simpleblog RSS feed

Tristar released cut Autographs.... but don't call them sports cards

I have to admit that I was intrigued by the new 'TriStar' 2008 release of cut Autographed cards. Cut autographs have always been popular collectors items. The term 'Cut' refers to the fact that the Autograph was written on something other than a collectible item like a ball, sports card, photograph, helmet, etc. Typically cut autographs are signed index cards. 25 or more years ago, the popular way to get a players autograph was to mail a letter to the player and include an index card requesting the player sign the index card and mail it back. Those index card signatures are considered 'cut' autographs. Cut Autographs can also be signatures that were CUT from bank checks, personal letters, contracts and any other type of paper work that was not intended for collectible purposes. Today, major sports card companies have been frantically competing for deceased Sports stars estates for any items that contain the stars signature. They then take these items, cut the signature off and then insert it into a new card. Viola, a new insert card is born. Tristar has taken a different approach. They are contracting retired players (not deceased) and having them sign blank 'CUT' items and placing these cut autographs on a trading card. These trading cards simply do not have the eye appeal that traditional autographed sports cards have. By not including attractive player photographs, Tristar is stide stepping the leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA) licensing fees that are typically associated with producing and releasing a traditional league licensed sports card. It may have never been TriStars intention to produce licensed sports cards but to focus on the Autograph alone. The simple cards may have been an easy and effective way to get these autographs into the market, I am not really sure. They have achieved this but in my opinion these cut autographs leave a lot to be desired. This opinion of course is coming from an avid sports card collector, not an autograph hound that these 'CUT' Autographs are geared toward. If anything, Tristar has made getting a cut autographed card of a retired sports star fairly cheap. I picked up this Bob Lilly TriStar cut Autographed card for $2.

Spotting a FAKE 1988 Emmitt Smith Burger King card

I haven't seen one of these in a while but these are not uncommon. This is a FAKE Emmitt Smith (Florida Gators) Burger King card. This one is an obvious fake because it is missing the entire Burger King LOGO near the top. The more common versions of this fake card are missing the Trademark (R) symbol after the Burger King Logo. This card does not qualify as a Cowboy card per my definition but lots of Cowboy card collectors and Emmitt Smith collectors have this card on their want list, if they don't already have it. This card has been on the hot list for counterfeiters every since it hit the $100 mark on Beckett back when Emmitt was winning NFL Rushing titles and the Cowboys were racking up Super Bowl victories! This card is especially vulnerable for fakes because it was a regional release for a college team making it easier for shysters to pass this off as original to folks on other areas of the country who were not as familiar with the card. My advise has always been to purchase high end cards ($100 or more) from a reputable dealer or purchase only graded cards. But in this case, being graded is not always a guarantee that the card is authentic. I have seen counterfeit versions of this card in PSA holders, more than once! Those instances occured several years before the fakes were well known and since PSA is located on the West Coast, they simply were not familiar enough with this card and made poor judgements by putting them in stabs. Just another example that no body is perfect and a good rule of thumb is to BUY the CARD, not the HOLDER.

2008 Topps reaches new levels.

The 2008 Topps football cards were released in mid July with the usual anticipation. Topps is the biggest name in sports cards and always produces the more sales than any other brand at cowboycards.com. Topps is especially kind to team collectors typically producing a dozen or more cards per team. 2008 Topps was a especially kind to Dallas Cowboy collectors producing 21 base Cowboy cards including 12 veterans, 4 Rookies, 4 Pro Bowl cards and 1 league leader card. It's been a few years since the Cowboys had a player who could boast as league leader but Tony Romo did just that in leading the NFC in TDs and Passing Yards. The Topps base brand returned to a WHITE card stock with simple backs. The team name found at the top of the card is the only unque twist to this release that I found interesting. Topps has not produced this many base Cowboy cards since the early 1990s, when the Cowboys were KINGS of the NFL. Perhaps this is a sign the Cowboys are returning to their rightful thrown, atop the NFL. Along with the 21 base cards, there are hundreds of Cowboy parallels and inserts. Topps produced a NFL Dynasties insert set highlighting NFL dynasties from past decades and there are 8 Cowboy players from the 90s Super Bowl teams in that insert set. The Dynasties insert set was also paralleled with Autographed versions, Game Used versions and a combination of the two. Topps produced a Military Salute insert set that highlights NFL players who were active during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Roger Staubach has a card in this set commemorating his duty as a Naval officer during the Veitnam war. Topps also produced a relic version of the military salute cards highlighted by inserting military ribbons and medals into the cards. A Staubach medal recently fetched over $300 on ebay. Check out the auction here. Current Cowboy players Tony Romo and Terrell Owens appear in the Own the Game and Turn back the Clock insert sets . Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett appear in the Signature Series insert set which is a continuing set from a few years back. Demarcus Ware and Marion Barber appear in the new insert called Topps Player Collection. This insert will continue through other Topps brands in 2008 like Topps Chrome, Bowman and Bowman Chrome. Topps also produced 4 levels of parallels including Gold Foil, where only the LETTERING is in GOLD, GOLD which has a GOLD Border, Black and Platinum. All told there are nearly 200 different Cowboy cards in the 2008 Topps brand, enough to keep any Cowboy collector busy for a long time!

