Recent Autograph Adds

I love this blog. I love writing it. But due to work, gym and other commitments, I barely have time to write as much as I'd like to. As you can imagine, there blogs I'd love to post and after a while, it gets backed up. I recently realized I haven't posted any of my autograph successes in a long time.

So, for your veiwing pleasure, I will post my most recent scores.

This was one autograph I wanted for a long time and was finally able to add it to my collection. I remember Mark Jackson as a point guard with St. Johns and then with the Knicks. He never had a certified auto released save for a college card. My rule is, the player has to be pictured in the uniform of the team I collect. So, I passed up the college cards. When Jackson was hired to be the coach of the Golden State Warriors, I decided to take a shot. After about 2 months, I got my card back, signed. Thrilled to finally have a Jackson auto in my Knicks collection.

Blackhawk great Bobby Hull signed this custom for me in about a month c/o The Blackhawks

Sent former Jet, Mike D'Amato a custom and he sent me back this 8x10, signed and personalized to me. Very cool success.

Another former Jet, Ralph Baker, signed this custom for me in under a weeks time.

The next couple were in person sucesses.

About a week ago, I attended the New Jersey Devils annual blood drive. Each year, I give blood to The Devils blood drives. This year, I decided to bring my 2000 Championship puck just in case. Last year, 2 former Devils showed up and while I was glad to get the players to sign pictures they provided, I need one on puck. This year, I vowed not to be left out, in case the player I thought would show up, did.

I was able to get former Devil Ken Danyeko to sign the puck for me in blue sharpie. I think it came out well. It's my second Danyeko puck. The first I got at a charity event and it was a rush job. This time, he took his time signing it.

Last, but certainly not least For my Spider-Man collection

Andrew Garfield, who will be playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man, is on Broadway performing in Death Of A Salesman. I was able to get him on this 8x10 after a performance. His shoe lace was untied and I told him so and added I was sure his Spider-Sense didn't pick it up, which got a laugh from him and the people in my vicinity. Nice kid. Hope he does well.

I'm planning to send out a lot of autograph requests in the upcoming days, so I will hopefully have more stuff to show as they come in. Hopefully, you will have as much fun checking them out as I do writing and posting them. I have a few projects in mind and will tell you what they are as the autos come back.

See you soon.

Its Finally Happened.

Right now, I'm in the laundromat, watching my clothes wrestle each other in the dryer, bored out of my mind. I decided to try to post a picture-less blog to give you all a quick update to what I've been up to the past few weeks. Plus, I get to test this Blogger Android app that I downloaded off the Android Market.

I finally decided that I've had enough of binders. I currently have close to 30 binders that house my Yankees, Jets, Devils, Knicks and Islander cards. I am running out of space to put more binder. Plus, to be honest, I'm thrilled with having to shell out 3-7 bucks a pop for binders, then 15 dollars for 9 pocket pages. With all the cards I pick up during a calender year, I will have to buy a home that has a massive library just to house the binders. Plus, I have close to 15 boxes of cards I have yet to organize. Sheesh!

So, I finally have joined the many masses that are puting their card collections into monster boxes, top loaders and penny sleeves. Not exactly what I wanted when I started collecting again, but with room at a premium, I have no choice.

So, I have started with Topps. I have made dividers from index cards and been moving the base into the box. I plan to keep the inserts in the binders as well as the player collections I have of Mark Teixeira, Martin Brodeur, Mike Bossy, Mark Teixeira and Patrick Ewing.

I'm hoping this works out for me. I'm tired of having to decide how I am storing my cards, especially between my Team Collectors group, trades, box breaks and ebay, I get a lot each month.

I also have been looking to build up my Knicks collection. Of all the teams I collect, they are the team I have the fewest of. So, I've been picking up a few cards as well as some Ewings. Its been coming along nicely and pretty soon, I should have a nice Knicks collection.

