Reading A Book(let)

Whichever company invented the booklet card gets a pat on the back from me.  The cards allow for some unique looks.  I've seen booklet cards before but never opened any product where I could reasonably pull a booklet card.  I have wanted a booklet card for a while so it was time to search on eBay.

2013-14 Panini Preferred - Rookie Rotation Memorabilia /#299

There are a lot of nice booklet cards from high end products like National Treasures, which were out of my price range for the moment.  Thankfully this Kelly Olynyk booklet was priced right at $4.99.

It's likely from his rookie photo shoot meaning the material is player worn.  I love the photo selection with the full color photo set next to the silhouette images.  Two decent sized jersey swatches on the end gives the card nice book ends.

The only downside to booklet cards is that leaving them in a plastic snap case does not do the card justice.  I plan to buy a booklet card holder to give it the light of day. 

I look forward to picking up another booklet in the future!

eBay (Part 1)

eBay is a very, very dangerous website. With the "Buy Now" option it's easy to go from listing to listing clicking "Buy" with reckless abandon.  On the flip side, it's a great way to get the cards you want without spending a load of money on packs or a box trying to get them.  I'm not one to seek the ultra rare 1/1 printing plates or anything to the extreme, but since getting back into a hobby over a month ago I've spent about $20-$25 on eBay getting a few cards that I think look nice.  Without further ado, let's get into the cards!

First Haul

As someone who attended Gonzaga, I'm a big fan of Kelly Olynyk.  He had quite the transformation at Gonzaga.  His first two years you could tell he had the potential to become a good big man.  He was good in the post and mid-range but he was small for a center and his skills were too raw.  He redshirted his third year and he came back for his senior year a completely different player.  He had put on a lot of muscle, honed his skills, and was ready to carry the Bulldogs as their center.  Based on his breakout year I knew he was going to the NBA and I was excited when he was drafted by my favorite team, the Boston Celtics. His rookie cards were $0.75 each and I didn't have any of his cards in my collection so I bought two of his base rookie cards.

Sticking with college players I like, I also bought a Klay Thompson Wazzu card.  I saw Klay play when I went I did my undergrad at WSU and he was a lot of fun to watch; such a good 3-point shooter. I didn't anticipate that he would do as well in the NBA but I'm happy for all the success he has had so far.  With the NBA playoffs going and the Golden State Warriors winning, I'm not ashamed to say I've jumped on the Warriors bandwagon.  I don't have any Klay Thompson cards and I thought that having him in a Cougar uniform would be great.  His Golden State cards seemed to be little more expensive so I had no problem sticking with a college card.  Not coincidentally, I've themed my blog in the WSU colors. 

Last but not least, my first memorabilia card.  Being new again to the hobby I didn't realize that memorabilia cards were a thing now.  However, I was reading the great Cardboard History by Billy Kingsley and he made a post about pulling a patch card.  I thought that the patch cards looked neat and were a unique thing to have.  Rather than spending money on a box hoping for a patch from a player I care about, I went to where else but eBay. I figured that Mariners memorabilia cards would be the most prevalent and stumbled upon this Felix Hernandez card.  Felix is a workhorse and truly the King of this Mariners team for many years now. A nice card to have in my collection.

That's it for part 1!  I have a couple more eBay purchases to document but those will come at a later date. I don't expect to be a big eBay user but at the beginning stages it's a helpful way to supplement the collection with cards I actually want.