Heart Breaking Christmas Present!

The day after Christmas I received 2 packages in the mail - the first I will discuss here today is from Matt at Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius. I sent Matt a bunch of GIANT Diamond Kings which I due believe he enjoyed more than I thought he would because he sent me back a small, but very kickass package.

The first card is of a young Met ballplayer Eric Brown who played this past season with the Binghamton Mets - Now I had the pleasure to meet Eric this year and talk to him a bit and it was a real treat - down to earth kid who needs a haircut - like myself, but I'm not talented. unfortunately - I also had the displeasure of watching him blow almost every game he got into with us this year. hopefully he comes back this next year and I can get him to 1) sign this card for me! 2) give him some kind words and tell him to dominate the league in his second go around. This card is from 2008 Bowman Chrome and is numbered 378/599.

Next up is a duo of cards that I cannot believe Matt was Generous enough send to me. Here we have a 2007 Bowman Heritage Game used Carlos Beltran Bat and a 2008 Topps Carlos Beltran Bat card. I know that Carlos hasn't always lived up to his potential during his time with the Mets - but for all the time he is maddeningly inconsistent, he can also take the team on his back and carry us for weeks at a time. I feel strongly that his presence does indeed make us a much better team and I am glad to have him.

So thank you Matt very much - these cards are great and I am very happy to be able to add them to my collection.

Also - I gotta say that the book Matt's website is referencing in is really a great read and you should all check Dave Eggars out.

Mail Day - Christmas from Thoughts and Sox

Welcome back everyone - hope you had a great holiday - While I did not receive any cards from family - I did get some from some wonderful bloggers out there, and this first package comes from our buddy Adam over @ Thoughts and Sox.

Well, this was received a few days before the holiday, but I have been busy (as have most of us)
and am just getting around to putting the post together now. Adam included a handful of 2008 Topps Series 2 cards for me, helping to knock down my want list - still need about 20 or - so please if you have a stack of doubles - I have holes in my pages.



Here you see 2 of the cards, Brad Hawpe and Frank Catalanotto - 2 good players - not great - but both are guys who could certainly help your team - I fear that hawpe would regress to play like Catalanotto if he were not playing half his games in Coors Field.



Next up is a surprise that I was not expecting - but am totally in love with. This is a 2005 Fleer National Pastime card of Mike Piazza - The back reads "You have just received a Game-Worn jersey card. This card contains an authentic piece of a jersey worn by mike Piazza of the New York Mets". wow - that sounds a lot more official than a lot of the verbiage on the back of many of the Game Used cards we come across!






So thank you very much Adam - it is greatly appreciated - My Piazza collection is getting better and better each week it seems!

10 Questions from Dinged Corners

This is my response to questions posted over on the Dinged Corners to wrap up 2008. Before I got into my answers - I just wanted to write something up real quick about how much I do appreciate Patricia's blog. Yes, she does get dibs on all the David Wright cards that are out there and that's okay - Of course I love reading about the cards, but more so I love the stories and talk of Lucy - as someone who will be having their own child soon, and is currently having a mild freak out about what that means to my own personal time - it's nice to see how she has been able to share the passion she has with her children and vice versa. So Patricia, Lucy- Please keep up the great work. Onto the questions

1) If I didn't collect baseball cards, I would collect Music. - As of writing this post I have 14,570 songs on my I Tunes - I used to have more - but I have deleted a lot of window dressing from my collection - I used to be a completest, but know if a band just puts out a clunker of a record, I'm not going to keep it around just because I have their other 3 records. I don't have the time for mediocrity.

2) My baseball heroes include one you probably wouldn't know from my blog or comments, and that person is Frank Thomas - oh man - when I was a kid I was ALL ABOUT Frank Thomas - I had an airbrushed windbreaker with a picture of him swinging a bat in old Comiskey - oh man was it awesome (I also had a David Robinson one - he would be my all time sports hero not including baseball players). It was Frank Thomas that really got me to focus attention on Robin Ventura from when they were teammates - we all know that Robin ended up passing him for my all time favorite player.

3) Every New Years I resolve to do nothing to my collection - this is my first new year as a collector since I was 13. But, I'm probably going to have to slow my roll this year until I know whats happening - we will be moving soon and of course baby - can you tell I'm unsure how that is going to impact my hobby?

4) If I could spend one day with a person from baseball history, it would be George Brett - ever since I saw the George Brett Shits Himself video - I've really just wanted to have some beers with the dude.

and now Lucy's questions

5) What is your favorite kind of dog - yellow Labrador - I miss my puppy Dakota.

