Ebay Pickup - Signed 1987 Topps John Henry Johnson

Here is another tough signed 1987 Topps off of my checklist, John Henry Johnson.  I used my Ebay gift cards that I got when I was named employee of the month for November to knock a big chunk out of the price on this card.  I am happy to put this one in the album and mark Johnson off of my list.

Johnson (b. 1956) played in the majors from 1978 to 1981, 1983 to 1984 and 1986 to 1987 for the A's, Rangers, Red Sox and Brewers.  He had a record of 26-33 with 407 strike outs and a 3.90 ERA.

I have a little over 70 cards to go to finish the set, with a few that I expect back soon from signings.

Ebay Pickup - Signed 1987 Topps Mike Woodard

It's not pretty, but the last signed card I picked up with my Speedway points, Ebay Bucks and $10 was this "signed" 1987 Topps Mike Woodard.  I'll definitely look to upgrade this at some point, but Woodard doesn't seem to sign much.  Still, a signature is there, and it will go into my album, and cross him off of my list.

Woodard (b.1960) played in the majors from 1985 to 1988 for the Giants and White Sox.  He had 50 hits, 1 home run and a .222 batting average.

I picked up a couple more 87s after the three I just posted, so look for a few more to be shared next week!

Ebay Pickup - Ed Nunez Signed 1987 Topps

The next of the three 1987 Topps I picked up for my set was this nice Ed Nunez.  Nunez has a really awesome signature, and the auto was pretty cheap.  Nunez doesn't sign often, from what I could tell, so it was nice to cross this one off of my list.

Nunez (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1982 to 1994 for the Mariners, Mets, Tigers, Brewers, Rangers and A's.  He had a career record of 28-36 with 508 strike outs and a 4.19 ERA.

Ebay Pickup For The 87 Set - Bobby Bonilla

I cashed in my Speedway points for a $25 Ebay gift card, and also had some EBay Bucks that I could use.  With that stuff, and an additional $10.00, I picked up three cards for my 1987 set of some tougher autos.

Bobby Bonilla has no need to raise money by doing signings.  He hasn't signed TTM in about 5 years, and who knows if he will again.  So, with my little bit of money, I went ahead and picked up a signed 1987 Topps, so I could go ahead and cross it off of my list.

Bonilla (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1986 to 2001 for the White Sox, Pirates, Mets, Orioles, Marlins, Dodgers, Braves and Cardinals.  He had 2,010 hits, 287 home runs and a .279 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997, and was a 6-time All Star (1988 to 1991, 1993 and 1995).  His best MVP finish was 2nd in 1990 (NL, to teammate, Barry Bonds).

Bonilla appeared on the 2007 Hall of Fame ballot, but received only 0.4% of the vote.

A Few 1987 Topps For The Set

I picked up some 1987 Topps cards for the set recently from Ebay.  Three of the cards were of deceased players, and one was just a touch signature.

Dave Bergman (b. 1953 - d. 2015) played in the majors from 1975 and 1977 to 1992 for the Yankees, Astros, Giants and Tigers.  He had 690 hits, 54 home runs and a .258 batting average.  He won the World series with the Tigers in 1984.  He died of bile duct cancer in 2015.

Bruce Berenyi (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1980 to 1986 for the Reds and Mets.  He had a career record of 44-55 with 607 strike outs and a 4.03 ERA.  He actually used to work with a good friend of mine (I think at a Target) in New Hampshire a few years ago.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have sent my friend a 1987 Topps to get signed.

Wayne Kenchicki (b. 1954 - d. 2018) played in the majors from 1979 to 1986 for the Orioles, Reds, Tigers and Expos.  He had 283 hits, 15 home runs and a .266 batting average.  He passed away a few weeks ago.

Joe Niekro (b. 1944 - d. 2006) played in the majors from 1967 to 1988 for the Cubs, Padres, Tigers, Braves, Astros and Yankees.  He had a career record of 221-204 with 1,747 strike outs and an ERA of 3.59.  He was an All Star in 1979.  He won 20 or more games twice (1979 - 21 and 1980 - 20) and finshed a career-best 2nd in the NL Cy Young Award voting (1979).  His best MVP finish was 6th (1979 - NL).  He won the World Series with the Twins in 1987.  Niekro is the brother of Hall of Famer, Phil Niekro.  He was denied his own spot in the Hall when he only appeared on 1.3% of the ballot in 1994.  Nielro passed away in 2006 from a brain aneurysm.

Recent Nolan Reimold Pickups

I picked up a couple Nolan Reimold parallels recently that I had my eye on for a while.  I finally got the negative parallel from 2016 Topps, and got it for a really good price.

I also got this "gum stain" parallel from 2016 Heritage.  This is kind of funny to me, back in the day, you would get upset if your card had the gum stain on it, but nowadays, it is a short print that is sought after.  What is wrong with us?  Still, it is pretty cool.

Nolan is currently playing independent ball with the Long Island Ducks.  I really hope he can make his way back to the majors.  He's a great guy with an amazing family, and I only want to see him succeed.

