The Great One's OPC Rookie Card, From An Amazing Human Being

Today's post is one I've been putting off for almost two years. It's a card I've looked at every single day as it sits on my desk and it is not only one of my favorite cards, but one of the most meaningful in my entire collection. Writing it up and scanning it in was just a little too painful -- but I think it's beyond time to showcase it.

I had always wanted a Wayne Gretzky RC but figured it would be a "way down the road" sort of purchase. Life has a shitty way of being shitty though and I found myself staring this card down much sooner than anticipated. As you can see from the label it is no ordinary PSA flip as there is a pedigree attached to the Great One.

Neil Fuller was a great, absolutely awesome one himself. If you find yourself on Twitter, he went by the handle @SepiaRookieCup and you could find him posting late into most nights about the hobby, North Carolina, and anything that caught his eye. He loved gifs, dogs, baseball, sneaking eBay gift cards into grocery shopping outings, and the hobby -- warts and all.

Neil unexpectedly passed away in May of 2021 at the age of 45. It devastated me and everyone who knew him. I met him at PSA soon after I started working there and we quickly became friends. He joined my department about 6 months later and I talked to him almost every day for a year and a half. Outside of my then girlfriend, I did not talk to anyone more often than I spoke with Neil.

His wife ended up selling his entire collection to raise funds for a dog rescue foundation in Virginia and a number of us who befriended and worked with him bought cards to give them forever homes amongst the people who knew him best. The money going to an absolutely phenomenal cause that was always near and dear to his heart was the sweetest cherry on top.

His last pup, Maggie

The Gretzky RC was to me the obvious choice to have and hold close for the rest of my time on this planet. He loved the card and it was a gift from his wife, so I know it had added importance to him. He wrote about the Carolina Hurricanes for a time so hockey held added meaning.

I have thought about Neil every day since he left us and I will think about him every day moving forward. Leaving PSA has not changed how often he crosses my mind and I constantly miss his advice, his wit, his humor, his passion, his anger towards seemingly everyone and everything, and his consistency at being an amazing friend/big brother. He was always there for me.

Love you forever bud, and miss you always 💓

Jose Fernandez 2012 Bowman Prospects Rookie Auto: PSA 8 Slabbed

I'm enjoying going modern to vintage and back again so we'll keep with that trend and show a modern auto. It is also yet another recent return from PSA of ungraded pieces of my collection.

I remember being ecstatic when I found this beautiful 2012 Bowman Prospects rookie auto of the late Jose Fernandez at a card show for $15. I was a big fan of his ability and style, and I recall being absolutely floored when he passed away.

A Doncic Rookie Ticket, Dirk Approved

My newfound love of tickets extends beyond baseball and into all sports and athletes I enjoy watching. Here's a ticket I found interesting and did not have to break the bank to acquire. After sending it in for grading, it returned a PSA 7.

In April of 2019, Luka Doncic posted the 8th Triple Double of his rookie season in a win over my Phoenix Suns. That alone would have been a cool enough feat to attract me to this item as I'm a big fan of Luka. However, the game also served as the final home game in the career of soon-to-be Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki.

The ticket showcasing Dirk is a really nice touch.

A Card I Wish I Never Owned.

Today's post is one I wish I never had to write. This card belonged to my best friend at work, who suddenly and very unexpectedly passed away in May of 2021 at the age of 45. His wife sold his collection to fund a charity venture in his name that rescues dogs. I wanted to contribute and wanted to give some pieces from his collection a permanent and good home. He was a lifelong sports fan and collector and we bonded very quickly after meeting within my first month at PSA.

My friend used to write for the Carolina Hurricanes but after moving to California became a Ducks' fan, yet another thing we had in common. When I saw this dual autograph -- featuring Ryan Getzlaf and graded a BGS 10 -- was available I truly felt it belonged with me. I'm really happy I could give it a home and contribute to the wonderful charity she's starting in his memory.

Love you Neil, forever.

Archer Sketch Pickup: Robert Hack

I'm still working on completing the 2014 Cryptozoic Archer Sketch Set. It's been a slow grind but I have thankfully knocked off a few of the remaining artists I need to complete that beast of a project. Maybe by the 10 year anniversary, if I'm lucky!!

This newest piece comes from the mind of Robert Hack and features the one and only Malory Archer. This past season of Archer was the last for Malory as voice actress and legend Jessica Walter passed away. The show gave her character an absolutely beautiful finale and it brought tears to my eyes. Some shows kill off characters or give them forgettable endings, but the creators did a wonderful service in how her arc ended in the Archer universe.

The episode in question -- Lo Scandalo -- sees Malory kill the Prime Minister of Italy during some....exotic adult entertainment, as they were long-time lovers.

Corey Seager: 2016 Allen & Ginter Framed Mini Rookie Auto, BGS 9

I am not one of those people that blames Corey Seager for leaving and signing with Texas. He's accomplished a ton from a team perspective and from an individual perspective at a young age....and $325 million is $325 million! Add in no state income tax in Texas, and boy would I have made the same decision if the Dodgers weren't anywhere close to the offer the Rangers made him.

I still collect #ManBearSeag and have a number of his cards I'd like to add over time. Today's piece of slabbed cardboard is something I've had for years but never got around to posting about as I thought it was a bit ungraded (all 9 subgrades, I find you highly questionable). I sent this off through Dodger Penguin years ago and at this point I'm happy to have it and don't much care that it's "only" a 9.

Celebrating 8 Years of The Blog With A Bang: Clayton Kershaw 2008 eTopps Auto /100, BGS 9.5-10 AU!

Today is the 8th anniversary of this here blog. Today's card is one I legitimately adore. I feel confident in already calling it my top modern purchase of 2017. I actually bought it months ago, but I'm slow. So, to celebrate the 8th anniversary of PTSiA, here's a beaut I knew I couldn't let slip by me.

