[jplarson]

Been sick /w the flu this weekend but very happy to get this return! I'm betting there's a resident forum member here who also think this is the coolest possible TTM return I've ever gotten . Prominent Figures is 2678/5084.

[savagenate]

Oh dang! Someone will be green with envy! lol

[jplarson]

Been a wild ride since my last update. Got some TTMs back plus quite possibly my favorite Finest (okay, second favorite) card in my collection.






The triple auto is 02/10 and will be proudly displayed under my computer monitor until further notice.

[savagenate]

Wow, congrats! Nice returns and a garbage...I mean beautiful, bears triple! :p

[jplarson]

Wow, congrats! Nice returns and... I mean beautiful, bears triple! :p

FIFY !

Here's some more TTM goodness. I'm hoping to send out one of the Dunn/Alstott cards to Mike in hopes of getting my first TTM dual signature card.

[savagenate]

The dual signature would be awesome!

[jplarson]

The dual signature would be awesome!

Boy do I have a mailday!

Here's some of the recent Finest goodness:







and now for the TTM action!














aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddd....................




































OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!














as always thanks for looking

[savagenate]

That dual is awesome! Congrats on the add man!

[jplarson]

Some more Finest with a story!




Gather 'round the fire younguns. My first pack of Topps Finest came in 1996. The card design and printing technology as explosive in my mind as hologram cards without the surface sensitivity. I dropped out of football for a bit to pursue the end of the Chicago Bulls era and then reengaged with baseball during the '98 home run race.

1999 I moved back to Chicago after a one year stint living with some extended family and I was picking up with old friends again and turning my interest to football, after having played my first year of high school ball in '98. I can remember helping my mom run our garage sale and whenever I was able to sell off some cards or other childhood stuff, I'd jump on my bike and ride out to my "local" card shop to buy packs of 1999 Finest. I was enamored with the set design and with a draft featuring 5 rookie QBs in the first round! Refractors that were very "refractory", hard to chase parallels I never pulled, and serial numbered inserts

Life events, being a broke college student, being a broke entrant into the workforce with college debt, I have no extra funds for the hobby. But I could afford some small stuff, and October 2008 I completed the 1999 Finest Refractor set. At that point I wanted to pursue the master set but I couldn't afford the high end cards so I settled for easy pickings on the insert sets. Around December 2011 I had 60 Gold Refractors but decided that I would focus on finishing off the 2000 Playoff Absolute Leather and Laces set which I did in 2015 (see sig for gallery).

Along the way I'd still pick up Gold Refractors that I needed, almost exclusively the common ones. I got lucky on a couple box breaks to pull some like Emmitt Smith. One day in the late 00's I saw a Derrick Thomas card sitting placidly on ebay. I figured, cool, another unlisted star I could add. But bidding went well beyond the $10-20 mark I usually saw for commons. Soared beyond the $30 book value. It landed somewhere around the $60+ dollar range. Doing some research I learned that there were not a few hardcore DT collectors out there. A set builder had to compete with player collector's - a battle I often lose.

During the next 10 years I see 2 more Derrick Thomas cards come and go, all going for crazy high prices. I start to fear that DT will be the last card I get for the set and that some extreme DT collector is trying to make a run on acquiring ALL the 1999 Finest Gold Refractors. Future plans like buying more extravagant DT cards I could trade for the refractor float through my head at various times.

Late one idle evening a few weeks ago I check my ebay feed and what's this? A 1999 Finest Gold Refractor Derrick Thomas? I check it more closely. It's not one of the backdoor refractors that lacks the serial number or die cutting. ITS THE REAL DEAL! What's more, there's a BIN on it.

Derrick Thomas Gold Refractor acquired! I'm now at 126/175 for the entire set and with DT in hand, I feel like it's inevitable that I complete the set. The Master set may well be out of my reach with some insanely (for the era) low serial numbered cards but the Gold Refractors, I think I can get there.

Thanks for staying a while and reading. Having the Thomas in my collection is truly a watershed moment for me

1999 Finest Master Set progress

[savagenate]

Congrats on the add! Always feels good to add one of those cards you never thought would be possible to own!