2010 Allen & Ginter Black Mini: Jose Lopez

I purchased a 2010 Allen & Ginter Black Mini of Jose Lopez for only 60 cents on eBay. I like Allen & Ginter in general and I like any kind of parallel. The black border looks really cool. I just wish the card was full size. Lopez had a rough year in 2010, but he is technically a former All-Star. Much like Mark Redman is a former All-Star. Lopez happened to be the best player on a bad team. Hopefully, next year turns out better. In 2010, he hit .239. Compare that to 2008 when he hit .297. I think I got a good deal especially if Lopez can turn things around next year.

Pack Break: 2008 Upper Deck

I picked up a pack of 2008 Upper Deck Series One cards for 51 cents from an eBay seller. There are 8 cards per pack. So what did I get? Here is the loot.

Joe Mauer
Damion Easley
Jeff Keppinger
Jim Leyritz YSL
Carlos Lee Starquest Common

So where are the other three cards you ask? Well, here is the rest of the pack.
Derek Lowe Game Used Jersey

How cool is that? I pulled a game-used jersey card out of a 51 cent pack that is two years old. I know its only Derek Lowe but still? I think I got my money’s worth.

The Rise and Fall of Rich Harden

Do you remember when Rich Harden was the next big thing as a prospect for the Oakland A’s? For a while, he was the next big thing. And then he got hurt – repeatedly. By the time he left Oakland in 2008, it was a downhill trip. Harden was recently released from the Rangers and now finds himself without a team. I don't think he even made any postseason rosters. All of this may explain why I was able to buy one of Harden’s 2004 Donruss Studio cards on eBay for all of six cents shipped. It is a pretty cool looking card. It features a portrait of Harden in his Oakland uniform with the Bay Bridge in the background. Harden may try following in the footsteps of Kerry Wood by moving to the bullpen. He probably cannot succeed long term as a starter.

eBay Mailbag: Eric Byrnes

My latest eBay purchase was a lot of 7 Eric Byrnes cards that cost me a grand total of 12 cents with shipping. Byrnes had his best years in Oakland and Arizona. At this point, his cards probably aren’t worth much more than 12 cents. All 7 cards feature Byrnes as a Diamondback. I received 3 Upper Deck Starquest cards – one of which is uncommon. I also received 2 Bowman cards – one of which is Gold. For 12 cents, I think I got my money’s worth.

Topps Replaced My Card!!

You may recall that I purchased a box of 2010 Allen & Ginter a while ago. I had a lot of fun opening that box even though I didn’t pull anything that great. However, contained in that box was a mini card of Vasco Nunez de Balboa that was badly damaged. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, but I paid $78.00 for that box. So I wrote a letter to Topps demanding justice. And to my surprise, I got it. Topps sent me the same Balboa card in perfect condition. They even threw in a polite form letter. I was hoping for a few extra goodies, but that would be greedy. Thank you for your customer service Topps. I salute you.

eBay Mailbag: Hideki Okajima

I recently purchased a lot of 9 Hideki Okajima cards from an eBay seller for a grand total of 22 cents shipped. I’m still a Yankee fan so I apologize for this purchase. But there was a Sweet Spot card and a Turkey Red card involved so I pulled the trigger. At any rate, I only paid about 2.5 cents a card so I got a decent deal. Okajima is a pretty good reliever. He was a much better investment than fellow countryman Dice-K who cost the Red Sox over 100 million dollars. And to all of my fellow Yankee diehards – I’m sorry.

eBay Mailbag: Ricardo Rodriguez

I purchased a game-used jersey card from an eBay seller recently for a grand total of 65 cents. The card featured Ricardo Rodriguez from the 2001 Bowman Draft Picks set. My first task upon receiving this card in the mail was to determine who the heck this guy is. Thanks to baseball-reference.com, I discovered that this guy spent parts of 4 seasons in the big leagues with Cleveland and Texas. Although featured as a Dodger on the card, he never played for them in the big leagues. He didn’t do anything spectacular while in the majors, but he had his cup of coffee. Good for him. I should probably do this kind of research before bidding. But I can’t really complain. I got a game-used jersey card for some loose change.