Jordan hits 1000

 I'm back to modeling mode, so not much card stuff going on right now. I'm still working on my monthly upload, closing in on the new "record" for longest time it took me to finish one of them, which is the 14th. Raining today so the whole day devoted to cards, though Doing the NBA by player, I got to Michael Jordan, and he hit the milestone I knew would be happening this month- 1000 different cards scanned. I only have two people in my collection in the 1000 card club, with Jeff Gordon being the other. However, I've scanned a higher percentage of Jordan cards, since he hit 1000 this month. Jeff Gordon is at only 732 cards scanned. 

I knew Jordan would hit 1000 this month because he got to 994 last month, and I scanned 21 of them in March. 

This turned out to be the 1000th card in the album, although not the 1000th in my collection. That is unknown. 

This is actually the Collector's Choice German insert, not the Rare Air set. Funny thing, I didn't even consider this a real card until very recently. I found it in my storage unit in a box full of toploaders, which basically is stuff I don't need, don't use and wouldn't bother me to never see again. 

If you want to see all 1015 Jordan cards currently scanned, here is his album: Michael Jordan collection

Facebook Finds

I'm in a lot of card groups on Facebook, but I rarely make any purchases. I'm not sure why because there is always something interesting for sale, I just don't do it often. This month I actually made two purchases and thought I would write about them. Both were on the NASCAR card forum I am a member/moderator of, although the first one was actually a purchase of basketball cards.

One member posted that he had some basketball he wanted to trade for NASCAR. It turned out I didn't have anything he wanted, so I just bought the cards I wanted from him.

This unlicensed oddball is a highlight. It was part of an 18 card set that included some college cards. They also did a multi-sport set. I had never seen it before. Although it didn't scan that way, the border is gold foil.

 I don't have a lot of cards from the time period of 2006-07 through 2010-11, and I got three singles from the 09-10 season. This is actually my first base card from 09-10 Certified, although I did have an insert from the set previously.

 I have a few more cards from 09-10 Classics, but less than 10. There was also a Russell Westbrook card from 09-10 Threads but I didn't scan it as it was already done on the Database. I got it mixed in with all the other cards I've set aside to scan later and didn't want to go looking for it after I decided to make this post, more than a week after the cards arrived.

 Scott Skiles on-card auto from 2013-14 Timeless Treasures, SN299. It's my second autograph of him. Not a huge fan of Skiles but for the price I paid I won't turn down any NBA autographs.

My first auto of Campy Russell, also from 2013-14 Timeless Treasures. I think this may be my favorite card from the purchase, even though it's not serially numbered or a base card.

Just a few days later, I commented in a thread someone started that was "What project are you working on right now" and I posted about my project of trying to get one card of every person to get one in my three sports. One of the members had several cards I needed so I ended up buying them. I have done one blaster of Select and Torque this year and that's probably going to be it- not that I don't like them, but that's just how it is.

That's 8 new people, half of them autographed at that! It brought my missing NASCAR people list down to 25. Pretty cool, all things considered.

In fact, one of the people saw me get card #1 and #2 in the same package...

The Blue Prizm parallel from Select is serially numbered, as is the Red, White & Blue parallel shown of Jones.

Alon Day is the first NASCAR driver from Israel. He's the only one of the 8 who have run in Cup so far, I think. I have to admit that I don't pay as close attention as I used to. Back in the day...even just a few years ago...I would have known for sure, and what car they drove, and possibly even where they finished...but I'm losing that stuff as my interest in the sport is waning, wholly due to the changes they have made to the actual fabric of the sport. Even so, I still plan to collect the cards- I bailed on the NBA in 2006 when I was not very happy and I now consider it to be one of the biggest mistakes- if not THE biggest- I've ever made, so I will keep collecting and watching NASCAR even if I don't like it very much- I don't want to make that mistake again.
And in case you are wondering, Brandon Jones is actually 20 years old.

I'm glad to see some of the K&N drivers - Busch North and Winston West to me- getting some cardboard. It's pretty rare to see them on cards, but Panini is including them in some of the autograph sets. That makes it a little harder to collect them- the cards are rarer, and autographs are more expensive than base cards- but at least they are getting them. There have been literally decades where they didn't get any recognition at all. Julia Landauer and Spencer Davis have never gone higher than the K&N series, although both hope to some day.

Thanks for reading.

Lost and Found: Panels!

Digging in some more boxes, and found some cards! I knew I had some of these, but no idea where...but some were a complete surprise to me, in that I didn't ever remember them existing!

That's 7 SI for Kids panels, 4 Marvel panels and 1 TV & Movie panel. Of these I remembered some of the the SI for Kids panels but not all of them- there's one more I've held back for a future post- the all-Jordan page is from a publication called Sports Illustrated for Kids Extra, a title I had absolutely no memory of whatsoever.

