One of the holy grail baseball autographs has to be Christy Mathewson and it's an achievement for any auction house to have a Mathewson signature offered. Memory Lane has three in its Dec. 8 auction, which should go live any day now.

First, Mathewson’s 1900 signed rookie contract (player’s copy) will start at $25,000. The four-page document is signed on the third page and is authenticated by PSA/DNA.

Next, there are two items that have been held privately by the family of Ernst K. Powell for 83 years and haven’t been available to the hobby previously. First, there is a typed, Mathewson-signed letter on Boston National League Baseball Company letterhead, dated Jan. 26, 1924. The letter is writtten to a new player (Padgett), is PSA/DNA authenticated and has a minimum bid of $10,000.

Finally, there’s a Mathewson-signed player contract for Padgett and a training camp reporting notice, which is signed by Edwin L. Riley, Mathewson’s secretary. This item also carries a minimum bid of $10,000.

Pretty cool stuff and about as rare as they come. Also, Vintage Authentics ends this week. They’ve got a 1888 Cap Anson game-used bat that is unbelievable. It has great documentation and received the coveted A10* from MEARS, markings its historical significance. It’s already up to $60,500 in bidding and could go quite a bit higher.

So this was supposed to be the best NBA Draft Class in years? Definitely the best since 2003-04 and maybe the best since 1996-97, but it's off to a slow start. Don't worry, most still think this class is loaded and I agree, but it's tough to ignore how little of an impact they've had so far.

First, Greg Oden is out for the year, which puts a damper on the whole thing. Oden might not have been great as a rookie, but he's have enough highlight film blocks to generate a buzz and another year of experience would have helped him.

Kevin Durant is doing his thing in Seattle. He's averaging 22 ppg and five rebounds, but shooting only 41 percent for the winless Sonics. You can see Durant adjust as he goes though there's little doubt he's going to be special.

However, beyond Durant, there's only one rookie even averaging double figures and that's Daequan Cook, who's only played two games during garbage time and averaged 10.5 ppg. He hasn't even played in the close games so realistically, he shouldn't be counted.

If you ignore Cook's two games, Jianlian Yi is second among rookies in scoring, with 9.8 ppg. He's got a great offensive game and is definitely a bright spot. Al Horford won the starting center job in Atlanta an is averaging 7 ppg. Acie Law also earned the starting job a couple games into the season and is getting 8 ppg. Finally, Jeff Green has shown some flashes in Seattle also and is currently getting 7 ppg.

The disturbing part is that Corey Brewer and Mike Conley are barely playing. Brewer didn't crack the starting lineup on the young T-Wolves. Conley is the third string point guard on Memphis, behind Damon Stoudamire and Kyle Lowry. Is it time to worry? No. Both will be solid NBA players and will probably benefit from being brought along slowly.

There are plenty of other talented players from the 2007 Draft that will make impacts down the road too. Al Thornton hasn't gone on a scoring binge yet. Thaddeus Young, Nick Young, Javaris Crittenton, Sean Williams, Joakim Noah, Brandan Wright, Julian Wright and others will have their time in the sun. It's just taking a little longer than the instant impact most people anticipated. My guess is that as each month passes by, several more players will be making an impact and basketball cards will continue to heat up. By March, the 2007-08 basketball card outlook will be very positive.

Be on the lookout for an eBay scammer selling 1952 Topps Christmas Rack Packs. The seller's username is i-sold-it.wa and he recently got $666.99 for the rack pack, with 18 bids. He's got all of typical "i'm running a scam" type things like user id's kept private, but the real proof that this is not legit is his buying history. He's recently purchased 15 1952 Topps singles in mid-grade, raw conditions with prices ranging from $5.50 to $31. He also teases in the title and description that there could be a Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays in there. My guess is he's buying these singles and re-sealing the rack pack to scam people. I looked to see if it was being talked about on any of the forums I frequent and sure enough: PSA message board thread.

And now he's got 25 more auctions running that end in four days so plenty more people will get ripped off before he's done?

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While looking at that thread on the forums, I also found this thread about another scam running. This one deals with 1979-80 Topps Hockey wax packs. The scammer has purchased a roll of 60 wrappers from bbcexchange and plenty more wrappers on eBay and is now selling them as unopened packs. The thread raises a great question: When are people just going to give up buying unopened material that aren't graded?

I know typos occur. No matter how many times you proofread something, they are going to slip through on occasion, but how does this eBay auction happen?

Here's the title:

DAM MARINO AND BRET FAVRE SIGNED FOOTBALL TD RECORDS

Here's the description:

HERE IS A GREAT ITEM. DAN MARINO AND BRET FAVRE ON THE SAME FOOTBALL. BOTH ARE THE TOP 2 REORD HOLDERS FOR TD PASSES

ALL PAYMENTS MADE WITHIN 48 HOURS OF AUCTIONS END

COMES WITH HOLOGRAM COA FROM RI-SPORTS

ANY QUESTIONS EMAIL ME

PAUL18391@COX.NET

First of all, if you have such a cherished item as a dual-signed football from arguably the two greats quarterbacks of all-time and have been saving it for this special occasion to sell when Favre broke the record, wouldn't you at least know how to spell one of their names? Second, the seller's username is ri-sports, which is also where the COA comes from. Finally, this all caps stuff bothers me.

Normally, with this poorly written of an auction, I would guarantee it's fake, but the seller actually has 465 feedbacks with a 100% rating so it at least raises the possibility that the signatures are real (of course, we all seen that tons of positives don't mean the seller is legit with my frequent blogs about the scams of bigboydsportscards3). I'm also not an expert on the signatures (unlike that Star Co. cards bigboyd is peddling to the unknowing public). Leave that to James Spence, PSA/DNA or Global. But how can you not question an auction where the seller offers a Dam Marino and Bret Favre signed ball?

