Fading Away

2004 SP Prospects Jason Kendall/Neil Walker Dual Auto /100

The seller of this card classified it as NM which I would agree the card itself is in nice condition.  What the seller didn't say was that the Kendall auto was beginning to fade. It was obvious from the picture in the eBay description so I limited my high bid to $5. While it irked me a little that the seller made no mention, the selling price of $4 seemed more than reasonable for the card. 

I have several card cards from this set as SP went crazy featuring high draft picks with just anyone they had a sticker of. 

For every higher end card like the one above, you would find about 30 featuring players that never made it to the Majors.  In some ways I kind of like those, because I always end up spending a few minutes researching the player to see where they wound up. 

Thanks for reading! 

Underappreciated Cardboard Legend

I've harped on this several times since I started BWTP, but I figured I would throw out some more visual proof that Jason Kendall has some of the greatest cards. It is rare for a modern player to have so many cool shots in era focused more on the auto/relic.

The cards featured came as part of my runner up contest winnings from Collecting Cutch.

 Kendall was not afraid to get dirty as you will soon find out.

 Stadium Club rarely disappoints.

 Cool Wrigley Field Shot made even cooler that a pitcher is about to have a play at the plate.

 Some of the 90's and early 2000's Fleer sets were underrated. Quality interleague shot here.

 This would be tough to prove, but I feel Kendall has more shots of a catcher camping under or catching a flyball in cardboard history.

 When you have a cool card and like to take acid this is what you get.

 This card always reminded me of Jake Taylor running out the called shot bunt at the end of Major League.

 This looks to be the beginning of a PICKLE

 catcher face

 Side note story.  I took my daughter to her first baseball last year.  When she noticed the catching squatting she said at the top of her lungs that he was pooping.  Our entire section got a kick out of that.

 More camping under pop ups.

 Looks to be a close play at first.

 Kendall looks to be running towards the Pearly Gates

 Very unique Pinnacle shot.

 I think Geoff Blum is out.

 Appropriate set name.

 A personal favorite.

 More camping under and catching.

 Point of impact from a long forgotten Topps set.

Here is a picture of all the cards Brian from Collecting Cutch sent.

I still have plenty more from Brian to showoff, but this ends the Jason Kendall portion of the winnings.

Thanks for reading.  Now go find all your cool Kendall cards.

Back to My Comfort Zone

1999 Fleer Skybox Premium Star Rubies Jason Kendall /50

After showing off the ugliest card ever I feel like my blog needed a cleanse.  I needed to show something that is more in my comfort zone.  Enter late 90's parallels! 

I've shown a few star rubies cards since I started blogging, but this is by far the biggest name. Kendall and Brian Giles were the faces of the franchise in the late 90's. He was such a unique talent being that he was a catcher who had above average speed. Plus you have to go all the way back to Kent Tekulve to find someone with as many cool cards as Jason Kendall.  This is probably in my top three all time Kendall cards.

I'm slowly forgetting that SP Signature Edition card from yesterday....

Ultimate Signatures

I was digging through a box of my Pirate autos and came across two pretty cool cards from the same set.

 2002 Ultimate Collection Brian Giles Auto /220

2002 Ultimate Collection Jason Kendall Auto /220

Man, I bet the person that pulled these was pissed.  Ultimate Collection was one of the first ultra premium sets to hit the market. If I recall you got 3 or 4 packs a box with the retail price being close to a $100.  That is pretty standard today, but in 2002 that was mind blowing. From the looks of the checklist the rookies were weak, but the set packed star power. You name the player in 2002 and he was featured in this set. 

The black and gold trim is a nice touch and the autos are sharp looking. When this set came out UD was on top of their game. I never busted a box, but I would put the Ultimate Collection singles up against any high end Topps set. 

Thanks for reading! 

Fancy Names

1998 Jason Kendall Fleer Ultra Platinum Medallion /100

Jason Kendall is a cardboard God. I guess his hard nosed style was easy to capture.  Whatever the case he is one of the more enjoyable players to find rare parallels of during my favorite time period. Case in point this Platinum Medallion from Ultra.

I was excited to see one of these pop up for regular auction on eBay.  Quite a few are listed but have high BIN prices. The card itself has a textured feel and the nameplate area really pops.  I think I actually like the base card a little better, but this version is so unique that I had to have it. 

The price range for these tend to be in the $5-$10 range for non stars and can reach well over $100 for the mega stars. This is where it helps to collect Pirates. Kendall and Brian Giles were just about the only ones worth chasing. 

Thanks for reading! 

Players Private Issue

Busy sports weekend here in Morgantown with the basketball team in action on Friday and the football team playing in Texas Saturday.  Both turned out well so that is a positive.

Today I had a little time to dig through in old box of cards.  This card stood out.

1997 Topps Gallery Jason Kendall Players Private Issue /250

Topps Gallery was a fancy set. The cards had a nice look that really stood out.  This particular card is the Players Private Issue parallel of the base card.  From what I can tell these weren't super hard to get (1:12 packs). The Gallery print run must have been low for the base set.  

The card seems to have some type of protective coating that gives it a smooth fill to the touch.  If an auto would hold up on this card it would make for a great TTM card. 

It looks like former Pirate prospect bust Jermaine Allensworth has a card in this set as well, so I'm on the hunt.  These tend to be fairly cheap so I don't think it will be too hard to find.  

