Moving Hiatus

I moved this past weekend from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The blog will take a short hiatus as I get myself settled and deal with other moving related things.

I have a bunch of stuff to still post so this is in no way a goodbye as it ended up being during the 2020 hiatus I undertook.

To the handful of you still reading...please keep checking back!

Ever Miss Out On A White Whale?

I feel like this is a universal theme of collecting anything at any point in history. I would love to hear your stories of missing out on those collection essentials that you may never see again. Here are two recent ones I am still despondent over.

I created a Zack Wheat themed Instagram page to showcase my collection of cards and ephemera from the Brooklyn legend. I was hopeful a side effect of this would be getting presented with items to purchase/trade for and almost immediately my hope turned to reality with a DM about a Wheat. For some reason I decided to not respond until the next night, and my slow/lazy approach cost me dearly. I could not say "YES" fast enough to wanting the item presented to me but unfortunately the person had taken the card to a show in that 24-hour lag and sold it.

I don't think I've ever seen one available before and I certainly have not seen one in the 7 or so months since missing out on this beautiful S74 Silk from somewhere in the 1909-1911 range. The person who bought it is at least a Brooklyn collector so it has a great home. That home, though, should have been mine.

This next one hurts in a couple of ways as it has reappeared in the wild. Not another copy, but the exact copy that sold on Net54 in February that I totally missed and did not see until April. I used to go on Net54 every day but that has changed over the last year. Oh, if only I had continued that trend....it would have yielded a magnificent and tough 1916 D381 Ferguson Bakery in a spiffy SGC 2 slab. The price on this one was right as with the Silk and while it is back up and now at an auction house, the price has already exceeded what the Net54 user was asking.

So, anyone have similar stories of missed gold?

Do The Creep

Today's addition to my 1962 Mars Attacks PSA 4 set build moves me past the 15% completion mark (9 of 55 in-hand/posted). The artwork, the science fiction, the gore, and more -- it is just a truly great and underappreciated vintage masterpiece.

Card number 37, Creeping Menace, joins the club in a plastic tomb. This is a long haul sort of deal and I don't even have the three big ones yet, so patience will be the name of the game.

A Polar Bear T206 Double Name For The Ages: Ty Cobb, SGC 2!

Another long-ago acquired piece of cardboard finally makes its appearance on the blog as I move through a shrinking backlog. At the time of its acquisition, it was the most expensive card I had ever purchased and it remains as such unless I am forgetting something. It's a truly classic item in and out of the hobby that touches on multiple collecting loves I possess. I can't wait to display it down the road once I build some sort of man cave/card room.

Hello Mr. Cobb! This bad boy popped up at auction through REA and eventually my persistence led to it falling into my hands. Cobb T206s are amazingly awesome and I hope to one day add a copy of each of the four poses that exist. While I prefer the two action shots to the two portraits, they are all beautiful pieces of art and adding a tougher back on this Red Portrait was an easy decision, price aside.

Needing the Red and already having it arrive slabbed by SGC as a crease-free 2 were driving factors in my interest turning into action, but the biggest pull on my T206-loving heartstrings is what you see peeking out of the top oversized border. I really like T206 double-names and this Cobb has the full name on the bottom and half of another name at the top, making it the perfect pickup.

Polar Bear backs are absolutely fantastic and the blue really pops. This puts me halfway to this project being completed, as Red now joins Bat On Shoulder!

Patience Sucks, But It Pays Off: 2 Extremely Tough Archer Sketch Cards From Art Director Chad Hurd!

A collection must I thought I might never see materialized and was secured in a matter of days last week after a nearly decade long pursuit. My long quest to secure a sketch card from every artist to contribute to the Cryptozoic Archer release has been winding down but has stalled on a handful of creatives, including the four absolute toughest people. I've been diligently on the hunt but these four only produced about a dozen sketches each.

Certain Archer collectors have as many as 9 of a few of these men and women, so I had nearly given up on finding any in the wild. However, I persevered and turned over all stones looking for the last few want list needs. And lo and behold! I reached out to Chad Hurd, one of the mainstays behind the scenes of my favorite show. Chad has worn many hats for the production squad since the pilot, including Character Designer; Illustrator; Producer; Associate Art Director; and Art Director.

Chad said he would check and quickly dug out these two tremendous stunners! I did not want to risk losing out on these so I made him a fair offer, more money than I have ever spent on one of these beautiful pieces of Archer art. To my pure delight he accepted my offer and these arrived on my doorstep about an hour ago from the literal moment I am typing these words.

What better characters to get than Sterling Archer and Lana Kane! I will always take a Krieger though, as he's my favorite on the show by far. The fact that these are both Artist Proofs just adds to the jubilation I am feeling. To have started a dialogue with an Archer luminary and essential cog like Chad...well, that is just the sweet sweet icing on the bear claw cake.