wallpaper the world

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".

image courtesy of Sneakerfiles.com

I normally chronicle a basketball sneaker in the Kicks Series posts, but one of the craziest looking footwear creations was actually born on the gridiron with the Deion Sanders inspired Nike Air Diamond Turf (DT) Max kicks. These came out in 1996 when "Neon Deion" was the best shutdown corner in the NFL. Opposing teams didn't even throw toward the side of the field that Sanders was lurking. Was it the shoes that helped make Sanders so great. Not likely. Although the DT Max kicks are pretty sweet looking, Deion was a bona fide superstar before that '96 season. However, Sanders and the Dallas Cowboys did win Super Bowl XXX that year. I'm just saying… they're pretty good looking sneakers and it takes more than just sweat and hard work. It takes some fly looking kicks to get things done sometimes.

image courtesy of Sneakerfiles.com

No question, the most interesting design element of these Diamond Turf kicks is the tiger stripes or waves depending on your perspective. They're wild and abrasive just like Deion was. The visible Air Max mid sole is always cool too on Nike's creations. These sneakers were originally released in '96, but have been re- released as retro's. They came out just a couple of weeks ago for $125 with a few slight changes to the original design. The upper (Upper: Sneakerhead lingo for top part of the shoe/sneaker that holds the foot to the mid sole) has some always popular patten leather on the versions with a white background in the color schemes (In the case of the images from this post, the white and red Diamond Turfs). Another change is the lack of Deion Sanders image on the visible Air Max pocket on the bottom heel of the outer sole. I'm assuming this is because Nike no longer has an agreement with "Prime Time".

Speaking of Nike agreements, Deion was a spokesman for Nike all through the 90's. As a two-sport star and general load mouth, Sanders was a prime candidate to be a pitchman for Nike. It also didn't hurt that when the stadium lights were turned on, Deion's neon never shined brighter. Here's a YouTube clip of Sanders promoting the Nike Air DT Max: