My other hobby volume I

Here is an actual autograph given to me by my older brother Demetri Skopos.  We are not brothers by birth but we are so close that I consider him my older brother from another mother!  Lol!

It's an autograph of the most winningest coach of the NFL. Don Shula.  The photo taken as proof of authentification was done in Florida where Coach Shula had a burger franchise.

In 2003 I got hired as the personal head sushi chef at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio by Mr. and Mrs. Wolstein.  They were wealthy entrepreneurs that really knew how to take care of their employees.  They built a indoor sports arena in Cleveland, Ohio called the Wolstein Center and were huge benefactors for OSU.  That's how the Toshi's ended up in Streetsboro, Ohio. I lived but just a short 15 minute drive from Aurora.

This is how I got the neck tie with the autograph of Coach Jim Tressell of OSU.  They were national champions in 2003.  I also met Archie Griffith a 2 time Hiesman trophy winner and had his autograph on the tie itself.  When Mr. Wolstein saw me do that he came up to me and told me to hang on to that tie as it was valuable.  

Back then I knew nothing about sports nor did I care to. When word got out that I had a OSU necktie signed by Coach Tressell and Archie Griffith there was pandemonium at the sushi bar.  Everyone there wanted to purchase my necktie.  All kinds of offers were given to me but I turned it all down and till this day, I still own a little piece of OSU history.  Just as a note, the largest offer I received that night was $500.00.  I thought that these individuals were insane or drunk from drinking too much Sake!  Lol!

Out of sheer curiosity, and being a huge Star Wars fan, I purchased some Star Wars cards at my local Walmart.  This was the hit in the pack.  The photo of Chewbacca is made out of silk screen material.

These cards are what's known in the card collecting universe as graded cards.  The most coveted card grader is Beckett.  The other card grader is PSA (Proffesional Sports Authority).  I only have a few cards that are graded.  I won't photograph all the other graded cards as it contains players that I don't even know let alone heard of.  But the one card that is substantial is the Pacific Crown Royale Rookie card of Peyton Manning!  It's graded at a mint 9.  The highest grade possible is a mint 10.

My final football card entry is my number one top cards that I took the time and care in collecting.  I do have thousands of cards that I own but I just shared with FSM Forum Members cards that were significant in my collection that I felt were exciting and interesting. 

This final set of cards that I'm about to share with you all took me about a year to finish.  Yet it was well worth the chase.  As you all know by now, my number one sports football player is Brett Favre.  I remember vividly watching the NFC Championship game between Brett Favres Minnesota Vikings vs Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.  I still feel to this very day that the Vikings should have won that game.  

It was Greg Williams and Sean Peyton that rigged that game for the scandoulos affair called the Bounty Hunting against Brett Favre.  Both coaches were suspended by the NFL.  Although Sean Peyton was allowed to return as the head coach, Greg Williams was suspended as well as terminated for being the key person in the Bounty Hunting scandal.  

Greg Williams actually held the defensive coach position here as a Cleveland Brown for a couple of years.  The story was in short that whomever was able to take down and physically injure Brett Favre would receive a bonus cash payment.  I thought that was not only disgusting but absolutely had no proffesional sportsmanship at all.  

In that NFC Championship game Favre was hit so very hard after each play that he finally injured his ankle.  I remember the officials going up to Brett Favre and made appolagies for not calling or tossing a yellow flag for the hits he took, hence Brett Favres nickname; "The Iron Man"!  In the end the Saints went to the Superbowl against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.  

Although I watched the Superbowl, it was not as intense and exciting as the NFC Championship game.  It would have been a better match up in the Super Bowl to see Iron Man Brett Favre against the Sheriff Peyton Manning.  Below is my collection of every single Rookie card of Farve.  I'm only missing the 1991 Wild Card Stripe 20, 50, 100, and 1000.  The Beckett catalog value for the 4 cards alone in 2012 was $2,120.00.  I was only able to obtain the 5 and 10 stripe.  

I've seen the 1991 Wild Card 50 Stripe on eBay but it was going for far higher than catalog value, talk about goughing!  LOL!  My Brett Favre Catalog Value in 2012 comes out to $1,553.00.  I have a very detailed list of what the cost was for obtaing Favres rookie cards.  Again, please note that these are 2012 prices.  The current prices are astronomical due to the fact that he won a Super Bowl Championship against John Elway of the Denver Broncos.  Plus his retirement and being inducted into the Football Hall of Fame as a first ballot.  Here is the list.

This is the most popular Brett Favre Rookie card ever produced.  It's a 1991 Stadium Club Card #94.  I purchased 2 complete sets of the 1991 Stadium Club cards, each set contains 500 cards each For a total of 1000 cards.  Why did I purchase the set?  Because it was much cheaper to by 500 cards on eBay than to purchase just the one rookie card.  I purchased the 1991 Stadium Club Card Complete set of 500 for $10.00.  It was full of players that I've never heard of.  But the main card #94 was available for penny's on the dollar.

