Search This Blog

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Few From the Bay

I thought I would take a moment and share a few new acquisitions that recently came to my door via the E of Bay.  I have been on there way too much lately, partially because of trying to unload some of THE CUP cards I picked up, the other part because it becomes addicting.

I received three cards in the mail last week that all will find their place into my PC.  Here they are in no particular order...


The first one is this 2010-11 Certified Mirror Red Dual Sweater #'d/150 of former Dallas Star and current Pittsburgh Penguin James Neal.  I have always liked James Neal.  He's been on my fantasy team quite often and always seems like the guy that doesn't make a lot of noise and just lets his game speak for itself.  I like that.  I haven't gone crazy yet and started a PC of him or anything but it's an option.  I just wish Crosby would get healthy.  I think that line would do amazing things. 

Panini did an interesting thing on these cards.  The swatch cut outs are positioned into the card design so that depending on the sweater color, it may or may not blend into the card.  When I first bid on this, I had no idea it had the GU pieces in it.  Wasn't I surprised?


The second card that came was this 2011 Topps Game Day Autograph of Emmanuel Sanders.  As you can see, it's a sticker auto and Mr. Sanders isn't going to win any penmanship awards anytime soon.  But it's a great looking card in my opinion of an up and coming Steeler.  He was a 3rd round pick in last years draft and hasn't quite broken into the full time roster for Bruce Arians offense, at least yet.  He still plays a role as could be seen in last week abysmal showing by the "black & yellow".  He hauled in two passes for 20 yards, one of which for six.  Here's hoping for more to come. 

Apparently there are four different versions of each of these autograph cards in the Topps set.  Each one features a write up on the back talking about a different moment in a particular game from last season.  These "Game Day Moments" are broken down by quarter.  This card here is 2nd quarter.  I'm not sure on scarcity or whatnot of each version.


Finally, we got this 2010-11 Limited Phenoms Autograph #'d/299 of my apparent "man-crush" Eric Tangradi.  I believe this makes 10 Tangradi autos, or maybe 11, I lost count.  Invariably, it means he will either be traded, retire, or suffer a career ending injury because that is my luck.  I know I always say that but I have a bad track record.  Hopefully he can recover from that concussion he got back in February, make a big impression in the Prospects Tournament coming up, and strap the skates back on for the Pens.  His size and presence on the ice are key to him maximizing his potential.  He just needs to get tougher along the boards, own the paint, and master the art of being a "pest" in front of the net.  Lots to handle but I think he can do it.

I really like these cut out style cards.  I think the concept is cool as it makes the card look more like a focal piece for display.  They did a really good job with the Crown Royal Scratching The Surface ones with the rink inset and the material patch with the team logo on these is really well done too.  I can't believe I'm saying this but, good job Panini.

8 comments:

  1. I just recently decided to PC Tangradi. I've been watching the 10/11 Limited Phenoms Auto's but haven't pulled the trigger on one yet. How do you think the auto will hold up over time on the cloth?

    Seems like every new product has Tangradi on the auto list so I keep adding new want items to my list. Right now I have about 6 unique Tangradi autos. Anyway, any concern about him making the club out of training camp. Seems like there are only a few spots available for about 6-7 guys.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know what, anathema? I hadn't even thought of the effects of age on the cloth auto. That will be interesting to see.

    I think he will make the club and if not out of the gate in the beginning of the season, he is most likely going to get the call up in case of injuries.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice additions, but I gotta go 50/50 on the Panini cards. I liked the Red parallel dual jerseys a lot since the swatches don't cover up the player like Panini tends to do with their jersey cards. I've never been a fan of the manu-cloth patch autos, to me they look cheap for some reason. I'd rather have a clean on card auto, but that's just me.

    On a side note, I'm posting this from the Blackhawks Training Camp today, man am I ready for the season to start!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How many of the Certified parallels do you have of Neal? How many are in total, again?

    ReplyDelete
  5. As far as I know, it's the only one I have. I may have the regular Mirror Red or Blue but I can't seem to find my stash of Certified's at the moment. Panini made 10 versions of the base cards as well as mirror red, blue, black, emerald, gold, and ice versions of the materials cards and autos. I think he has 36 cards in this set total. Seems like overkill, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Doesn't Panini mean over-kill in Italian?

    I'm chasing down 643 Toews from these guys this year because having one parallel isn't enough, let's make Red Mirror, Red Platinum, Red Mirror Jersey, Blue Mirror, Blue Platinum, Blue Mirror Jersey, etc...

    Luckily I really like the design for Certified.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'll trade you the Foster (and anything else you need from me) if you'd like! Couldn't find an email so I'm commenting haha. Mine is still the same.

    ReplyDelete

Let's chat about it. Leave a comment and start a discussion.