A Random Kevin Durant Rookie Ticket

I was buying all sorts of random tickets on eBay during the pandemic....free time and overtime-backed cash will do that to a collecting addict. Rookie year tickets do interest me as debuts are often too pricey for my cheap ass. When I spotted the below for a few dollars I could not resist.

January 3rd of 2008 saw a lanky rookie out of Texas drop 28 points in a loss to my Phoenix Suns. That rookie was the one and only Kevin Durant. This PSA 4 full ticket has a crease running horizontally across the top but was cheap and is a nice alternative to that debut I will never splurge for and don't have a desire to splurge for. It pairs nicely with my affordable Durant Topps RC in an 8.

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.

When The Phoenix Suns Were Warriors

A couple of modest basketball rookies highlight today's post. Though I grew up in L.A. I was never a true Lakers' fan or a big basketball fan. That all changed in the early to mid-2000s when I discovered the 7 seconds or less Phoenix Suns and grew to enjoy basketball and two players on that team above all else.

Man, Steve Nash was a pleasure to watch. His court vision was nearly unmatched.

Shawn Marion was criminally underrated and still is. I see him as the forerunner to a guy like Draymond Green. His all-around game on both ends of the court was so important and his nickname -- "The Matrix" -- just added a cool factor to him.

I still remember the day Steve Kerr dealt Marion to the Heat for Shaq. That day effectively ended any chance the Suns had of winning, although David Stern did an even better job of that by robbing the Suns of a title opportunity with the Stoudemire and Diaw bogus suspensions in the '07 Playoffs.

Shawn Marion For My Birthday

I decided to clean through a box of randomness on Friday while at work and about halfway through a card caught my eye. I pulled it from the box, let out an "Oh yeah!" and showed it to my boss. He gave me a quizzical look and I explained that Shawn Marion is my favorite basketball player. He grabbed the card, took a quick look at it and handed it back while saying "Happy Birthday." Works for me!

Hand-numbered 50/315 -- probably not by Shawn himself -- this SAGE offering from 1999 features The Matrix in his UNLV garb. That's one obtrusive sticker but I do enjoy college and minor league cards. Pre-rookies are still rookies in my book.

Thanks Zack!

Massive 4th Place Contest Winnings From The Legendary Fuji!

Fuji held a massive contest earlier this year and when the dust settled I found myself in fourth place, which in this case meant a prize package would head my way. Here's a handful of the cardboard that found its way to Southern California.

The hits, highlighted by a sweet Eric Gagne relic.

A new Kemp, a new Kershaw, and a new Russ Martin. The Martin serves as the 300th unique card in my PC of the former Blue Crew backstop.

Now here's an interesting card. Night Owl has written on many an occasion about people sending him Royals' cards because they thought they were Dodgers' cards, what with the Blue and all. Well, here's a case where it falls on the shoulders of the card company to have gotten the darn thing right. I pulled this out of the bubbler and said hmmm, I don't recall there being a prospect named Salvador Perez in the L.A. system. Because, you know, there isn't. It's Sal Perez, the Kansas City backstop who's a fantastic young player. Anyways, I quite like the card even though it erroneously says Dodgers on the front while the back does say Royals.

Some randomness to end things. Love the Billingsley rookie; lots and lots of Jered Weaver which just further emphasizes that Topps reuses the same photo over and over (Topps Chrome, top middle); Kirk and Orel are welcome sights; that Piazza is nails; and so many talented arms in recent years.

Thanks as always Fuji for your generosity!

Loving That Kevin Love UCLA Auto.

Kevin Love is my favorite UCLA basketball alum, and the only one I really collect. He's in my top four favorite basketball players -- Shawn Marion, Steve Nash, LeBron, and Love -- and thankfully his cards are still somewhat affordable and he has a nice signature. What wasn't all that affordable was an autograph depicting him in UCLA attire. I had my eyes on a Press Pass offering, but couldn't lock anything down.

That finally changed when I landed the above gorgeous hit, numbered 038/127. It features a spectacular on-card John Hancock, a great action shot of Love, a UCLA uniform, and that sweet but subtle UCLA Bruins logo splashed across the front. It wasn't exactly cheap but it was well worth every penny.

Card Show Recap: 1933 Goudey, Vintage Galore, Cheap Hits, Trade Bait, Set Help, and Kate Upton.

I attended a card show this past Saturday in my Las Vegas 51s' jersey. The show was put on by the same people who ran the first show I attended back in May. I was hoping to find some nice PC additions, some nice bait, and some awesome vintage. I met up with Oscar during the show, and you can find his recap here.

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Purchase: 1933 Goudey Ray Benge RC - $8

This was my second-to-last purchase. I hadn't spent much at this point and didn't expect to find anything at this table of mostly high-priced vintage. I noticed a stack of '33 Goudeys and hoped I might find one of the four remaining cards I need to complete the Brooklyn Dodgers' team set. I thankfully struck gold in the form of Ray Benge. It was marked as $10, and I was hoping to nab it for 8. I offered 7, the dealer countered with 8, and we had ourselves an easy deal.

Purchase: 1961 Bell Brand Walt Alston & 12 Non-Sports Vintage Cards - $10

I've now made a large and enjoyable purchase of non-sports vintage from the same dealer at both shows. Patrick has a lot of cool stuff to pick through, and he gave me a great deal on top of letting me know about the Bell Brand Dodgers he had. He mentioned that he had me in mind when he brought them, which is just awesome. One of the Michigans is ticketed for our resident Michigan collector, if he wants it.