This next card is whats called a SP or short print as not many of this set was printed which made this rookie card a much harder find at a decent price point.  So I did the next best thing of which was to purchase the 1992 Stadium Club complete set for a whopping $10.00.  I found out that most collectors are chasing just the rookie card and does not want to own 499 cards plus the storage concerns.  My idea is payless and sell more.  Just a quick note, this card is not an official rookie card as Brett Favre was drafted in 1991 by the Atlanta Falcons.  In 1992 he was traded to the Green Bay Packers.  So collectors like myself make this a unofficial rookie card as he has a Green Bay Packers uniform on.

This is my most number one cherished card.  This particular card has a embossed Super Bowl symbol on the top right hand corner.  It is a must to purchase this card from either Beckett grading services or PSA/DNA as I've been told that these cards were counterfeit by creating a embossed Super Bowl symbol.

It was given away at the Superbowl as a advertisement for Stadium Club Card Company.  Almost everyone looked at the free card and tossed it in the rubbish can.  Due to the fact that Brett Favre was a unknown!  People probably looked at the card and wondered who the hell is this guy?  Today, this is the cream of the crop of Brett Favre rookie cards.  

I've seen only 2 on ebay that were selling for over $2,000.00.  Of course it was a graded card with a mint 10.  This card I found was selling for a $100.00 as the seller wanted to specifically target new collectors young and old for encouragement into the hobby.  He had hundreds of graded rookie cards for a $100.00.  Cards of Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Deion Sanders, and much more.  Too many to name here.  The old saying goes; "Being at the right time and the right place".

Here is another graded card.  It's a 1991 Wild Card Stripe 10.  From what I was reading in the Beckett magazine in that if you pulled a Stripe numbered card, the Wild Card company would send you free cards to you by mailing in the Stripe numbered card as a proof of purchase.  Hence making this another rare Brett Favre Rookie Card.

Moving onto unofficial rookie cards here is one of Favre in his high school uniform.  It was produced in 2008.  I just had to have this card.  How many QB's in the NFL do you know that had a high school card made.  Lol!

This next set of 6 cards was created by Upper Deck in 2007 with the backing of the NFL.  Certain Prilosec medication's came with a limited time limited edition card called; "Evolution of a Legend".  Here are the 6 cards.

This is a High Pro Market Action Pack 1991 card.

This is the 1991 Classic Premier Edition by Score Board Inc.  

This is how unusually popular Brett Favre was.  In 1991 Classic a subsidiary of Score Board created another card called; "1991 Draft Picks".  

What makes this a rare and unusually strange card is that although that it looks identical, one card was specially produced for Quebec, Canada.  It's the back of the card (If you look closely) that has a desrcription in English with a second paragraph in French.  

The majority of card collectors are unaware of this fact and have overlooked this unique card. This is what makes the Quebec French Canadian Card so rare.  I found out about this card as I used to live in Europe.  I would travel to Paris France by train via Amsterdam Netherlands to play concerts there.  

So I dabbled in the French language hence to my astonishment finding a Brett Favre card with French statistic information was a surprise.  When I went online, that's when I discovered the two almost identical cards.  

One for the continental USA and the other for the French Canadians in Quebec.  Please note that Favre's heritage is English, French, and American Indian, hence I would assume the card being distributed in Quebec.

As usual, I purchased the American edition as well to show collector's that have an interest in this specialty card for reference.  The first card depicted is the French Canadian Quebec edition.  The second card is the US release.

Here is a Brett Favre Rookie Card by Pacific, the same card company that makes the Crown Royale Cramers Choice Award Triangular cards that I love.

This next photos are another very unusual and unique type of cards.  For some strange reason, the NFL Pro Set Draft Choice 2nd. Round card was released simultaneously in the US and Mexico.  

Once again, you're not seeing doubles but you are actually viewing two different cards.  One in English and one in Spanish.  

This is another NFL Pro Set Card except it's the platinum edition.  

1991 Score Rookie Card of Brett Favre.  Card#611.

I use to be a forum member of Cardboard Connection.  While there during my football card collecting tenure, a fellow member sent me a request for a trade.  I traded a Ben Rothlisberger Autograph Card for this card below.  It is a Star Pic Rookie Card with the only cards that Brett Favre autographed.  

The autograph must be on the back of the card with a golden seal that reads Authentic Star Pic.  I've seen several Star Pic cards going for thousands of dollars that have Brett Favres signature on the front of the card without the golden seal.  Those cards raised a red flag for me as they are all forgeries.  

I feel sorry for the collector to spend so much money on a forged card.  That is such a bad situation.  Here is my card with Favres auto on it.

The card below is also a Star Pic Card, it is the actual base card.  It's not supposed to have a autograph on it.  From what I researched, this type of cards were utilize to make a Brett Favre Star Pic autograph card that was a forgery.  