2008-09 Black Diamond Martin Brodeur Quad Jersey

With yesterdays 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, it seems like the Devils quest to make the postseason is pretty much dead. Unfortunately, the Devils horrific start was too much to over come. It's not that they're mathmatically eliminated just yet, but with about 9 games left and the Devils being 9 games behind Buffalo for the 8 playoff spot, they would have to win out right and hope for a lot of help from those in front of them to get in. It's going to take a miracle I think.

Broduer, dispite missing games due to injury, is having a solid season yet again. He is 21-23 with a 2.46 GAA and a save percentage of .902. He also has 5 shutout wins. In December, I was sure this would be his final season, but it looks like he will be back in net next year. That is good because he looks like he can play another year or two.

I managed to add this beauty to my Brodeur pc on Monday. It's an ebay win. Not numbered, but it looks great nonetheless. My Brodeur game used collection is growing and I look forward to add more to it soon.

TTM Success 3/8/2011-Mike Emrick

Yesterday, I got another TTM success back. This time, it was from New Jersey Devils announcer, Mike Emrick. "Doc", is also NBC's number one hockey announcer, working their national games as well as the Winter Classic and Stanley Cup Finals. He also works games for Versus.

Emrick has been the Devils announcer twice. He was their first announcer back in the 1982-83 season, leaving soon after and returning to New Jersey after the 92-93 season. He has been an announcer for Fox, ESPN, TNT, CBS, as well as the Flyers and has worked the Olympics. He has won the National Cable Ace Award, has won local Emmy's, the Lester Patrick Throphy and was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Forster Hewitt Memorial Award back in 2008.

"Doc" signed my two customs in 2 weeks time, sent care of the New Jersey Devils in Red ink. Very pleased with the success. Emrick is so good at what he does, that I can't watch a hockey game and enjoy it unless he's calling the game. That's as good as a complement I can give any announcer.

2010-11 SPx Winning Trios Devils Triple Jersey #'ed to 50

Been a while since I last posted. Been working extra hours and taking care of some personal stuff. A lot has happened since I last posted. Knicks getting Carmelo Anthony (Yey) and the baseball world losing Duke Snider (Boo). Heck, I only sent out 10 Spring Training autograph requests this year, down from the 20-30 I usually get out. It's March now and lately the only thing that's been on my mind is baseball and my beloved New York Yankees. That's why I'm showing off a hockey card.

Got this beauty in a trade on sportscardforum.com. It's a 2010-2011 SPx Winning Trios triple game used jersey card of Martin Brodeur, Patrik Elias and former Devils Captain Jamie Langenbrunner. The card is numbered to 50 and I'm pleased to be able to added to my Martin Brodeur PC.

I have a few other trades hopefully coming back soon. For my 100th post, I will show off my prized possession.

Patrik Elias-All Star

Today at 4pm, the NHL All Star Game will be held in RBC Center, home to the Carolina Hurricanes. This year, my favorite hockey team, the New Jersey Devils, will be represented by the franchises all time points leader, Patrik Elias. At the half way point in the season, Elias has been one of New Jersey's bright spots in an otherwise dismal season. Elias has scored 13 goals with 24 assists, good for 37 points. He leads the team in total points, assists and game winning goals with 4.

Elias was drafted in the second round (51st overrall) by the Devils in the 1994 NHL Draft. He was called up to the Devils during the 96-97 season and finished that season with 2 goals and 3 assists in 17 games played. He went back down for 3 games in Albany before being called back to New Jersey for good. During his career, he's been a part of top scoring lines like the A Line of Elias, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora and the EGG Line of Elias, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. He holds the NHL record for most overtime goals in a season with 4 and holds just about every Devils scoring record you can think of. He has also won 2 Stanley Cups, assisting on the Cup winning goal in 2000

The above card is from my personal collection. Its a 97-98 Be A Player Autograph from his rookie year. I have a small Elias collection with a few other autographs, a couple game used cards and a game used stick I picked up from the Devils Draft Party a couple years back. He is always a player I have considered collecting as he is not expenisve. He has always been a good player for the Devils and I hope he decides to retire as a Devil. I have no doubt his number will hang from the rafters of the Purdential Center after he retires.

