BGS grading

Just received word that some cards I sent in to BGS are done, including a couple NPNs.

The expensive Audrey Hepburn card graded a disappointing 7.0 due to a low surface grade. I didn't notice anything, but apparently they did.

I was happy with a grade for a card that my wife pulled. A 2008 Topps Heritage Black Refractor (#/59) Jacoby Ellsbury received a 9.5! A $120 card just got a lot better.

Here are all the grades...

2007 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius Signatures Printing Plates Black
Ken Griffey Jr.
9.0

2007 Americana Hollywood Legends Material Super Stars *
Steve McQueen Jacket/25
9.0

2007 Americana Hollywood Legends Material Super Stars *
Audrey Hepburn Dress/25
7.0

2008 Topps Heritage Chrome Refractors Black
Jacoby Ellsbury
9.5

1992 Pro Line Profiles Autographs
Roger Staubach RET
9.0

1962 Topps
Mickey Mantle IA
3.5

9.0 and 7.0 isn't bad for free...

Major NPN mojo!!!

I can't believe the luck.

I just received a few cards from the Donruss Americana line in the mail and you aren't going to believe this! (I have a couple people that I send out for and they send me any cards - I did pay for the stamps).

The three cards:

• Cinema Stars Material card #CS-8 Ernest Borgnine - $5-10
• Hollywood Legends Materials Super Stars #HL-10 Steve McQueen (#/25) - about $50-60

and the MOJO!
• Hollywood Legends Materials Super Stars #HL-11 - Audrey Hepburn (#/25) - $300 in Beckett.

Oh yeah!

My total now is 13 cards...

Just received two more cards today. The first was a Joe Mather refractor prospect card from Bowman Sterling - numbered to 199 (My second Bowman Sterling prospect refractor card).
The second card was a rookie card of Rodney Stuckey, a Pistons player that went to my alma mater, Eastern Washington. His card (numbered to 499) is from Topps Co-Signers.

Cards! Cards! Cards!

I'm too busy to post much today, but I'm receiving cards at a steady pace now.

One of the shockers was a 2007-08 Topps Chrome LeBron James Refractor (Books for $16). I know! I already got a Topps Chrome, you say. Well, at that time, I was cheating a little bit sending out for multiple names. Cheating does apparently work.

Halelujah!!

Halelujah!! Three cards in one day from my new favorite card company, Topps.

I borrowed these images from eBay, so they may not match exactly. Sorry, I'm lazy.

1) 2007-08 Topps Chrome BK Refractor #94 - Dominique Wilkins (numbered to 999)

2) 2007 Topps Triple Threads FB Emerald [See note] #21 - Jason Campbell (numbered to 199)

3) 2007 Bowman Sterling Prospects #BSP-JGA Refractor - Joe Gaetti (numbered to 199)

Not too bad... could be better!

Watch the UD offerings disappear...

Those two "new" Upper Deck offerings are gone now. Kind of odd.

I'll leave them on my list, because I'm assuming they would keep those entries. I'll provide an update if I see them again.

Two new Upper Deck offerings...

Upper Deck has added 2007-08 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey and 2008 SP Chirography Football to their growing list of NPN offers.

Go to http://npn.upperdeck.com

I also noticed today that my favorite set from the last two years, Allen and Ginter, has made its way to the card release calendar. Sweeeet!

Spectrum was okay...

No more this week...

So I bought five blaster boxes of UD Spectrum.

These cards are really nice. While you don't get any rookies, you do get one game used per box and possible low numbered parallels. They say there's a chance at autos, but I think there's a better chance of winning the lottery. I think I'll skip any more blasters and see if I can't find a hobby box at the card store in the "big city" of Wenatchee some day. Hopefully I can finish the first part of this set.

Out of the five blasters, I pulled one green parallel card of Dmitri Young, nine Yankee Stadium Legacy cards and the following game-used:

- Aaron Boone jersey
- J.D. Drew jersey
- Brian Giles jersey
- Barry Zito jersey (numbered 10 of 45)
- Brett Myers / Brad Lidge four-piece jersey (numbered 49 of 99) - and 3 of 4 have a stripe.

I finally got one!

Yes, I finally got an NPN card back!

Since I'm a baseball fan, obviously the card was from the 2007-08 UD Ice set. It's a Ryan Carter Fresh Threads Jersey (#FT-RC) with a jersey and a patch. I don't feel like scanning it in, so here's the one from Upper Deck.

Well, it's been six weeks...

And nothing!

I'm starting to wonder if this hobby is even worth it.

Just sent another NPN out yesterday, Topps Finest.

I was figuring that if I sent an envelope to every stinkin' contest out there that I would garner a few responses, but so far my mailbox is still empty of Topps, Donruss or Upper Deck goodness.

Is it too much too ask for a Barry Bonds game-used "cream" or "clear" card? Oooo! A Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens dual-auto 'Roid Rage card would be nice. How about a post-game-used breathalyzer result of Scott Spiezio, Tony La Russa or Jim Leyritz?

While I'm on the topic of steroids - and maybe this is just an unrelated topic - but has anyone seen the size of the head on - Frank Thomas? You thought I was going to say Bonds. No, I believe Thomas has the bigger head of the two. Then again, you can't see Barry's head since its shoved so far up his ass, so I could be wrong. I think Thomas just has an abnormally sized head. It's not anything that you could have bought from Victor Conte or Roger Clemens' trainer. Bonds' head just needs to be juiced...or de-juiced.

Finally bought a pack...Ehhh.

While driving through Chelan, Washington, I stopped at Wal-Mart to get a bit of food and decided to check out their card selection. Well, I saw those new Heritage, so I decided to try it.

