You're Never the Only One

2018 has been one of the weakest in terms of new releases for the Pirates in recent memory.  Had my fingers crossed for Bowman Chrome this year, but even the prospect oriented set only had one Pirate first year auto.  The real gut punch was the checklist for Topps Pro Debut.  I don't often get excited for new releases, but this is the only set that has produced WV Black Bear cards over the first few seasons of the teams existence. Nothing to be found this year.  I guess Heritage Minors has an outside chance to produce a card, but that set tends to focus on the higher levels of the MiLB.

My WVU collection to the rescue.  While I collect all players from alma mater, I consider the core 4 Steve Slaton, Pat White, Joe Alexander and Devin Ebanks.  The first three were all high draft picks and have an absolute shit ton of cards out there.  I literally find a handful of cards a month that I had no idea existed. Ebanks was only featured in a handful of sets so new to me cards don't pop up too much.

Obviously Devin Ebanks is kind of an obscure collecting focus.  He was a second round pick that only saw a little playing time with the Lakers.  When rarer cards pop up I often think to myself that I should get a pretty good deal.....never really the case.  Someone else is always looking.

Last month a seller had two high end lots of Ebanks cards going off on the same day.  I was pumped. I didn't need every card in the bunch, but wanted both lots as it checked off several rare parallels that hardly ever pop up.  To my surprise the bidding on them was much more active than I anticipated. I put healthy bids on both lots, but only ended up with one......and barely got that one.

This is a picture of the lot that got away.

The lot sold for $45.  I had time to jump in again, but paying more than $5 a card was more than I would like considering some would be repeats in my collection.  My main interest was the /10 gold versions.

Here is the lot I won.

This lot ended up costing me around $25 which again was more than I wanted to go, but I really wanted the Absolute Memorabilia cards.  They are numbered to /5 and /10 respectively .  Been a while since I've seen them on auction so I wanted to pounce.

I really think if Ebanks played for the Bucks or some other team that doesn't have a big following these would be $10-$15 lots.  Either way I'm happy to end up with my most desired one, but a little disappointed about the amount I spent.  Obviously not outrageous, but I'm much cautious with my WVU spending than my Buccos collection.  I guess I can just tell myself I'm reallocating 2018 Pirate funds elsewhere.

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Making the Most of My Time

I was off work today so I started working on envelopes to send out.....

This is a nice mix of Super Traders, new trade partners and 3 international packages.  I have about 10 more that are close to being complete but I'm waiting on a few more cards to come in.

2010-11 Panini Timeless Treasures Quad Patch Devin Ebanks /10

I don't show much of my WVU basketball collection, but this card has nice visual appeal.  Plus I've been looking for it for quite sometime. This is a card that was on eBay for quite some time with the seller starting the auction at $24.99.  After several listings the seller finally lowered the price to a much more respectable amount of $11.  I was the only bidder.  

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The Madness

The Big 12 got punched in the mouth yesterday with Iowa State, Baylor and Texas all losing. I'm hoping for a nice rebound day as WVU plays Buffalo. Everyone should be rooting for the Mountaineers as Buffalo is coached by Bobby Hurley who was the point guard for the early 90's Duke teams. So essentially we are playing Duke, who everyone hates. If you are rooting for Buffalo you are a terrible person. I kid, I kid.....not really

Here are are some cool WVU basketball cards I've featured on the blog. 

WVU's most accomplished athlete.  Jerry West autos sell pretty well online. Thankfully anytime he is featured as a Mountaineer the prices drop to a much more manageable amount.

The main core of the 2009-10 final four team. I try to hoard these autos anytime they pop up on eBay. Make for nice gifts for my WVU friends.

I guess this counts as a dual WVU card as the logo is Jerry West's silhouette. A couple years back I was hearing rumblings that people were wanting to change to logo to Jordan's silhouette, but didn't seem to gain any traction. 

One of my favorite WVU cards in my collection and a blog debut. These were super tough to find at release and have only shown up a few times on eBay in the last three years. 

Let's Go Mountaineers! Avoid the 5/12 seed trap game. 

Tip Off

Today I've been a busy man trying to get the three boxes that Wes sent my way sorted for winning the World Cup of Trading. It is an overwhelming amount of stuff so I want to make sure I get everything sorted and scanned before I start posting about it (should be in the net few days). Let's just say the big item wasn't even a card!

Today also marks the opening basketball game for the Mountaineers. My wife and I are season ticket holders so we will be cheering on in person. While its a rarity in these parts, I'm much more of a basketball fan than football.  Don't get me wrong I love the college football experience, but sometimes the crazy fans can be a little overwhelming.  Nothing beats the tailgating and a good game, but it is an all day affair that comes with considerable expense throughout the season. Basketball is much more of a bargain and you don't have to give up your whole day to attend.  It also bridges the cold months up until Spring Training starts.

2010-11 Panini Rookies & Stars Devin Ebanks/Da'sean Butler Dual Auto /49

The core of the Mountaineers Final Four team in 2010 both Ebanks and Butler were given NBA opportunities. Ebanks found some playing time with the Lakers, but was lost in the shuffle when Mike D'Antoni was hired. Butler's career was derailed by multiple knee injuries, most notably the one that occurred against Duke in the Final Four. 

The current roster is very young with only pre season Big 12 player of the year Juwan Staten having multiple years of experience. It should be an interesting season.

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Let's Go Mountaineers

I'm a proud West Virginia University alum so to change things up every once in a while I will add a card from my WVU collection.  While my WVU collection is growing it is nowhere near the size of my Pirates collection, but I'm always looking to add new items.  Collecting a college allows me to full around with football and basketball so it helps keep things fresh. 

The above card is from 2010-2011 Timeless Treasures numbered out of 5 logoman.

Devin Ebanks is a classic example of what can happen if you go pro earlier than you should.  He decided to leave school his software year, but did not get drafted until the 2nd round by the Lakers.  He managed to hang around for a few years, but was the odd man out once the Lakers changed offensive schemes under coach Mike D'Antoni.  Ebanks is still in the D League trying to make his way back.

I always thought another year in college to work on his offense would have made Ebanks a lottery pick.  Already an elite defender he helped the Mountaineers reach the final four. He gave teams fits defensively as he was often used at the top of the 1-3-1 zone.  His 7ft wingspan clogged up passing lanes and forced tons of turnovers.  Hindsight being 20/20 I'm sure he would have tried to stay another year and got more guaranteed money.

If anybody ever comes across any WVU players let me know.  I'll be happy to trade for them.  Some of the names include...

Geno Smith
Tavon Austin
Stedman Bailey
Jedd Gyorko
Joe Alexander
Devin Ebanks.
Marc Bulger

Bunches more, but those are the more prevalent examples.