Some Recent Chris Davis Pickups

I have added some nice Chris Davis cards to the PC recently, but haven't had the chance to post them until today.  I have a saved search on my Ebay for Chris Davis 1/1, acetate and /5 parallels, since I like them so much.  Those followed searched yielded the above acetate parallel from 2017 Topps, and the cards below.

I absolutely love the acetate parallels.  I hope Topps keeps them coming in future sets, but I still have no idea what packs they are pulled from.  I have opened countless packs and boxes of Topps since they started doing the acetate parallels, and still have yet to pull one.

This is a Topps 65th Anniversary Party 1/1 buyback that I got really cheap off of Ebay.  These were exclusive to the party, and is a buyback of the sapphire parallels that came in the 2016 Topps complete sets.

Finally, here is a 2017 Donruss press proof Chris Davis that is numbered 5/5.  I love this design of Donruss, and the card looks really cool.

I hope to have some more mail when I get home.  I have one nice Chris Davis that I picked up before I left town, and it should be there when I get home.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Panini National Treasures Chris Davis Laundry Tag

I got a nice deal on another Chris Davis laundry tag relic recently when I picked this up off of Ebay.  It was originally listed for $89.99, but when the seller reduced the price, I jumped all over it.

I like Panini National Treasures.  I now have several Chris Davis laundry tag cards, and am always on the lookout for more.  Panini really does well with relic and patch cards.  It doesn't make too much of a difference to me that the O's logo isn't on the card.  This fits more into a player collection, anyway.

I plan on finding some more nice Davis patch cards, so the PC will keep growing.  I feel like I have a pretty decent Davis collection.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Topps Triple Threads Chris Davis Patch

I added another awesome Chris Davis patch card to my collection when I was able to snag this off of Ebay for a steal.  It is numbered 3/9 and as you can see, it has a great piece of patch on it.  2016 Triple Threads looks like a really great product, but I can't afford to bust the boxes.  I have to wait til it shows up on Ebay at reasonable prices, then I can grab a few things for the PC.

My Davis PC is pretty awesome, I think.  I never thought I would have so many great patch cards or low numbered ones.  It really had taken some work, but I am happy with it all.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 National Treasures Chris Davis Patch

I picked up a nice addition to the Chris Davis PC last week when this 2016 Panini National Treasures card came in.  It has a really nice patch on it and is numbered 5/10.

I have been lucky enough to find quite a few Davis patch cards that really pop in my collection.  I have gotten a lot of compliments on the Davis PC and I don't see it stopping any time soon.  I want to keep an eye out for more of these in the future, but I have a lot going on lately, so the budget is tight.

Seeing Red - More Chris Davis Pickups

I sure do love some red parallels.  I found an Ebay seller who had three Chris Davis red Bowman parallels that was willing to take a best offer on the lot.  I got him to save me $30 by just asking him if he would make a deal for all three.

I really liked this red ice parallel from 2015 Bowman.  It is numbered 2/5.  Speaking of, all of these are numbered to 5.  I got 6 Chris Davis cards that were numbered to 5 out of my recent Ebay run.  Also, this seller is the same one who sold me the Panini National Treasures laundry tag.  He had a bunch of Chris Davis /5 stuff.

These two 2016 Bowman red parallels were the other cards that I picked up.  They are numbered 1/5 and 2/5.  I've already got a search saved so I can find the other three.

Emboldened by my newfound "best offer" deal, I checked with the seller of this 2016 Topps Mini red parallel to see if I could knock his price down from the ridiculously high $34.99 that this was listed at.  This seller had just lowered the price to around $29, and for me, they took another $4 off.  I also had my Ebay Bucks, so I basically was able to get this card for the same price as I got the one from Kyle in yesterday's post.  This card is numbered 5/5; so I now have three of the five red mini parallels.

Ebay Pickup - My Fourth Chris Davis 2014 Panini National Treasures Laundry Tag

I wanted to interrupt my TTM and Christmas postings to show off a card I picked up when I received an email from a seller on Ebay.  I had bought three items - best offer accepted - from a guy and when I asked him to keep me posted on any Chris Davis /5 cards that he may see, he emailed me soon after with a photo showing an assortment of Panini items.  One of those cards was this National Treasures laundry tag that is numbered to 5.  If the card looks familiar, it is because I have two of the others from this series.  I have the 1/5 and the 3/5.  I'll go ahead and say that I would love to find the other two, so if I see them, I'll be picking them up.

This is just a really cool series of cards.  I hope I can find the other two.  I've kind of been picking up a bunch of numbered to 5 Chris Davis cards.  This would be just as tough as completing a rainbow, in my opinion.

Recent Chris Davis PC Pickups

I use the term recent in the title loosely.  I got these Topps Mini Chris Davis cards a couple months ago, then buried them underneath some TTMs and Christmas gifts.  I had my Davis PC box out the other day and realized that these minis needed to get in there, and also get logged on my spreadsheet.

I actually have one other 2015 Topps Mini, numbered 4/5.  There was a third on Ebay, but I missed it.  I'm hoping I can catch it again soon and add it to the collection.  It would be kind of cool to have a monopoly on all of the /5 minis, but we'll have to see what gets posted.  The 2016 shown is numbered 4/5.  I have another on the way, and a third is listed on Ebay but the price is a bit much.  Maybe the seller will come down on it.