One pack was all I bought, so when I opened it up and saw a bit of chrome shining back, I thought it was possibly something good. After all, it did "feel" right when I picked it up.

It was chrome alright...a chrome Brad Penny card...Ugh! Still a numbered card isn't bad for only buying one pack.

As for NPNs, there is a new NPN at Upper Deck for the 2007-08 SP Authentic (Exquisite Experience).

Maybe I'll go back to Wal-Mart on payday and buy a blaster of Heritage...

It's been five weeks...

Three weeks if you consider two weeks until the drawing...

Oddly enough, that's the same amount of time that I've been avoiding red meat, not partaking in McDonald's or other fast foods and have actually been drinking lots of water. Lost 20 pounds so far and without the aid of additional exercise. Which could be why I'm so hooked on this specific hobby.

But back to the cards...

As I said earlier, WalMart still doesn't have anything. They've not-so-cleverly moved all of their crap football boxes into other areas of the display to make it look more full.

The only thing tempting now is the hockey cards. The odd thing is that I live in an area 50 miles from Canada and Canadians are prevalent at this specific WalMart, but I think they all must be non-hockey-lovin' Canadians.

I believe the Canadian Criminal Code says that not loving hockey is punishable by death. I think it goes along with speaking two languages and not paying attention to express checkouts (the other day I was at WalMart - God forbid - and a Canadian got in the express lane before I could get there. 800 items in the 20 items or less lane. I guess the metric conversion confused the dipwad.)

So, nothing new to report other than a Canadian with bad shopping etiquette. By the way, I've already reported him to Canadian authorities for not purchasing any hockey cards. The next time it happens, I'll burn a photo of Wayne Gretzky in effigy.

Come on Donruss, Topps and Upper Deck! Send me some cards!

Two new NPNs from Upper Deck

Upper Deck just added two new NPNs to their site (http://npn.upperdeck.com/):

• 2007-08 UD Black Basketball
• 2007-08 UD Ice Hockey

They have removed:
• 2008 SP Authentic Football

More pricey cards available...

How long does it normally take to get your first NPN?

Figuring that I sent my first NPN for a Feb. 13 deadline, I figure the first that I should consider a success...

Feb. 13 postmark deadline
Feb. 20 delivery deadline
Feb. 27 drawing
March 5 - first week
March 12 - second week
March 19 - third week
March 26 -fourth week

What am I complaining about? It could happen at any time. Though I hope it happens soon.

Any ideas about when Upper Deck is going to start drawing for NPNs?

When is A&G coming out??

I never thought I'd walk into Wal-Mart and not see one pack or box I couldn't live without.

But it happened.

All they had was a few packs of WWE Heritage and a plethera of those cheesy Baseball, Football and Basketball variety boxes with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT CRAP in them.

When am I ever going to be able to break a decent pack/box on this blog?

Where are the Turkey Red, Allen & Ginter and Goudey cards when I need them??

The wait is unbearable!

I'm using all of my powers to keep from going crazy waiting for these damn cards!

While I figure my chances of getting anything good are slim, I still find myself coming home each night from work and crossing my fingers before I hit the mailbox.

Still nothing there.

I expect that I won't see anything until at least March 20. That would be about five weeks after the first deadline passed for Topps Sterling. Hah! Topps Sterling! Like I'd actually get anything from a set that carries such a hefty price tag...maybe '52 Rookies will surprise me.

2007 Exquisite Collection FB NPN Online!

I just noticed that Exquisite football has been added to Upper Deck's NPN page (http://npn.upperdeck.com/).

Get an entry in early as these packs SRP for around $599.

Hopefully my good and bad luck transfers to NPNs

Don't get me wrong, I've had good luch with packs and boxes of cards. But then again, I've had monsterous luck as well with card collecting.

Back in the early 80's, I was lucky enough to spend my allowance on cards from the 50's and 60's from the local comic book store for $5 or less. Something I wish I had done more of.

Back in 92, I bought four packs of SP Baseball searching for the elusive Griffey die-cut. Found it in the last pack. But 10 years after, found a Jeter rookie from the same packs. That's decent.

I even put down about $120 on a box of UD Masterpiece last year. Pulled a Papelbon auto, a couple decent jerseys and a nice black printing plate of the Junior Griffey. Not too shabby.

But I've also paid for some real stinkers.

That's why I hope this hobby pays off. I consider it a hobby, because instead of having to remember the names of players, I have to keep track of contests. If, God forbid, I do actually get any cards, they will go toward my other hobby - collecting.

I'll still buy cards. Though it is a little tough. Living in a small rural community, the availability of cards is pretty slim. Wal-Mart is the only game in this town. An occasional trip to bigger cities doesn't offer much in return as most open boxes are already picked beyond reason.

So far, nothing has come in, but I'm still hopeful. If they never come in, it wasn't a total loss. I buy lotto tickets when the jackpot hits a high level, but I've never won that either. $1 for a ticket vs. 41 cents for a stamp? I think I can manage that.

Why I'm starting this NPN blog...

Recently, I was in search of a website that offered up information on NPN (No purchase necessary) sports and entertainment cards. I found npnsportscards.com, a great site which offers addresses of the latest offers, but it didn't have information on cards received.

I read all of the bulletin boards out there, but none of them had stats on how many cards were sent and how many were received. Other things like card release calendars and release delays were also lacking.

So, without further ado, that is what this blog will provide - everything I can put together on NPNs.

Once I receive an address, I will post an entry telling you when they were sent. If cards are received, they will also be posted.

I still plan to check out npnsportscards.com daily and hope others will too, because the owner, Jeff, puts together quite a site, which got me hooked on this 41 cent hobby (42 cents in May) .