Possible Dorsett Rookie card scam on eBay

I found what I thought to be one of the nicest (RAW) 1978 Tony Dorsett Rookie cards for sale on eBay a few days back. I bid fairly aggressively but lost. No big deal, I loose 95% of the auctions that I bid on. Low and behold I see the same Dorsett Rookie card back up for auction the day after the auction closed. I did not bid this time because there is something fishy going on. Here is a link to the first auction that closed at $27.00 which is high for a RAW Dorsett Rookie but not super surprising considering this is a NM to MINT looking card! Here is the new auction, which already has 4 bids and is likely to close near the final price of the first auction. As you can tell from the card picture, this is the same card. Or at least the same picture. It is possible that the winner of the card wanted to immediately flip this card but the high bidder on the first aution is NOT the seller of the second auction. At least, not the same eBay id. Some folks use different eBay ids to buy and sell, not something eBay endorses but its not uncommon either. The thing that really caught my eye was the sellers of both auctions were BRAND new. This is usually the first clue that something is going wrong. I don't typically shy away from new sellers but when a flag like this is rasied, same card (picture) coupled with NEW eBay ids on both auctions. This is a major RED flag in my book and raises the strong possibility of a SCAM, so BEWARE! Here is a picture of the card in question.

Not quite a $1,000 card!

I suspect someone was taking advantage of a FREE or .25 listing day when this card was put on eBay. It's the Holy Grail of Tony Romo Autographed Rookie cards, at least it was before the UD SP Authentic began to surpass it. This particular card typically sales for just under $400 ungraded but this particular card has been entombed in a Beckett slab with a 9.5 grade on the card and a 10 grade on the Autograph. This is the highest grade I have seen this card receive but it still was not enough to entice someone to snag it for the $1,000.00 Buy it Now price tag. If Tony Romo eventually leads this Cowboys team to a Super Bowl or knock on wood, several Super Bowls, this card will likely reach that 4 digit but for now, regular season heroics are NOT enough to push this card to that height. Still, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep this card in a safe place, if you have one! I sold a few back when this card was $15.00!

Speaking of Emmitt SMith Autographs

One of the best Emmitt Smith Autographs I have seen on eBay in a long time recently ended. No bidders were willing to pay the steep $995.00 price for this card but it truly is a beauty. Notice the grade is for the Autograph only and not the card itself. It would have been interesting to see how PSA would have graded a card like this considering the Autograph would be considered a mark put on the card after release to the public. You see Autographed cards graded by PSA all the time but most were autographed BEFORE release to the public and were autographed before they were put in packs. Even still, PSA will give the Autograph a grade and then the card will get a seperate grade. This particular cards value lies solely in the autograph and NOT the card. The card alone could bring in $100, more if graded high but because it has a mark, the value is little. An Emmitt Smith Autograph, even as nice as this one still does not deserve a $1,000 dollar price tag. I love the gold tip sharpie though, very nice touch!