2010-2011 Artifacts Brodeur, Elias, Parise Triple Patch

I recently added this goergous card to my Martin Brodeur PC. It's a 10-11 Artifacts Tundra Trios Triple Patch card of Marty Broduer, Patrick Elias and Zach Parise. The card is # 11/15.

I aquired this card through a trade on a site I frequent called Trading Card Central. I have been a member for years and it has some real nice people on it. The gentleman I got this from actually offered it up to me. There were a couple of card he was intrested in that I no longer had. He finally agreed to trade it for my 08/09 Ice Evgeni Malkin Autographed swatch card I had. At first, I was doubting the trade. I was actually hpoing to hold on to the Malkin for a Brodeur auto, but once I saw the card in person all my doubts erased and I'm very pleased to have it. I never would have been able to afford it if I had to buy it off ebay or something.

I have another Brodeur on it's way in. Not nearly as nice as this one, but still a pretty cool card to add to my growing Brodeur PC.

Re-starting TTM's

When there is no baseball, I usually have a lot of free time on my hands. I sometimes watch MLB Network programming or pop in a Yankeeography dvd or bid on ebay. I do watch the Knicks, Jets and Devils as well. Or I'll pop in a movie, hit the gym or play xbox. When I have some down time after all that, plus work, I send out autograph requests.

Now, mind you, I don't send TTM's as much as I should. but when I do, I'll write up a quick letter, throw in a card or a ball and send it out with the hopes I get said item back quickly and safely. There have been times when I send a baseball or puck out and not gotten it back (Are you listening Mariano Rivera, Paul O'Neill and Jacques Lemaire?) I usually don't send anything of value out unless I know I'll get it back in return. What I usually send out are cards.

I will only collect the player in the uniform of my teams. Why? Because there are so many players who have played for my teams (Yankees alone have had 1,516 players don the pinstripes in their illustrious history). Aside from Hall of Famers, that's plenty to chase. Besides, I really dont care about getting a signature of a shortstop who played for the Angels in 1981 and batted .190 in 18 games, unless he played for the Yankees at one point.

So, what if there isn't a card I can find of the player in either a Yankee, Jet, Knick or Devil uni? Simple, I will make one up to send off to the athlete. I will start by googling or looking on Yahoo for a pic of the player. I'll save the pic and upload it to my Photoshop elements program. I have some ready made templates of the teams. The hard part for me is cutting out the player from the pic. My skills in photoshop are elementary, so I sometimes have to re-do the card untill I get it as right as it will get. Here some pics of some I have already made up:

Now, here are some signed examples:

The designs are pretty crude (especially my earlier Knicks customs) and easy to make. I'm not the greatest at Photoshop, heck, I can't even draw a curved line on it. But I am pretty happy how these came out and even more thrilled when they come back signed as they look pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.

I have a few Knicks customs already sent out. I'll update when I recieve them back. I'm also working on custom cut signature cards.

Tonight, there will be no autograph request letter writting, nor will I be watching Monday Night Raw. Nope, tonight I will have my butt parked in front of my TV, an ice cold Blue Moon in one hand and a Buffalo Wing in the other, rooting for my Jets on Monday Night Football. First place in the AFC East is on the line and this game could also have serious playoff seeds on the line as well. This is probably the most important regular season game in recent Jets history and I have been a die hard fan since 1979. Let's Go Jets!

Per Request....

I got a comment from Dodgerbobble yesterday. If you don't know who he is, he writes a great Dodgers blog, I highly recommend it. Like me, he is a collector of bobble heads and asked if I picked up any new ones since I last posted.

Have I got any new bobble heads?

Well, feast your eyes on these beauties.

I realized when I downloaded the pics that it really has been a while since I posted pics of my adds. I added 9 bobble heads since I last showed any off. I will start with this Yogi Berra Bobble I won off eBay.

It was a SGA from the Columbus Clippers when they were still the Yankees Triple A team. This was given away back in 2003 and is a real beauty. I love AGP bobble dobbles.

