Friday, June 29, 2018

You Gotta Say No Every Once in a While!



     There is a Herschel Walker card on EBay right now.   It's an autographed card that I don't have in my collection.  There is no image of it on the TCDB.  I would sure like to bid on it.

      But instead, I just deleted it from my watch list.   Someone bid on it immediately and the price has skyrocketed, with four days to go.

     Now I have probably paid more for a single card, than what the final price will turn out to be, and it would be easy for me to put in a real high bid, just to increase my chances of getting the card, but I'm not,  and I feel good about that.

      I'm certainly not saying that this card is not worth the final bid, or anything negative about the seller, from whom I've purchased cards before, but this time, I'm walking away.

       It's easy to go hog wild in any area of collecting.   Sometimes you have to take a breath, and think if you really want to go ahead with a purchase.  In this instance, I'll hold off.

          Happy Collecting!

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

2004 Playoff Honors Alma Mater Materials #AM-35 Herschel Walker/Shaun Alexander

   


A bit of a back story on this one.  As followers of this blog know, I am trying to fill in as many blank spaces for Herschel cards on the Trading Card Data Base as I can.

This particular card was missing from the site for a long time. I check in from time to time, to see if any new spaces for cards show up.  Another member beat me to it as far as uploading a scan of the front of this card,  but he didn't upload the back.

I didn't have this card in my collection,  so when one became available, I jumped on it.  I uploaded a scan of the reverse to the TCDB, and show both front and back here.

The card features Herschel in his Georgia uniform, along with Alabama's Shaun Alexander, and features a game worn jersey swatch from each player.  The other example of 2004 Alma Mater Materials shows Walker by himself, and also comes with a jersey swatch.

The card is serial numbered to 100, with this example being #2.

Thursday, June 21, 2018

2018 Panini Elite Draft Picks Aspirations Blue #50

     Things have been a little quiet lately at the Herschel Hoard, but I did manage to pick up this card:

   


This is the Aspirations Blue version in the 2018 Panini Elite Draft Picks series.  It took awhile for this one to become available to me, and now, I lack only the blue and red foil cards from this set; along with the teal 1 of 1's, and the printing plate 1 of 1's.
This card is serial numbered to 25, with this example being #12.

Saturday, June 9, 2018

2002 Donruss Gridiron Kings Sample #160

   


After the base card in the 2002 Donruss Gridiron Kings set, there are eight more inserts or parallels to be had.  With the acquisition of this sample card, which can be identified by the word sample on the reverse, I lack only the samples gold card, and the Chicago collection card.

Welcome card #683, to the Herschel Hoard.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Ticket From Herschel's Pro Football Single Season Rushing Record Game

   


Above is a nice piece of memorabilia, which I am pleased to add to the Herschel Hoard.  This is a full ticket, from the June 10th, 1985 New Jersey Generals vs Jacksonville Bulls USFL game.  In this game, Herschel Walker set a new single season, professional football rushing record, when he surpassed Eric Dickerson's previous mark of 2,105 yards.

Walker rushed for 162 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns.  At the completion of the game, which was the General's 16th, Herschel season total was 2,129.  Dickerson's NFL mark also came in 16 games.  Herschel's final total yardage for the 1985 season was 2,411 yards.

Saturday, June 2, 2018

The Single Player Collector's Dilemma

     Readers of this blog know that my collection is tied in closely with the Herschel Walker page at the Trading Card Data Base.  I've uploaded 682 out of a currently possible 937 cards. Of course, that 937 number can go up, as new sets are made that include Herschel; and occasionally, a set that has been around a long time, but hasn't been added to the database, pops up.

    Such was the case with a new blank space for a 1986 Sports Illustrated Poster Test Sticker #4286, that showed up recently.

     The problem for single player collector's, is that once your collection is past the beginning stages, it's fairly easy to buy a card you already own.  The Sports Illustrated sticker sounded familiar and a quick check of ebay showed the Herschel card in question, albeit graded, and for a pricey $200.

    I decided to pull out my original Herschel card binder, and go through it again.  I have the cards in chronological order, for the most part, but some odd shaped, and over sized cards are in the back.

     Lo and behold, I came across the test sticker in question, already in my possession.

   

The back of the card is blank.  Now I doubt that I'd pony up $200 for this card, graded or not, but the message is, when you see a potential  need for your collection, take a minute and make sure you're not buying something you don't already own.

I should note that many collectors don't mind, and actually seek out duplicates, but I have enough trouble trying to keep my one of's straight.