Featured autograph - Drew Brees

I was able to get Brees to sign this 2006 Upper Deck Rookie Debut card years ago and dug it out to be slabbed - a good thing is that the trading card lists and pictures [wish it was a game action image] Brees with a New Orleans Saints since he has been the face of that franchise for 11 seasons.

Card shop finds - a pair of quarterbacks

Drew Brees is sort of the gold standard in my book as far as active NFL quarterbacks are concerned - he seems like an accessible, down to earth superstar who is a pro all the way.

Maybe it's the idea that he doesn't necessarily tower over people or maybe the commercials he's been in that shows him mostly as a regular guy and father - maybe it's because of a 'cool story bro' moment I had with him at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe back in 2006.

I was getting him to sign a card inside my autograph book - after signing my card, he took an extra moment to look at my other cards and I thought it was a little odd for whatever reason, he was interested in looking at the Vince Coleman card I had affixed on there.

As far as Russell Wilson, I've finally found one, lousy common card of his in the quarter box - I don't have an NFL fantasy team but for whatever reason, I randomly end up checking NFL box scores on ESPN to see how certain players like Wilson have performed.

He's become a little more established in his second season - but he is still a tiny guy having to scrap through and prove himself from week to week.

Meanderings generated from quarter box digs

At a card shop, I maybe picking up scrap cards at some sort of premium, so the penny pincher I seem to be - I always cap my purchases up to a certain amount.

At times, I feel like I'm going to be back at the same place soon enough - poring over the same cards, making another redundant, small purchase [when perhaps I can spend $20 or so on cheapo cards and not come back to the card shop for at least a couple of months].

I wasn't looking for anything specific when I dug out 12 cards from the quarter boxes - I feel like the MLB season is creeping closer towards the end and I'm not sure if I should be looking for cards depth of random MLB players I might not be seeing until next year [though I'll have to do it at some point between now and next season].

2013 Topps Jordy Mercer #421
2013 Topps Alfredo Marte #422
2013 Topps Brian Roberts #515 - Bryce Harper cameo/bonus baby
2013 Topps Hector Santiago #620

2013 Topps Austin Jackson #642 - retro uniform
2013 Topps Miguel Cabrera #374 - Emerald parallel
2013 Topps Heritage Grant Balfour

Deviating from the norm I picked up some oddball [as in I don't collect non-baseball] cards just for giggles - maybe a smarter collector can make sense with these cards but for now, they are impulsively mine.

2013 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Tim Tebow #37
2013 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Roman Gabriel #67

2013 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Abraham Lincoln #108
2013 Topps Finest football J.J. Watt #27 - refractor parallel

2013 Topps Finest football Drew Brees #70 - refractor parallel