A closer look at the FAKE Emmitt Smith Cowboybilia Autographs

I took a closer look at all the FAKE Emmitt Smith Cowboybilia Autographed cards on eBay and came up with a quick reference. First take a look at the sellers feedback. If their feedback is less than 100, run away! If their feedback is less than 10, run away FAST! These scammers have to continually create new eBay ids in order to keep buyers from getting suspicious and to avoid previous bad feedback. Second, take a close look at the serial number. Emmitt Smith autographed these original 500 cards but he did NOT add the serial number. The serial numbering was done after the fact by one person. So, if the serial numbering was hand written by one person, then you would expect to see consistant hand writing for each serial number. Forgers will practice handwriting skills until it is almost perfect but the serial number is likely and afterthought. Of course the best way to avoid buying a forgery is to purchase a GRADED version of this card. Below is a picture of a Graded Emmitt Smith Autographed Cowboybilia card along with what I think is an obvious fake!

down for over a day

At least bits and pieces of my site were. The entire site was down 12 hours before I got wind of the exact issue. I have been bringing everything back online for the past 12 hours. I just got my blog back up and it appears to be missing a few entries but NOTHING important.

ARGH!

Topps used to be such tight wads.

Perhaps they still are but the healthy influx of competion has kept Topps on their toes in recent years. That was not always the case. There are many Topps cards from the 1970s that have identical photographs. The Too Tall Jones 1976 Rookie and 1977 card come to mind. Same photo, just a bit closer up. When Topps was producing team photo cards in the 1960s, you would think that they would use unique pictures taken for the specified team, considering the team changes year to year and players come and go. NOT so, I just recently discovererd that the 1961 Topps Team photo card and the 1962 Topps Team Photo card are the same picture. Looking further, the 1963 Topps Team photo is also the same picture! I can't believe I just now discovered this but its true. I never took much time looking over these cards until recently. I have not checked other team photos to see if the same can be said about other teams but I suspect its true. This is the one area where Philadelphia Gum far out did Topps. Each Team photo card produced by Philly from 1964-1967 was unique and were very clear photographs. Perhaps this is one reason why Philly got the contract with the NFL to produce NFL cards during this time frame, who knows.

Some collector's I just don't understand

Who says the economy is heading towards a recession? Apparently the purchaser of this card on ebay has no worries. $500 Plus for a 1965 Philadelphia Gum Don Meredith! Of course this card is graded PSA 9. Only 7 of these cards have been graded a 9 by PSA and non have been graded higher so I suspect a few of the registry collectors were bidding on this card forcing the price up to a ridiculous number. A PSA 8 would have gone for a fraction of this because most of the registry chasers have this card in an 8 so they would not have been bidding on it. I guess my question is, what is the difference? PSA 8, PSA 9, does it really matter? I understand the desire to have a great collection. I understand the desire to have the best available but is it really worth that much of a premium to say I have the best collection in the country or world? I don't understand paying over $500 for a card that you can pick up raw on ebay all day long for under $10! You could buy 50 or more of these cards for $500 total, send 'em all in to PSA for grading and you might get a 9 back and even if you don't, you could sell 'em all and likely have enough profit to buy a PSA 9 for $500. Maybe that is what this guy did, if so - he stole my idea! I'm going to go check my stock to see how many 1965 Philadelphia Gum Don Meredith cards I have in stock!!! I may only have to buy 495 cards.

Emmitt Smith Autograph

In 1996, Collector's Edge produced a set of cards to commemorate the 1995 Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys. After almost 15 years, this set still demands a premium, especially the Autographed cards. Among the 26 different Autographed cards are a dual Roger Staubach/Drew Pearson highlighting the 20 Anniversary of the Hail Mary pass and an Emmitt Smith Autographed card s/n to only 500. The Emmitt Smith Autographed card is the 'holy grail' of this set and still demands a premium when it sales on ebay. I see this card show up on eBay about 3 times a year and am always amazed at the price it demands. The most recent one to show up on eBay only has a few hours left, but is sure to set a new record; Emmitt Smith Cowboybilia Autograph. I have had every card from the '96 Cowboybilia Autograph set pass through my stock except for this one. I have never owned nor sold one.

A Scott Case Dallas Cowboy football card find.