Behold the centerpiece of my Clayton Kershaw PC in all of its on-card rookie autograph glory! The card is numbered 381/999 but Kersh only signed 100 of them. While not as sought after or expensive as his 2006 Bowman Chrome RC Auto, this baby is actually a much tougher card to find. I won the auction as the only bidder (or it was a BIN....this is what happens when you wait to post things).

The card itself came out in 2008 and I'm guessing Topps had Clayton sign 100 of them in 2009, hence the dual years on the Beckett label. I'm really loving the design, so kudos to the folks at Topps.

My grandfather passed earlier this year after a wonderfully long and amazing life. He left each of my cousins and I a little bit of green to do with as we pleased. He wanted us to treat ourselves to something fun, whatever that fun entailed being irrelevant to him. I decided to add something to my collection that would not only be a centerpiece but a nice reminder of my grandfather every time I look at it.

It will likely end up tied with a card I just won as my overall top acquisition of the year because I don't have to choose in this imaginary game I'm playing. As far as I know the pop on this BGS 9.5-10 AU is just 2. This will never leave me and my collection under any circumstances, which I can only say for a fraction of the cardboard I own.

Three New Archer 1/1 Sketches & Artists

I still try to pick up 1/1 Sketches from the 2014 Cryptozoic Archer release when they present themselves for the right price or an artist I need becomes available. Great sketches also merit consideration. Really, I just love this set and the sketch cards more than most cardboard-related things. One particular eBay seller lists nearly a hundred sketches from time to time and recently he lowered the prices on them. I was able to cross off three more artists from my needs list.

First up is Michael Munshaw with a sketch depicting one of my favorite scenes from the great Season 1 episode Diversity Hire. Archer and Conway Stern go toe to toe -- and penis to penis, as Archer later tells Pam -- in the ISIS locker room.

The second sketch comes from Manny Mederos and pictures Cheryl/Carol/Cherlene/Cristal/Carina in one of the threesome bed formations. She's smoking a cigarette and comes complete with her trademark choke marks.

The final sketch is my first of Bilbo and was drawn by Steve Lydic. It's also from a Season 1 episode, The Rock, and features Bilbo talking about how his low salary forces him to live in Queens with a roommate. Lydic drew him slimmer and buffer than he actually is. That larger frame contributes to his death.

Farewell Bilbo, you hobbit-enthusiast.

I'm whittling down the artists I need, although a few will be ridiculously expensive.

COMC Order: ALL THE 1966 BATMAN

I placed an order with COMC way, way back during their Black Friday promotion. I'm just super slow in posting, obviously. The cards arrived about two weeks earlier than they estimated and it was my largest order to date with them, from a quantity perspective. I picked up a few cards for a fellow blogger and the lot of mostly 1966 Batman cards you see below.

I knocked off 17 Red Bat Series needs. I am closest on that set so I decided to focus the entire order on getting that as close to completion as possible.

I am disappointed in whomever pulled my cards at COMC headquarters as they clearly did not pay attention to the condition I ordered. I made sure to order cards without creases based on their scans and some of these have creases I would have clearly seen. It's not a set I'm very condition-picky on (that holds true for the Blue and Black Bat Series as well) but for the price they had them at I was not going for anything less than VG-EX. There's really no point in complaining to them though as I doubt they'd do anything about it.

I'm ~57% of the way to finishing the Red and much further behind on the others.

Finally, I wanted to add one more card to my collection and this seemed appropriate after hearing about the passing of Jose Fernandez. It's just a tremendous card as so many newer Stadium Club offerings are. Everything about it just epitomizes who Jose was from everything I've read and heard about him.

Urias, Jose Fernandez, Carlos Correa, and '66 Batman: Cards From Mike

I recently received a handful of cool cards from the ever-generous Mike.

Julio should be a really, really good one. This Heritage RC is fantastic.

A couple cool rookies featuring guys I enjoy watching. I've low-key wanted that Correa for some time, for whatever reason. I just like it.

BATMAN!!! Last but certainly not least, here are a couple of needed additions to my Red Bat '66 Batman set.

R.I.P. Jose Fernandez

R.I.P. George Coe

George Coe, who voiced Woodhouse on Archer and was an original cast member on Saturday Night Live, passed away recently.

He will be greatly missed.

Panini Contenders Quad Anaheim Ducks Auto: Etem, Gibson, Vatanen, Lindholm!

Picking up four autos in one fell swoop is always an enjoyable experience. This time it was less enjoyable but not because of the card I landed, but rather the major USPS issues that accompanied this purchase. Nevertheless the card found its way to me and I'm really happy to add it to multiple collections.

Emerson Etem, John Gibson, Sami Vatanen, and Hampus Lindholm were put together by the folks at Panini for this Quad Auto out of 2013-2014 Contenders, and I love the choice of players. Panini did drop the puck by not having this hard-signed, as the design is perfect for that, but such is life. Unfortunately Etem is no longer with the club -- a club that never put him in a position to succeed offensively, I might add -- but at least Gibson and Sami and Hampus remain.

If the Ducks end up trading Gibson though I will lose it.

R.I.P. Al Rosen

Al Rosen passed away yesterday at the age of 91. He's easily one of the most underrated third baseman in baseball history and if not for injuries which ended his career at the too-early age of 32, he'd be in the Hall of Fame. He was a great player, a class act, and a great trailblazer for Jewish players.

R.I.P., Hebrew Hammer.

Black-Back

Red-Back

Dairimaid Lid

1954 DOPE Book, The Sporting News

1954 The Lone Ranger. Volume 1, Issue #73. Al Rosen on the back cover.

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