Welcome Back To My Yankees Collection, Bernie Williams

Aside from Bobbleheads, I love collecting figurines. I used to pick up every McFarlane Sports Pick Yankees figure that came out. The quality of the figures isn't as good as when they first came out and have a tendency to lean. I have a Jorge Posada that is literately using his bat to stay up. I only buy the ones I really want now.

I do love the Yankees figurines that are given out every year. ever since 2006, when the Yankees gave away a figurine of Derek Jeter in his "Jump Throw" pose, the Yankees have partnered with Sports Authority to give away these beautiful pieces, usually to the first 18,000 fans. I was at the first give away and loved the Jeter I got, which I still have. Unfortunately, the only other one I was able to go to was the Yankee Stadium give away in 2008 when I got to add a statue of the second Yankee Stadium to my collection.

A few years ago, I was able to pick up the second figurine that was given out in 2007, Bernie Williams. I actually had gotten a great deal for it and it was proudly displayed on my shelf, right next to the Jeter. Unfortunately, clumsy is my second middle name (Right after hungry) and while dusting the shelf, I accidentally knocked over Bernie and his leg went crunch.  I knew at that point it would be a while before I could pick up another Bernie statue.

Well, today I was able to re-add Bernie back to the Yankee collection. Say hello to my little friend!

This is not a large figurine by any stretch, but it doesn't have to be. This thing is freaken killer! Love that it's in the classic Yankees home uni and Bernie is batting from the left hand side (He was a switch hitter, for the unknowing) and looks like he's about to mash a home run into the right field upper deck.

This figure was made by Alexander Global and if we know anything about Bobble Dobbles, then we know that they are close enough in the looks department. That is to say they are not 100% accurate, but close enough. This figurine is that exactly.

Base has the standard name of player, uniform number, sponsor and facsimile autograph. If I was into having my figurines autographed, I would definitely try to get Bernie to sign in the middle of the base in Gold Sharpie or Decco.

These are numbered out of 20,000. So I guess they gave away 20,000 of these. Mine is numbered 3005, but you can see that can't you?

The back has that familiar number 51 that will be retired by the Yankees later this season. At first, I wasn't sure if I was ok with 51 being retired, but the more I think about it, the more I am OK with it because, my opinion only, he is the third best Yankee center fielder in their history behind Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. I'm sure that remark will spark some debates.

Here's a comparison with the Don Larsen statue I got at the 2013 All Star FanFest.

And here's the figure comparison with the Jeter figurine I got at the first give away in 2006. Remember what I said about likenesses being close enough with these? That goes double for this Jeter. Also, do not do what I did. Save the boxes, I was stupid and threw out both boxes because I needed room. I now know you should hang on to them.

Now that I have the Bernie back in my collection, I think I will be going for the others in the series. Here's the checklist:

2006-Derek Jeter Jump Throw (check)
2007-Bernie Williams (check)
2008-Yankee Stadium (2nd) (check)
2009-Yankee Stadium (3rd)
2010-Mariano Rivera
2011-Jorge Posada
2012-Mark Teixeira
2013-Andy Pettitte
2014-Derek Jeter Batting
2015-Dellin Betances

Right now, the Teixeira and Pettitte are the more reasonably priced figurines, but with Pettitte's number also being retired this season, as well as Posada's, I can see these figurines going up in price.

I love it when I have a project to try and complete and I know there are other figurines that I will be going after. The Yankees also gave away some statues that resemble the Don Larsen I have. They were of the of players who were enshrined in Monument Park. Then, I want to grab the Heartland, Salvino and Sports Impressions (Not expensive) and Danbury Mint (expensive). Hopefully, I can grab as many of these pieces as I can and not have the dealers back the pieces away when they see me coming.

My First Sign Of Spring Is Here. 2015 Topps Yakees Cards!

For those of you poor, unfortunate souls who live in the northeast like I do, you are looking for any glimmer of warmth from the cold winter we have been experiencing. It seems like when the calendar switched to 2015, old man winter turned down the thermostat and proclaimed, "I'm back".

I have been looking for anyway to beat the cold. Staying indoors, drinking lots of coffee, layering, anything. But today, my first real sign that the cruel winter will soon be over arrived in the mail today. No, it wasn't the head of old man winter staring at me when I opened my package. It was my 2015 Topps Series One Yankees cards that I got in a team break my team collector group recently held.

