Dat Feels Good

Dodgers!   Uribe!

Reign Man: the Continuation

This is sort of "part two" of my post from yesterday.  I got nostalgic, so I looked up some awesome highlight videos of Shawn Kemp (one featuring Gary Payton):

Here comes the Alley... and there goes the Oop!

Holy Grail Card: Reign Man

I've been a fan of Shawn Kemp since the 3rd grade, back when I used to collect all his cards.  Up until I started collecting sports cards again in 2009, the most I ever spent on a single card was one of Kemp.  I paid a whopping $10 for it on a playground.  I remember my Mom got me a Shawn Kemp #40 Sonics jersey for my birthday when I was a kid too.  I don't have the jersey anymore, I think, but it's still probably the coolest present I've ever received.  Even as a kid I wanted a Shawn Kemp signature, and now I own what is undoubtedly one of my all-time top-five "Holy Grail" cards:

2012-13 Leaf Metal Basketball, Shawn Kemp prismatic autograph, #'d 08/50.  Reign Man!  Original Lob City.

I spent a little over $20 for this card.  Hell, I would've gladly paid more than that to acquire a Shawn Kemp auto.  I'm happy that Leaf got him to sign though, because it was pretty tough to obtain Kemp's autograph cards at a reasonable price prior to this.  Now to get a Gary Payton autograph card to complete the awesome duo?

Some Fan Favorites

Favorites of fans, indeed.  I was trying to get a Davey Lopes autograph card from the recent Archives Fan Favorites set but ended up with three signatures instead:

Very nice.  The on card autos are pretty sweet!  I'm definitely keeping the Lopes.  Not sure about the other two yet, but I really dig this kind of thing - old-timers and clean-looking on card sigs.  (Enlarge for awesome.)

Like many of you, my fellow collectors, I love reading stats and being reminded of great sporting feats.  Lopes, the Dodgers' current first base coach, stole 38 consecutive bases without getting caught in 1975.  That year Davey stole 77 total bases.  Hell, he stole 63 the following year in '76.

Go Dodgers!  Not gonna lie - the SF Giants being in last place kind of makes me happy.

Zombie Wes Welker

I'm a great fan of the "GRITTY WHITE RECEIVER."  Wes Welker is perhaps the prime example of this archetype in football.  I recently picked up a Welker signature card that features a slightly unsettling portrait of the former-Patriot, now-Bronco:

2009 National Chicle, West Welker autograph card.  Sticker auto, but I'm happy to own this card nonetheless.

Apparently the artist decided to paint Welker as a zombie.  His skin tone in the portrait is slightly greenish, grayish, and ashen.  It's a bit creepy.  Zombie Wes Welker has come to feast upon human flesh!

Bo Knows

Well, it's been 2+ months since my last post.  (And that last one was quite monumental.)  I really should try to post at least semi-regularly and with more frequency, perhaps starting now.  Work is very busy.  When I get home I try not to use the computer at all, since I've been having some carpal tunnel and lower-arm muscle issues again.  Weekends are for vegging out.  I do have a pretty spiffy card to show off, however.  It's a card that depicts one of the greatest athletes of all time:

Bo Knows!  2012 Press Pass Legends Hall of Fame Edition, Bo Jackson autograph, #'d 54/75.  I pulled this from a box I purchased at All Star Cards in Santee, CA (essentially, San Diego).

This wasn't necessarily the best or rarest card from the pack, but it is undoubtedly my favorite one.  Another one off the wish list, on to the next one!

Lemonade and Iced Tea (and the Pull of a Lifetime)

I recently pulled something incredibly awesome from a box of 2012 Upper Deck All-Time Greats Sports Edition.  It is a "1 of 1" and it involves golf.  I wrote a blurb about my card for Dave and Adam's Card World.  You can see photographs of it after the jump.