Tuesdays With Teixeira: 2005 Donruss Zenith Patch Card

So, the 2014 season has started out like the 2013 season did. Teixeira winds up on the DL. Thankfully, it's not his wrist, just a hamstring issue and thankfully it's not for the whole season, just 15 days. Still, I was really hoping for a bounce back season from Tex. Not that his spring training numbers left me with a whole lot of confidence, especially when he said his wrist may never be 100% again. Sheesh.

I haven't really been picking up any game used cards as of late, with the whole rumor going around that some of the jerseys may not be game used at all. But when I saw this 3 color patch card on eBay, I knew I had to have it. It's also numbered to 100, so that made it even more appealing to me. Plus, I loved the Zenith cards. The foil can be an issue though. They peel off rather easily, so you have to handle these cards with kids gloves.

The Yankees got slaughtered at home today, 14-5. Ivan Nova was rocked early and the bullpen just couldn't stop the Orioles onslaught all day long. Hopefully, Teixeira can get back soon because the Yankees are going to need him in the middle of that lineup sooner than later.

Sweet Islanders Package From The Land Of Fuji

This has been a week where I have been laid up in bed, sneezing, coughing and all stuffed up. Feeling like garbage, generally speaking. But, I did have one nice package arrive to cheer me up and that was from everyone's favorite blogger, Fuji.

A few weeks ago, I put out a call for anyone looking to trade their Islanders cards and Fuji sent me an email asking for my address and shipped me a sweet package of Islander cards.

I love getting a nice fat package in the mail.

Here's the team bag I pulled from the package.

This card is awesome. I have my very first blogger autograph. I may start a blogger auto PC. I may also "borrow" this idea for future mailings.

I am an insert-a-holic. I love really cool looking inserts and the High Speed Travis Green insert really spoke to me. In fact, it said a few things I am not willing to repeat here and it was put in the corner for an hour to think about what it said.

Love that 95-96 Pinnacle Patrick Flatley Rink Collection card on the far left, but I think I love the 95-96 Upper Deck Electric Ice Tommy Salo on the far right even more. Somehow, any card that has a beach ball on it humors me a great deal.

I have some Yankees Topps Gold Label cards and have always been a huge fan of the brand. The Kenny Jonsson is my first Islanders Gold Label card, so that is pretty sweet. I never knew Topps made them for hockey. I wish Topps still had an NHL license tom produce hockey cards.

If that was all I had gotten from Fuji, I would have been thrilled.... Like I said, If that was all I had gotten.

Fuji threw in this Arron Asham Upper Deck MVP Materials GU Jersey card. I may be one of the few Islander fans who loved that orange third jersey the team used to wear. I have been scouring eBay for one at a decent price.

I also got a Upper Deck Ice Tim Connolly Ice Game Jersey card. I have never seen this set before, so I am thankful I can add this card to my Islanders collection.

I love the Be A Player autograph cards because it was a cheaper way to add autographs to your collection and I am thrilled to have this autograph of former Islanders Captain Patrick Flatley in my Islanders PC.

Last and certainly not least, Fuji sent me this gorgeous 2012-13 Panini Certified Rookie auto/game used jersey card of Islanders Defenseman, Calvin De Hann, numbered to 299. I was absolutely floored when I pulled this card from the package. De Hann is going to be a player in this league for a long time and I have wanted a De Hann autograph in my Islanders collection for a while now. Thanks to Fuji, I now have one.

Fuji, thank you so much for the Islanders package you sent. These are very welcome additions to my growing Islanders PC and will be in my collection for the rest of my days. I am working on a package for you as we speak and I hope to have it sent by next week.

By the way, if you haven't read the awesome blog that is The Chronicles Of Fuji, then you have got some nerve. You can check it out here: http://sanjosefuji.blogspot.

