Card of the Day: Dale Murphy 1992 Topps McDonald’s Baseball’s Best #30

Card of the Day: Dale Murphy 1993 Upper Deck #706

Card of the Day: Dale Murphy 2002 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts #13

Card of the Day: Rob Murphy 1990 Upper Deck #461

Card of the Day: Daniel Murphy 2010 Topps T-206 Auto

Card of the Day: Dale Murphy 2014 Topps Update Strata Bat Auto

The 35th National Has Begun!

Its official.  The 35th National Sports Collectors Convention has begun.  Autographs, cards, and promos are flying all over the place.  Every single collector in the world should be in Cleveland right now.

I arrived in plenty of time to obtain my VIP and Guest/Media credentials.  Then off to the VIP Party I went.  After eating some pizza and a cookie, the show opened to VIPs at 3:30pm.  Take a look!

7x All-Star Dale Murphy signing at the Freedom Cardboard booth.

Now for the pickups.  While waiting in line for Dale Murphy, I just happened to be standing next to the Topps booth.  I decided to pickup a box of 2014 Topps Minis.  With every purchase of a Topps Minis box, you get a jumbo card made just for the show.  I picked Mike Trout.

These OYO minifigures were actually the first promos I got upon entering the show.

I stopped by Marty’s Sports Card Exchange and bought a box of 2014 Allen & Ginter.  The I went to Blowout Cards and bought another just so I could get the Johnny Manziel Beckett Cover card.  Both boxes were unwrapped at the Topps booth and I got my Abreu and Tanaka exclusive National mini promos.  I still need to go through my boxes to see what I got.

Crosscutters Host 8th Annual Hot Stove Banquet

The Crosscutters held their 8th annual Hot Stove Banquet at the Genetti Hotel last evening.  It was a night filled with old friends, new friends, great food, stories, giveaways, and autographs.  Some of the guests included Philadelphia Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg, Phillies third baseman Cody Asche, and Phillies broadcaster Greg Murphy.  Returning for a second year in a row was Montoursville native and former major league third baseman Tom O’Malley.

Whoever made the decision to hold the Chinese Auction out in the lobby is a genius.  This allowed for more tables in the ballroom and a lot more room to eat at your seat.  In the past things have been a bit cramped.  The only drawback to the evening was that everyone wasn’t able to get autographs from all the guests.  After obtaining signatures from Cody Asche and Greg Murphy, I went to get in line to see Ryne Sandberg.  Unfortunately they cut the line off for Sandberg right in front of me.  That’s alright.  I had never attempted to get three autographs during this sold out event before.  On a positive note though, when I returned to the table I discovered I had won a prize pack from the Chinese Auction.

Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg

Phillies 3B Cody Asche

Phillies broadcaster Greg Murphy

The prize pack I won was donated by the State College Spikes.  It included a T-shirt, signed baseball, signed program, and a Stan Belinda mini bobblehead the Spikes gave away last year.

Flashback Product of the Week: 1993 Topps Stadium Club Murphy

I’m sure a lot of Jeter collectors know what this is.  The 1993 Topps Stadium Club Murphy set consists of 200 cards, and was only available in a hobby version.  There are no packs here as the entire set comes packaged in a plastic box that is made to look like Jack Murphy Stadium which is where the 1992 All-Star Game was held.  Also packed with the set were 12 jumbo “Master Photo” cards.  The set is broken down into 100 Draft Picks, 56 All-Stars, all 25 members of the 1992 USA Baseball team, and 19 post-season highlight cards.

Here comes the confusing part, the year.  Despite the set having the 1992 Stadium Club design and the year 1992 printed all over the box, its actually a 1993 product.  These Murphy sets were released about a month after 1993 Stadium Club Series One.  Topps printed about 128,000 copies of the Murphy set.  Out of the 200 cards, #117 is probably the most popular.  This would be the Derek Jeter rookie.  Examples of this card that are in really good condition can be worth well into the hundreds.  Sealed boxes like you see pictured above currently sell for $150.00.

Some collectors think its a good idea to buy sealed sets with the pure intention of opening them to find a perfect Jeter.  This is not always going to be the case.  Those cards have been sealed together for the last twenty years, and with all that gloss there is a good chance they’ll stick together causing damage.

Card of the Day: Dale Murphy 1989 Upper Deck Error #357