I had been holding off picking any packs of this up because I knew my group would be breaking the product. But, like a drug addict jonsing for his fix, I would wander into Target, looking at the card section in hopes of grabbing a rack pack or two. Then I remember that I have the absolute worst Target in the free world when I see no 2015 Topps. No 99 cents packs, no rack packs, no blisters, no nothing. I guess it's a good thing I didn't pick any up because when my package arrived, I tore into it like I tear into a Big Mac.

Let's take a look at the goods...

First off, I really like the design of this year's set. It's not the same, boring designs Topps has used in the past. I like how the Yankee colors are blended in the border and of course, the photography is top notch. Not Stadium Club top notch, but good enough for this collector. Love that Jeter card. The picture was taken during his last game at Yankee Stadium, right after he hit a walk off single to win the game in his last at bat. That's an image I will carry with me the rest of my life.

I get my Teixeira card for the Tex binder as well as the Jeter short print card. My only beef is there isn't a Betances card or a Chase Headley or a C.C. Sabatha card in this set. I understand that there need to be some players for Series Two, but come on. We couldn't have included Bryan Mitchell or Shawn Kelley in Series Two so we could get the missing stars in this series?

Ah, the inserts. I maybe one of the few collectors who don't complain about Topps bringing out so many inserts. I love inserts and I think Topps did a great job with the inserts in this set. I love the look of the Free Agent 40 cards. The Gallery Of Greats is a pretty classy looking card and I got some of the classier players you can find in Jeter, Rivera and DiMaggio.

Another nice looking insert set in this set is the Archetypes set. Love the way the gold and blue of the card blends in with the image of the player featured. I also got the only Yankee card in the Inspirations Duels set, which will also go into the Teixeira binder. I think Donnie Baseball will like it in there.

Finally, we come to these awesome insert cards, the Highlight Of The Year set. As you can probably gather, Topps takes a particular year and player and gives you a highlight of that year from the particular player chosen. I actually thought I had these cards in order by year when I took the picture. Embarrassing...

I also got a gold border parallel Derek Jeter short print and what I believe are Rainbow foils of Jeter, Ellsbury and Martin Prado.

My hit is this Career High Hiroki Kuroda autographed card. I have been trying to get a Kuroda autograph in my collection since he first joined the Yankees. I tried TTM to Steinbrenner Field during Spring Training and Yankee Stadium during the season. I tried in person at Yankee Stadum, but to no avail. No, I finally have a Kuroda autograph in my Yankees collection. I hope he does well in Japan for what may be his final year as a professional ball player.

I am really happy with this year's Topps release. I'm so glad I got in on the group break, I have just about every Yankee card in this series with the exception of Ellsbury Robbed card, the Babe Ruth Gallery Of Greats card. I didn't get any of the First Home Run cards or Babe Ruth Story cards, which I think are Target exclusives. The Coin And Stamp cards are case hits, so if I want any of those as well as the other autograph cards, I will have to go though eBay or trades with other collectors.

Regardless, I am quite pleased that I was able to add a near complete set of Yankees cards into my 2010 to 2019 Yankees Topps Flagship binder. Whenever I get new Yankee cards around the time Spring Training begins, I usually start to get my Yankee t shirts and jerseys ready because spring, and more importantly, Yankee baseball is just around the corner.

Yankee Autograph Goals. Always Changing For Me

I had taken a bit of a hiatus from chasing autographs for my Yankees collection. I was OK with getting the players I need on certified cards, and actually, I still am. But after the thrill of getting Hideki Matsui on Saturday and looking at my Yankees autographed baseball collection, I decided to list a few players I really want on baseballs.

My Yankees autograph collection currently stands at 42. My ultimate goal is to have 100 signed Yankees baseballs by the end of the year. I'm close to 50, so that is my immediate goal. Get to 50. I try not to get just any player on baseballs either. Baseballs are pretty expensive, so I try to get the better players on balls, although I do have a few players that may not qualify as such.

To get to my goals, I've compiled a list of Yankees (both former and current) that I would like to pick up signed baseballs of, either in person, through the mail or even trade or purchase. Some of the players on my list might be close to impossible, but that is not going to stop me from at least trying.

Derek Jeter

Of course, I am going to start the list off with the most difficult and expensive autograph to obtain. Jeter has been very tough for me because I have never, ever seen him sign anywhere. By that, I mean when I'm around. I never seen him sign at Yankee Stadium or any time I've seen the Yankees play in Seattle when I go there to watch the Yankees. I've heard stories about how he has turned people down in public and how he will have people line up when he leaves George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and sign maybe ten autographs.