6) Who is your favorite baseball player - all time - Robin Ventura - currently - David Wright!

7) What is your favorite team - NEW YORK METS!

8) What is your favorite baseball movie - Sandlot. No question

9) What is your favorite baseball book - The Bad Guys Won - great rundown of the 86 team - they were a bunch of debaucherous bastards.

10) What is your favorite card - 1989 Topps Robin Ventura Rookie

I've been loving reading everyone's answers - I really like this blogtopia themed themed posts and hope to see more of them in the future.

A Unfortunate Associate With the Night Owl

First - read here

I, like our good friend the Night Owl - got not a single card for Christmas. (I Will also note that my birthday was 12/5 - and the only card related goodies I got then (that I didn't have to buy for myself was a binder and some pages). Not one - The thing is, while yes its disappointing as that is the ONLY thing I asked for - that's it - handwritten want lists with names of stores/addresses/urls to get the best deal - nothing.

But I did make out really well. From both sets of parents got a bunch of clothes that don't fit so well, but its not their fault I am becoming - whats the hot word for fat in blogging.... - Rotundus? Well, not really becoming - already there - just getting bigger - more on that some other time - so I've got a huge (pun?) stack of clothes to go back to the Mens Wearhouse and other fine retailers - but i did get some super fun gifts this month - gifts that have certainly taken away from my blogging time.

My wonderful wife for my birthday got me a PS3 equipped with Madden 09. Under the tree to go along with that this year was NBA Live 09, Guitar hero Aerosmith, and ROCK BAND 2! You would think I was 14 - but this game is super fun and all of my peers agree based on the sweet jam session that was happening until all hours last night.

I got some cash and won a fantasy football league - but all of that money is earmarked for a tattoo that I will go into more detail of at a later time - Also just had a $500 car repair bill - so my dreams of 2009 pre-orders are for the moment just that - dreams. but as the poster in my Dentist's office says - any dreams worth having are worth fighting for. So there you have it - I will fight for my right to set build. Who's coming with me?

A Little Break and Happy News

Hey Everyone.

Like most of you, I will be taking a blogging break over the next weekend - I will be spending this time with my wife and my family - i should be back by Monday however, so please the 9 of you read, hang in there.

And now since I've seen visual proof - I can come public with the info I don't think I have shared here, but I am very happy to say that me and my wife are expecting our first child to arrive in July of this year! We just saw a heart beat a few weeks ago and could both not be any more excited. What does this mean to the blog?

Probably less money spent on cards, but I have a closet full to write about, so that's not too big a deal - plus a few other interests may show up now and again. Also - I am sure that now everything will stay the same, but come crunch time - I am sure that posts will slow down - but that is quite a ways away yet.

So everyone out there - please enjoy your holidays with your families - Take care and be safe. hopefully you all get lots of cards - I know that I am not - while they don't make fun of me for this hobby, my family are hardly enablers of it. Who knows - Maybe there will be a special treat under the tree?

some new want lists because I am greedy!

Here is the list for 91 Ultra


58, , 114, 308, 345,

Gold Ultra Team

1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10

2007 Bowman Heritage

2, 6, 7, 10, 20, 23, 35, 42, 44, 46, 47, 50, 51, 59, 60, 62, 63, 66,. 73, 74, , 78, 79, 80, 82, 84, 86, 87, 88, 90, 95, 103, 105, 106, 115, 117, 118, 119, 127, , 130, 131, 140, 143, 144, 147, 150, 156, 158, 159, 160, 170, 175, 177, 179, 182, 183, 187, 190, 194, 198, 199, 201, 203, 204, 206, 212, 213, 214, 218, 221, 222, 224, 225, 228, 230, 234, 235, 236, 240, 246, 247, 248, 250

Propects

2, 3, 4, 10, 14, 15, , 21, 26, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 40, 42, 47, 51, , 55, 58, 60, 62, 63, 68, 69, 74, 76, 78, 82, 83, 86, 90, 98, 100

1993 Studio

9, 11, 14, 30, 38, 40, 62, 63, 73, 80, 90, 102 ,104, 106, 112, 116, 123, 125, 128, 131, 145, 149, 152, 158, 160, 173, 182, 185, 194, 222, 238, 245, 261