Thanks for reading! 

Radiance

I struck gold last month when a seller had several lots of Pirate parallels on sale at one time. As usual with the time period these lots include Brian Giles, Kris Benson and Jason Kendall.  Last week I showed off the SP red parallels. While those are nice finds, these SPX cards have a little more visual appeal.

The Radiance parallels from SPX are all out of /100.  They were tough pulls and the only numbered parallels from the set other than the SPectrums which were 1/1's.  If you are a fan of Prizm cards this parallel is for you.

The price on these were a little more than most of the parallels that I usually buy.  The Giles and Benson were about $5.00 a piece while the Kendall was more in the $3 range. Normally Kendall sells more than Benson so not sure what happened there. At least with combined shipping it helped hold the overall purchase price down. I figured a few dollars was worth it not to have to try and find these parallels again.

Thanks for reading.

Seeing Red Again

Obscure parallels! I plan on taking it easy with card purchases over the next few weeks since I've had a lot of unexpected expenses lately. This has allowed me to focus on sorting some cards at home and cherry picking some cheaper issues off of eBay.  

You had to take the good with the bad if you were a Pirates collector in the early 2000's.  They were so bad and had such a small talent pool that card companies didn't give them a ton of love.  It got old chasing guys like Jason Kendall, Kris Benson and Brian Giles at the time, but now it is kind of refreshing.  When it comes to autos, relics and parallels these guys were pretty much it with the exception of maybe a young Aramis Ramirez. Now as I go back and fill holes from this time period it really doesn't take a whole lot of work since the player pool is small. 

I really didn't remember much about 2000 SP Authentic nor did I recall the parallels. Recently a seller listed a bunch of parallels from these early SP sets and I pounced on the Pirates. Kind of an odd design, but still subtle for the time period. 

I'm always a sucker for these type of cards.  It makes it really nice when the same seller lists a bunch at a time. Combined shipping is key for these type of auctions.

Hope everyone is staying out of the heat.  My wife and I were dumbasses and decided to work outside today.  SO HOT.  Stay inside.

Thanks for reading.

Reaching the Summit

1996 Pinnacle Summit Artist's Proof Jason Kendall

It is funny how some sets just totally escape your mind.  Summit was only produced two years (95 and 96). From what I've read collectors just kind of shrugged their shoulders and didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it.  I vaguely remember this card design, but for the life of me I couldn't remember if I owned the Kendall from the set.

When this specific Kendall popped up I knew I needed it because it was the Artist's Proof. These were hard finds (1:36 packs) which was the equivalent of two boxes. This card was probably a pretty good score back in the day as Kendall was popular.

I purchased the card for around $2.50 as part of a bigger bulk order.  The card just had a nice look with the black and gold trim to match the Pirates uniform.  For the life of me I don't remember seeing these in the mid 90's even though I was an active collector at the time.  Any of you guys remember these?

Thanks for reading!

Dirt and Ice

These UD Superstars cards are not that hard to find, but I just never pulled the trigger on them over the years. Well thanks to a big purchase from an eBay seller I now have two.

Obviously the big name is Lemiuex, but I think the triple card is my favorite. I was a huge fan of Kovalev during his Penguin years.  Back during my Freshman year of college my friends and I would participate in the Penguins student rush in order to get cheap tickets. Sometimes you would get lucky and get some nice seats, other times you were stuck with obstructed view.

I haven't seen too many cards like this recently. The stupid licensing stuff screws up all the fun. I need a Cutch, Crosby and Big Ben card!

Thanks for reading!

More my Speed

I love cards.  We wouldn't be talking about them if we didn't love collecting.  Some cards just make me happier than others.  Such is the case with these two beauties.

 2002 Donruss Elite Brian Giles /76

2000 Pacific Paramount Holo Silver /99

The Status cards from Donruss Elite are always sharp looking, but also impossible to keep in good condition. The middles points almost always chip over time.  

Trying to understand Pacific cards is one of the great mysteries of man.  It is better just to except how awesome they are. This Jason Kendall is my favorite of the two because it is getting harder and harder for me to find new Kendall's. Brian Giles had quite a bit more in the way of relics and autos to chase. 

By the time you are reading this my San Diego trip will be almost over. I'm flying back in the morning, but should have some great pictures to show once I'm home.  

Thanks for reading. 

Extreme Packaging

If you buy enough cards on eBay you will eventually run into some interesting packaging. While the card I'm going to show didn't have any issues upon arrival, I thought it was comical enough to share. 

I appreciate people taking the extra step to make sure the card arrives safely, but this guy went a tad bit overboard. It's a little hard to make out, but the card itself is in a toploader and team bag. That alone is a perfectly reasonable way to ship a card.

Things get extreme when he added empty toploaders to each side and taped them......and I mean really taped them.

 So much tape.....

I believe it was ten pieces of tape after it was all said and done. 

2000 Fleer Focus Jason Kendall Auto

I gave the seller positive feedback because the card arrived fine and that is all that matters. It was just an odd way to send a card. I know the toploader technique is common with people who send cards via pwe, but this arrived in a bubble mailer. I guess I can take solace in the fact that no foreign substance was going to ruin my $3 Jason Kendall auto. 

Anybody have any good eBay packaging stories?