My other hobby volume I

I'm not a avid Cleveland Browns fan, to be honest, they've been a terrible NFL AFC team for a very long time.  Their history is amazing prior to the modern day Super Bowl era.  Browns fans are absolutely RABID when people ask me who my favorite team is, I tell them that I love all 32 NFL teams as each one has their super stars and their potato heads.  Well here's a super star card of the infamous Jim Brown!  This card is a Panini Gold Standard product that is numbered.

As a NFL fan of all 32 teams, I was enthralled by the playmaking ability of QB Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons so I purchased this card from eBay prior to their Super Bowl entry.  Unfortunately they lost to the New England Patriots but I did not care as I'm also a big Tom Brady fan.

These following cards were purchased at the IX Center in Cleveland, Ohio at the national card show similar to the national model expos.  I bought these cards many years ago for pennies on the dollar, and now in the Beckett catalog these cards have a decent return in premium.

Just like any hobby including building kits, you just never know what treasures are available if you take the time and carefully sort through items. This card is a great example.  It's actually a Christmas tree ornament card of none other than Steve Young purchased at the card show.

The following 2 cards obtained at the card show were sealed at the Topps factory and have never been handled. At the top of the 2 cards there is a holographic piece of foil tape that if removed, will inevitably fall apart rendering the untouched cards useless.

The first card is a Aaron Rodgers Topps Chrome Refractor card that is numbered.  The second card is of Donald Driver and is what's called a xfractor card that is also numbered.  Both are factory sealed and have not been over produced like other cards making them very collectible.

As cool and shiny with a little bling modern cards are, for me nothing beats the original old school cards.  Here's 2 cards from the card show that depict 2 Hall of Famers that I'm sure football fans recognize.  These are original rookie cards of Barry Sanders and Troy Aikmen.

Again my idol Brett Favre.  This is an actual mini CD Rom.  Place it in a computer external hard drive and out pops a stat of Brett Favre and mini videos and photos.

Just like the Brett Favre CD rom card, I really enjoy collecting the unusual and unique one of a kind items.  This card is unique in that it is a card within a card that slides out.  The card that slides out is a die cut of a football of the legendary Randall Cunningham.

Another modern way or technique utilized by card companies is to produce clear Acetate cards.  Here are some examples.  The first card is of Dan Marino, if you look carefully at the back of the card, it depicts a mirror image of Dan Marino throwing a football.

The second card depicts Troy Aikman.

I also enjoy die cut cards, as they seem to draw attention into it self.  Here's one of Emmitt Smith.

This card is what's known as a white whale because of its color.  It's actually a printing plate that is a 1/1.  It's used to actually produce football cards.  It is extremely rare.  I've always wanted one but the cost to own a printing plate that's a 1/1 is astronomical.  Luckily I purchased this card at a very economical cost.  It's a Michael Vick card.  He got arrested for creating a dog fighting scenario with Pitt Bulls.  After serving his sentence he was reinstated by the Philadelphia Eagles by his old coach Andy Reid of the Eagles.  Currently he is the new coach of the Kansas City Chiefs whom took the current team to a Super Bowl and won it making the Kansas City Chiefs world champions.

Whom esle with cahonis is able to say they can predict their team to a Super Bowl Championship none other than Joe "Hollywood" Namath!

This box was a huge and extreme gamble.  It contains only one card, it's cost was $100.00.  I have know idea what was in it.  It was a chance I took and was greatly surprised as it contained the actual cut autograph of Archie Griffith.  He is the only player to ever win the Heisman Trophy twice back to back.  He is a alumni of OSU.  So in Ohio, he's a very big deal.  One day Mrs. Toshi and I went on a road trip to Columbus, Ohio and visited a mall in Polaris.  It's a well known area by OSU.  In the mall was a shop operated by OSU campus alumni.  Out of curiosity I asked a buyer at the OSU shop what would they pay me for this particular card.  They offered $200.00.  So I could have doubled my money but instead I intend to keep it in my collection and pass it down to the next interested generation in the Toshi family.  This type of card is what's known to collectors as a 1/1 slab since it is encased in a factory sealed holder and authenticated by Beckett grading services that is the industry standard that authenticates and grades cards like this.