1991 fleer

6, 138, 145, 395, 561, 588, 600,

1994 Upper Deck Collectors Choice

4, 16, 29, 65, 117, 122, 131, 183, 189, 208, 240, 249, 263, 302, 306, 307, 310, 311, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 324, 327, 330, 331, 334, 335, 336, 338, 340, 343, 344, 348, 353, 354, 357, 380, 400, 425, 430, 456, 500, 510, 525, 545, 550, 588, 590, 595, 610, 631, 632, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 640, 642, 644, 647, 657, 661,

Friends:
1/26/09 - thorzul from Thorzul Will Rule sent 20 91 Fleer ultra cards!
3/13/09 - Mark from Stats on the Back sent in 53 Fleer Ultra cards - only a few more to go!
4/2/09 - Greg fromLake Effect Cards sent me 13 more 91 Fleer
4/3/09- reader Brandon got me 1 card closer to 91 Fleer
4/4/09- 31 more from reader Steve K
5/21/09 - steve from White Sox Cards sent me 14 Bowman Heritage, 5 91 Fleer, and 2 91 Ultra!
6/4/09 - 35 more bowman Heritage from teh Collective Troll!
8/20/09 - only need 6 more 1990 fleer thanks to the Average Joe!

1991 Fleer Ultra Error?

A While back I saw a bunch of packs of this stuff at my local card shop for super cheap so I thought I'd pick them up and save them for a rainy day - Well, as it tuned out, a snowy day. So I went through, and I got most of the set it seems, so of course a want list is coming, seeing as I am pretty close. But when I went to put them in order I thought it was odd that the Carlos Baerga card was in the middle of the Reds part of the set.

A closer look shows me that they are both card # 103

See? Has anyone else noticed this? It looks my Beau allred card is also misnumbered based on the checklist - so now I wonder - is this how ALL the cards are printed or are these errors? Are there correct numbered ones out there? Please let me know anything you do -- I will not be putting up said want list until I know how I should pursue the cards - if they are all misnumbered, then I will slot them in as the checklist cards indicate - if not - maybe I will pursue all variations.

Card Show Trade Bait - Relics

Here are a few cards that I picked up for some of my breteren out there - hoping I can turn them into some want list or Mets stuff! Let me know if you are interested!

First up with a Chpper Jones All Star Relic from 2008 Topps updates and highlights - I pulled an Adrian Gonzalex out of my box - That will also be up for trade someday

Next we are looking at Mr. Barry Zito from 2005 Bowman heritage - I am very glad he did not sign with the Mets - that was close.

Here we have an Adam Dunn Bat card from 2006 Bowman heritage - this is the 3rd Dunn GU card I have owned - the other 2 have gone out to Nachos Grande and Hand Collated. Any other Reds fans out there? or hey - where will he sign? If we needed a lefty outfielder I would take him on the Mets in a second.

Finally we have a Cameron Maybin GU card from 2008 Topps - His highlight is hitting a homer in his 2nd major league start - whoop D Shit - who knows - maybe someday he will reach all of his potential and make me not feel like a mark for getting this card.

So please - if you want to add any of these cards to your collection, let me know! Take care

Card Show Goodies - Mets GU Cards

All Right - here is part 2 of my card show goodies post - These are all Game used cards of current of former Mets that were picked up for $2 or less. So please ignore the sticker price listed - I promise I did not pay $10 for a Richard Hidalgo card.

So on that topic - we have Richard hidalgo - this is a game used bat card from 2005 Topps Bazooka - I see these cards a lot in bargain bins and think that they are super ugly - I don't ever really see myself buying anymore unless they are super cheap and Mets related. ugh.
Next up are 2 - thats right, I am now the proud owner of 2 Kaz Matsui game used cards. I think the screw cases these cards are in are worth more than the actual cards - maybe i should take them out? The first is from 2005 Donruss Playoff Prestige and the 2nd from what appears to be 2005 Upper Deck Origins. Neither one of these cards are too special - but I love them non-the-less.

Now we have a GU Jeromy Burnitz card from 2002 upper Deck. Jeromy was supposed to part of the new murderers row with line up mates Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonzo, Mo Vaughn, Roger Cedeno - yeah - sorta tails off there... he sucked but he played hard everyday. I remember everyone booing this guy because he wasn't hitting, but you could not watch him play everyday and not notice the all out effort you got in the field and the fact that the dude has heart.

Here is a Ty Wiggington Jersey card from 2003 Bowman Heritage - I hated to lose Ty - I remember him crying when he was told about the trade - but it was definitely the Wright move as David quickly stepped in and became one of the premier players in the game. I really do like these Bowman Heritage cards. Anyone have any other relics from these sets for trade?

