To quote one of my favorite current wrestlers: YES! YES! YES!

Today marked the arrival of the TTM autograph request from Jay Wright, head coach of men's basketball at Villanova.  He's one of my favorite college basketball coaches currently and I had emailed him back on 12/27/11 asking for the autographed 8x10.  I was beginning to lose hope but I'm really happy that it arrived in the mail yesterday (still waiting on you Coach K!).

Also, a recent eBay purchase arrived in the mail and I have to say that this card MUST be one of the "Holy Grails" of cards for Boston Red Sox collectors.  It's the 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen dual Auto/Relic featuring Carl Yastrzemski and Dustin Pedroia, numbered out of 15!

When I saw this card on the sell sheet, I could only imagine how amazing it would look.  I was shocked to finally see one listed on eBay in an auction style listing with a low starting point.  Typically these cards are thrown on at outrageously high prices at Buy It Now, so I was intent on winning this card when I noticed it was listed as an auction.  I won't reveal the final price, but when you consider it features two of the greatest Red Sox players in history, their autographs, game used relics, sketch-style cards (like Ginter, my favorite) and it's numbered out of 15...I think I got it for a steal.

I guess that's a question I keep asking myself.  I'm at a point where I can spend as much as I used to, and need to really define what I collect.  

My favorite product that is released on an annual basis is Topps Allen & Ginter.  There are so many things that I enjoy about the set: the sketches, non-sport inclusions, the card stock (perfect for TTMs), the framed relics/autos (great for grading) and the chase to put together a complete set.  I think that when it comes to major modern day purchases, I'm going to limit myself to Topps Allen & Ginter.  I purchased WAY too much 2012 Topps Series 1 this year and have been stuck with a lot of base sets that I just can't seem to trade/sell.  I like the Gypsy Queen, but not enough to buy a ton.  I think I'll pick and choose Red Sox cards and other cool, unique cards from different modern sets, rather than buy boxes or bulk of any particular release.

My return to collecting was the desire to get graded BGS 9.5  copies of cards that I could never afford when I was younger (80's and 90's cards to be specific).  Ripken RC, Boggs RC, Mattingly RC, etc. were all on my list but I moved away from it a bit.  I think I'm going to try to refocus my efforts on getting some of those "key" cards that should be a part of every baseball fan's collection.

Lastly, I have been really interested in vintage cards lately and I think trying to find some of the star player vintage cards in BVG 8.5 grades (the proxy for "high raw value" in Beckett) has some appeal to me.  I have added a few cool ones lately and have a few below BVG 8.5 that I might look to upgrade at some point.

That's it!  That's all I'm collecting.  I swear.  Well, cards of Red Sox players too.  Maybe a few packs of stuff here and there.  I guess I can't help it....I love Sports Cards!!!

It figures that minutes after I post my first entry, the mailman arrives and brought some COOL stuff!  I wanted to make sure I shared my Mail Day returns with all of my readers.

The first package contained the 2012 Topps Dustin Pedroia World Series Pin card that I won off eBay.  Really fast shipping, thanks thag3537!  I wanted to add this card to my personal collection as he's my favorite current Red Sox player.  Being a collector of BGS 9.5s, my concern with submitting raw cards is that they will grade lower and I won't be as happy with the card.  After speaking with a representative at Beckett, I have decided to start submitting some raw cards of my favorite players and ask for them to be graded ONLY if they are a 9.5 or better.  Otherwise, I'll ask them to just encapsulate it with the "Authentic" slab.  This one's going to Beckett.....

The second package is a Through The Mail (TTM) return of Kevin Van Dam (bass fisherman).  My favorite card set is Topps Allen & Ginter and I have recently decided to use my extras as an opportunity to collect TTM autographs.  Pretty quick return from KVD, thanks!

The third package is a TTM return from Joey Votto!  I was psyched to get this back as he's one of the best players in the game today.  He signed one of the two cards that I sent, and the non-signed card got dinged up in transit.  The signed card came back in pretty good condition, either way it's in my PC so I'm happy with the return!

Until next time....

Wow, I can't believe that I finally made the decision to purchase my own domain and start my website.  Yes, I have had a few previous iterations of this site but this one is going to be my site going forward.  I hope to share some of my thoughts on the hobby, sports and other topics through this site, while also sharing information about my collection on the other pages on this site.

I really would LOVE for all of my readers to provide me with feedback, debate, thoughts, ideas, etc.  I don't want this to just be a forum for me to post MY ideas, but more of an area that could provoke conversation and debate.

With that being said, this is my first post.  Welcome!