Depending on the item, Steiner Sports has Jeter signed baseballs, starting at a ridiculous $645.99. eBay has Jeter signed balls for around the $300.00 and up mark, but you're taking a risk there as you don't know who is selling legitimate autographs.

Getting a Jeter is going to be almost Mission: Impossible. Que the music.

Paul O'Neill

I've always been a huge fan of the "Warrior". He's in my top 3 of all time favorite Yankees. I'm considering starting a player collection of him. He's great as a broadcaster for the Yankees on the YES Network. I want to add a signed O'Neill baseball to my collection.

I know O'Neill is a willing signer. Just trying to find him is the hard part. The New Yankee Stadium is difficult to get autographs as the players don't have to leave the Stadium to get to the parking lot and drive away. I'm not sure if it's that way for broadcasters, but with someone with Paul O'Neill's stature, I'm sure he has a spot there.

I've seen through the mail successes for O'Neill, but I struck out when he never returned my baseball. I'll try again, sending a photo and a baseball card instead. I'm hoping he makes a free appearance somewhere.

Mariano Rivera

Another all time great Yankee who I need in my collection. Rivera is a willing signer, just at the right places. If you watched Being Mariano, you will know what I mean.

Rivera is another player who was signing through the mail, yet he never returned not one baseball, but 2 baseballs I've sent in the last 5 years in care of Yankee Stadium. Just because of the type of person he is, I am still kind of holding out hope that I will eventually get them back. Maybe they got mixed up in all the mail he got and is still going through them, sending back the requests, I tell myself. I also tell myself that the Easter Bunny has a gold chocolate bunny for me.

I do think I will eventually get to add Mo to the collection. He has been doing signings recently. He did a free signing during the winter that I didn't go to because I would have had to stand out in 15 degree weather, but I am now regretting I didn't go, even though almost 1,000 people showed up for it. He also did a signing at the last card show I went to. Steiner Sports was sponsoring it, hence the $299.00 price tag for his autograph. He's making appearances. My time will come.

Andy Pettitte

Getting an Andy Pettitte autograph in my Yankees signed ball collection is a must. Pettitte is another who is going to be difficult as he rarely makes appearances and really doesn't sign at the Stadium when he does show up. At least, not that I have seen.

Pettitte is another who was signing off and on through the mail in care of Yankee Stadium and is another Yankee I sent baseballs to at different times and struck out on. I really have to stop sending baseballs to players in care of Yankee Stadium. I almost always lose them.

Pettitte may be one I have to either trade for or purchase as I don't see him making appearances and if he does, he may be pricey. I'm always looking for the best prices on stuff, so I more than likely wouldn't go that route. I do hope I can add Pettitte eventually.

Jorge Posada

May even be more difficult to get to sign than Derek Jeter. I've heard horror stories about asking Posada to sign, even hearing him turning down children. I try not to listen to stories like that. Unless I see it for myself, then you take these stories with a grain of salt.

Posada has been showing up at Yankee Stadium events lately, so I'm holding out hope that he may eventually do a signing somewhere. I'm sure he will also be an expensive autograph, but as the catcher for multiple World Series winning teams and he may even be a borderline Hall Of Fame Candidate, I may actually go against my beliefs and pluck down the cash for him.

Rich Gossage

Goose has always been a friend to the autograph community. I have sent cards and an ice cream mini helmet to him in the past and he always returned the items with his signature on them. For some reason, I have never sent a baseball. I can't explain why I haven't, but I need to rectify that. He is also a great signer in person as I have gotten him on an 8x10 at a free signing and was very friendly.

I had heard a rumor that the through the mail signings were going to come to an end, but the last time I checked sportscollector.net, he was still signing as long as you sent a donation to BAT. If Goose signs a ball for me at 20.00, I will gladly send the donation to him. It's a great cause and I will get the autograph that I need for my collection.

Phil Niekro

Although Niekro's time with the Yankees was short, he's a Hall Of Famer who won his 300th game as a Yankee so I want him in the collection.

He is another willing signer through the mail. He charges 20.00 to sign a baseball, so I will be sending one and the donation out to him soon. I want to get him before he stops signing.

Dave Winfield

Winfield was one of my favorite Yankees growing up. The guy was an RBI Machine and one of the very best outfielders I have ever seen play. He could rob home runs from you or throw you out from the warning track at home plate. I have to add Winfield to my Yankees signed baseball collection.

