Hero Of The Silver Curse, Life Is Minty

A Response To Topps Football

silvercursehero — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:38:17 +0000

The Topps Blog recently posted a contest where collectors can chime in on what they want to see from Topps football products in the coming year. Here are my responses.

1. What products from our previous Topps football lines would you like to see us continue or bring back?
Without hesitation I would say CHROME! Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome football have been my favorite football products because of all the great parallel rookie cards and autographs.

2. What new products or ideas would you like to see?
A mid to high-end product that is college-focused (college uniforms). Something similar to Upper Deck’s ’10 NCAA Sweet Spot Football.

3. Which 2010 NFL Rookies would you like to see us sign to autograph deals?
I am an absolute huge Nebraska Cornhuskers fan, so I would love to see autographs from Ndamukong Suh, the “House of Spears”.

4. Regarding our products calendar, which releases would you like to see early in the season, late, etc?
Just make sure you put the rookie heavy products out early. Draft, Chrome, & even Finest are always tops on my wantlist early in the season just because of all the new rookies!

5. Are there any NFL-related themes, anniversaries, celebrations, etc. you’d like to see featured in our 2010 products?
Nothing specific, but just make sure that these themed inserts carry some sort of value for a collector. I’m afraid that many in the hobby view inserts as nothing but filler cards (’09 Topps Chrome Cheerleaders….). Also would love to see more “chase” cards inserted into various products.

Bozeman Breaker Returns

silvercursehero — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:31:58 +0000

Some of you may recall a short-lived blog called Bozeman Breaker. I actually produced that poor excuse of a blog and after careful deliberation with myself, I’ve decided to resurrect it. Is this a good idea? I don’t know. Will anyone follow it? Doubtful.

However, I feel like it’s a great way to archive some of the greatest pulls in our hobby. Pulls from real collectors like you and me. So take a look and link it up if you feel like it.

Bozeman Breaker – http://devotedservants.wordpress.com/

Topps Signs Deal w/ NFL & Players

silvercursehero — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:12:09 +0000

I usually don’t report news items and I’m way late on this, but I figured that its important to note that Topps is back in football – Tuff Stuff reports about it here.

Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome football lives on.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ulgy – Lawrence Phillips

silvercursehero — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:42:19 +0000

Dick Vermeil once called Lawrence Phillips the best running back he had ever coached. And with good reason. Phillips was an absolute stud coming out of Nebraska after his junior year in 1996. The only thing standing in his way to becoming one of the great ones was – Lawrence Phillips.

Here are Lawrence’s professional career highlights, followed by a list of his own self-destruction.

1996 – Drafted 6th overall by the St. Louis Rams.
1997 – Traded to the Miami Dolphins at the end of the ’97 season.
1998 – Out of professional football.
1999 – Sets records for rushing and TDs for NFL Europe’s Barcelona Dragons. Returns stateside with the San Francisco 49ers for the remainder of the season.
2000 – Out of professional football.
2001 – Joins the Arena Football League
2002 – Heads north, rushes for 1,022 yards and 13 TDs for the Montreal Alouettes, helping them win the ’02 Grey Cup.
2003 – Out of professional football.

Post career rap sheet (not the hip-hop variety):
2005 – Arrested for assault, driving his car into three teenagers after a dispute.
2006 – Found guilty of seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
2008 – Sentenced to 10 years of prison.
2009 – Convicted on seven counts of assault against his ex-girlfriend.
2009 – Sentenced to 31+ years in prison.

::palm to face, shake head::

Today’s mailday was a ’96 Bowman’s Best Bets Atomic Refractor.

Mailday: Correll Buckhalter Dual Contenders

silvercursehero — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 05:33:13 +0000

It’s amazing how long the Playoff Contenders line has been around. I believe the name goes back to 1993. This particular card is a Round Numbers die-cut insert from the 2001 release. The card is an ‘01 Playoff Contenders Round Numbers Dual Autograph /40.

On the side shown, we have former Husker running back Correll Buckhalter. On the flip side (not shown) is Rudi Johnson whose name does sound vaguely familiar to me. No matter, the important thing is I have a lovely Buckhalter auto to add to the personal collection.

For your general knowledge, Buckhalter ran the ball for the Huskers from 1997 thru 2000. His most successful season in the backfield was 1998 when he started 7 games and ran for over 800 yards.