I also picked up this blue mini numbered 3/10.  I think the blues look nice, maybe better than the red.  I wish there was an Orange mini.  That would look great!

I have updated my Davis spreadsheet as of this post, so all of my "haves" are listed.  I'm glad I took the time to do the Davis spreadsheet.  It makes it so much easier to be able to see what I already have and work from there.

Chris Davis 2016 Topps Ebay Pickups

I picked up a few versions of the Chris Davis 2016 Topps/Topps Chrome recently for an attempt at a rainbow.  I always try to get what I can whe I see it on Ebay, even though I know the rainbow is almost impossible.

This 2016 Topps Factory Set Exclusive Foil Sparkle was something I didn't even know existed.  When I saw it on my Ebay feed, I picked it up for a great price.  This one is numbered 71/177 (why they're numbered to 177, I have no idea, but that's ok.  The card looks great!

A more traditional offering from Topps, here is a black parallel numbered 29/65.  This one was pretty cheap, considering how much black parallels can end up going for.

Finally, here is a green refractor from 2016 Topps Chrome.  This is numbered 6/99.  These parallels always look great.  I just wish Topps would bring back the bubble refractors.

Ebay Pickup - 2012 Topps Chris Davis Blank Back 1/1

While I am not a fan of the concept, I saw a deal on Ebay and jumped on this 2012 Topps Chris Davis Blank Back 1/1.  I got the card for $4.25 + $3.50 shipping.  The seller was actually someone I had talked to briefly on Instagram, but couldn't reach a deal.  He wanted a lot more for the card that I really wanted to give up, plus he didn't have the Topps Vault certificate that came with it.  When I saw it on Ebay, I went ahead and put a bid in, thinking I would be outbid.

I won the card and got it a lot later than I thought I would.  The kid didn't communicate at all, and for my $3.50 I paid in shipping, I got a card + top loader + PWE, all with one Forever Stamp.  Well less than the $3.50 shipping.  I messaged the kid on Instagram and told him he should reconsider his shipping pricing, yet I left a positive feedback.  The card did come in as described.

I'm not a fan of the blank back 1/1 concept.  It's just kind of dumb and really serves no purpose.  However, it is something I can add to the Davis PC.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Topps Chrome Blue Wave Chris Davis

I saw a few deals recently on Ebay for some Chris Davis 2016 Chrome parallels.  I decided to go ahead and pick a few of them up, and the first one to roll in was this blue wave refractor numbered 71/75.  It's a really nice card; I have always liked the wave refractors.

The card didn't cost much at all and will be nice in the Davis PC.  I'll keep trying to get the parallels as I can, but I highly doubt I will be able to get the rainbow.  Still, no rainbow is as nice as 2014 Bowman.  That was such a nice set, especially combined with 2014 Bowman Chrome.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Triple Threads Chris Davis Patch

Recently, on EBay, I found this ridiculous patch card of Chris Davis at a really good price, so I pounded on it.  It is numbered 2/3 and features the Maryland Flag patch from the Orioles' jersey sleeve.  I still contend that the Orioles have some of the best patches on their jerseys, which make some of the bast patch cards.

The Triple Threads product itself is still one of Topps best offerings of the year, and I really liked this year's design.  I also like that the photo of Davis shows off where the patch came from.  That's pretty cool!

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Topps Mini Chris Davis Platinum 1/1

I just so happened to be looking at Ebay the other day when I saw that I had a Chris Davis 1/1 on my home page.  I have Chris Davis 1/1 saved in my searches but for some reason, I didn't get a notification.  For $49.99, I was able to jump all over this platinum parallel from 2016 Topps Mini.  I have been wanting to get a few more Chris Davis platinum 1/1s so I may have a chance at a rainbow someday, so, I was glad to pick this one up.

Money still has been tight since the National has come and gone, but following the advice of my good friend, Scott, I would have regretted letting this go.  Luckily, I won't have to worry about  missing out on this card.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Topps Laser Booklet Chris Davis

I looked all over the National for a Chris Davis 2016 Topps Laser Booklet card, but no one had any.  One vendor had some of the other players in the series, but not Crush.  I later found one on Ebay for only $14.50 shipped.  I had seen others going for closer to $30 and figure that they would have been selling pretty high at the National, so I was glad to get this one at that price!

These are really cool cards.  Not numbered, of course, but still tough to pull out of packs.  I opened three jumbo boxes of Series 2, but only pulled two of the laser booklets.  One was a case hit (auto patch) as well!

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Topps Chrome Sapphire Chris Davis

I picked up this nice 2016 Topps Chrome Chris Davis sapphire parallel recently for a great price on Ebay.  The first one I saw was going to $18 or so, but this one was $4.95 shipped.  I'm glad I waited (not usually my strong point).

This card came from the 2016 Topps Chrome Sapphire set, of which 250 were made.  Not bad, but these aren't numbered.  The card still looks good!