Next I have a Tino Martinez 2002 SGA given away by the Yankees (Hal, if your reading this, please start giving away bobble heads at Yankees games again.) at the old Yankee Stadium. The give away was sponsored by Hormel as they had that summer with other bobble head give aways with the Yankees. Tino is one of my all time favorite Yankees and I had been trying to add a Tino to my bobblehead collection for quite some time. Very pleased to have it.

I also picked up a 2009 Mark Sanchez bobble head which was given away by PC Richards at a New York Jets game. Well, actually from what I have heard they gave away a certificate to go and pick the knucklehead bobble up at a PC Richards store. So, most fans would jump into their cars and race all around New Jersey/New York looking for a store that had them. Seems a funny way to have a SGA, but I'm not too familiar with NFL give aways. I have only been to one and they gave away Shrek ears cause at one point, as former head coach Herm Edwards said, they won Shrek ugly. And yes, I did wear my Shrek ears at the game, thank you very much. A Jets win over Cincinnati.

I also picked up a Ken Daneyko SGA bobble head which was given out by the Devils on Ken Daneyko Night, when they retired his number. The giveaway was at the Continental Airlines Arena, which is now called the Izod Center, which before that was the Brendan Byrne Arena. Whew! Anyways, this one was done by AGP as well, although it looks different then the others I have. I almost mistakenly took this for a Forever bobble head.

I finally was able to add the NJ Devil bobble head to my Devils collection. He was a SGA at Continental Airlines Arena back in 2003. This bobble has been wily and elusive, evading my grimy hands on more than one occasion. Usually, this is a 50-75.00 bobble head. I managed to get it for a lot lower than that. Jeez, look at my desk. I'm shocked my boss hasn't hired a maid to clean it up.

And finally, I grabbed these guys, just cause I love Marvel superheroes

Although they are plastic, I think Funko did a great job with these. I found these at a Big Lots in update NY for 5 bucks each. I couldn't resist snagging them. No Spidey though and he's my favorite superhero. Him and Batman. I did put Wolverine back. Oh well, next time Logan. Avengers, Assemble!

Changes are a comming!

I took some time off to step back and look over the blog. I want to write a blog that is intresting, informative and fun. I would like to grow my readership and so far, that's not happening. So, I will be making some changes to the blog.

First, I will be concentrating on coming up with a new name for the blog. Mike's Box of Junk doesnt seem like a good name. It was the best I could come up with and, quite frankly, still is. I also think I need a better banner. I'm not so great at Photoshop and that was the best of my efforts. So, I will be thinking heavily about what I call the blog or what banner I'd like to use. If anyone has any ideas, I welcome them.

Secondly, I decided to concentrate my collecting efforts to two teams; the Yankees and New Jersey Devils. I will still add Jets and Knicks stuff to the collection, but with time and, most importantly, money, at an all time low, I feel I just can't do all four sports. My love for the Yankees has been with me since I was 5 years old and watched Chris Chambliss hit them into the World Series. Dropping them was never a thought. I have been watching the Jets since 1980, the Knicks since 1982 and the Devils since 1991-92. For some reason, The Devils has grown on me and hockey is rapidly becoming a favorite sport. I will admit that my hockey knowledge is not as high as baseball. There is still alot I want to learn about the rules and history of the sport. I feel an excitement watching the game that I only feel when watching baseball. Maybe it's the hitting, the prepetual movement of the game or the feeling I get seeing Marty Brodeur stop a shot or Zach Parise score a goal. That's why I added the Devils to my collecting concentrations next to the Yankees.

Last, but not least, I need to address the lack of posts on my part. Lately I have been working longer hours. Add that to my workouts and my participating on the company softball team, it doesn't as much time as I'd like to post. Plus, when I don't have anything new to show, I kind of get brain cramps about what to write. What I'm going to do, even if it's a short paragraph about the Yankees or Devils, is I'm going to have up at least 3 posts a week. That is my goal.

I want to thank my followers for reading the blog and occasionally commenting. I want to make this the best possible blog for you guys to read and appreciate all feedback given. Keep on reading, I promise it will get better.