This next card that I'd like to share is one of my top 5 cards in my football card collection.  This box was presented only in the IX Center National card show in 2007 before I was ever even interested in any sports.  What's unique is that it's a Topps product that was offered only online for purchase.  This card is called ETopps and is a 1/1.  

I used to visit a card shop many years ago in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio in which the owner purchased several of these boxes, if I recall correctly there were Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey boxes that the card store owner was selling.  Amoung these boxes was this one and only football card box of which had a price tag of $59.99.  For many months, I contemplated in purchasing this box.  If it contained a dud card, I would not only loose $59.99 but would own a card that I had no interest in.  I pulled the trigger and lo and behold, I had an out of body experience with seeing a Etopps 1/1 numbered card of none other than my idol Brett Favre!  The owner seemed somewhat upset as I'm sure he wanted to open this box and sell it at a premium and make a huge profit on the secondary market.  He was upset enough that it made me very uncomfortable at which point I decided to never return to his shop.  

This card was pulled by none other than Queen Midas, aka Mrs. Toshi.  She used to purchase the Panini Totally Certified Hobby Boxes as this particular product was her favorite!  What's unique about this hit or card is that it came with a redemption card.  Redemption cards are placed into high end hobby boxes due to the fact that the NFL rookie in question is too busy or has a conflicting practice schedule that prevents him from taking the time out to sign each individual card.  

What the card companies do at that point is to place a redemption card which is like a promissory note in that the card collector must wait until the NFL rookie has time to do the signing of his cards to be distributed to collectors.  The process is that you log into the card companies web site and click in the redemption icon.  Then enter a code that's on the redemption card and fill in your address of where you want the actual card to be physically shipped.  And that's it!  

In this case, it's a Panini Totally Certified Rookie card that's autographed and has a piece of the game worn jersey on the card.  Since Russel Wilson QB of the Seattle Seahawks went to the Super Bowl and won the title, I've seen this particular card sell for over $400.00.  I'm almost certain that as his career moves forward, the card will only appreciate in value.

Here is another Russell Wilson rookie card with just a game worn jersey and it's also numbered. I purchased this card as a individual sale for $10.00 many years ago.  It now sells for $70.00 to $80.00.

Usually when a card manufacturer creates a mistake on a card, the production line stops and all cards that are errors are destroyed or at least in theory.  This mistake has happen with the USPS air mail stamp Scott #C3a or more commonly known as the Curtiss Jenny Inverted Error in which the border of the stamp is printed correctly with the exception that the Curtiss Jenny aircraft is upside down.  The story told is that the USPS destroyed all but one sheet of one hundred stamps that was sold to a individual whom saw the mistake and sold it to a stamp dealer for a couple of thousand dollars.  At that time that was a princely sum.

The Stamp dealer then took it upon himself to individually sell each error stamp at a premium.  Today these known existing stamps goes for anywhere from half a million dollars and more depending on condition of course.  There is a very extremely rare plate block of 4 Curtiss Jenny attached to the plate number hence the philatelic term plate block.  This set of a rare stamp rests in the hands of Mr. Don Sundman, President and owner of the very reputable stamp company Mystic Stamps.  

He obtained this rare stamps in a trade with a Wall Street investor Bill Gross of which is a avid stamp collector.  He owns every single stamp ever produced by the USPS.  Except one stamp that Don Sundman owned.  It was the Z Grill Benjamin Franklin one cent stamp.  There are only two known to exsist.  One is at in Washington DC Smithsonium Museum.  The trade between Mr. Sundman and Mr. Gross was the most biggest and rarest exchange in the world.  Although no money was transferred due to this even trade the actual Scott catalog value was a six million dollar trade. Mr. Gross is the only known collector to own a complete 19th century US stamp collection.