Correll is 8th on Nebraska’s all-time rushing list and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was traded to the Denver Broncos for the 2009 season and finished with over 600 yards on the ground.

Yes, A Miami U Mailday

silvercursehero — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:01:16 +0000

I came to the realization today that nearly all of my posts on this blog have been heavily Husker-related. I’m not apologizing for this. I’m proud of my husker heritage and I love blogging about collecting all things Nebraska football.

However, I wanted to prove to you all that I do indeed buy and trade for other players/teams quite often. These pickups just seem to get pushed aside when I have a nice personal collection item arrive.

Take today’s mailday for example. This was a fine rookie card acquisition I made of Reggie Wayne. This is an ’01 Pacific Dynagon Autograph /499. Two things make these card really awesome, the on-card autograph is outstanding and the rainbow foil backing actually works.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty fed up with a lot of players who like to sign initials on cards (yes, I’m pointing my fingers at Chris Johnson). Also, look at how great an autographed card can look when the player isn’t forced to sign within half inch tall sticker. Reggie’s auto takes up nearly half of the card!

Outstanding mailday. Even if it featured a ‘cane.

Mailday, 1994 Orange Bowl MVP

silvercursehero — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:32:18 +0000

A nice Tommie Frazier autograph showed up this last week in the mail. It is a ’08 Press Pass Legends Bowl Edition, MVP Auto /115.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this card is that it celebrates Frazier’s accomplishment of winning a share of the ’94 Orange Bowl MVP award in a game where his team actually lost. That is an honor you rarely see today.

Spring Game Today, 1PM CST.

silvercursehero — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:04:04 +0000

Image courtesy of Huskers.com

Grading Cards, A Success Story

silvercursehero — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:22:07 +0000

I’m not sure how many of you out there are supporters or haters of getting cards graded. I for one am a big fan of graded card services. With that said, I understand some of the criticisms involved in grading (inconsistent grading, card fakes passing through psa), but I also know that encapsulating cards can be a great storage solution for personal collection purposes. Second, no matter how you feel about card grades, you can’t argue that card values only go up given a high grade and provide a nice premium on a sale. This works out well for those of us who rip, grade, and flip.

So what’s my story?

Around the first of year (2010), I came to the realization that it is very difficult to fund a hobby as expensive as cards when you have little to no income (I am a senior in college). So I took a small amount of my saved hobby money and made what I like to call a gambling investment on a few cards. My goal was to buy some raw cards, evaluate them for quality, and if I deemed them worthy I would send them in to Beckett Grading Services to be graded. I would then pray to the card gods that high grades would be earned upon said cards and I would resell them at profit.

I wasn’t looking to make a fortune off of these cards or pay my way through school. I just wanted enough return to be able pick up new additions for my personal collection. So how well has this worked?

So far, so good. Here is a breakdown of just two cards I picked up, graded, and flipped since January 2010.

’09 Finest Gold Refractor /75, Mark Sanchez – Graded BGS 9.5
Purchase and Grading Cost: $18.21
Sell Price: $59.74

’07 Bowman Draft Chrome Refractor, Jason Heyward – Graded BGS 9.0
Purchase & Grading Cost: $29.00
Sell Price: $85.00

Like I said, these are just two examples of how grading has helped me continue to build my own personal collection. For this, I am thankful. Without it, many of those cards in my Huskers personal collection would not be hand today. I have in fact been able to fund my personal collection purchases based solely from my resell profits. Nice.

For those of you who think this is a total crapshoot, it’s not. However, you have to be very patient and very selective on what cards you send in for grading. Having a eye for what will grade well is a must.

Fleer Ultra Rookies, Brandon Jackson

silvercursehero — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:46:27 +0000

This card was somewhat over-shadowed by the huge Crouch additions I received last week. But now that I’ve had some time to calm down a bit, I can finally give this card the attention it deserves.

This is a ’07 Fleer Ultra, Ultra Rookies Auto /199. I had been eye-ing this card for quite some time actually and it is one of my favorite available autographs of Brandon Jackson.

I’m a true sucker when it comes to fading background designs and foil-outlined text. These kind of cards remind me of those sweet inserts from the 90′s when card company weren’t afraid to go a little nuts and be graphically innovative in their designs.