Bobbles, Bobbles and More Bobbles

Well, since my last bobblehead update, I managed to add 7 new bobbleheads to the Growing collection. All, with the exception of one, were ebay purchases. I gotta tell you, I loved going to the post office and having the clerk behind the counter give me a box with my latest treasure securely inside amist the packing popcorn, bubble wrap and newspaper. Let's see what I got:

This is a Bernie Williams retail bobble head made by American Global. This was sold in 2001 and has him decked out in the Yankee home uni on a green base. The likeness was ok on this one. Not as good a likeness as on my next bobble.

Bernie Williams SGA bobble. This was given away in 2002 and it was sponsored by Land O'Lakes. The bat is held with his left hand, as opposed to his right on the retail version. Also, he's holding his batting helmet and his skin color is a more lighter tone. The facial features are more in line to what he actually looks like.

This Martin Brodeur bobble is also a giveaway. It was given out during the 2002/03 season at Continental Airlines Arena and was sponsored by JP Morgan Chase. The visor on the helmet flips up to show his face. I love that this bobble is in the classic pose and has Marty's old style helmet design, which I never thought he should have changed.

This was a SGA bobble of Reggie Jackson. It was given away in 2004 by the Columbus Clippers, who at that time was still the Yankees Triple A affiliate. I love the cheesy grin on Reggie's face here. The glasses are awesome as well. One of my new favorites.

Here's another of my new favorites. Lou Gehrig. No Yankee collection is complete without a Gehrig in it. This is actually one that I feel looks just like him. I seen a few Forever bobbles that didn't capture the facial features that this one does. It was also given out by the Clippers in 2004 and shows him in his classic swing, no doubt knocking in another run. If you haven't seen Pride of The Yankees, I strongly urge you to.

Another classic Yankee in from the 70's got a SGA bobble as well. Catfish Hunter is in his set pose decked in classic Yankee home uni. Another of the Legendary Yankees bobbles that was given away by the Clippers in 2004.

Finally, there's this little guy. This is Scooter, the Holy Cow. He is one of three mascots of the Yankees Single A short season affiliate Staten Island Yankees. This is a mini AGP bobble, which I believe was a SGA. I had wanted the full sized bobble ever since I saw it on display at the ball park. I asked my Ticket rep where I could get one and he showed up at one of the games I attend with Scooter. I have actually seen a diffrent verson of Scooter on ebay with his hands out streached. I placed a bid , but alas was outbided at the last minute. Don't you hate when that happens? I'll keep looking for the other mini, as well as the full sized Scooter.

I have another bobble coming in, as well as 2 possible pick ups within the next few days. I'll post pics when I get them.

Why I collect what I collect.

So, the other day, my buddy mentions the White Plains Card Show, which will be this weekend, May 15th and 16th at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY, and lets me know that Scott McGregor is signing for free there. I pretty much say no thanks. His response is never turn away a free autograph, which has some validity to it. However, there is a reason behind my response of no thanks. which is not a commentary on Mr. McGregor, who was a good pitcher for the O's.

When I first started collecting, I was collectiong everything and everyone. If I had a card, It would get signed. If there was a card set, I tried to complete it. After a year or two, I realized I was trying to do too much with my collections and wasn't having fun with it. I was too busy trying to see if I can get a shortstop I never heard of, who played 2 games at the major league level for the Montreal Expos to sign a card I had. I sat back, thought things through and decided to alter the way I collect and what I collect.

I'm a die hard Yankees fan. Have been since 1976. I love the Jets and have since 1981. I enjoy watching the Knicks and have been a fan since 1983 and when it comes to hockey, I love watching my Devils. That love affair started in 1990 and I also follow the Islanders. That said, I decided those were the teams I would focus my collection on. Instead of putting together complete card sets, I would work on team sets. I would go after autographs from athletes who played for those teams. I would buy bobbles from those teams only. Figures, pictures, apparell. Only from those teams. I will admit to some rules with the autograph collecting.