2 more to go - here is another ugle Bazooka card featuring Carlos Delgado. If Carlos can string together just one or 2 more years like last season - then we are looking at a Hall of Fame player. Streakiness be damned!

Finally - this is a Carlos Beltran Relic from Heritage High Numbers. These relics are all right, but don't really excite me too much - I do think that Carlos is going to have a big year this year - as he seems to every other year as a Met.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some trade bait of some players I know you other bloggers out there are fans of - let me know if you need them!

Card Show Goodies - the Autos

So, I went to a card show this Sunday with the MLB Collector with the plan of getting commons for my sets - cheap autos, and cheap game used cards (some for me, some for trade). I was able to make good dents in my Topps and Upper Deck base want lists as well as some Heritage SPs. I then wandered back of the room to the supply guy (you know pages/top loaders/binders) etc... and he had a lot of other neat stuff for sale. First - (not pictured) was a fitted Mets cap signed by Howard Johnson - $20 bones - worth every penny. He had a few other Mets and players from every team - but I did not want to go outside my game plan very much so Carlos Gomez and Lastings Milledge (old Mets I know) got left for someone else.

Now, He also had a box about 500 autographed (in person from spring training trips) cards organized by team for $1 each. He offered me the whole box for $200 - but that was well out of my budget - (but I did get his email - after the holidays maybe?). Below you will see the 10 cards that I chose to take home with me from said bin.

First we have a Bowman Heritage first year card of Manny Parra. I picked this card 1) Manny is a good young pitcher with tons of potential 2) I love the Bowman Heritage Series and missed it this year 3) It's just a nice looking signature.

Next up is a string of young talented pitchers with ties to the Rays. First up is Jeff niemann who has had a few cups of coffee with the big club but has yet to really hold his spot down. This card is from the 2005 Donruss Champions set. Next is another Ray prospect from the left side now - Jake McGee. This is his 05 Just Minors card - If you dig into Baseball America - Jake's name is all over the top lefty minor league pitchers top 10s. Its too bad he has an ugly auto. Finally, we have a 2006 Just Minors card of Matt Garza when he was still in the Twins organization. Garza is now an established MLB pitcher with lots of upside - just wish this card did not have that little smear near the end of the sig - oh well - just a buck right?

Now we get to the cards that I am really excited about. first up is a 2005 Bowman heritage Brian Bannister card. Brian has the best auto in all of baseball that I have seen. If you can show me a better sig - please try. I'm not so much sad that Brian is no longer a Met - sadder that we traded him for a scumbag wife biting hit and run killer Ambiorix Burgos.Next up is a 2003 Donruss Diamond King signed by Al Leiter. Al was the ace of the staff in the early 00's and really was a great pitcher for us - you have to love Diamond King cards and it's a nice sig to boot. Finally - a Bowman Heritage prospect card of the recently departed Mike Carp - I have a bunch of cards of his I bought last year to get signed and just never did - so when I saw this card I had to grab it since he was just sent off to the Mariners as part of the JJ Putz deal.

I had the chance to bowl and have a beer with Mike during his last season here in Binghamton and he was a great guy, easy to talk to, not at all a jerk and really hopeful about his future- I hope its a good one too - also - smoking hot girlfriend.

And finally - the centerpieces of my haul - 3 HoJo autos from when he was a coach here in Binghamton - Like I said in prior posts, I was not collecting when Hojo was here, or i would undoubtedly have a lot more of these - but I think that these three are a great start.

So thats it for now - I've has Mets GU set up for another post as wel as some of other random game used cards that I picked up to throw on the trade block. See you tomorrow!

Brian McCann's Dong - Sorta

Found this at the often hilarious deadspin.com

what a dick.

1987 Topps - Please help me get rid of some!

Are you working on an 87 Topps set? Do you know someone who is? Please tell them to get in touch with me - I have probably 3000 doubles from this set and thats just far too many. Please be in touch - and other bloggers who have larger readership - if you can help me out and throw a link out there to let people know to send me their lists - I would apprecaite it - I am swimming in these things! thank you!

New Cards for my Attic

Actually, I don't have one, I'm just not that clever. Recently Kris from Cards in the Attic reached out to me when I posted up my 2007 Topps 52 rookies want list - So, in exchange for all of my doubles from 2008 Goudey depicting National League players he sent me 50 cards I need for me set.

