2003 Topps Tribute Memorable Matchup #MM-BF Dual Game Used Bat w JohnnyBench #115/150

Here's a recent pickup where Topps had a rare hit amongst their frequent misses. The early 2000's Tribute stuff is among their best, and this card might be the best of all those. Low numbered, dual Hall of Famers, dual game used, exquisite refractor coating, sweet old-school All-Star logo. I just love to look at this card.

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970's Quad GU Bat

As part of the Fisk Obsession, I absolutely love the 2001 Decade issue. This quad bat is the 9th different Fisk card I have from that set. I love the throwback color scheme, the old school UD logo, and the pop of the design. I really never thought I would grab this quad bat version though because of its high price. I had put it out of mind. Then I found this one that had an erroneous listing and a low starting bid. Ended up grabbing it for eleven bucks which I thought was at least half of what I would value it at. It's in good shape too. One last great thing about this card is that the bat pieces aren't under the card like most game used, but sit up above the paper where you can rub it! Hey, it's the little things that make card collecting fun to me!

2010 Topps Update Series Manufactured Bat Barrel #55/99

I have been trying to find this card at a reasonable price for a couple years now. I've had the more rare black bat parallel since 2012 but could never get this one. Finally checked this one off the list recently. It's a bit dinged up but got it delivered for under ten bucks. 

Even though I know it's manufactured, I just love the look and feel of this card! When you see it in person it's almost like looking into a shadow box. That is because this card is it is in unbelievably thick. It is one of the few cards I own that require a 360 point magnetic to store it!!

2014 Historic Autographs 1941 Mini Auto #88/100

Update: sold this card in 2017....

The Historic Autographs offering this year is interesting. On the one hand, it's a PSA graded autograph in an attractive presentation. After receiving the card however, I noticed that the manufacturing is done so cheaply that it really detracts from the eye appeal. Both the red card backing and the 1941 Mini framed inside it are cut waaaaay off center. My 7 year old son could have done better. Since the PSA grade is for the auto only, there's no great way to see this when viewing the card online. Come on HA. You can do better. 

2005 Donruss Elite Passing the Torch Double-Sided GU Bat w Mags Ordonez #196/250

I have several parallels of these base cards, some of them fairly low numbered. The refractor/gloss coating is really sweet on this issue. But I've never seen a game-used bat version of this sweet baby. Grabbed it on The Bay last week for super cheap. 

 

2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot GU Jersey #138/150

Got this sweet baby last week. Love the early-days manu patch and especially the hand numbering. UD led the way. 

2005 Leaf Limited Trademarks Auto /50

Another value pick up on the auto front this month. It's a sticker auto, yes, but it looks really good in person. The photo is actually good which seems rare these days. The metallic card stock gives a nice throwback 90's feel. The most interesting aspect is the embossed seal that Leaf used with the sticker auto. It is impressed halfway on the auto sticker and halfway on the card, validating that Leaf actually put *that* sticker on that card. Neat little touch I haven't seen from other companies.

2004 Fleer Hot Prospects MLB draft triple Auto

Recently picked this up for a reasonable $15 bid. I believe it's my first triple auto card. Certainly first on this white Fleer material. Ryan Meaux never became anybody I heard about but Josh Fields played a bit with the big club which is cool to me. It's low numbered to 33 on the back. Pretty sweet!

2011 In The Game Heroes and Prospects Auto

Well getting pretty spotty at posting as I suspected I would. Holidays are officially over. Here's a few sweet Fisk cards I've picked up this month.

This isn't my favorite card ever in terms of looks. But I like the "rebel" aspects of In The Game cards - a small guy trying to make it against the big boys. I imagine that's why he's used the paper cut autos on this release. As I don't have any cards with paper cut autos, I thought this was pretty cool, and I got it for for a $6.99.

2013 Topps Triple Theads Unity Relic Bat Green Parallel #2/18

2006 Upper Deck Epic Pairings Dual Jersey #26/99

2006 Upper Deck Legendary Material Silver Parallel #172/199

Stunning low numbered game used parallel. The silver foil is incredible in person.

2005 Upper Deck Hall of Fame Hall Worthy #22/50

Photo doesn't do justice to this sick low-numbered parallel. 2005 may have been the best year ever for cards.

2009 Sweet Spot Bat Barrel Auto #08/25

I've had some exciting moments in the 35 years I've been collecting. I have to say that seeing this card when it came out of the package ranks pretty high on the list. My first ever bat barrel auto. A lot of times a card looks really sick online or in photos then in person it's a bit of a letdown. It rarely happens the other way. This was one of those cards that just blew me away. A week or so later it's just as sick. The shadow box presentation is part of it. Makes the card seem really thick. The crisp-ness of the blue sharpie against the lacquered wood. The curve of the bat piece. The low print run. All I can say is I'm in love with this card. Sa-weet!

The Shrine

Located in a small corner of Casa Fisk resides The Shrine. It's a small shelf where I keep my latest and/or favorite acquisitions. In there you can see several on-card autos, a single signed ball, a white sox team signed ball, the 2013 U.S. Cellular Field giveaway trophy, 1986 Donruss Pop-Up, 1976 Papa Gino's drinking glass. Baseball cards take up a lot of room, so most all are stashed in storage boxes in the closet. The Shrine gives me a way to show off my collection and remind me of what makes me happy. Every time I walk by The Shrine I get a little smile.

