should help to make the Twins into a larger market team.

Regardless of how the deal looks, I believe Mauer is worth every penny, and funny enough, so do all the people who have driven up his card prices. I own close to 40 different Mauer autographs, including some incredibly rare ones, and I couldnt be happier that his 2002 Chrome auto is selling at close to 300 raw. I bought mine for about a hundred bucks, and its pretty crazy to think that it has almost tripled in true value. Even his weird, common autos are selling through the roof, and that is nuts! If he has a good year this year, again, who knows where the peak will be. Considering I also have a signed game model bat authenticated by MLB, I may be sitting on a gold mine - that is - if I were ever going to dump his stuff.

Realistically, Mauer probably wont play at the level of A-Rod or Pujols, despite his contract reflecting that level of talent. However, I do think this is good for small-market baseball, and definitely good for Minnesota. Hell, if Mauer did end up as a fucking Yankee, I may have had to put my eternal hatred of them on hold for awhile. That would be bad.

Jared Allen At The Sun Times Show: Results Are Just As Awesome

Along with Percy Harvin, I also commissioned someone to get me Jared Allen, who was also signing at the show. Eric did a great job with helping me out, and I now have a second piece to add to my collection that I absolutely love. Although the price turned out to be a little more expensive than I had originally hoped, I still think it was well worth the money.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Thanks again to Eric!

Percy Harvin At The Sun Times Show: Results Are AWESOME

First off, I want to thank James for doing this for me. He was nice, communicative, and incredibly easy to work with. You have made me very happy.

Secondly, I discussed a few days ago how much I loved autographs, and this one is definitely a new centerpiece to my Percy Harvin collection. From the pics it looks absolutely amazing, and very much worth the money I spent to have it taken care of.

I cant wait to have it in hand, should be perfect next to my Peterson one.

What a rush!

Matt Ryan SPA Logo 1/1 Is Back Up On Ebay

I really dont understand these cards and their sales most of the time. Its rare that someone buys the SPA logos and actually hangs onto them, as I see so many of them up for auction quite a few times. The Matt Ryan is back up with a ridiculous BIN, which makes me question a few things.

First, why would anyone sell it during the offseason? The Falcons look like they should be a good team again next year, and prices drop after the Super Bowl, so its better to wait until the winter. Not a good time to list it right now. Second, why put such a high BIN on it? Last time it sold it was under 2K I believe, and eBay should not be your personal photobucket. Lastly, this card is arguably the best pull out of 2008 SP Authentic, and it was purchased for a ton of money. Why buy if you are just going to throw it back up there?

I dont get it.

Looking Into My In Person Autograph Collection

I love autographs, and I have said on numerous occasions that autographs are what brought me to card collecting. My dad collects autographs, my brother collects autographs, and I STILL collect autographs of all of my favorite players and celebrities. Cards are my preferred way of growing my collection, but I never turn down a new opportunity.

This weekend in Chicago, I saw a chance to add to my collection when two of my favorite Vikings sign at the Sun Times Show there. Although I have condemned card shows as a place you shouldnt go to buy cards, autographs are a different story. Lucky for me Percy Harvin and Jared Allen dont charge that much (yet) for their signatures, and I am having a few people secure me a signature of them to display next to my Adrian Peterson stuff.

Here are my thoughts on it. In baseball, the signed official league ball is the preferred piece of memorabilia to have signed. Its universal, there is a standard, and players know where to sign. I have many baseballs that have signatures of all my favorite players, mainly because they are easy to display and fun to appreciate. In football, there isnt something like that. A standard football is too big, and a jersey can be extremely expensive and hard to prep for display. Therefore, the football mini helmet has become the preferred signing vehicle, even starting to gain favor with a lot of the players per a discussion I had with Beanie Wells during a signing here in LA.

Based on that fact, and my own personal affinity for the football mini helmet, I decided that it was going to be my piece of choice for this signing. I also thought it was a good idea to pay for the inscription, and Ill get to that in a second. Since my Adrian Peterson mini helmet is signed in silver, I asked my helpful acquaintances to do the same. I figured they would all look nice side by side on my shelf.

On a side note, I have two signed mini authentic NFL footballs. One by Percy Harvin and one by Stafford and Moreno. The mini footballs are a perfect size to display, but very few people make displays for them. I had a hell of a time finding a display, but settled on a custom one from eBay. Yes, it turned out great, but these minis could be the new OMLBs like in baseball. Take note Ultra Pro.

Moving on to the inscription part of the auto, this is where people usually use every creative bone in their body, or they pick something standard like HOF or whatever. Me, I love having personalized autos because my goal is not to sell them. Even though I could have gotten Harvin to sign "ROY 2009" and Allen to sign "Mullet Militia," I wanted something more personal to display on my shelf. I decided on "To Adam" because I rarely have the chance to get something like that. I can always buy other stuff that has the inscriptions that I was just explaining, and that is why I want something that is more just for me.

I guess you can consider me the set collector equivalent of the Autograph hobby. The reason is that I dont collect the autos to sell, but rather to keep. Making money on an auto isnt my goal, its more the fun of adding to the collection. This is similar to some of those collectors out there who try to complete set after set because its fun for the sense of accomplishment, not to make money on their completed product. Despite that my taste in cards is completely different, I have adopted a similar MO for autos. So much so that I even have a hierarchy of what I like signed.

