Ummm...This Could Be A Problem

I was recently a very lucky collector/blogger and won a contest that Mario from Wax Heaven held in conjunction with Dave & Adam's Card World for $50 in baseball card goodness. I struggled with just what to get, but in the end I was won over by a box of Upper Deck Series 2. I went back and forth on the decision, new vs. old, a base set vs. something with shiny cards, and after some thought I figured Upper Deck was the way to go. I like the basic design, although it doesn't overwhelm me and I was happy to get a good number of cards. Intriguing, but not really a factor in the decision was the mythical hot box.

I had read on many a blog about the possibility of a hot box and I knew that a buyback on top meant no hot box. Sure enough, there was no hot box for me, instead I had a buyback. A minor disappointment until you realize that you wouldn't be all that excited with 6 USA baseball jersey cards and a few lukewarm middle reliever autographs. I decided to hold off on the buyback until the very end, not expecting much to come of it. I've seen some less than sterling pulls come from these buybacks, but I wasn't expecting much.

As I opened it up I was startled at how thin the card was. This was followed by confusion as I noticed that the back of the card was not the back of a typical baseball card. Arggh! Redemption. OK, fine. I was instantly perked up by the set the card was coming from, 2004 SP Legendary Cuts. Having never been the owner of a cut autograph, or even holding one in my hand, I was quite excited to put in the code and do some research on the card.

This is where the plot thickens. I was indeed putting in a code for a cut autograph, but something about the status of the redemption was nagging at me. Take a quick peek:


2004 SP Legendary Cuts Joe Wood.

Smoky Joe Wood

Reading about Joe Wood was pretty fascinating and instantly got me anxious about eventually receiving this card. But let's go back to the redemption status from Upper Deck.

Soon? Ummm, Smoky Joe Wood was apparently a great basketball player, but I'm pretty sure he won't be rising from the dead to sign this card.
Joe Wood October 25, 1889 - July 27, 1985.

Gotta love this hobby.

Go Halos!