I did not remember having a panel for 1994 Marvel Universe, probably my all-time favorite comic set, and without question my all-time favorite Marvel set. I'm six cards short of completing it- I need to hunt them down.

Back in the day I separated most of the SI For Kids cards, damaging them more often than not. I'm glad I didn't do all of them. These were all still in the magazines except for the top one, which I found a second copy of still in the magazine. I also found another duplicate and a duplicate copy of the Jordan card issue. Not sure how I got duplicates as I had a subscription, which I let lapse in 2000.

I only have vague memories of Reboot but I remember it being pretty good.

Look and see Look 'N See!

Hope that title doesn't confuse anyone, hah! You aren't seeing double! There's a lot more than that in this post, but I thought it was funny.

Yesterday morning, around 2AM, I wrote up a post about some 1956 Topps Jets cards I had acquired. In it, I mentioned that 1952 Topps Look 'N See now held my #1 most wanted non-sport slot. Wouldn't you know it but later that same day, my family took an unexpected trip to the antique mall where my favorite vintage dealer is set up, and he had brought in some Look 'N See since the last time I saw him!

What are the odds of that? I never know what he is going to have new, but I didn't expect it to work out that way. I'm not complaining at all!

As you can see, they are in rather poor shape, but I don't care. I am thrilled to have them!
The backs feature orange writing with a blueish-purple design that tells the answer the trivia question. I know that the cards came with a sheet of red "something" that you put over the card back to reveal the answer, but I don't know exactly what it was. The scanner kind of pulled the blue image enough that you can see it is a swan.

After thinking about it overnight, I think my most wanted non-sport set now is 1996 Batman Holo Series, which is entirely made up of holograms. I'm all over the map.

Now, of course when I go there I make sure to visit all the card dealers. There are 4 set up full time and occasionally more will set up in the seasonal outdoor section they have. This time, there was a dealer I've never met before outside, and he had some great stuff.

Oh yeah! 1971-72 Topps Stickers! These were 1-per pack in the 1971-72 Topps set, but they are MUCH rarer than the base cards. I've completed the base set, years ago, but until yesterday I only had one from this set.
But wait, there's more!

The team logo stickers! These are the keys to the set in my opinion. These are the first time ABA logos EVER appeared on a trading card, and the first time since 1961-62 for the NBA...much different since then, and they were not in color on the Fleer cards. Also, it's interesting because Topps lore has always been that they had the Player's Association licensed, but not the NBA itself, which is why the teams that had their name, not their location, on the jersey front, were worn backwards. Yet here are all the team logos in bright, unmistakable colors. In the very same packs. Makes you think.

1973-74 Topps stickers! An insert into the 1973-74 set, these are in great shape, with almost no adhesive discoloration. I love these. I love team logos and they are rare on cards before the 1980s. Check out that Denver Rockets logo. Is that not great? They changed their name to the Nuggets after the season these were issued in and were one of four teams absorbed by the NBA after 1975-76.

These may be the rarest vintage I got from him, though...

1974 Fleer Cloth Stickers! These are so rare that I could not find a single one for sale on Ebay, and only one on COMC. These are from the 1974-75 season, which was the first year of the Washington Bullets. Most places list them as "1974" only but they are unquestionably 1974-75. These were the first Fleer issues for the NBA since 1961-62, but the adhesive has damaged all of them...which probably is why they are so cheap when you do find them. (I paid less than a dollar each). I am not sure if they were white borders originally but they are yellowish tan now. Each team in the NBA got one, but these are the first ones I have. Fleer also issued glossy paper team logo stickers from 1977-82 that are also missing from my collection currently.

While most of what he had was vintage- not all of it was.

 This Kanter is SN 49.

 This Deng is SN to 99. Both of these cards are the first I have from the parallel set.

 A multi-sport card, this is the largest set in my collection...it is card #1127. I know there are some baseball sets that are larger but this is only the second card in my collection where the card number is quadruple digits. The other is from the same set.

 A Magic Johnson promo. Note the career Laker is wearing an Orlando Magic shirt. I have no idea where this one came from but it's clearly from 1993-94.

 Gold parallel of 2007-08 Sweet Shot. This is only my third card from the set.

I don't even know where this LeBron came from!

This was the first card I actually found yesterday. I always go for the rare teams when I can. You can tell this insert was designed with an autograph parallel in mind.

This one has pretty much everything going for it: It's a 1990s parallel, it's die cut, and it's serially numbered! It's also my first from the Final Cut parallel in my collection.