My first rule is they have to be wearing a Yankee, Jets, Knicks, Devils or Islanders uniform in the picture or card I add. Secondly, they have to have actually played with the team be it an at bat, shift, or down, they have had to had physically played with the team. I will admit to owning autos of players from the farm that never played for any of my teams. I put those in my farm team collection and try to wait until they hit the majors before pursuing. I'm no prospector, but I sometimes will try to get a player to sign before they hit the big time and become an impossible auto.

With bobbles, As my collection grows, there may be teams in my collection that I don't collect. Reason for that will be whenever I go to watch a game, I will pick up a bobble. I will either pick up a mascot bobble or a generic bobble. I already have generic bobbles from the Brooklyn Cyclones and the New York Mets from Shea Stadium. I would like to add a Mr. Met from Citi Field this season.

So, based on all this, my collection is more personalized and I enjoy it more. Plus, there are tons of stuff from these teams that will have me pursuing new autos and items to add to my collection for the rest of my life and I will love every second of it.

Bobbleheads

Today, I was able to meet up with Andy Matz, who I met on the Spawn boards. He has a collection of bobbleheads, McFarlanes and Starting Lineups that would make even the most experianced collector swoon. He has most in his office in midtown Manhattan, which is where I met up with him this afternoon. After inviting me to sit down (on a seat from Dodger Stadium no less) we talked about bobbles.

He's been collecting them since the late 80's. It was a progression that started from his collecting of Kenners Starting Lineups and grew from there. He has just about every bobble you can think of from stadium give aways to retail. He has just about every team in baseball represented. also has a nice collection of hockey bobbles. I think I might have seen some football as well. His collection of Starting Lineups as well as his McFarlane Sports Picks also took up residency in his office.

Some of the nicer bobbles were the stadium give aways. I saw a bobble sporting the old Toronto Blue Jays powder blues, a Roberto Clemente, a very nice Joe Torre Dodger bobble and a Mr.Met that caught my eye. His collection of McFarlanes were no less impressive as it seemed like he had every single one on his walls, including the Team Canada figures, the boxed sets and a lot of baseball. He even showed me some autographed Starting Lineups signed by Darryl Strawberry and Willie Randolph.

He reached out to me when I posted a thread on the Spawn forum asking if anyone had any bobbles of teams I collect. He had replied and told me he had three I might be intrested in. A Mariano Rivera Yankee Stadium SGA, a Jason Giambi Yankee Stadium SGA and a Hideki Matsui Trenton Thunder SGA. We negotiated a price and I went to pick them up today. When I went to pay, he told me they were on the house. He wanted to help jump start my bobblehead collection. I was overwhelmed by his generosity. Andy, If your reading this, I'd like to thank you again for your hospitality, your time and generosity.

Now, on to the bobbles

Mariano Rivera Yankee Stadium SGAJason Giambi Yankee Stadium SGA

Hideki Matsui Trenton Thunder SGA

Martin Brodeur Gold Base Team Canada Bobble that I bought from a Canadian Spawn Boardie. Beautiful piece.

Now the rest of my collection

From left to right; 2002 Derek Jeter Upper Deck Bobble, 2003 Hideki Matsui Upper Deck Bobble, Derek Jeter Forever Bobble, Mark Teixeira World Series Champion Bobble, Whitey Ford Cooperstown Forever Bobble, Phil Rizutto Forever Bobble

From left to right; Patrick Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner, Zach Parise, Martin Brodeur, Chad Pennington training camp give away. The Devils Bobbles were part of a partial plan. Bought tickets to 4 selected games and you got the set free. Looks like not a lot of people bought them so they sold the set in the team stores then gave them out during game one of the playoffs.

Lastly, from left to right; my Spiderman bobbles; comic and movie versions; my generic Mets bobble I picked up at Shea and my generic Brooklyn Cyclones bobble I picked up at Keyspan Park. The Pennington you see here is a statue.

Here's my goal. I want to collect as many bobbles from my teams (Yankees, Jets, Devils and Knicks) as well as a HOF collection. I also will pick up a bobble from every stadium, arena and park I visit. If I could have a collection that comes halfway to Andy's, then I'd be a very happy camper.