Let's Start The Weekend With Some Autographs

I'm the kind of TTM autograph collector that will only write letters a few times a year. In other words, I will only write when the mood strikes me, which is usually never. But every now and then I will fire off about 20 letters over the course of a few weeks and send them off to various athletes, actors and comic book artists. Today, the fruits of my labor has arrived in the form of 4 successful returns.

I've been wanting to build my Islanders autograph collection, so I sent off to former players and received these 3 successes today:

Doug Crossman was a defenseman who played 14 years in the NHL for teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Hartford Whalers and My New York Islanders. In fact, his best offensive season came as an Islander when he scored 15 goals, had 44 assists for a total of 59 points during the 1989-90 season. Mr. Crossman signed my 1990-91 Pro Set card and Islanders custom card in about 10 days.

The current GM of the Phoenix Coyotes is best remembered for his days as a New York Rangers (or Rags as I like to call them). But yes, the left winger played 2 seasons on the island after a season in Hartford. He had a decent season during the 1989-90 season, scoring 16 goals with 27 assists. He was named Islanders GM after his retirement, which wasn't a successful time for Mr. Maloney. He traded Pierre Turgeon to Montreal for Kurt Muller, a player who never wanted to be here and make it known of that by playing like it. That trade summed up Maloney's time as GM of the Islanders. But since I want to collect as many Islander autographs as I can, I needed Maloney's and he was nice enough to sign my 1990-91 Pro Set card, but not my Islanders custom. I sent the request c/o the Coyotes.

I was very happy to get Brent Sutter to sign these for me. Brent is a former Islanders Captain and a member of two Stanley Cup Islander teams and was also an All Star. He played over 1,000 games with both the Islanders and Blackhawks. He also the head coach of the New Jersey Devils, leading them to a division title then coached the Calgary Flames. I sent this request c/o the Red Deer Rebels, a hockey club he owns. He was nice enough to sign my 1990-90 Pro Set, 2006-07 Parkhurst and Islander custom.

To finish off the TTM's for today, I got former NY Jets Dave Herman. He played for the Jets from 1964 to 1973. He was a 2 time AFL All Star and was a member of the 1968 Super Bowl team. In fact, he had to block Bubba Smith, who at that time was one of the most feared pass rushers in the game. Herman did a masterful job, enabling Matt Snell to rush for 121 yards as the Jets beat the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in one of sports greatest upsets. Dave signed my 1971 Topps Football card in less than 10 days.

I also got my half of a trade in today. I traded for this 2013-13 Upper Deck NHL SPx Brock Nelson signed dual jersey card #'ed to 499. I really like the way this kid is playing this season and I think he's going to be a steady player for the Islanders. I traded a few inserts for this and I'm thrilled that I am able to add this autograph to my Islanders collection.

I'm very pleased with the haul today. I am hoping that some more TTM requests I sent out come back within the next few days. I the meantime, I will keep writing them until I just don't feel like writing anymore.

Islanders Announce Tentative Plans For 2014-15

As the Islanders play their final season in Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the speculation as to how the team will celebrate it's 43rd and final season on the only ice the team has called home. So, before the team moves into Barclays Center for the 2015-16 season, it seems like the Islanders will celebrate it's long history on Long Island.

There has been no official announcements made, but today on the team's website, it looks like the team will be bringing back from their Stanley Cup winning teams as well as celebrating players and milestones from each decade. Plus the team will be hosting Fan Appreciation Nights as well as holding open practices.

You can read what the team posted, as well as watch a video posted by the greatest goal scorer in Islanders history, Mike Bossy, here: http://islanders.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=97075

It looks like it's going to be a fun and emotional season for us Islanders fans next season. As excited as I am for the move to Brooklyn,  I am going to miss watching the team on Long Island. I am going to enjoy this as much as I can before the puck is dropped on the ice for the last time.