After paying the new dealer, I went in and saw my regular dealers. The vintage guy doesn't ONLY do vintage, though...I also picked up two decidedly vintage 1957 Topps Planes cards...

...and this 1989-90 Hoops 100 Superstars Michael Jordan card. I remember the first time I saw this set, I was already familiar with the 1989-90 Hoops design, and when I got my first one I was SURE that somebody had colored the border with a highlighter. Eventually I leaned better. I think I realized it wasn't the case when I got the regular card of the same player and it was a different number. It was Scottie Pippen...I don't know why but I remember getting it in 1996. This MJ is not in great shape but I'd rather have a damaged card than no card, you know?

He also had this card, which is totally unlike pretty much everything else he has ever had since I've known him for the past few years.

It's the first autograph I've seen him have in the about 3 years I've known him. It's also the first relic. Autographed rookie jersey cards were a staple in SPx beginning in 2000-01. This card is from 2001-02.

After paying him, I went to another dealer, that mostly has unopened boxes of late 80s and early 90s baseball and hockey. I found a set of Knicks Pogs that I had never seen before there, and promptly added them to my collection. The dealer, who it turned out I knew from Facebook and didn't realize it, thought there were two different versions but all of them in the stack were the same. I think they are from 1994-95. I need to look and see when Charles Smith left the team.

I actually was big into Pogs for a little while, back in the day I would have purchased two sets, one to keep as a unit and one to punch out and use. That was a long time ago, although I do still have my pog collection I have not done anything with them in quite some time.

I looked it up, it was 1994-95. There is nothing on the back, so I have no idea where they came from. My guess is that they were handed out at a game. 

Then I visited the final dealer, who has a ton of cards, but finding what you want is kind of akin to prospecting. All the cards are in boxes, but they are not sorted in any way, shape or form. Sure, you'll find runs of various sets or sports, but mostly it's just a total jumble...and I actually kind of like that. It takes longer to go through, but it's kind of fun seeing all kinds of different cards. I've found some really good stuff in those boxes, and I wrote up a post about the first visit I had to that dealer, but I never actually posted it. I usually take home more than 100 cards but this trip I "only" took home 60. Now, I'm not going to post them all but I will post some highlights.

 7 cards from 2012-13 Panini Brilliance, 2 of which were base, the rest insert. This Anthony Davis card was one I guessed on. There were several I guessed on whether I needed or not...I thought I already had this one, and I figured if nothing else a RC of him would be good trade bait. As it turned out, all the others I guessed on were duplicates, but THIS one turned out to be one I needed! I wish I had a better memory, but in this case it's kind of funny.

 1995-96 SP Premium Collection Holoview of Grant Hill. The last time I got a new insert from 1995-96 SP was 2004. That's been a while!

 The 2014-15 Prestige set was a Target exclusive, and I don't really like how it was done. The base version was normal card stock, the medium priced version was called Prestige Plus and was mirror foil (this card) and the highest price version was called Prestige Premium and was printed on thick holofoil stock. I got lots of the basic version, and I got a Premium box for Christmas that year but I never got any of the Plus cards. I nabbed one on COMC when I finished off the missing sets, but that was an insert. This is my first base card from the Plus set.

 I got 2 base, 1 Prism parallel and 1 insert from 2013-14 Prizm. This is my favorite Prizm design. He had more but I have a lot of them and didn't want to spend money on duplicates.

 Quite a few 2015-16 Select. 10 base and 4 Prizm parallels!

 8 2012-13 Marquee base cards and 1 Champions insert.

 This is probably the best card I got from him. Turner is a great player and this one is SN to only 49! I'm not sure if it's an parallel or a base card. I don't know much about Limited. I've never opened even a single pack of the brand.

 Three inserts from 2003-04 Topps. I didn't realize I was buying three, a Ricky Davis from the same insert was stuck to the back of this one. (no damage to either). Luckily, I needed the Davis too.

4 rookies from 2003-04 Standing O. Last time I went through his boxes, I saw a handful of RC from this set, but I didn't get them. When I got home, I checked my listings and saw I didn't have many from the set, but the only one I remembered him having was Maciej Lampe, who I did have in my collection. When I found them again yesterday they were all still there...except the Lampe!

This one threw me at first...I have a lot of 2012-13 Prestige, but this one as you can see is missing the white strip that's on every veteran base card.

So what is it?

A Starting 5 contest card! I should have known, as this dealer has been the only place I've seen these Panini contest cards, which they have done since 2010-11 and still did as recently as 2015-16. This is the first I've seen from the 2012-13 Prestige set. I didn't know it existed before yesterday.

Then, when I got home, I had a PWE from CrazieJoe waiting for me, but that will be covered in my October trade recap, which I may get posted tomorrow...

Thanks for reading!