Call Me Ishmael

I don't have very much to say that's particularly witty, punny, funny, or anything of the like.  But I just landed one of my whales.  Everybody knows I have a soft spot for early 2000's and late 90's cards.  Especially the ones I would drool over in the pages of Beckett as a kid.  And this guy was definitely right near the top of that list.

It's been a card I have wanted for years.  When I joined ebay in 2005, I remember searching for them religiously.  But copies consistently sold in the $15-20 range.  They've dropped since then, quite significantly really.  But every time I saw a copy pop up on ebay, it either was priced higher than the card's value today or the signature had darkened significantly.

But I had a copy in my watch list last week, and was amazed when it didn't go up past the initial bids.  I landed it for a cool $3.25 shipped.  Better yet, when the card arrived today the signature is a bold, bright blue that looks like it could be pack fresh as if it was just pulled.  Days like this, I love collecting.