I think we've all been bitten, at one time or another, in one form or another. Maybe someone on a forum didn't send their end of a deal. You win an auction at a steal of a price and are told by the seller that his/her dog ate the card. You reach a deal on a price with someone, only to find out after the agreement was made someone swooped in, offered more and the seller couldn't say no. You receive a yellow bubble mailer full of decoys or base cards.

It sucks. You pursue whatever avenues of satisfaction you can, and you move on. Don't dwell on it, but also don't have a short memory.

Not quite two years ago, my home at the time was burglarized. Copper stolen, along with other items. But what irked me the most is they stole the contents of a USPS Priority Mail small flat rate box left outside the front door of the home.

They were, of course, Chris Douglas-Roberts cards. Thirty-four of them. It was the last in a series of deals with a collector whose CDR collection I had incrementally purchased over more than a year.

I dodged a bullet, in a way. All of them were duplicates - even the /3. My checklist did not maintain any gaps due to the theft.

It still sucked though. 

On multiple forums, I posted threads with the cards' information. Thankfully, 26 of the cards are serial-numbered. Every time I see one of the versions pop up on eBay or elsewhere, I head back for one of those forum posts, check the serial numbers, realize they don't match, go "hmmph," and usually bid.

I have no high hopes that any of these cards will surface. But I'll be ready if they do. I have a long memory.

The List of 34 Stolen Chris Douglas-Roberts cards:

Three 2008/09 UD Black Auto/Patch - 07/15, 08/15, 12/15 
Two 2008/09 Topps Rookie Photo Shoot Red Ink autos 
2008/09 UD Black Joey Dorsey/CDR Dual Auto 02/10 
2008/09 UD Lineage Auto 
Two 2008/09 Ultimate Collection Prototypical Portraits Autos – 11/25, 23/25 
2008/09 Co-Signers Joey Dorsey/CDR Dual Auto 1/3 
Two 2008/09 Ultimate Signatures - 22/25, 07/25 
Two 2008/09 UD Premier RC base 08/99, 16/99 
2008/09 Ultimate Futures Auto Relic 16/25 
Two 2008/09 Bowman Chrome Blue Border 01/99, 77/99 
2008/09 UD Premier Auto 08/15 
2008/09 Topps Chrome RC gold refractor 12/50 
Two 2008/09 Threads Signatures Threads Auto/Patch - 07/40, 35/40 
2008/09 Topps Chrome x-fractor 208/288 
2008/09 SPX Auto/Patch 24/25 
2008/09 UD Lineage Standouts RC 
2008/09 Hardwood Auto Relic 01/25 
2008/09 Hot Prospects Draft Day Postmarks Auto 32/50 
2008/09 Hot Prospects RC Auto Red 12/25 
2008/09 Hot Prospects RC Auto 102/199 
2008/09 Hot Prospects Letterman Auto "N," Auto "E," Auto "T," Auto "S" 
Two 2008/09 Co-Signers Autos - 15/25, 25/25

You can view scans in my Photobucket by clicking here.

To state the obvious, any help in finding one, some or all of these would be graciously appreciated. 
 
We all have our little quirks, or "things," right? Some of us have to flip a light switch six times before we enter or leave a room. Others cannot have one thing out of place in the fridge before the door closes.

Mine is like this: Certain CDR cards, to me, are like Pringles. 

I can't tell you how many of his Exquisite RPAs /225 I have, but it's probably around 12. I have maybe seven (with one incoming) of his Exquisite Limited Logos /25. I only know I have six CDR 08-09 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor Autos /25 because the sixth arrived over the weekend. And don't get me started on his 08-09 UD Black /50 and /15. 

If it's an on-card auto, I want multiples. If it's a patch and I have six of them already, I'll absolutely take a seventh, eighth, etc. If it's /50 or less, I'm probably going to bite.

And I can't, for the life of me, figure out why this is the case. I'm not going to flip them for a big profit - on occasion I've been known to help out other CDR or Memphis collectors, sometimes a set builder or two. But typically, once a CDR card hits my collection it's headed nowhere else. 

In the back of my mind, I think it would be awesome to acquire the entire print run of a card. I also know as cool as it would be, it's just as unlikely. But that doesn't stop me from trying. I have three of a /5 (two different), two of a /3, five of a /15, 15 or so of a /50. 

I know some people who only collect certain types of cards of their player. Or some who only want one of each printing plate, rather than hoping to get all four for the set. I can't process that - and those people probably have trouble processing my ravenous CDR collecting practices. 

I have to admit, it's pretty cool how varied the hobby can be, depending on the collector.
 
When the player you collect hasn't had cards produced since the 2010-2011 season, it can be a blessing and a curse.

Blessing - fewer new releases to track.
Curse - fewer new releases from which to acquire cards.

This has a few direct results:
1. I get a little flare of OCD and start acquiring duplicates of cards I like a lot - particularly patches and on-card autos, very low numbered parallels, and the like.
2. I get really excited to add new cards and fill in a space on the wantlist.

In support of #2, I present:


The Murad Leather 1/1 completes the rainbow for me of that set (minus printing plate, though I am close on those as well). I'll have them altogether in the gallery area soon. I missed out on this card the only other time it was available, about three years ago, when it went into the collection of someone who was attempting to build the Murad Leather 1/1 set. 

The RC auto printing plate from Topps Tip-Off, well, this is where I veer off the path taken by a lot of player collectors. I love printing plates - signed, unsigned, rookie year or not. CDR doesn't have many cards, in the grand scheme of things. His rookie year carries the most, obviously, and he was even left out of a number of those 08-09 sets. So, when something like this RC auto plate comes up, I pounce (specifically, in this case, I negotiate, I wait, I negotiate, then I pounce). 

I'm looking forward to giving both these cards very good new homes to start off 2013.