Winfield doesn't do autograph signings, at least none that I have seen here in the NY area. I had seen him sign through the mail in care of the Baseball Hall Of Fame, but I don't think I have seen a success in a while. He was another that required a donation to sign. At a very affordable $10.00, he is certainly worth it. If he is still singing, I will get a ball out to him soon.

Joe Torre

Getting the autograph of the manager of the Yankees most recent dynasty is very important to me. Torre might be another difficult signature to get, but he works for MLB and is around a lot, so I feel confident that I can add his autograph at some point.

Torre was signing his mail only once during his time with the Yankees. Unfortunately for me, I missed the window and when I was getting a ball out to him, I found out he wasn't signing so I never got the baseball out to him.

I haven't seen him do any appearances and I don't think he's going to anytime soon. I think my best bet is to get him at Yankee Stadium, only problem is that would have to be a chance meeting as I never know when he is there.

Tino Martinez

My favorite Yankee of all time has eluded me constantly. When he makes appearances, I usually can't go. The one time I had a shot at him was when I was in Los Angeles last season and he was the Marlins hitting coach. I waited outside Dodger Stadium for 45 minutes, but left because I didn't want my girlfriend waiting much longer. She was a great sport about it and I didn't want to press my luck. Turns out I should have waited because she wanted to see me get the autograph and he came out and signed 10 minutes after I left. Grrrr!

I know eventually I will get his autograph on a baseball. He does appearances here and I will be all over the next one. I don't care what I have to do. I will get this monkey off my back and add Tino's autograph to my Yankees collection.

There are other players I'd love to add. Rickey Henderson, Dave Righetti, Robinson Cano are just a few of the players I would love to get signed baseballs of. The players I mentioned above are just the ones I really want. I do know that like many things in life, if you are patient, then it will happen. I have my goal, now it's up to me to successfully complete it.

Go Yankees!

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.

Yankees 2014 Topps Series One

I recently participated in a case break of 2014 Topps Series One with my group of team collectors. I had the Yankees and the Rays. I decided to send the Rays to our Rays collector as well as a set of Yankees as I had gotten triples of each card I got.

So, what did I get?

I was pleased to get Jeter since it will be his final season. I know that there will be other Jeter cards made well after he retires, but I will make it a point to enjoy each Jeter pull during his final season as an active player. I've watched Zoilo Almonte since his days with the Staten Island Yankees and also got a Gardner.

One current Yankee and two former Yankees. Logan's in Colorado and Wells is still available, I think. He played well for the first couple of months of 2013 then teetered off.

Hoping that Soriano continues to play well this season. He will be the DH this season. Assuming the Yankees keep Ichiro, that will be the only spot Soriano plays this season. I would assume that Ichiro and Almonte will be the back up outfielders.

I'm betting that Murphy will start the season in Scranton since the Yankees seem to want Cerveli to back up McCann. I'm not a Cerveli fan, but as long as he is not the starting catcher then I'm fine with it. Just keep the hot dog antics to a minimum. I feel Nunez needs to step it up this season and hit more constantly as well as keep the errors down. I'm seriously going to miss hearing "Enter Sandman" and seeing Rivera come out to save another game.

My favorite moment of last season. Watching Jeter and Pettitte come out to get the ball from Mariano and seeing him cry on Pettite's shoulder was very emotional for most Yankees fans, myself included.

Got some very nice Jeter inserts. I love the look of the "Before They Were Great" cards.

More Yankee inserts of Donnie Baseball, Cano and Joe D. I love the vintage picture of Dimaggo as well as the picture of Mattingly they used for these cards. I watched Mattingly from the very beginning of his career and that is how I remember him. Peppering balls all over the place and making outstanding plays at first. People say Keith Hernandez was the premier first baseman in the 80's, but Mattingly was just as good, in my opinion.

I love the 1989 mini's. This will be a fun set to chase.

Got Red Hot Foils of A-Rod, Jeter and Wells. These are not numbered.

My lone Gold parallel, which is numbered to 2014.

Pulled a Andy Pettitte Game Used Jersey card.

I even scored a couple of Roberto Clemente cards for my Clemente PC.

I really love that Rookie Class Of 1955 Pin card. I'm really glad to have it.

I liked this years Topps release, although I think the design looks more "Bowman-like" than a classic Topps design. I really like the inserts in this years set, especially the "Before They Were Great" cards. I will have to chase the inserts I am missing like the "Super Veterans" set on comc.com or through trades. I was a bit disappointed that we did not get players such as CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeria or David Robertson in this series. Also, no first Yankees cards of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann or Carlos Beltran. Oh well, I guess you have to leave something for Series 2.