Now I'm not touting that this error card of Andrew Luck is a million dollar card, but it is a one of a kind.  The card was printed correctly in the front but the mistake was the back of the card was superimposed on the front creating the error.  The back of the card is a blank white card.  

I did do a little research with the owner of a stamp, coin, comic, and collectible shop here in Streetsboro, Ohio but 2 minutes away from my home.  When the card was researched, we only found one error card that had a mispelling of Andrew Lucks name.  There are a total of approximately 30 cards known to exsist with Andrew Lucks name being mispelled.  This card sold for over a hundred dollars, I purchased mine for the large grand total sum of $3.00.  According to the card shop owner, no known card like mines exsist hence that would make my card a 1/1.  I don't care about the cost as I strictly enjoy the sheer feeling and excitement in card collecting.  Maybe Ezra could reap the benifits of selling this card in 20 to 30 years.

The first card depicted is a regular card purchased by me just as a reference.  The second card is the error card.

Interesting stuff,although a big fan of the four major sports, I never collected cards except for when I was about 11.

Its interesting how the other sports cards never gained the cache of baseball cards which are the king of collectibles.

Never was into collecting autographs either.

Tojo72

Interesting stuff,although a big fan of the four major sports, I never collected cards except for when I was about 11.

Its interesting how the other sports cards never gained the cache of baseball cards which are the king of collectibles.

Never was into collecting autographs either.

 

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

This is my all time favorite cards.  As I mentioned earlier, I truly love the weird and unusual looking football cards.  Not only are they scarce but due to it's limited edition, at times these type of cards can be difficult to obtain due to financial restrictions.

I was just lucky enough to find this very unique type of card from a card company now defunct and resurected under the European conglemorete Panini Card Company.  These next 2 cards were produced by Pacific Crown Royale Cramers Choice in the USA during the 80's and 90's.  This is the only company that produced these type of triangular die cut cards.  

They also produced for a very short time a acrylic triangular case to accomodate the triangular card itself.  Now comes the difficult part of collecting rare cards.  I was so attracted to this die cut card that I searched eBay for months hunting down these cards that were produced during the mid-80's.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to purchase a complete set of just simple base cards of the Pacific Crown Royale.  I purchased the set for less than $5.00.  It consisted of 100 cards.  But the hit or chase cards were not included.  This is where eBay came to mind.  Below you'll view a limited edition 1999 Pacific Cramers Choice Crown Royale Brett Favre numbered to 031/299 card #5.  I had to hunt down the triangular case.  Once purchased, they were a perfect match.  The Brett Favre card cost me $25.00.  The acrylic case came out to $25.00 as well.  Currently, there are no cases available except for one from a seller in Canada.  The cost just for the case is $80.00 not including a $20.00 shipping and handling fee.  The Brett Favre card goes for a real market value of $50.00.  I was shocked as it would have cost me $150.00 including shipping and handling to obtain the Brett Favre card in it's case in current market value.  So I can't truly complain that I spent $50.00 for the Brett Favre card. 

The Jerry Rice card cost me $10.00 as it was not a numbered limited edition card like the Favre card.  The Jerry Rice card is card number CC-10 produced in 1996.  But the case from the same seller was $25.00.  

These 3 cards are the old Pacific Cramers Choice Awards Triangular cards resurrected by Panini.  Now that Panini owns the rights to produce these cards, this is what the cards now look like.  This first card is what got me started with this type of die cut cards.  when I found out that it used to be a older card company called Pacific, that's when my hunt for these cards came to be.  

The first card I received for free.  It was given to me by the owner of Collectors Palace for assistance in consultation of a stamp collection that someone brought to him.  He had no idea of the cost of the stamps he purchased.  So I went home and joyfully looked up each and every individual stamp on a Mystic Stamp Catalog which utilized the industry standard Scott catalog values.  Once I gave him the cost of the stamps he immediately took my advice and sold it on eBay.  