2004 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts All-Time Autos #28/50

Got this sweet 2004 on-card auto this week. I've been wanting to find this card at an affordable price for a while now due to its attractive design. I like the old school black and white photo juxtaposed with the gold foil/red/black/white border. Again, Upper Deck was way ahead of all the other card companies. I'm not even sure that Topps had on-card autos for several years after this. Would be a perfect card if Fisk hadn't left-aligned his sig.

On another note, the blue tape on top of the card is blue painters tape. Steve Gierman at White Sox Cards turned me on to this idea. It secures the card as well as scotch or packing tape, but can be removed without leaving glue on the top loader. IMHO every collector should start doing this. The glue ends up sticking the top loaders together, can get onto the cards themselves, and looks unsightly.

2004 Leaf Fabric of the Game

Just to illustrate what keeps happening to card prices, I picked up these three Leaf Fabric of the Game cards on eBay the other day for 2 bucks apiece. All three from the same guy. They're all authentic game used and they're numbered to 100 or less!! Seems like all cards, no matter how sweet, ultimately end up being a dollar on eBay.

2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot

You could put 20 guys from Topps in a room for a year and they would never come up with this idea. I wish I knew more about the creative team behind the great innovations at Upper Deck. They revolutionized the hobby. I'd bet big money they were card collectors as kids and big fans of the hobby 'cause these are the kind of cards we would design and produce if the fans were in charge! A piece of real baseball with a ball-point on-card auto layed out flat inside a baseball card! It's like a friggin' dream to a fan. Good on 'ya Upper Deck.

2003 Upper Deck SP Chirography #79/200

Sweet early on-card. I miss Upper Deck.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Dual w/ Yaz Purple Parallel #14/25

Not such a great card but the purple parallels are tough to find. Took me 3 years to find this one and I'm still looking for the single and triple versions of Fisk. Fun find.


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2011 Topps Triple Theads Relic Combos - Sepia Parallel #14/27

Just friggin' sweet...

2011 Topps 60th Anniversary Reprint Relics #33/60

The peak of my kid collecting years was 1980-1985 so I had a *TON* of 1985 Topps. Like a lotta guys in the hobby I'm a sucker for retro/throwback stuff from the era of "the cards my mom through out". Also in 2011 these seemed a lot more rare than the /60 indicates. They were like eye teeth and very expensive. Getting this card really made me smile. So it's a double hit: retro memories plus the current chase. Love the bright orange gloss too. Great back of the card too!!

2011 Panini Playoff Prime Cuts Emblems of the Hall Auto #07/25

Going thru some of the Obsession boxes today doing some organizing. I love that moment when you look at a card you don't remember getting and saying "Wow!". I don't think much of a lot of the recent Panini stuff but this one really pops. If it was on-card instead of a sticker auto it would really be perfect. Something about the brown/black fade in the background makes it look old.


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2005 Topps Retired Black Parallel #44/54

In tonight's mail: beautiful black sparkle low numbered parallel. Not a fancy patch or auto, but a great card nonetheless. The photo is priceless: circa 1983 Fisk in full "Commander" mode. These kind of cards are why I got into collecting in the first place. Sweet parallel in NM shape! I've wanted this particular Fisk for the collection for years now but could never get it at a good price - they can get pretty spendy.

I also have the base card and the Gold parallel #/500. This is item number 1,327 in the Fisk Obsession collection.



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2002 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Ultimate Signatures #101/250

Have been selling quite a few unwanted cards lately. The proceeds are building up, just waiting to feed the Fisk Obsession. I love to get auto cards, but a lot of the mid-2000's sticker autos have marginal designs and autos that are either partially covered by the card or the signer's ink went off the sticker. In a word, they're shoddy. So it was with glee that I saw this 2002 UD with a clean on-card sig. The fade effect on the blue background is beautiful. A rare on-card design that I haven't seen equaled until the 2010 era on-cards. Made the owner a "best offer" and scored it. Stoked.



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2012 Panini Playoff Prime Cuts Colossal Jumbo Patch #30/49

After a year of hunting for the right price, finally snagged this great looking Fisk. Love the orange-black-cream colors and the 'X' cut around the patch. I really like the low numbering on patch cards which have gotten crazy plentiful and lost a lot of their value and interest. Not crazy about the plain white front of the ball cap on Fisk due to Panini's lack of an MLBPA licensing deal. The lack of a White Sox logo sticks out like a sore thumb and reminds me of how money is such a big part of the hobby and sport. I collect to FORGET about that stuff. Oh well. Overall I still like the card.



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1998 Upper Deck Retro Sign of the Times

Is this maybe the oldest of the on-card autos? No, but close. I think the 1997 was first. But I've always been impressed with the innovation and quality of Upper Deck, even though the company was run by shysters. Clean white borders and glossy image look very 90's yet it has that retro feel. I already have this card PSA graded. Grabbed this one on eBay for about 1/3 of what it should sell for. Not sure if I'll keep it or flip it yet. Either way, great card.



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2013 Panini Cooperstown Orange Sparkle #/325

Haven't seen much of these Orange parallels on eBay, at least of Fisk. In fact I this is the only one. Sweet sparkle, great color. My favorite of these parallels so far. Not sure what the whole checklist is, but this completes the Fisk Cooperstown Rainbow that I'm aware of. This is my only card in today's mail. After working a 14 hour day, it makes me smile :) Old wax goodness....



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