This is also another 1991 Star Pic Offensive Top Prospects Rookie Card.  The difference is that this Brett Favre Rookie Card is shared with 3 other rookies.  Charles McRae, Nick Bell, and Alvin Harper.

1991 Fleer Ultra Draft Picks card #283

1991 Fleer Ultra Draft Picks. Card#U-1

I purchased a 1991 Upper Deck Star Rookie complete set 1-500.  It cost me $1.26.  It was cheaper to buy the complete set than it was to buy Favres rookie cards out of this set.  There are a total of 3 cards.  I found out that collectors of cards tend not to want the extra cards in a complete set due to the fact that storage is a problem.  So some sellers are willing to move the whole set just to make room.

It is this set that I'm missing Brett Favres Rookie Cards.  I'm still looking for the 1991 Wild Card Stripe 20, 50, 100, and 1000.  Just these 4 cards alone at 2012 catalog values (That's the last time I owned a Beckett catalog) was $2,120.00.  So I can assume that it will be a very difficult purchase to complete my Brett Favre Rookie card complete set.  

With that in mind, I have never seen a 1991 Wild Card Stripe 100 and 1000 as it was a extremely rare cards.  So until that time, I'll continue my search and most importantly enjoy the hobby with my grandson Ezra.

The first card is a base card.  Base cards are just simple standard cards.  

The second card is the 1991 Wild Card Stripe 5.  Wild Card Stripe 10 was displayed earlier in this thread.  It was  a Beckett Certified grade 8 card.

In life, something's can go south and can become a terrible incident.  Then again there are days when everything falls into place without any planning.  Today was such a day.  I did not know if this card below would arrive in time to be displayed on this thread.  But when I checked the mail box today, I was pleasantly surprised.  It is a perfect ending to my collection of Brett Favre Rookie cards as it's his Lambeau Field induction ceremony where his jersey number 4 gets retired.  

This card is a 2016 Panini Instant numbered 1/79 card.  

Now that I've shared with you all of my most cherished football card collection I have only to share my stamp collection.  Below are three mini sheets printed by USPS with philatelic collectors in mind.  The first two mini sheets were distributed at national stamp expos or conventions.  

The 3rd mini sheet is a reprint of the 100th anniversary of the very first and second stamp ever to be printed by the USPS.  The stamps are depicted as follows.  The first stamp, Scott #1 is a Benjamin Franklin 3 cent stamp.  The second stamp, Scott number #2 depicts George Washington 10 cent stamp.  These sheets are actual stamps that can be used to send mail.  

I've seen covers that have the entire mini sheet attached to an envelope with the traditional cancellation mark. Either hand canceled or manual rubber stamp cancelation or the more common modern day machine cancelation.  

I'm not a big collector of cover stamps (Stamps that have philatelic values of collectors attached to a envelope) unless they are unique and creatively interesting.  My love for collecting the unusual and weird looking items in a hobby of football cards or stamps have made my journey in this hobby ever more exciting and entertaining than anything else.

Here is the first mini sheet. It's the sixth National Convention Stamp Show in Washington D.C. and has a stamp that has a face value of 5 cents.  

The second mini sheet is the fifth National Stamp Convention in New York New York.  The stamps on this sheet are the 3 cent purple Lady Liberty stamp and the second stamp is a 8 cent multi colored Lady Liberty.

As mentioned earlier, the last and final mini sheet is the 100th Anniversary celebrating the very first and second stamp to be produced by the USA.  Just a quick note.  The original first and second stamps in extremely very fine mint condition with the original gum can exceed an amount of over $10,000.00 each.

Well, for a change of pace, my newest hobby (one that I've been discussing with Dodgy) is making my own Gin. I've made Lemoncello and flavored 'moonshine' in the past, but this is getting interesting. I'm getting a whole new respect for herb, spices, and florals. It's rather amazing how many flavor combinations you can come up with for custom gin. Needless to say, I have a ever-growing number of friends now who want to taste-test for me; gee, I wonder why?

HooYah Deep Sea

Well, for a change of pace, my newest hobby (one that I've been discussing with Dodgy) is making my own Gin. I've made Lemoncello and flavored 'moonshine' in the past, but this is getting interesting. I'm getting a whole new respect for herb, spices, and florals. It's rather amazing how many flavor combinations you can come up with for custom gin. Needless to say, I have a ever-growing number of friends now who want to taste-test for me; gee, I wonder why?

 

No, I'm not that patient; I'm infusing. Starting with 40%ABV Vodka, I steep the juniper berries first for 8 - 12 hours. That is when it becomes 'gin'. Then I'll add a combination of other spices, in various forms, depending on the intended flavor characteristics, and let those steep for another 8 - 12 hours. After that it's basically done so I strain out of the 'debris' and if I want to make it clearer I can pour it through a coffee filter. One of the interesting parts is that though you can't remove 'flavors' after steeping, you can alter it some by steeping other spices in a second or even third session.

With my taste-testing team, my plan is to make one or two really nice ones and then stick to those. I' have five different formulations thus far.