Every player in my extensive database have two things in common; 1: They played for the Dallas Cowboys. 2: They appear on a football card as a Dallas Cowboy. The second criteria is what keeps my database stream lined. There are many many Dallas Cowboy players, past and present, who are not in my database and don't have a player page on my site simply because they never got onto a football card as a Dallas Cowboy. I get emails all the time from collectors looking for a Cowboy card of an obscure player or perhaps a player that became a Cowboy late in his career. Often, there is no such card available. Such was the case for Scott Case. Scott Case played 11 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, from 1984 until 1994. During that time he established himself as one of the NFL's top defensive backs. He led the league with 11 interceptions in 1988 and made the All Pro team and the Pro Bowl. After 11 seasons with the Falcons, Scott signed to play with the Dallas Cowboys in 1995. Scott played every game in 1995 for the Cowboys, mainly in the nickle and dime defensive packages. He helped the Cowboys win their 5th and final Super Bowl and retired at the end of that Championship season. Because Scott Case played only 1 season with the Cowboys and was a reserve, he never appeared on a main stream football card like Topps, Upper Deck, Donruss or Score as a Cowboy. Scott Case was not in my Cowboy cards database because I had no record of a football card of Scott Case as a Cowboy and did not expect to find one.

That all changed last week when I received an obscure card in the mail of Scott Case as a Cowboy from 1995. The set was not really from a typical football card set but a Phone Card depicting NFL players - 1996 Sportscall Phone cards. These cards are a no frills type of card. The back of these cards contains some player stats but mostly information on how to use the phone card. The front of these cards include an action photo of the player but any NFL Logo's, including Team Logos (Cowboys Star) have been airbrushed out. These cards were liscensed by the NFL Players Association but not by the NFL so no NFL Logo's were included. This lended itself to some fairly odd looking photos that reminded me of Topps in the late 1970s but non the less, they qualify as Dallas Cowboy football cards and for collectors that like to obtain at least one card of every Dallas Cowboy player possible, this Scott Case find is good news. I don't know how many of these cards were produced but I have only seen one other of these in the past decade and that was of Jason Garrett. I recieved 13 different Cowboy cards from this set but non of the big 3 (Aikman, Emmitt, Irvin), so there may be more.

Where have all the Cowboys gone?

The Dallas Cowboys are inside of a mortality window. They have been for about a decade now. Many of the players that began with the team in the 1960s and many of the players who helped propel the team to become known as America's Team in the 1970s are reaching a critcal age where their life exptancy is reaching an end. The Dallas Cowboys have lost many of their great players and faces in the past decade. Tex Schramm, the teams original General Manager; Tom Landry, the teams original head coach and 'Crazy' Ray Jones, the teams original mascot have all passed away within the past decade.

Other players of note that have passed recnetly are Bob Hayes and Harvey Martin. Bob Hayes is renowned as being the only person to have earned both an Olympic Gold Medal and a Super Bowl Ring. Harvey Martin of course, is a member of the Cowboys defense that dominated most of the 1970s. Both of these men were still relatively young and passed due to complications from illness'. As I write this, Ron Springs, another fallen Cowboy lay in a comma in a Dallas Hospital.

I am reminded of these men with the passing of WR Buddy Dial earlier this month. Buddy made a name for himself while a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was traded to the Cowboys in 1963 but injuries limited his playing time and he retired in 1966. Buddy passed away at a Hospital in Houston due to complicatinos from Pnemonia and cancer. He was 71. There is a nice obituary for Buddy Dial on the Pittsburgh Post Gazzett web site.

We are now entering a time where we can expect to loose one of our Cowboy Heroes fairly frequently. I am always saddened when I hear the news of a Cowboy passing but pleased to know that coach has a new player for his team in heaven.