The owner was so gratefull in that he wanted to pay me for my time, instead of cash, I asked for this card as a trade, and he joyfully agreed.  It worked out for the best for the both of us.  Sometimes it pays to be helpful to your fellow human being without expecting anything in return.  You'll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  I for one was not only extremely overjoyed, this kind act uplifted me spiritually and created a bond that I'll never forget for the rest of my life.  That's the true meaning to behold.  Sometimes it's better to give than to take, you just never know for sure what comes along in life!

The first card is a 2012 Panini Crown Royale Choice Award Die Cut Auto Card 10/15 of Marshawn Lynch a RB position player for the Seattle Seahawks.  He was famously known for his eating of Skittles.  

The second card is also a 2012 card of RB LaGarrette Blount with a autograph of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers numbered to 09/25.

The last Card is also a 2012 card of Brandon Lloyd of the New England Patriots with his autograph numbered to 17/25.

It's always a true blessing when your spouse enjoys and shares the same feelings with you in regards to a hobby.  This what Mrs. Toshi collects besides her numismatic (Coin) collection.  She so enjoyed a RB by the name of Darren Sproels of whom played for the New Orleans Saints.  He has been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.  So I decided to pull the trigger for Mrs. Toshi and purchased the cards depicted below of her NFL favorite player.

The first card is of Darren Sproels by Panini Certified 2012.  It is numbered to 125/150.  

The second card is a Topps card with Darren Sproels autograph.  

The third and final card is a Topps product.  It is called Finest and is Mr. Sproels rookie card that includes his autograph.  He was originally drafted by the San Diego Chargers!

Have you ever heard of Archie Manning?  Archie Manning played in the NFL as a New Orleans Saints back in the late 70's early 80's.  His children are the legendary Peyton Manning and Eli Manning.  

The first card is a Topps product called Bowman Chrome.  It's what's called a simple base card.

The second card is produced by Upper Deck and is depicted in there line called Ovation.  I was lucky enough to find out that Peyton Manning encourages card collectors to send him cards for him to sign.  So what I did was to find out his charitable information via internet and sent him this very card you see here with a small donation to his charitable cause in good faith.  

The third card is a actual rookie card that is numbered 5/5.  It is a reprint of the old school card company called Score.  Yet thus card printed in 2012 is still considered a rookie card in the Beckett sports card catalog.  This card bieng a specially numbered 5/5 card was released on Black Friday in 2012.  

In my very humble opinion, Johnny Unitas was one the the greatest QB's to ever play this game.  His statistics are amazing and his play making abilities by standing in the pocket and throwing the ball down the field is legendary.  In 1969, in commemoration of the NFL's 50th anniversary, Johnny Unitas was selected as "The greatest QB of All Time" or better known as the GOAT!  I was extremely lucky enough to obtain this autograph card of Unitas many years ago.  It is one of my top 5 cards of all time.

The second card purchased is a numbered card by Donruss.  It's called Leaf Limited Spotlight and numbered 40/50 making this a very rare card.  

The third card is what's known as a eTopps card.  It was only sold via internet.  It's very odd style is derived from the original T-206 Tobaco Baseball cards at the turn of the 20th century.  It's been incased in a factory sealed acrylic case and has a holographic tape sealing the card.  If the card gets tampered with, this holographic tape beaks apart and shows clear evidence that the card has come into a compromised condition rendering it valueless.  This card is numbered at 0982/1499.

All of these mordern cards are very stylish, has a great and outstanding showmanship, and at the very least has the Bling to it.  But for my collecting taste, and you can call me old, I still enjoy collecting the old school cards.  

Another eTopps card this time of Brett Favre.  It's numbered to 217/749.

