eBay Wins III: You Sing the Hits

I was a freshman in college when the world learned that Milli Vanilli did not actually sing their own songs on their album.  The big reveal (from a Latino MTV show) came live on stage when their CD skipped in mid-song:

The fact that this ruined their careers back in 1990 must come as a shock to people who are fans of people like 50 Cent, Shakira, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, etc....well, just watch the video:

Anyway, I was in college in 1990 and lived down the street from a large Tower Records store.  Remember record stores?  They had a large section of karaoke tapes that would give you the backing vocals and music and you could sing songs from your favorite artist.  We found this tape and bought it -- after all, since Milli Vanilli didn't sing those songs, someone should.

Now, of course, you just go to YouTube and find this:

That's a very long introduction to get to my eBay buys that were higher end hits, and thank you for getting this far and suffering through this tortured attempt at being clever.  Maybe it brought back some good memories for you though.

All that said, here's the really good stuff from eBay in the past month or so:

1.  2001 Fleer EX Wall of Fame Game Used Stadium Wall Relic Robin Yount

This purports to be part of the outfield wall from the game in which Robin Yount had his 3000th hit in September of 1992.  That's possible, I suppose, since Milwaukee County Stadium was torn down after the 2000 season and, knowing cheap bastard Bud Selig, he probably did not replace the outfield wall during that entire time if he could help it.

I got it for $4.26 and, as far as I know, none of my money from the secondary market goes to that penurious SOB who ran the Brewers into the ground to prove the point that small market teams couldn't compete. Bud was right, you know -- small market teams who have idiots in the front office cannot compete.

2.  2007 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts Triple Game Used Jersey LM-RY1 Serial Number 36/99

This card accompanied the Dyn-O-Mite 1978 cards from a couple of days ago from the Robin Yount collector whom I now stalk on eBay.  I got everything from him shipped for $5 combined, so let's call this one an even $13.50 price tag -- more than I would have liked, but it's not like I'm seeing these up for sale that often.

3.  2007 Sweet Spot Classic Robin Yount Ball Leather Signature 74/75

My scan of this didn't turn out very well, so let's go with the photo from the auction.  I like this card and got it cheaper than the similar card that WFBookman put up in the Yount auction that followed a couple of weeks after this one.  That may or may not have been because I bid up the second one.  Okay, it was.

Let's do two more Yount wins, and then move on.

4.  1990 Star blank back Promo card

This was a promo for the set that Star put out in 1990 to celebrate the MVP winners from the previous year -- Robin Yount and Kevin Mitchell.  Now, all I need are the actual Yount cards from that set...

5.  1977 O-Pee-Chee Robin Yount

I have been chasing a lot of O-Pee-Chee Brewers stuff lately -- especially Yount OPC.  I love the fact that they are printed on bright, white stock, which makes the yellow stripes on Yount's adidas spikes really pop off the card so much better than it does on the gray cardboard Topps cards.  To be fair, the OPC are a bit frailer feeling than the Topps so finding them in good condition can be tough.

6.  I wish I Had Earned this Certificate

Those who can, do.  Those who can't, well, they buy other people's experiences on eBay.  On the date that Robin Yount got his 3000th major league hit, I can tell you that I had just finished with my collegiate marching band practice about an hour earlier than the game started.

I was living in a building on campus at college called Morgan -- everyone at my school lived on campus unless they obtained special permission to live off campus.  It was the big, bad city of Nashville, after all, so you wouldn't want mommy's and daddy's precious little girl getting accosted in the streets by some wannabe country singer or something.

Anyway, since I was back at school, there was no way that I could have been in Milwaukee to see this game.  But, at least I got a certificate from someone who was there.

THE NON-YOUNT STUFF

2014 Topps Museum Collection Canvas Collection Original of Ryan Braun

A couple of weeks ago, Colbey from Cardboard Collections interviewed James-Michael Smith a/k/a The Discipline Dojo about JM's work as a sketch artist for Topps's Museum Collection.  As part of the compensation paid for the sketch work, Topps gave JM a few sketch cards back.  Since he's not a baseball fan, he put them up on eBay.

Now, one of his sketches was of Ryan Braun.  Not only was the sketch of a Brewer, but, as it turns out, J.M. Smith is a fellow Georgia Bulldog -- having studied art at UGA.  He's a really good artist, definitely -- check out his Facebook page to see some of his work.

So, I had to buy that Braun card.  Thankfully, I got it for $61, which may be the cheapest of the cards that JM sold.

Here it is:

Did I mention it is a One of One signed by the artist?  It's a one-of-one signed by the artist.

A complete 1975/1976 set of SSPC Baseball Cards

This one kind of surprised me for the lack of interest in the set.  It may have had to do with the fact that the seller mistakenly called the set "SPPC" instead of SSPC, so all the normal searches for it might not have picked it up.  His mistake may have been my gain, I suppose -- I got a set which, other than the cards being slightly curved, has as sharp of corners as any 2014 Topps card straight out of the pack and at a cost of about $37.50 shipped.  I know Beckett would say that's about right, but this set is just awesome.  A quick grab of cards gave me these four gems:

George Brett appearing as if he had just been chased to get the photo taken.

The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky

Gary Carter is ready for his closeup.

Woody Fryman has joined the grounds crew.

In any case, whether that's a good price, bad price, or the right price, this set rocks.

Ryan Braun Justifiable Preview Magenta Printing Plate

It's my first printing plate.  So, I'm glad that Beckett certified this one.

2013 Topps Triple Threads Jean Segura Gold Jersey Patch Autographed, serial Number 9 of 9.

A sticker autograph is a downer to a lot of people.  I get that.  Sure, Topps might have about 5000 of those babies waiting in a filing cabinet somewhere to affix to a Jean Segura card in 2017.  I'm not sure I care.  I like this card, and considering it is #9 of 9 -- and that Segura wears #9, after all -- I'm a big fan of this purchase at a penny under $30.  It's a lot of money for someone who allows himself to be the tee for Ryan Braun's batting practice, but it's a great card.

2014 Topps Museum Collection Momentous Materials Jean Segura Serial Numbered 11/35

I would have rather gotten this when I cracked my Museum Collection box than the 3rd different serial numbered Chad Billingsley item I've gotten, but at least Billingsley will be on the way on Monday to a collector who will hug him and squeeze him and call him George.

Thanks for reading, George.