Sam Hurd, now or never

Each NFL season produces yet unrecognized super stars. Tony Romo fit that bill just a few years back. With the uncertainty of the Cowboys receiving ranks, and the explosiveness of their offense, its quite likely the Cowboys could produce a young super star WR this coming season. There are several to choose from, Crayton, Austin, Stanback and Hurd. Patrick Crayton is the most obvious. His numbers have improved every year and he got the starting nod last season with the injury to Terry Glenn. Austin appears to be more of a return guy and has yet to provide anything on the receving end. Stanback is still a work in progress. He suited up only a handful of times last year so I am not expecting much more this season. The one guy who I think can make a big splash this coming season is Sam Hurd. Hurd had 19 catches in 2007 and averaged over 16 yards per catch. Assuming Terry Glenn does not return next season, Hurd should compete with Patrick Crayton for the #2 receiver. As Hurd gets more playing time, expect his numbers to improve and his rookie card prices to soar. Being undrafted meant that there were few Rookie cards of Sam Hurd produced so if the demand gets strong the prices will climb because the supply is very low. Not counting parallels, Hurd only appears on 5 different cards in 2006. Each one is serial numbered so the supply of Sam Hurd Rookie Cards is even more limited. If you dont' have any Sam Hurd Rookie cards, now is the time to pick some up before he turns the corner and beomes and elite NFL WR.

Monday Monday, so good to me.

Not really. Only 2 packages of Cowboy cards arrived on Monday. One package had a lot of 6 2007 Upper Deck Anthony Spencer Rookie cards. These are nice Short Printed cards from the 2007 Upper Deck base set. Anthony Spencer had a productive Rookie season recording 36 tackles, 3 QB sacks and forcing 2 fumbles. If he can step it up a notch next year and the year after, and there is no reason to think he wont, then the Cowboys could have a Pro Bowl type DE on their hands.

The second package was a single card. A 2007 Topps Copper Parallel of Tony Romo (Pro Bowl) card #422. This card is serial numbered to 2007. You know my motto, you can never have enough Tony Romo cards in stock.This card will likely sell fast because I have it listed at what I paid for it.

2007 UD Sweet Spot

Other than the fact that every card is serial numbered, I didn't find anything very appealing while I was adding the 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Sport card set to my database. There are only 6 different Dallas Cowboy players in this set. Romo, Owens, Barber, Glenn, Emmitt Smith and Rookie Isiah Stanback. Most of the cards are autographs of Marion Barber, which is nice but there are simply too many parallel levels and tiers. They have Gold and Silver Parallels with 3 different Tiers of Gold and Silver Parallels all numbered to something different. It gets very exasperating to add all these unique cards which are not unique at all. To take a look at what I mean, check out the checklist, no more than 3 cards in any one set; 2007 UD Sweet Spot football cards.

Don't believe it. That is, don't believe the rumors started by the NFL network that the Cowboys were interested in trading Marion Barber to the Dolphins along with a few draft picks for the rights to the 1st overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Supposedly are so infactuated with Arkansas Runningback Darren McFadden they are gonna trade the house for him. Don't believe it. It just hype started by the NFL Network. In an interview just yesterday, after the NFL Scouting combine in Indianapolis, Jerry Jones was quoted as saying that there has been NO TALK Whatsoever about trading up to get any one of the top 3 picks and that he didn't see anyone in the draft he would trade up that far to get. This could just be Jerry posturing but I'm not buying the Cowboys trading away a bird in the hand for 2 in the bush. We'll see.

A big lot from a classic set.

Only 2 packages arrived on Saturday (Feb 24). The first package contained a classic 1964 Philly Gum card of Don Perkins. Philadelphia Gum produced some ugly cards in the mid 1960s but they were the only card company producing NFL cards during that span so NFL fans had do like it or leave it. From 1964 through 1967 Philadelphia Gum produced NFL cards while Topps produced AFL cards. Philadelphia Gum cards from these 4 years are almost identical. To quickly tell the differnce in Cowboy cards from these years just look at the box color found on each card. Yellow boxes are from 1964, black boxes are 1965, pink boxes on TOP are 1966 and pink boxes on bottom are 1967. This only applies to Cowboy cards, other teams used diffferent colors.

The second package contained over 60 Dallas Cowboy football cards from 1985 Topps including 7 Bill Bates Rookies. 1985 Topps is my favorite set from the 1980s. It resembles the 1962 Topps set, which is my favorite set from the 1960s. These card photographs are set on the card horizontally and use a black border which makes MINT cards hard to come by, any slight impefection along the border on on the corners stands out. The 1985 Topps set includes Hall of Famers Tony Dorsett and Randy White and Rookie cards of Cowboy favorites Bill Bates and Jim Jeffcoat. LB Mike Hegman's rookie card is in the 1985 Topps set despite being drafted a decade before. There is also a rookie card of QB and 'Survivor finalist' Gary Hogeboom.

