Friday, October 22, 2010

Auto Collection: Billingsley by the Letters

I love the concept of these letterman autograph patch cards. Basically, they are non-game used letter patches that are signed and placed in a super thick card. Every letter in the players name is used creating a great set if you can track them all down. Above and below is my Chad Billingsley 2006 Upper Deck SP "By the Letters" autographed card.

My early attempt at building a complete set of these Billingsley auto-cards failed miserably. I got just this one card and never got close to getting another one on eBay. I kept getting outbid. In fact, (and this is entirely true) before the days when you could see the complete name of those who you were bidding against, I was continually getting beat out by a bidder who used the name ChadBillingsley. (See his profile on eBay here)

Now, I don't know if it was just some guy who happened to share the same name or was actually the Dodger pitcher, but he was really getting on my nerves. I didn't feel aggravated because I couldn't complete the set (I'm fine with that), but I soon found that I couldn't get any auto cards of Billingsley. This eBay bidder wanted every Billingsley card out there.

So, this is my message to you Mr. Billingsley, or who ever you are, please stop and let some of us win a few.