Baseball - 1. OMLB, signed in blue ball point ink 2. Bat that is used by the player, not just some bat 3. Mini batting helmet 4. jersey signed on the back number 5. 8x10 photo

Football - 1. official mini helmet 2. authentic NFL football 3. photo 4. jersey signed on the back number 5. mini NFL authentic football with white panel

If I can get any of these things personalized, I will. When I got the chance to meet Beanie Wells, I had him sign the football "To Adam" just like above. People at the shop he was signing said I was nuts to do it that way, but I continued to tell them that I was a collector not a seller.

Even if I dont get the chance to meet the player themselves, I am very happy doing things the way I do it, and that is all that matters. If you are a collector just like me, I would definitely find your niche as well. Find something that makes you happy in a similar way and then go for it. There is nothing cooler than a man cave filled wall to wall with autographs. It never ceases to amaze me what people are capable of.

While I Was Out: Upper Deck Lays Off Entertainment Employees

I know there are a lot of people out there who hate Upper Deck, but people losing jobs is never something to celebrate. Honestly, this move was expected, as the Entertainment division is slowly becoming obsolete after the Konami lawsuit was settled. The next division to take a hit is likely the baseball part of UD's operations, as many of the goals that were on the list are no longer able to be accomplished.

When it comes down to financials, its still unclear how bad it actually is for Upper Deck. Rumors are flying like boogers after a sneeze, but its rare that a company would ever give us advanced notice of any problems. I still believe that UD will continue to have its crew of footballers at full strength, as the brand seems to be running pretty normally. As for Hockey and Basketball, I see little evidence that things will be slowing down, even if Panini ends up with a license.

Is UD out of the storm quite yet? Yes and no. Financial instability will always be a question whenever a problem comes up, but I doubt its as big of a factor as some of the skeptics out there are making it out to be at this particular moment. The future is yet to be seen, however, and things could easily change instantaneously.

Regardless of how you feel about the company, I would hate to imagine how many families would be saddled with huge problems if Upper Deck closed its doors. I will say that a lot of this could have been prevented with better business ethics, and that is something the brass at UD will have to live with for a long, long time.

More Exquisite From Upper Deck

Upper Deck recently posted more Exquisite images on their facebook page, and they continue to impress. The interesting card in this batch is the quad logo card, which I find to be something of a rarity in creation, not in circulation. See, usually, there is one or two good players on a quad and one or two duds. This one, much to my surprise, looks to have four of the better players of the class. Nice.

Here is the latest batch:

Think Twice Before Throwing Your Money Away

have always stood by the fact that investing early in the top QBs of the class is a terrible idea. Although many of them have the talent to be good QBs, the teams they usually go to are horrible for promoting growth in a young player that starts from Day 1. There are always exceptions to the rule, but in most cases, they fail quite hard until later in their career.

The main factors that should go into your decision of whether or not to buy usually rests with the team the guy plays for. In the case of Matthew Stafford, I advised to stay far away because of the team he played for. The offensive line was in shambles, the running game still need to prove its worth, and Calvin Johnson was all they had to help Stafford out. Sure enough, Stafford got banged around and ended up missing six games due to injury. In the case of Mark Sanchez, the Jets were in a MUCH different situation, and it showed. Although I didn’t think pumping dollars into Sanchez was a good idea either, at least he had better prospects of doing well off the bat.

In 2008, the situation was very similar to 2009 with Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco. Matt Ryan was coming back to a Falcons team that had pieces in place, but no one to lead. Flacco had a super bowl contender in Baltimore, having been drafted late in the first round. Because the Falcons and Ravens had better teams to complement the talent of the QBs, they did much better than expected.

This year, there are quite a few players that are already tickling the collective nutsacks of prospectors looking to burn a few bucks. The top guy should be Sam Bradford, likely going to the Rams after a DISASTEROUS 2009 season. Bradford has size and talent, and is expected to be a good quarterback. The Rams' lack of success could be as much attributed to injuries as anything, as many of their starters spent the year on the pine. Does this mean he is worth throwing a ton of money at when the products are released? Fuck no. Bradford is not going to have the year that Ryan had, and probably wont even have the underperforming year that Sanchez had on a playoff team. The Rams will go 3-13 at best, and that’s if Steven Jackson stays healthy. On the other hand, the Rams do have some talent that is building up to be good players. Jason Smith had a below average year, but is showing promise. Same with Donnie Avery and some of the other pieces of the Rams offense. This may help Bradford in the long run, but will limit his immediate potential.

As for Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow, it is likely that they will have a similar experience. Clausen may end up in Washington at number 4 or Cleveland at number 7, with both teams being terrible in their offensive prowess. McCoy may end up as a 2nd round pick, as will Tebow, and both should spend their first years on the bench. In McCoy's case, injuries likely put him out of the first round to begin with, though he has the talent to be a great QB. Tebow, well, if you throw money at his cards, you might as well burn that cash instead. As evidenced by his pro day film, he still has major problems with the exact issues he had before and may even end up as a Wildcat QB/TE when all is said and done. With the Wildcat becoming more of a tolerated offense, he is likely to spend more time on the bench than on the field during his career.

People may cite the success of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Tony Romo as reasons to get in on the ground floor, but I disagree. Prospecting has become so commonplace in football that prices are high from the beginning. In fact, the price Matt Ryan commanded originally didn’t grow THAT much over the course of his successful first season. Paying an extra 20-30 bucks, shouldn’t be that big of a deal once the guy proves his worth to his team.

Basically, your best targets will always be WRs and RBs. Top WRs are usually on the field from day one, with many being productive from the get go. Backs are the same, especially with 99% of the teams using a two back system. They command the value that they do because of that early production, though only the running backs will carry it on consistently. Funny enough, this year is so loaded with defensive talent, there could be a starvation rule in effect, with many collectors wondering what direction to go. It should be interesting to see where things end up.