Something old, something new.

5 Packages of cards arrived on Friday. One package contained 15 different 2007 Tony Romo cards. You can never have enough Tony Romo cards so these will go along way helping me complete some 2007 team sets. Another package contained some 2008 New York Yankee baseball cards. I have fallen a few weeks behind on my New York Yankee card stock. If I ever start selling Yankee cards, on nyyankeecards.com I may have enough time to sleep much less update my blog. The third package contained 2 cards from the 1977 Topps football card set. Robert Newhouse and Scott Laidlaw. The Laidlaw card is a hard card to keep in stock mainly because 1977 Topps is the only main stream set that Laidlaw appears in so Cowboy card collectors who try to collect at least one card of every player possible keep this card in high demand. The fourth package contained a Troy Aikman 2005 Upper Deck Heroes autographed card. This is an aftermarket autograph meaning it did not come from the Upper Deck Factory autographed, someone got it autographed after the fact. It came with a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) from Randy Rothrock or Randyssportscards.com. Randy has a brick and mortar store in Quakertown, PA as well as a web site. There are no red flags to make me think this card is anything but legitimate. Since the card is aftermarket, I don't have a record for it in my database. Instead I am just offering it up for sale on my home page at my cost. The final package contained a 2007 UD SP Authentic Courtney Brown Rookie card. Courtney is a rookie defensive back from Cal Poly and he had no other cards produced this year. That could make this particular card very popular if Courtney can make something of himself in the NFL. He's still a longshot to be a starter but so was Tony Romo back in 2003 and look at him now. The Courtny Brown card is my favorite out of all the cards that arrived on Friday. I really enjoy getting cards from a player that I don't have. Now I have a Courtney Brown page that will allow Cowboy card collectors a quick reference and an easy place to find more Courtney Brown cards.

mail Call (Feb 21, 2008)

3 Packages arrived on Thursday.

1st Package - lot of 5 2007 UD SP Authentic Tony Romo. I am always scrambling to find extra Tony Romo cards for team sets. I sell a lot of individual Tony Romo football cards which means I usually run out of his base cards before any other from a particular team set.

2nd Package - 1977 Topps #130 Drew Pearson PSA 8. Exceptional graded vintage Cowboy card.

3rd Package - 1970 Topps #45 Mel Renfro SGC 8. SGC really does a great job grading cards and I like their cases better than PSA. The black sleeve inside really sets the card off.

I shipped out 9 packages this morning. I usually only ship out 3 or 4 times a week so I usually have a handful when I do ship cards out. February has not slowed down as much as I expected. I have less visitors to my web site but just as many orders. Not as many window shoppers I suppose.

Mail Call (Feb 20, 2008)

Only 2 packages arrived on Wednesday. The lack of cards coming in should give me a chance to add some cards to my stock that have been sitting and waiting for a while now.

Package 1 - 1989 Score #270 Troy Aikman Rookie. The top Aikman Rookie card. This card is become increasingly hard to find for under $15.00 so if you find a well condition and well centered one for under $15, grab it. The price of this card will continue to climb even though its climbing at a snails pace.

Package 2 - Lot of 7 1978 Topps cards. 1978 Topps brings back some fond memories of my childhood. I started collecting Dallas Cowboy football cards in 1976 but it was not until 1978 that I started to aggressively collect all the Cowboys. I can still easily remember opening up a pack of 1978 cards and finding a Tony Dorsett inside. My buddy and I wrestled over the card when we opened the pack, basically ruining the card, but we didn't care.. it was Tony Dorsett!

Mail Call

Only 3 packages arrived Tuesday which is a light day considering the mail did not run on Monday (President's Day). Just another sign that things are beginning to slow down a bit.

Package 1 - 2007 UD SP Authentic Nick Folk Rookie. I Love this card, one of only a very few Nick Folk rookie cards and even though kickers seldom get much love in this hobby this card is crucial for team collectors that are still looking for a Nick Folk card.

Package 2 - 1973 Topps #35 Calvin Hill PSA 7. A classic card from a classic set graded NM. What can I say about this card except for I love it. For those who do not know, Calvin Hill was the first Cowboy running back to eclipse the 1,000 yard barrier in a single season.