Westchester Sports Card Show-3/22/2014

I attended the Westchester Sports Card Show at the Westchester County Center today. I originally wasn't planning on attending, but my buddy, Victor, wanted to get Mariano Rivera, who was appearing at the show, to sign a piece for him, so I agreed to attend. Rivera was a 300.00 autograph so there was no way I was getting to meet him today. I am confident that I will meet Rivera someday soon. But for today, I made due with meeting former Texas Ranger and New York Yankee, Ruben Sierra.

Sierra was signing autographs from 1-3 pm, but I got caught up at looking at the dealer tables that I was late getting in the line. By the time I had got on,  the signing had started. As of late, the line for the free signings have been incredibly long and today was no different. When I got to the back of the line, it had snaked down to where it was close to where Sierra was signing! I could have turned around and handed my stuff to Sierra to sign.

So for the next hour and a half, I passed the time by talking to my sweetie and playing Solitaire on my phone. My buddy went up to meet Rivera while I was waiting. By the time he was done, I was still waiting. Ridiculous. Next time, I will be in line before the signing even starts.  Slowly, but surely the line started moving and I finally made it to the front of the line to meet Ruben.

As I passed off my items I said hello to Mr. Sierra. Sierra didn't even acknowledge me, instead he chose to continue his conversation in Spanish with his buddy. I tried again to engage him in friendly banter as he signed my items to no avail. He didn't even look at me as he slid my stuff across the table to me. I didn't even say thank you, choosing to just grab my stuff and leave. Look, I know I'm not anything special, but have some manners and at least say hi when someone comes up to you at a signing that you were paid to be at. It wasn't just me he ignored either. I saw other fans and a child or two get he cold treatment from him as he signed without acknowledgement to the fans.

At least I got 2 nice autographs for my Yankees PC

I wasn't going to let that jerk ruin my day at the show, so I circled the floor a couple times, looking at dealer tables.

For various reasons, I didn't bring a whole lot of money with me to the show, so I had to be very picky about what I picked up today. I decided to keep it cheap and stick with looking at cards that were under a dollar. I wanted to look for cards to add to my Tino Martinez and Mark Teixeira collections. After looking through a couple of boxes, all I found was 2 cards.

Not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to stick with these two players. Disappointing to say the least. Guess I will just stick with COMC to add to my player PC's. But all was not lost. I was able to add 2 pieces to my Jets collection.

Picked up a 16 x 20 Calvin Pace signed SI cover, blown up. The dealer had a ton of Jets stuff and would have thrown in the Calvin Pace for free if I had bought a Darelle Revis signed mini helmet for 50.00. Unfortunately, I didn't have that much, so I just took the Pace auto for 10.00.

The Matt Simms card cost me 3.00 at a table where a dealer was trying to get my friend to pay up to 400.00 for a Panini Matt Harvey autograph/Patch card. My buddy is not a card collector, but even he knew that guy was overpricing his cards. The patches were pretty sweet, but I think if he really wanted them he could get them cheaper on eBay. The dealer wanted 5.00 for the Simms, but I talked him down to 3.00. He also had some Stephen Hill Patch/Autograph cards, but wanted 40.00 for them. He said he still believes in Hill. Well, at least someone still does.

I also got a free Mariano Rivera card at the door with paid admission.

The drawing on the card was done by Brian Kong. I have long been a fan of his work on various Topps cards as well as some Marvel comics. He had a table set up, but wasn't there when I went to his table. I looked at some sketch art he was selling. If I had the cash, I would have picked up a piece. I'm a huge fan of original sketch art and saw a sweet Don Mattingly he was selling. Had I known he was going to be there, I might have bought along an artist card and asked him to sketch something and sign it. I'll keep an eye out for his next appearance. The Rivera card is a pretty cool and unique addition to my Yankees PC.

All and all, despite my funds being on the low side, I managed to have a bit of fun and add a few pieces to my various collections. It just goes to show you that if you plan out your day properly, then anyone can have a good time, regardless of what you have in your pocket.

