wallpaper the world

'09 Upper Deck Black Lustrous Materials Thomas Vanek

UD Black is one of my favorite product lines in the hobby, and to find a UD Black card of one of my hometown Buffalo Sabres makes this recent purchase a hat-trick. I nabbed this Thomas Vanek Lustrous Materials card a few weeks back for $15.00. That's not the cheapest card for my collecting budget, but it's not too bad. Actually, for an auto'd/multi-color jersey card of a 35 goals/year NHL scorer, I thought it was a nice deal. One things for sure though, I can't wait for the upcoming release of 2011 Upper Deck The Cup. I hope to pick up a few more cards of my Buffalo Sabres.

Apparently, Blogger has had some issues the past couple of days. I'm not sure how this has affected other blogs, but I haven't been able to post for about 24 hours and my last post was deleted. Maybe somebody over at Blogger wasn't a hockey fan. Anyways, everything seems to be working just fine now. Since I got out of work an hour early, I figured I'd type something up quick.

I've been getting out sniped on eBay pretty regularly over the past few weeks. I've been so close on a number of cards I need for several of the sets I'm putting together, but just haven't been able to close the deal. As frustrating as that's been, there's always another poster, trading card or piece of memorabilia on my Watch List for me to bid on. Here are a few recent eBay wins:

'10 Upper Deck The Cup Chris Butler Rc

My hockey fever continues with this 2010 Upper Deck The Cup Chris Butler RC. UD's The Cup has been the premier hockey product in the industry for sometime now. I know 2011 will be out soon, and I'm pretty excited about that. Also, Panini has just released a preview on The Knight's Lance for their high-end hockey product called Dominion Hockey. Both will feature on-card auto's and great patches. I'm pretty excited to see these two products go head-to-head.

The Butler card isn't autographed or anything fancy like that. It's just a well designed RC that is limited to only 25. Butler is a young defensemen for my Buffalo Sabres. He started the season as a healthy scratch most nights, but was often paired with Tyler Myers as the Sabres' top defensive duo by season's end.

I'm glad to add this super thick card to my ever growing hockey collection. It really didn't set me back too much either. I think I paid under $10 including the shipping. Well worth it for an up and coming player in the Sabres franchise. Hopefully Butler will be here in Buffalo for a longtime to come.

'97 Topps Finest Anfernee Hardaway  Gold Refractor

I'm sure many of you know by now that I'm a huge "Penny" Hardaway collector. I was a fan back in his playing days and there are just a ton of great inserts and auto's out there of Hardaway to collect. Plus, who didn't like those Lil' Penny Nike commercials from the 90's? He is just a fun player to collect.

This 1997 Topps Finest Gold Refractor is a Hardaway card I've been going after for sometime. For some reason, I've gravitated to these Finest Gold Refractors. I have about 10 different ones right now. I'm not actually trying to put the set together… I swear. I've seen this Hardaway card sell for $30.00 bucks before and one also sold for $18.09 recently. However, I was somehow able to steal this one for $9.99. I can certainly deal with a half-price auction win!

It's been awhile since I've picked up a nice Hardaway card. Hopefully this Gold Refractor will get me back in the Hardaway swing of things. Especially if I'm able to pick one or two up for a few pennys. Gotta love a cheesy play on words.

'97 Upper Deck SPx Pro Motion Troy Aikman

The '97 Upper Deck SPx Pro Motion set is one of those sets I'm attempting to put together. Actually, I'm putting together all the SPx Pro Motion sets across all four major sports for both '97 and '98. This Troy Aikman is a great addition to the '97 Football set. I unfortunately scanned the card in a top loader, so the scan didn't turn out too great. Although I'm certainly no Dallas Cowboys fan, not bitter at all about Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII, I love the card's design. I'm getting close with both the '97 basketball and football sets, but the baseball and hockey are a struggle. Also, my '98 Pro Motion sets are coming along even worse, but I'll keep working on them. The chase is all apart of the fun. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

'11 Upper Deck SPx Shadow Box Tyler Myers

It's official, I can't enough of Upper Deck's SPx Shadow Box cards. This time I've been swallowed up by the excitement of the NHL Playoffs and just couldn't pass up this 2011 Shadow Box card featuring Buffalo Sabres' defender Tyler Myers. Myers is one of the best young players in the NHL and I'm just glad he's wearing a Sabres' sweater right now.