Package 3 - This was a bit of a strange one. When I opened this package up, my first thought was, 'I did not order these cards'. There were 4 graded cards in this package. 1983 Topps Sticker Boxes Tony Dorsett (Perforatted and removed from the box) PSA 8, 1983 Topps Sticker Tony Dorsett PSA 8 (Bottom half of sticker), 1991 Pro Set Platinum Kevin Gogan PSA 7 - this is the oddest card of all. I would never buy this card, not for a nickle. Not that I have anything against Kevin Gogan or Pro Set Platinum but you just don't buy this card, you don't send it in to be graded, you just don't. What was the person who sent this card in thinking??? (If this comes back a 10, It will be worth $1???) Sometimes I will never understand the graders mentality. Last card in this package was a 1988 Topps #260 Danny White PSA 9. Hum, now this card looks like something I would have bought and sure enough I did. I fired off an email to the seller to see if he made a mistake by shipping these extra cards and he replied that no, he sent them because he couldn't sell them. See note above about Kevin Gogan card. That was exceptionally nice of him and besides the Kevin Gogan card, I do like the other cards (stickers). If anyone is interested in a free Kevin Gogan 1991 Pro Set Platinum PSA 7 card email me. First come first serve.

no Mail today

Federal Holidays usually give me a chance to catch up some on my stock. I probably have close to 5,000 Dallas Cowboys football cards that need to be added to my stock. These cards have been sifted through so there are no GEMS hiding amongst them but still some nice cards that are likely on some ones WANT list. I fired off a newsletter over the weekend to let folks new that I had 2007 UD SP Authentic in stock. Newsletters usually bring in a few sales but not only for the cards I highlight but for others cards. I had so many orders this morning that I ran out of tape and postage. I'm not complaining though, its good to be busy.

I just noticed that I have not added 2007 UD Sweet Spot or 2007 UD Chirography to my database. I don't usually add cards until I have them in stock but as the year and distribution winds down I go over each manufacturer and make sure I have them all listed. I should have these 2 listed by weeks end.

I spent a better part of yesterday reading through this message board thread. http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1201896466/last-1203399384/Open+letter+to+STAT+and+Christopher+Morales If you collect autographs you need to read this. Its a terribly LONG thread but interesting, scary and enlightning.

Mail Call

Saturday Feb 16th was a slow day mail wise but I still got 3 packages of cards in the mail.

1st Package - 1960 Topps Dallas Cowboys team set. 9 cards, flawless. Worthy of further inspection and possible professional grading. This is the best lot of 1960 cards I have seen in a while, maybe ever.

2nd Package - lot of 6 1973 Topps and 2 1974 Topps Cowboy cards. These cards also very sharp on not as well centered. Still very attractive cards and worthy of praise!

3rd Package - 5 card lot of 1961 Topps Baseball New York Yankee cards.

I expect to see a slow down in packages this coming week. There simply have not been enough deals available.

MAIL CALL

7 packages arrived on Feb 15, felt like Christmas.

1st Package - lot of 30 plus cards from the 1970s. This is a very nice lot of cards, nothing high dollar but they will sale fast I am sure.

2nd Package - 4 2005 Bowman Chrome Marcus Spears. I got these for a song and I am still not giving up on this guy.

3rd Package - 1968 Topps #129 Mel Renfro PSA 7. Vintage Hall of Famer, graded. What's better than that?

4th Package - 1977 Topps #505 (baseball) Oscar Gamble PSA 8. Another card for my New
5th Package - 1978 Topps #166 NFC Championship w/Roger Staubach PSA 8.

6th Package - 1976 Topps #313 Drew Pearson PSA 8. This is one of the classic cards from the 1970s. Its a second year card of Drew Pearson showing off his big afro.

7th Package - 1971 Topps #18 Walt Garrison Rookie Card PSA 7. 1971 Topps is a tough set in high grade because of the blue borders. Garrison is one of the most popular Cowboys from that era. This card is quickly becoming a favorite of mine

I still have not scanned a few cards from yesterday and entered them into my db. I am a bit behind which is typical for a Saturday morning. I will get caught up today or tomorrow. No mail on Sunday typical gives me a chance to catch up.