This is where Mrs. Toshi and I Agree to Disagree.  I for one think Tom Brady is one of the greatest QB's to ever play the game especially with his six Super Bowl titles.  Mrs. Toshi on the other hand feels that he has a chip on his shoulder.  But I explained to her that he was considered an underdog.  He was selected in the 2000 draft at number 199.  Then once drafted by the New England Patriots, he sat on the sidelines watching Drue Bledsoe.  After Bledsoe's injury, Tom Brady got his first start.  And the rest is history! I do feel in my humble opinion that the success that the New England Patriots recieved is due to the fact that not only did they have a awesome QB but having Bill Belichick as the head coach made this team a formidable nemesis.  

I currently don't own a autograph card of Tom Brady as his cards sell for thousands of dollars.  But one day, god willing, I'll make it a priority in my football card collection.  I did take the opportunity to accumulate a few of Tom Brady's Rookie cards when it was not as expensive as it is now.  I absolutely am astounded at the cost of his rookie cards especially when I purchased these cards you see here for a few dollars.  Again, just to emphasize I collect football cards because I truly enjoy the hobby.  I don't collect football cards for investment purposes.  I'd rather mess with the stock market than deal with the volatile nature of football cards cost based on per rookie, autograph, memorabilia, or  how many were printed.  It's just like any hobby.

One collects items for the sole purpose of enjoyment and not base it on profit.  That's what a hobby is.  The first card is a rookie card of Tom Brady from the Pacific Crown Royale trading card company.  He's depicted in his Michigan collegiate uniform.  The first 3 cards are rookie cards.  The last card is a 2011 Panini Gold Standard numbered 232/299 card.  I really love the look and feel of the Gold Standard cards.  It is a very thick or heavy duty card stock.  

I'm afraid to say Toshi, but I have never seen a game of baseball and know nothing about it and although I have tried to watch American football, I much prefer Rugby or Aussie Rules football. The only cards I think I ever collected were the Battle of Britain chewing gum cards from the 60's which I still have.

Dodgy

I'm afraid to say Toshi, but I have never seen a game of baseball and know nothing about it and although I have tried to watch American football, I much prefer Rugby or Aussie Rules football. The only cards I think I ever collected were the Battle of Britain chewing gum cards from the 60's which I still have.

 

I've never collected a single sports card until 2012.  I've only been to 2 baseball games because someone gave me tickets to see the Cleveland Indians at Proggressive field.  I've never been to a basketball game and my favorite sport of all football is a game I have never seen live.  So there you go.  I'm just really late in my life to finally be excited about American football and the collecting of football cards.  Anyway, thank you once again sir for folliwing my threads and for the read and replies!

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

Being surrounded by family and friends is a very important thing that I believe strongly about.  This next card brought Mrs. Toshi, my Daughter Allana, her boy friend Brett, and I closely knit together.  Isn't it a very neat thing that something so superfluous can unite individuals together.  

I still remember the day as if it were just yesterday.  We all drove to a card shop, and looked around to see if there was anything interesting to purchase, almost instantaneously we seen a hobby box of Panini Crown Royale and decided that we were going to purchase the last 2012 product available on the shelf and bring it home and open it together.  Well we did just that.  

Of course each of us had chosen a pack to open.  This is a high end collectors football card box so for approximately $100.00 we opened several packs with each pack that contained 5 cards.  As always, the pack Mrs.Toshi chose was the hit.  When it was her turn to break open the pack, this is what she pulled below as a hit.

A Ryan Tannehill autograph 4 color patch card.  Numbered 131/249.  In 2012 he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins.  If I'm correct, last year he was traded to the Tennessee Titans.  The Titans had a QB from our home town Honolulu, Hawaii named Marcus Marriotta.  He got injured and Ryan Tannehill became the starter.  He was a alumni for the Aggies.  Below you'll see his card.  In this photo I'll share the entire break.

Here are some very memorable memorabili, pun intended.

This was purchased at a major retail chain many years ago.  Sadly they claimed Chapter11 and went bankrupt.  I purchase this at K-Mart in Streetsboro, Ohio.