As for these SPx Shadow Box cards, they're really cool. This is the second year Upper Deck has released versions of these inserts. They are case hits inserted into the football and hockey products. I hope they release versions in the basketball product. Each card is very thick and has a raised 3D image of the featured player in the middle of the card.

I have two Thurman Thomas Shadow Box cards. One is from his playing days with the Buffalo Bills (click here) and the other is from his Oklahoma State University days (click here). Aside from the look of the Myers card, I'm really excited about adding this one to my collection as the Sabres are currently leading the Philadelphia Flyers in a best of seven first round playoff matchup. Hopefully the Sabres can close out the series today.

Happy Easter and, "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

'07 Upper Deck Dual Plexi Autograph 1-2 Combo Clearcut Autos Ryan Miller /Thomas Vanek #'d 041/100 With the NHL playoff races tightening up, it's high time that I show some support for my Buffalo Sabres. What's the best way for a sports memorabilia collector to show his or her support for their team? Obviously, it's to buy trading cards featuring players from their favorite team, so that's what I've done. I love acetate cards, and this '07 UD 1-2 Combo Clearcut dual auto card of Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek is pretty awesome. This card certainly is a nice addition to my collection, but hopefully it'll bring some luck to the Buffalo Sabres down the stretch. Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Slap of the Puck".

Here's a few of my favorite cards from the past few months. I've wrote posts on most of these, but it's always fun to show them off. After all, part of the fun of card collecting is showing your cards off. What are some of your favorite trading card acquisitions of the past few months?

'91 Kenny Anderson Star Pics Auto               '08 Brett Gardner RC Auto         '03 Jay Williams UD Ultimate Auto RC


   '09 UD Exquisite Cunningham Auto            '80 Topps Henderson RC                   '08 Hawaii Trade Conference                                                                                                                                        Miller/Evans Auto


                                Bernie Williams, Paul O'neill & Andy Pettitte EX Essential Credentials

                     '10 Topps 206 Cervelle Auto                         '10 UD The Cup Signature Patches Vanek Auto

                '07 UD Ultimate Legends Jim kelly Auto                       '96 Anfernee Hardaway UD Tribute Auto

          '09 UD Thurman Thomas UD SPx Shadow Box                '08 UD Lynch Exquisite Endorsements Auto

'97 UD Jordan Commemorative Collection     '99 Thomas SkyBox Rubies            '93 TSC Beam Team O'neal RC

              '09 UD Exquisite Thurman Thomas Auto             '97 Ultra Court Masters (I'm putting the set together)  















             '10 Thurman Thomas UD SPx Shadow Box                              '07 Chris Mullin UD Ultimate Virtuoso

'09 Nathan Gerbe Upper Deck Ultimate Rookies Signatures Auto

My Buffalo Sabres are four points back of the Carolina Hurricanes for the 8th and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Sabres do have three games in hand, but they could certainly use a big win against the Capitals today.

The '09 Upper Deck Ultimate Rookies Signature card is of Sabres forward Nathan Gerbe. Gerbe is a young and talented forward. He's not the biggest guy at only 5'5'', but he makes up for that lack of size with exciting speed and hustle. The Ultimate RC auto is a nice addition to my hockey collection.

Enjoy the smorgasbord of sports today with the Sabres game, Heritage Classic outdoor game, Daytona 500 and 60th NBA All-Star Game. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

2006 Upper Deck SP Authentic Sign of the Times Thomas Vanek/Chris Drury

There's nothing like a nice on-card auto for the sports card collector. Except of course, two on-card auto's on one card. Needless to say, three or four on-card auto's on a single card would be even nicer than a dual auto'd card, but I don't have one. So we'll go with the dual auto'd card. This Vanek/Drury Upper Deck Sign of the Times card was a nice little pickup I had from the Bay recently and proves to be a nice example of a dual auto'd card.

