by Matt | Mar 9, 2015 | Personal
I am alive. Well, technically I’m alive. Being out and about in the land of the living again, well, that I can’t quite claim. Last week I came down with some unknown viral infection which caused fever and chills. Surprisingly it wasn’t the flu (had multiple tests runs) and was pretty much unidentified. It was just a pain in the ass. High temps, chills, tired, but not much else. After a couple days of that thrilling combination, I started to get some chest congestion. It built and built and by last Thursday my lungs were fairly full of fluid (the definition of Pneumonia). My fever hit 104 and I was having trouble breathing. My wife decided to take my sorry butt to an Emergency clinic, where they were able to run a couple tests, give me some breathing treatments, do a set of chest X-Rays and figure out just what was going on. Whatever virus had caused it was long gone but the fluid remained. I was also severely dehydrated and needed some IV fluids. A couple hours later I was sent home with an entire pile of prescriptions. Two steroids, two antibiotics, a breathing treatment, an inhaler for the hours in between breathing treatments, all sorts of crap. So, I was pretty well medicated all weekend, slept a lot, at all sorts of weird hours. The steroids make you jumpy and a bit of an insomniac, so that’s been less than fun, but it’s better than having fevers and chills. They also make you a little bit unfocused, so I’m sure this entire mess I’m writing makes hardly any sense. My apologizes. Just wanted people to know I was in fact alive.
by Matt | Feb 4, 2015 | Cards
I’ve been neglecting to post this for quite some time, mostly due to laziness and a general sense that no one really cares. My friend, the one who had previously found a complete sets of 1980’s products for me at some local Texas auction house, came up big again. This time however, he bought out someone’s flea market collection. He had sent me photos, mid-adventure, of a particular set (’91 Studio) and asked if I was interested. I’ve always enjoyed that set, and at the price they were asking ($3) I couldn’t really say “no”. When I met up with him a few weeks later he opened the trunk of his car to reveal an entire utopia of junk-era wax. He had procured the entire collection the seller had available, allegedly for pennies. I didn’t even know what to say. It was his biggest haul to date and I was extremely grateful…
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by Matt | Feb 4, 2015 | Cards
I feel like a terrible person. Dennis did something super nice and it got left beside the scanner at work and wasn’t rediscovered until today. We recently moved office suites (in the same building, just down the hall) and it’s been a solid two weeks and most everything is still in boxes. Dennis, in his awesomeness, sent some “Christmas Cards” to folks he traded with this year (which is an awesome idea) and I was one of those lucky people. Our original trade was awesome enough, but Dennis went out of his way to spread a little Christmas cheer.
A beautiful red Ginter relic of Clay Buchholz, one of my favorite pitchers. Thank you so much Dennis! I know it’s terribly late to say that, but it was incredibly nice and very much appreciated. It, and the scanner, just got lost in the shuffle for a little while. If any of you haven’t traded with Dennis before, I highly recommend it.
Thanks again!
by Matt | Jan 20, 2015 | Cards
What does that even mean? I have no idea. All I know is that the collection has gone from “pretty complete” to “woah, you’ve got issues”. There is so much Brock, including some ultra-rare goodies.
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by Matt | Jan 20, 2015 | Cards
I’ve had this tidbit floating around in the back of my head for a while now, and I don’t think I ever actually stated it publicly. Here goes.
If you’re using Sharpies, you’re doing it wrong.
Phew, there, that feels better. I came to this realization a while back and actually bothered to do a little research on it. Turns out that nearly the entire card industry doesn’t use Sharpie brand pens for autographs. I know for a fact, and it’s confirmed by mutliple photos on their twitter account, that Panini uses these:
Staedtler Lumocolor
The size depends on the card. I’m assuming minis and small signing areas use the #313 (or Small/Fine) while the normal cards use the #317 (Medium). Usually in blue.
Don’t believe me?
Check out Panini’s twitter feed. Here’s a couple examples.
That’s Chris Paul, signing last week.
Here’s Michael Young of the Rangers.
See those black pens with blue caps? Yeah, those are Staedtlers. I also believe Topps uses them as well. Here’s an example, not directly from Topps, but from Bowman’s twitter feed, of a prospect signing his Bowman Chrome cards…
I added the image of the pen next to it for comparison.
I’ve always used Staedtler products for art projects, mainly their pencils and Mars erasers, but when I started noticing a trend with the pens I went out and picked some up. They are awesome.
They dry instantly, there’s zero worry about them smudging. They write on just about anything, including Chrome and super glossy cards! They’re also certified by the ACMI which means they’re most likely acid free and fairly archival.
So, just as a PSA for all you autograph chasers, go hit up your local art supply store and pick a few of these up. Even if you’re not chasing players for their John Hancock, they’re just nice pens to use on a daily basis.
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