Finally, I've waited ALL YEAR for this upcoming weekend.  While I couldn't make it to the National this year (or ever, actually), I've been able to attend the last few Greater Boston Sports Collectors Club (GBSCC) Sports Card and Memorabilia Show at the Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington, MA.  Mike Josselyn at Sure Shot Promotions (www.sureshotpromotions.com) organizes the autograph signings and his team does an OUTSTANDING job.

Here is my plan for the show this weekend:

Friday November 2nd:  This will strictly be a "viewing only" day for me.  As a member of the GBSCC, I get free admission to the show so I don't mind spending a little time there on Friday to see the setup and the inventory of the dealers.  No autograph guests, so I think the crowd may be pretty small.

Saturday November 3rd:  I'll be pretty busy on Saturday as there will be a LOT of autograph guests that interest me.  The full lineup includes (as of today): Ozzie Smith, Pedro Martinez, Fred Lynn, Ramiro Mendoza, Cecil Cooper, Will Middlebrooks and Jake Lamotta.  I plan on getting autographs from Ozzie, Pedro, Lynn and Lamotta.  I would love to get Cooper and Middlebrooks, but I think I'd rather use those funds elsewhere during the show.

Sunday November 4th: I'm going to try to attend on Sunday as well, but we'll see how the baby cooperates at home.  Full autograph lineup includes (as of today): Aaron Hernandez, Doug Mientkiewicz, Brooks Robinson, John Bucyk, Shawn Thornton, Ellis Burks, Troy Brown and Ricky Gutierrez.  I'm planning to get Brooks Robinson and Ellis Burks, with possibly Doug Mientkiewicz on my in-progress 2004 WS Team Ball.

Overall, I'll be looking to fill my set needs and add some cool PC items at the show.  If any dealers are reading, bring Ginter commons from past years, BVG graded cards at good prices and LOTS of Red Sox stuff.

I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that my work week will allow me time to get a custom t-shirt and business cards made to promote my site.

Check out the flyer below and email me at [email protected] if you plan on attending.  I'd love to meet some new friends at the show!

Now if I only could have bought something borrowed and something blue!  I added two new items to my Personal Collection since my last post.  I've done some "Fall Selling" of items from my collection that no longer interested me and decided to reallocate those funds (50% towards daughter's college fund / 50% towards my personal collection).

My "old" addition is a beautiful 1941 Play Ball Ted Williams card that is graded a BVG 4.  The card is beautiful, decent condition (especially for 1941) and was won in an auction format which is my preferred method of purchase on eBay.

The "new" addition is a 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Bryce Harper rookie card.  I wrote about this card and the BGS 9.5 population that is likely to surpass past year Allen & Ginter cards.  It has the subgrades I was looking for and was at a price that I thought was reasonable.  While there is no guarantee that he'll end up in the Hall of Fame someday, it's the "must own" card from 2012 Allen & Ginter.

My apologies for the lack of updates recently, but my wife gave birth to our first child on September 18, 2012.  We are blessed to add a baby girl, Kylie Elizabeth, to our family.

Ok, back to sports cards!

I was fortunate enough to add a few new items to my Personal Collection since my last blog post.  I've posted photos below and will be adding them to my Personal Collection galleries.  The first card is a 1941 Play Ball Jimmie Foxx card graded a BVG 2 and features him in a Boston Red Sox uniform.  I've been focusing my collection more around graded vintage cards, mostly of Boston Red Sox players, and Jimmie Foxx was a player that I hadn't added to my collection yet.  It's graded low, but we all know that these vintage cards cost a good amount even at low grade.  The second card is a 1954 Bowman Hoot Evers card that is graded a BVG 6, and I decided to add this card as it's a Boston Red Sox player, the card didn't cost much and it's graded a BVG 6 which is typically the minimum grade I would look for in vintage cards (depending upon the cost).  I was also fortunate enough to add another card from the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set, but I think my hope of completing this set in BVG 8.5 form may end up being impossible.  Regardless, I am going to attempt it and at the very least collect a graded copy (any grade) of the full set with the option to upgrade at later dates.  The last two cards are modern era cards that appealed to me for a number of reasons.  For obvious reasons, I love the BGS encasing of the cards especially seeing as they are cut autographs.  I love the cut autograph aspect of the cards and the fact that the autographs were cut from actual pictures rather than just plain index cards.  I had the opportunity to meet Bob Feller before his passing at an autograph signing and he was such a nice guy, in addition to being likely THE best pitcher in the history of the Cleveland Indians franchise.  Bobby Doerr is someone I haven't had the chance to meet but is right up there with Johnny Pesky in terms of being one of the most iconic Boston Red Sox players in history.