MAIL CALL

I got 6 packages in the mail on Valentines day.

1st package - 1972 Topps #145 Bob Lilly PSA 7 NM.
2nd package - 2 Roger Staubach 2007 Topps Triple Threads cards. These are high end cards both serial numbered, one to 639 and the other to 1449.
3rd package - 1961 Fleer Billy Howton. A classic vintage Cowboy card. There is more nostalgia in the 1961 Fleer Cowboy cards than any card from the 60s. You have the Cowboys wearing the classic white jersey with blue star on the shoulder. You have the Cowboy Joe logo in the bottom right and Yankee Stadium, the house that Ruth built, is in the background.
4th package - 2007 UD Premier Drew Pearson Autograph. Wow, beautiful card, serial numbered to 50! Love this card.
5th package - more Yankee cards. A lot of 6 cards from the 1969 Topps baseball set.
6th package - A 1920s strip card. These cards were issued in strips of 6 or 10 and sold at corner stores to kids for a penny. The cards were hand cut and the backs are blank. Vintage americana. I love these cards a lot, almost 90 years old and still as beautiful as when it was brand new.� This particular strip card is Everett Scott from the New York Yankees.

MAIL CALL

Another typical day, 3 packages.

1st package - 1966 New York Yankees lot.� I am currently building up stock for my yankees card site and will soon be selling New York Yankee baseball cards, yippee.
2nd package - another lot of 1975 Topps Dallas Cowboys. 1975 Topps is easily the most prevalant of the early 1970s Topps cards and second only to the 1978 Topps cards as far as production and distribution goes for the 1970s decade.
3rd package - 1960 Topps Charlie Ane PSA 7!� I truly love vintage graded cards and if they don't sell on my web site, it doesn't matter because I love having them around to show off!

Mail Call

A very typical mail day. I received 3 packages. The first contained a PSA 9 Harvey Martin 1978 Topps. The second contained a 1979 Topps Team set and the third was a 1975 Topps Team set.

Mail Call

I thought it would be kind of neat to let my readers see what I get in the mail everyday.� There is nothing more exicting than opening up a new package of cards and I get new packages almost every day. Monday (Feb 11) was�just a little more than normal but not by much. I typically get 3 or 4 packages every day.� FUN!

Of note there are 2 graded cards, 2 game used cards, an autographed card, a stack of 2007 UD SP Authentic cards plus many vintage cards including a rare BLACK 1970 Topps Calvin Hill Rookie!

Do you remember Larry Cole?

This morning I awoke to check my inbox for any cowboycards.com orders that I may have gotten overnight. Sure enough I had a couple of orders come in.� One of the orders caught my eye, the buyer was named Larry Cole from Texas. I remember Larry Cole. Larry Cole was a vesatile defensive lineman that played for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s. He was overshadowed by players like Harvey Martin, Too Tall Jones and Hall of Famers Randy White and Bob Lilly, but any Dallas Cowboy fan worth his salt will remember Larry Cole.

Larry Cole was part of the duo of players chasing down Bob Griese in Super Bowl VI. Bob Lilly eventually sacked Griese for a 29 yard loss but without Cole on the other side, that Sack doesn't occur. I remember Larry Cole scoring 4 defensive touchdowns during his career, 2 as a Rookie but the play I remember most came during the final game of the 1979 NFL Season.� The Cowboys were trailing the Redskins by 13 points in the final minutes. Roger Staubach led the Cowboys to a quick score to pull within 6 points but the Cowboys still needed a stop on defense to have a chance. The Redskins had a 3rd down and 2 to go for a first down and to seal the win. Theismann handed off to Hall of Famer John Riggins and Larry Cole shot the gap to stop Riggins behind the line of scrimmage. The Cowboys get the ball back and Staubach fuels his legacy with another last second comeback, thanks to Larry Cole.

I wonder if this buyer is the Larry Cole from the Cowboys?� I am not 100% sure but every card he ordered was a Larry Cole card.� I bet that this is his son or grandson, which is always the case. I have only had 2 or 3 actual players order cards but have had many relatives. I will ask and confirm but my money is on his son..