The Budget eBay Collector - January Results

In a couple of earlier posts I described the rules and the stats of this experiment. Well the final two cards arrived on the last day of the month, so far SUCCESS.  The results are shown below in order of purchase.

1. 1979 Topps #251 Jack Morris

Morris' second card and the first in which he appeared solo.  I am on the fence on whether he should be in the Hall of Fame.  I think he will pull a Jim Rice and get in on the last ballot, but like Rice I am not sure if he belongs or not.  Odd factoid, card arrived in a toploader, but no penny sleeve.  I expected the opposite for the price.  I got this card for 12 cents shipped. $4.88 remaining.

2. 1994 Upper Deck American Epic #14 Christy Mathewson

Before you move on, click on the back of that card and read it.  You gotta love a card in which you can learn someone was a football star at Bucknell, his worst vice was checkers, and he was exposed to poison gas in a military drill.   6 cents shipped.  How can you beat that?  5 cents you say?  Well, okay then smartass.  $4.82 remaining.

3. 2002 Donruss Classics #166 Joe Morgan /1500

The card looks refractory from the scan but it isn't.  Most of my family loved the Reds because it is the closest team to where I live.  I wasn't as big a fan and I missed Joe Morgan's heyday, but I thought this card was cool as soon as I saw it.  Plus, you get to see the Colt 45's name on the back, you couldn't get away with that name today (see Washington Wizards).  $1.51 shipped (yeah, I know I splurged but I'm not going hungry yet). $3.31 remaining.

4. 2008 Topps Chrome X-Fractor Troy Tulowitzki

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! I had my maximum bid up with 90 minutes to go and I thought I would get sniped, but lo and behold I got a great Rockie, an XFractor, and a rookie cup card all in one.  How great is that?  Boy, I can't wait until this historic card is reprinted in this year's Topps set...yep, that's sarcasm.  $1.75 shipped (and well worth it).  $1.56 remaining (gotta start being selective now).

5. 2006 Topps Special Edition Rookies #321 Bruce Gradkowski

I had him on my championship fantasy team this year, so I figured what the heck, but my first thought after the auction was over was that this is one of those "Why did I just buy that?" purchases.  However, after checking out COMC the cheapest there was $1.30 + extra fees and the "book value" is $4 (whatever that means).  Pretty good deal.  17 cents shipped.  $1.39 remaining.

6. 2002 Topps206 Polar Bear Mini #390 Adam Dunn

Let me start off by saying that unlike most in Blogland, I am not overly enamored with all these throwback sets, specifically those dealing with T206 and 1952 Topps.  I realize these designs are iconic, but give it a rest Topps and do it maybe once a generation to give it a sort of special feel.  Anyway onto Dunn I think this is the short-print version of his card (correct me if I am wrong).           15 cents shipped.  $1.24 remaining.

7. 2003 Topps205 Triple Folder #38 Alex Rodriguez / Miguel Tejada

Here's your B-12 shot Miguel

This is another of the throwback sets with everyone's favorite Alex Rodriguez.  While we are here, this is another topic in which I disagree with most of my fellow bloggers.  Honestly, I don't love that steroids were used, but what's done is done.  If it wasn't for McGwire / Sosa in 1998, I probably wouldn't be a baseball fan today.  But that's a topic for another day.  I got this beauty for 16 cents shipped. $1.08 remaining.

8. 2006 Topps Turkey Red Black parallel #534 Doug Mientkiewicz

Along with Mark Grudzielanek, Mientkiewicz was one of the funner names of the late 90s / early 2000s.  Here he is shown as a Royal, although I still think of him as a Twin.  I like the Turkey Reds better as a standalone set better than an insert set.  I think I would like them a lot better if only modern players were used.  Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth's stats haven't changed for a long time so why the need for new cards of them every year.  But I digress.  I got this one for 25 cents shipped.  $0.83 remaining.

9. 2007 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts #11 Joe Cronin

I love the design of this card.  I knew the name, but I didn't know a lot about Joe Cronin before this purchase.  It turns out he was a busy guy.  He was President of the American League for for 15 years after being general manager of the Red Sox for 10.  Oddest fact about him was that he was traded by the Senators while serving as player/manager to take that same role with Boston for another 10 years.  I got this card for 36 cents shipped.  $0.47 remaining.

10. 1994 Leaf #397 Larry Walker

Here is Walker in his pre-Colorado days playing in what has to be Wrigley Field.  Not a horrible design on that 94 Leaf set, but not a great one either.  (Bitch mode on) How does Larry Walker only get 20 percent of the Hall of Fame vote?  I didn't expect him to be a first ballot lock by any means, but 20 freaking percent.  I think voters are not choosing Rockies based on the home ballpark which is totally unfair because Major League Baseball knew Denver was at high elevation when they sanctioned the franchise.  Todd Helton will probably face the same bias when he is eligible.  (Bitch mode off)  I got it for 11 cents shipped.  $0.36 remaining.

11. 2006 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor #101 P.J. Daniels /150

Can you go wrong with a rookie refractor numbered to 150?  Of course you can, what a dumb question.  When it is a fourth round rookie running back that never played a snap in the regular season, it could be counted as wrong.  That being said, he still made it to pro ball which most people cannot do and this is a cool looking card of the Ravens pick and I got it cheap enough.  I would be happy to ship this off for a numbered Rockies bust.  32 cents shipped. $0.04 remaining.  (not getting a 52 Topps as the last one)

12. 2006 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor #178 Julius Jones /150

Well, I went slightly over budget.  I had bids on the last two cards with a 36 cent maximum and surprisingly won them both.  Can't complain though.  Another blue refractor makes this a starter set now.  I normally do not buy football cards, but at this time of year there were more football cards than baseball cards on eBay.  You have to work with the materials available.  I got this one for 15 cents shipped.  11 cents over budget.

WHAT I LEARNED (aka the part you will skip over)

1. Always check the free shipping box.  The Perez I bought for 1 cent with $1.50 shipping that I didn't notice.

2. This is a great option for getting good trade bait or for collectors of popular teams, but not for getting Rockies unfortunately.

3.  I didn't realize how much time I spent browsing eBay until I had a stopwatch running.

4. Not only did I get the cards for $5, I also got 11 toploaders and a handful of penny sleeves.  Can't complain about that.

5. This was a good way to own some cards that I would have never even thought to look for on COMC or Sportslots.

6. I had a good time doing it.  It was really fun winning an auction for the total price of 6 cents.

7. I bypassed some cards that I normally would've splurged on, that's probably a good thing.

8. I will be doing this again on a bi-monthly or tri-monthly basis.  But honestly I can't limit myself to $5 every month.

Every card seen here excluding the Tulowitzki and the Morris is available for trade.  Email me or comment below if you want certain cards.