An Oddball Pre-WWI Ty Cobb

I'm a big fan of 1914 B18 Blankets. They're oddball, pre-war, and full of notable names (including my boy Zack Wheat). Unfortunately, PSA does not grade them and BGS holders get clunkier the larger they get. Thankfully, SGC exists -- or did, before PSA decided to phase it out of existence. Even more worthy of thanks from the cardboard gods is I did not procrastinate in sending them in for encapsulation.

The first of those to get a write-up is The Georgia Peach himself, Tyrus Cobb. I don't have a large Cobb PC but I very much enjoy what I have tracked down and secured. The blanket is missing a chunk but all the important stuff is intact and it looks great in the slab, graded a simple Authentic.

Here's the back, for giggles.

(Zack) Wheat Wednesday: A Beautiful T206 Sovereign, Slabbed an SGC 1!

I don't think I will ever make a play at the full Zack Wheat T206 back run due to a couple of super tough ones, but if I find myself in a position to do so it would be incredibly fun and challenging. Until then, when a new back presents itself at a good price, I am not the kind of fella who would say no.

On my birthday during the summer of 2024, I decided to try and snag a low grade but visually-appealing new back for this hypothetical chase. It showed up on eBay and hey, it was my birthday. To quote the great philosopher Donna Meagle, you must "TREAT YO SELF."

I came out victorious for a reasonable price and once it was in-hand I dropped it off with SGC at a local card show. It eventually returned and it looks fantastic in the tuxedo. It's my fifth different back and Sovereign have always been great to look at with their fancy reverses.

I Am Nearly 50% Complete On My 1962 Mars Attacks PSA 4 Set Build!

It's been too long since I posted an update for my 1962 Mars Attacks PSA 4 Set Build, and I just so happen to have two sitting patiently in my "to deal with" pile of stuff that has accumulated during my hobby lull. I am positive I picked these up at a Front Row Card Show from one of my all-time favorite dealers. The set build had a chunk appear all at once but it has been slow since then.

# 49 -- The Earthmen Charge -- is first up. Beautiful artwork as always, although nowhere near as graphic as most of the cards in the set.

Next up, the more visually appealing card as Mars Explodes (# 54) joins the club.

This dealer is always willing to work with me on price if I can show my comp work, and this time was no different. I always appreciate that willingness, and because of it, I now move to 25/55 in my journey to complete this project. 45.5% of the way there feels great and I hope to be solidly over halfway there by the end of 2026.

A Silky Smooth Zack Wheat 1911 Pickup

Some time ago an oddity appeared on eBay with a name I collect in the title "WHEAT." I was very intrigued to take a closer look at the seller-provided pictures and lo and behold an exceptionally rare Zack Wheat item was part of the piece up for sale. It's been so long that I don't recall if it was an auction or a Buy-It-Now listing but I knew I could not let it pass me by.

I really love the S74 Silks that came out at the same time as the T206 set and for the longest time it was a White Whale. I posted about the White Wheat Silk I landed and now I can pair it with a beautiful Colored Silk. It was attached to the decorative display you see below and after some painstaking surgery to remove the four baseball players (Wheat, Hooks Wiltse x 2, and Harry Steinfeldt) as well as the bloodhound in the middle, the sport silks were sent to SGC for encapsulation.

I still have the non-Zack guys available if anyone is interested and I continue to sell off huge chunks of my collection. This one took a long time to track down but the journey and story were worth the wait as I never anticipated finding one like this!

Timothy Olyphant on Archer Always Brings A Smile To My Face!

Hey, a post two weeks in a row! I'm back again and shockingly, I'm back with a couple more Archer sketch cards I picked up from eBay.

The threesome bed sketches were the Short Print of the sketch card run in this product, as all artists were asked to contribute a few. That does make them a little more valuable even though I prefer a direct from a scene artist rendering.

This bad boy had been up on eBay for ages and my offers were continually turned down to the point I ran out of offers. Eventually I relented and went up about $5 from where I wanted to be, and I am happy I did as I only have one other sketch of Lucas Troy (voiced by the legendary Timothy Olyphant) in my collection.

Elvin Hernandez is the man behind the color pencils and I just realized that this becomes my third piece from him and all are the bed sketches, creating a cool threesome sketch from just one creative mind.

These sketch cards have climbed in price over the last 6 months in a way I didn't expect, so when they pop for low prices I have to jump no matter what. That is how I ended up with this Barry Dylan from JC Fabul, as it was still at pre-bump prices last week and I could not let it pass by.