A Trade With Myself?

2 or 3 weeks ago you may recall a post about my contemplations over selling some decent cards that I didn't much care for in order to raise enough capital for a hobby box or 2. Well... I did end up selling 2 certified autographs of non-baseball or football subjects, and ended up with a decent chunk of change, but not really enough to buy a box of anything decent. Since my payments were all via PayPal, and there's no way in hell those people are ever getting my banking information (it's scary enough they know my credit card info), the decision to just spend the money on cards was pretty easy, since it wasn't "real" money anyway.

Why is this post titled "At Trade With Myself? Because 2 autos sold netted me 2 new autos for my collection, so it is almost like I just traded them for each other. No, not really? Fine. I was just trying to be clever.

2004 Fleer E-X #ST-CR Cal Ripken Signings of the Times jersey/autograph

This first card officially makes me an Orioles collector. I have wanted a Cal Ripken Jr. autograph for years, but they're generally too rich for my wallet. This card was purchased via private sale, from a seller who happened to pull 9 of them during his case break. The price was right, as was the timing, and I could not be any happier with this card.

2008 TriStar Signa Cuts Bobby Thomson cut autograph

Believe it or not, there was enough left after acquiring Cal to also pick up this card? Bobby hit the "Shot Heard Round the World", it says so right there on this card. I'm a fan of the Staten Island Scot for a couple of reasons; not only am I part Scottish, but my mother and grandparents (the Scottish side) are also from Staten Island, NY. Bobby did play for the O's during his twilight years, but this appears to have been cut from a card of his Giants days. Does anybody know exactly which card this is? I can't believe how ridiculously cheaply these Signa Cut autos can be had. They certainly aren't the nicest looking cards out there, but if you want to pick up a cut, they can be found for $10 and under on eBay (auction format).

Thank you for tolerating me showing off my collection. A Cal Ripken autograph is something far too beautiful not to share with the world, so it had to be done.