Teixeira Tuesday-2009 Topps Heritage

One of my favorite releases of the year is always Topps Heritage. I love vintage stuff. Cards, toys, comic books, magazines, old black and white movies, 1950's and 60's Rock N' Roll are just some of the things I love. My buddy claims I have an old soul. It's either that or I just realize some things were better back in the day. That isn't to say I don't love the modern conveniences we have today. I guess you can say I love classic with a modern twist.

That's why I love the Heritage sets so much. A classic card design with modern ball players. Ever since Topps introduced the line back in 2001, I have tried to complete the Yankee team sets of this series. I do have some work on some of the sets, but I do love the thrill of the chase and I will continue to chase the cards I need to complete my Yankee sets.

The past few weeks I have been doing a lot of card organizing. I am creating binders for certain sets and on Sunday, I worked on my Heritage binder. Looking through the binder once it was done was pure enjoyment. To a lot of people, organizing can be a chore, but when it comes to my cards I find that it's a relaxing way to spend a weekend day. Put on some music and it makes the day that much better.

The 2009 Topps Heritage set was based on the design of the 1960 Topps set. 2009 was Teixeira's first season with the Yankees after signing a 8 year, 180 million dollar contract with the team. Usually, you get your first glimpse of a player in new duds in the Heritage set where the company will super impose the team colors, logos and whatever else on to the player. You can clearly see it in the photo above. The New York looks small and funny as well as the interlocking NY on his cap. I don't care how funny it looks, I love this card.

The moment Tex became a Yankee, I knew I would be collecting his cards. I was a fan of his when he was in Texas but I never collected him. The moment he put ink to paper I was on eBay looking for cards of his to buy. When this set came out, I was thrilled to have my first Teixeira card in pinstripes.

Even if the NY was Photoshopped.

It's Always Nice To Have An Islanders Mailday

Being an Islanders fan has not been easy this season. The team has not made that next step forward that we Islanders fans thought the team would after taking the Penguins to the limit in the opening round of last years Stanley Cup Playoffs. The team has regressed back to it's losing ways. Kyle Okposo was stupidly passed over for a spot on the US Olympic Team, John Tavares was injured during the Olympics and was done for the season and Garth Snow could not get the equal value for Thomas Vanek at the trade deadline, settling for an unproven prospect and a 5th round draft pick, which could turn into a 2nd rounder if the Canadiens make the playoffs.

But at least I can still get Islanders mail that puts a smile on my face these days.

Yesterday, I got my return on a trade I made with someone on one of the few card collecting forums that I am a part of. I sent over a few Canadien inserts and he sent me this beauty

a 2013-24 Panini Dominon Thomas Hickey patch/auto numbered to 299. The patch is event used, but I don't care. It's a gorgeous 3 color patch. The autograph leads a bit to be desired, but I needed a Hickey autograph for the Islanders PC. Hickey is in his first full season in the NHL, but he looks like he could be a serviceable defenseman for the Islanders for years to come.

A couple of weeks ago, I started sending out TTM requests again and yesterday, I got my first one back. Of course, it's an Islander.

Former Islanders defenseman Ken Morrow signed 4 cards I sent him. This was a great success for me for a couple of reasons. I grew up watching the Islander teams Morrow played on and won 4 Stanley Cups with. I also watched my very first hockey games during the 1980 Olympics and Morrow was a member of that team as well. During those Olympics, he had a goal and 2 assists as well as prevented Soviet goals by diving in front of the net during that famous game.

Morrow signed a 1984-85 Topps card, a custom and 2 Team USA cards for my Team USA project, which currently stands at 3 players who signed for me: Morrow, Jack O'Callahan and Jim Craig. I plan to get a few more requests to members of that team in the upcoming days.

Despite the fact that the Islanders are probably headed for a top 5 pick in this years Draft (Again!), I still get great enjoyment from watching my team. It's a joy that I will probably never get tired of, no matter how many times they have a losing season. When I get a mailday like the one I got yesterday, it only enhances the love I have for this team and hope I am able to continue to add to my Islanders collection.