Purchase: Lot of 7 Hits - $10

Here's where things get interesting. This was the last table I hit up, and it was as the remaining dealers began to take their stuff down and close. The guy was nice enough to let me pick through his one and two dollar boxes and mentioned someone had earlier found a Johnny Bench auto in the two buck box. I didn't expect to find anything, but after randomly picking out a handful of cards, I hit the jackpot in that same box of two dollar cardboard: a Peyton Manning #'d autograph.

I wanted to make sure he saw where I had pulled the card from, and when I finally got his attention, he took it and showed another dealer the mistake the guy who put his boxes together had made. I did not get said autograph for two dollars, and he didn't even give me a price.

Was he obligated to sell it to me for $2? No, but should he have considering the mistake was his, not mine, and the box is advertised as $2 per card? Probably, especially considering someone had found the Bench auto earlier and you'd think he would take the time to search it for other misplaced cards.

He evidently was appreciative, as he thanked me later and gave me the above seven hits for ten bucks when they would have been $20.

Purchase: Matrix and UCLA Basketball Pickups - $3

The first table I landed at when I arrived belonged to a dealer who was at the first show. I made a much smaller purchase from him this time around but was just as pleased with my additions.

Purchase: Ginter Set Needs, Kershaw, Kate Upton, and Dick Pole Leading To A Rusty Kuntz - $2

I WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO KNOCK OFF A COUPLE OF GINTER SET NEEDS. I was pleasantly surprised at that outcome when the Rios and Miggy were found. Both Kershaws are new additions to my Kid K PC, bringing me just shy of 200 unique Clayton cards.

The Dick Pole card was directly in front of the Rusty Kuntz RC, and for a quarter each, I wasn't leaving them behind.

Oscar also brought some cards for me, so a big thanks to him for that!

I Finally Own Shawn Marion's Auto!

While that may not seem like all that big of an accomplishment, Shawn Marion is my favorite basketball player, tied with Steve Nash and just ahead of LeBron James. I've wanted an auto of his for a long time, and I was very recently able to cross that need off of my Card Bucket List.

For the low Buy-It-Now price of $3.94 shipped I picked up this sweet on-card John Hancock from 2003-2004 Upper Deck Rookie Exclusives. The Matrix doesn't have much in the way of a signature, but I don't care. His autograph is an important piece to my collection that I was without, and I'm stoked to have finally righted that wrong while not breaking the bank.

My Favorite Products To Collect? They're Player-Centric. Mostly.

Fuji has inquired as to our favorite product in each sport. Off we go.

Baseball: Allen & Ginter, any year. Ginter is the only set I'll put together each and every year in my collecting future (I'm still working on 2011, by the by), and I love its retro-nature and inclusion of non-baseball people and things. Old-timey works. Perhaps my favorite aspect of Ginter though is that my three main guys have had numerous hits in the product, and the borders on the relics are always enjoyable. Below are the Ginter hits I've managed to land that feature Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, and Russell Martin. I have multiple copies of both Kemp Ginter relics. 1989 Topps has to get a shout-out too, as it's the first set I ever completed and is the major release from the year of my birth.

Hockey: Dominion. Dominion. Dominion. I mean really, could there be any other set listed here? I'm currently working on piecing together the Master Set of my main hombre, Ryan Getzlaf, from the inaugural offering of this Panini product (2010-2011). What I have - that's been posted already - is below.

Football: Okay, I don't do a lot of football that doesn't involve picking up a LaDainian Tomlinson hit, so this is by far the toughest sport to pick for. I don't actually own a card from the set I'm going to pick, but Masterpieces was an amazing release on the part of Upper Deck for both baseball and football, so it gets my vote here. I would love to one day own the red-bordered LT card from '08 Masterpieces Football which shows him utilizing his passing ability. Greatest back ever.

Basketball: I'm not a huge basketball collector beyond my UCLA guys and a Phoenix Suns or LeBron James hit here or there, but this one is still a pretty easy choice. '86-'87 Fleer, a classic set with a great and very patriotic border and an awesome checklist. I only own three cards from the set - all acquired in a trade with Scott from Scott Crawford On Cards! - but I enjoy each of the three.

Miscellaneous Semi-Sport - Poker: I don't really delve into non-sports too much, but I do love poker and play it whenever I can (i.e. my wallet allows and my friends are around). I only have three poker cards, but two feature sexy ladies, so that's like double the cards in reality. I consider poker to be a semi-sport, especially if golf is designated a sport. Sorry Eric.

Miscellaneous Non-Sport - The Big Bang Theory: There's one non-sport product I have been dying to bust and hoping to find singles of at affordable prices. Singles have not been affordable, unfortunately, and I missed my chance to bust a box at an affordable price, so that aspect will have to wait to be fulfilled. I'm referring, of course, to The Big Bang Theory trading cards. While I can't show you any cards in my possession, I can regale you with my favorite clip from The Big Bang Theory, which is saying something, considering it's one of the best shows on television and there are countless clips I could show.

It all started with a big bang, so it should only end that way too. Or with the only five cards I'd need from the product. Six when you include the auto of the actress who plays Sheldon's smoking hot sister.

Yeah, let's make it six.