Chris Drury is no longer with the Buffalo Sabres, but he was a big part of their success just a few seasons ago. His signature is anything but impressive, but it's nice to have non the less. He's currently with the New York Rangers. Thomas Vanek is leading the Sabres with 48 total points and is second on the team with 22 goals. Those certainly aren't Hall of Fame numbers, but they're very respectable for this point in the season. Plus, he's got a pretty snazzy signature. Click here to see a couple more Thomas Vanek auto'd cards.

So I'm a big fan of dual auto'd cards. Do you prefer single auto'd cards or a multi auto'd cards? I can see how this would be a no brainer for most, but it's also nice to have a card that focuses on one great player and their signature. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

'08 Upper Deck Trilogy 1-2 Combo Clear Cut Miller/Vanek Dual Auto #'d 40/100

As many of you are well aware or, acetate is one of my favorite trading card technologies. Acetate cards consist of images that have been incased or printed on translucent plastic. A prime example, and one of my favorites, is the Ryan Miller/Thomas Vanek UD Trilogy dual auto'ed card pictured above. Acetate cards look cool and are certainly fun to collect. However, living in Buffalo, NY, they can have a fragile side as well.

I got back into the hobby a little more than three years ago and was amazed at how the industry and trading cards themselves had changed. For example, I remembered acetate cards from the late 90's (click here), but the modern acetate card is typically a lot thicker and often features an autograph. One of my first big eBay purchases getting back into the hobby was a Dominique Wilkins 2003 Upper Deck Focus Auto (click here). More important than the cost of the card, was the excitement I had of adding a Dominique Wilkins autograph to my collection. Unfortunately, it can get pretty cold here in Buffalo.

Cold and acetate doesn't go very well together. The ultra thick Wilkins Auto Focus card cracked during shipment like a nasty chip spiders on a car windshield. In below freezing weather, all it takes is a dropped envelope or reckless mail carrier to shatter an acetate card. Luckily, the seller refunded my entire order. Which was very nice since it really wasn't the sellers fault. Today, I rarely buy an acetate card during the cold winter months. If I just can't refuse a good deal, I will tell the seller to hold onto the card until it warms up a bit. The difference in a few degrees can be the difference between a sweet Miller/Vanek auto or a shattered Wilkins auto.

Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

1997 Upper Deck Dominik Hasek Holoview Collection

One of my favorite Buffalo athletes of all-time is former Buffalo Sabres net-minder Dominik Hasek. The "Dominator" was just that, dominant. The six-time Vezina Trophy winner and two-time Hart Trophy (League MVP) winner has a minuscule career 2.02 GAA and .925 career SV%. As much as I like current Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, he's got nothing on Hasek.

Here's a recent Hasek pickup I made on eBay for just under $3.00 including shipping. This 1997 Upper Deck Holoview Collection card combines two of my favorite card attributes with the vivid holoview surface and die-cut edges. I'm also digging the late 90's Buffalo Sabres uniforms. I love getting cool cards on the cheap. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

2010 UD The Cup Thomas Vanek Signature Patches

I was really excited when Upper Deck released preview images of their 2010 The Cup product a few months ago on their Facebook page. This product single handily got me ready for the NHL season to start. Unfortunately, my Buffalo Sabres haven't gotten off to the kind of start I and many other fans were expecting, but the season is still young. Now to the cards!!!

2010 UD The Cup Chris Butler Rookie Patch/Auto

I've been on a mission to add a few of these Stanley Cup worthy cards to my collection, and my first couple purchases have arrived. I have two more cards coming from this year's Cup product, but these first two cards of Thomas Vanek and Chris Butler are awesome. They look great on screen, but trust me, these look even better in-hand. Both cards have on-card auto's and multi-colored patches. Two attributes that are highly desired by all collectors.

With all the complaints I've heard from collectors lately about tiny single colored patches and sticker auto's, mine included, Upper Deck really delivered with 2010 The Cup. That's why my hunt will continue so I can bag a few more cards from this extremely well thought out and executed product.