I was in need of a mental break and playing on the PSA message boards and found this post about a grading company called GRA. All of the seller's (gradedrookies) cards are graded by this mystery company and meant to trick people into buying a card they think is legitimately graded and worth big money, but it actually just a poor condition card in a screwdown with a fake lable.

Here's his description: "Winning bidder receives this beautiful investment-quality card which has been graded GEM 10 by Graded Rookies Authenticated (GRA). Along with Beckett and PSA, GRA has established itself as an industry leader in the grading of premium quality sportscards. WHY BUY FROM US? Six simple reasons. QUALITY -- featured by Beckett in the August 2001 Baseball Card Monthly, GRA GEM 10 cards are the best of the best, continually command some of the highest premiums in the hobby, and offer tremendous investment potental. SELECTION -- with over 2000 different cards to choose from, we offer the largest inventory of high-grade sportscards anywhere. You willl find cards here that you won't see anywhere else. PRICE -- we hold the exclusive on-line distribution rights for GRA GEM 10 cards, which means that you will not find these cards sold for less anywhere on the net. TRUST -- we are an eBay Power Seller with a rating over 3300 and near perfect feedback. CUSTOMER SERVICE -- as mail-order specialists, we respond promptly to all e-mails and ship within two business days of receiving payment. THE GRA GUARANTEE -- in the unlikely event that you are not fully satisified with your purchase, simply return it to us within seven days and we will refund your purchase price, no questions asked."

Look at the upper right corner on the Koufax or the centering on the Berra card. Nice. It makes me think of the movie "Tommy Boy" when Chris Farley is trying to sell that old guy brake pads and the guy doesn't like the fact that the guarantee is not on the box. If you've seen it, and I don't think I've ever met anyone who hasn't, you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, these cards don't even look like they'd be assured of a 5 or 6. And I'd love to get my hands on this Beckett Baseball Aug. 2001 issue that "features" this company.

In unrelated news, I just finished working on a CD project where we put everything 1981-present from the 2008 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards onto one CD. It'll be offered for sale in the next month or so. It's fully searchable and has most of the sets linked from the chronological index right to the page so it's very easy to find your way around. I'll have more details on it once production is finished and it's offered for sale.

Just four weeks in, you can already spot certain rookies that appear to belong in the league and others that seem like they are lost. Some are predictable, others are surprises. Here are several observations.

The big name running backs have both performed. Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch are both for real. The Vikings need to get Peterson on the field more because it's clear he's a superstar already. He runs hard and fast and has already gained 383 yards. Lynch isn't far behind with 307 yards. Both rookie backs appear to be franchise backs at this point. Nobody else is even close, with undrafted Selvin Young third in rookie rushing with 138 yards.

The rookie receiver studs aren't exactly who you expected at this point. Sure, Calvin Johnson has 189 yards in three games (he missed Week 4 with a back injury) and two touchdowns. And we could have predicted Dwayne Bowe would be solid, but not spectacular like he is so far. Bowe has 299 yards and three TDs already. The surprise of the class has been James Jones, a third-round pick from San Jose State that has 232 yards already in the Packers offense and looks like he's played for years. Other top picks have struggled, including Ted Ginn, who the Dolphins don't even put on the field, Robert Meachem and Craig Davis.

We'll have to wait a while to see the rookie quarterbacks. JaMarcus Russell signed very late, which means he probably won't even get on the field this year. Brady Quinn also signed late, but could see the field shortly. The only guys that have even thrown a pass are Trent Edwards and Kevin Kolb, with Edwards starting for the injured J.P. Losman and winning his first start and throwing for 331 yards.

For teams, there's no bigger surprise than the Packers at 4-0. Dallas, New England and Indy are also undefeated, but that's not a shock to anyone. San Diego already losing more games this season than they did all of last season would blow any Vegas odds, while everyone's sleeper, St. Louis, can't seem to find any offense or stop anyone.

I just got boxes of 2007-08 Topps and Fleer Ultra at my desk. When I first saw them, i thought the year of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant is here, but it's just so depressing now that Oden is out for the season with microfracture surgery. Sure, there are still plenty of reasons to collect him, Durant, and plenty more players from this draft, but i was looking forward to seeing him in the NBA.

First, I was looking forward to seeing the Blazers as a team and that hasn't happened in a long time. LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy joining forces with Oden and some other solid, young players was exciting. We could all watch them struggle early and get better as the season continued. We could see two of the best young big men in the league compliment each other. Now, we'll get to see them struggle another year, but without Oden. The bright side is that they'll probably wind up in the lottery (ok, definitely) and get another high draft pick to add for 2008-09. Roy and Aldridge will also get another year under their belts before they face playoff pressure and added scrutiny. But I wanted to watch Oden this year.

It will also be a great time to wait for his cards to soften up plenty and then pick some of the up. It presents a great opportunity to build a decent Oden collection for way less than they would have had to pay if he were playing. This class is still so loaded it’s tough not to be excited about it. You’ve got to be excited about Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, Al Horford, Jeff Green, Corey Brewer, Acie Law, Joakim Noah, Thaddeus Young, Brandan Wright and maybe even Yi (maybe not).

Portlant area dealers are weeping uncontrollably also about the loss of Oden:

“It will certainly have an effect on basketball sales the rest of the year. Here the impact won’t be so much among serous collectors, but more the non-die-hard collectors. Obviously, with Oden as driving force and him not playing, it’s not going to sell among the more marginal collectors.”