My favorite part of Kris's page is the updates on his 52 Rookies set as he tries t get each card auto'd - every time there is a new post I read it a few times because I just love how these cards look scribbled on.

So, as I put these away in their respective pages - I scanned the three cards that I felt were note worthy out of the stack I received. Below you will find Mickey Mantle, Ryan Braun (the good one), and joba "DUI" Chamberlain.

Now I have spoken often about how I hate all of the Mickey Mantle cards Topps has been inserting into their packs. I'm not going to lie - I really like this one - The mick lends himself nicely to the old style - great background - this is a card I wish I had 2 of. Next up we have a couple of hot rookies from last year the NL Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun (Fantasy Keeper Extraordinaire - Thank you Ryan) and Native American stereotype perpetuater Joba "Take the Keys" Chamberlain. C'mon man -- really?

While I jest - Seeing as this is one of the more valuable cards in the set - Thank you Kris. Your help is greatly appreciated.

14 More Cards To Go!

A big thank you needs to go out to our friend Chris over @ Nachos Grande who in exchange for some want list stuff, an Adam Dunn game used card and a Bronson Arroyo Auto sent me a small chunk of random Mets cards and 65 more cards towards my 2008 upper Deck Baseball Heroes set - I have the final checklist chilling on my want lists if you want to take a look - that would be super rad - 2008 is coming to a close and I am well on my way to having my sets done - I'd like to have them all at least 80% complete by the time Topps Series 1 rolls around - wish me luck!

Now - it is always nice to come close to completing a set - and if it wasn't for the $15 blasters, I don't think I would have really pursued this one - It's an OK looking set with some nice cards - but as I discussed in my Gummie nominations - are some of these dudes really baseball heroes? A lot of them don't even sniff the jocks of some of their All Star Teammates - Let's take a look at some questionable heroes.

The two I chose to highlight of the stack that Chris sent me are Luke Scott and Luke Hochevar. A couple of Luke's. A couple of dudes who while they are nice players - are hardly hero status - Luke Scott is a "hero" due to hitting his first home run as a Baltimore Oriole - Does that make Luis Matos or Chris Hoiles heroes?

Mr. Hochevar is getting the Royal "Hero" badge for making his major league debut. Thats it? you pitch 3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in a September call up and you become a hero? yes making it to the big leagues is a big deal and Luke deserves kudos - but there are many players not included in this set that far better deserve the designation.

Help From the Cheap Seats

On Friday I received a little package from Danny @ Saints of the Cheap Seats. Not only did he send me some 08 Ud Masterpieces off my want list and a big ole' stack of 92 Topps - but I learned something! When corresponding with Danny regarding the trade, he asked if I was a fellow "Lanzman". I'd never heard this before - and when I got the explanation - I felt a minor disclosure might be warranted.

I am not actually Jewish.

I'm not really anything.

It started in High School where just all the time - people would just assume me to be Jewish. This isn't a bad thing, just weird - So at that time, I was also doing a lot of concert promoting for punk bands that were touring through the area - I wanted to set up an e-mail address that people would be able to easily remember if they wanted info on the shows or whatnot - so I just decided on steveisjewish@hotmail.com (no longer in service) and its been my "handle" ever since.

For a while I really actually tried to sell the lie - no one really had any reason not to believe me so it was kinda my little inside joke to the world. Then I just sorta realized that all religion is kinda silly and stopped.

Onto the cards!

So Danny knocked off a bunch of my 92 Topps needs and leaves with approx 25 cards left to go! Also included were these 3 08 UD Masterpieces cards. I've made it known before that I LOVE this set - I keep flip flopping - but that's may be my favorite set of the year. I especially love that Danny was kind enough to throw in that Jack Morris SP you see below. We also have Jason Varitek (where will he sign?) and ultimate D-Bag Jimmy Rollins. He is the only player on the Phillies that I really HATE - well, Jayson Werth too cause he spells his name like a jackass.

So many thanks to you Danny - Everyone go check in out and leave him some well wishes and hope hes not totally buried in the upstate NY snow.

2008 Upper Deck Wantlist

UPDATE

Stopped at a card show this morning and only need *3* more

Here is what I am needing for the 2008 Upper Deck base set - I have lots of doubles out of here if anyone else needs some gaps filled in.

Series 2

496, 522,

**Updated**

Joe from the wonderful Cardboard Addiction blog has sent me 21 cards towards my set goal! Thank you so much! He also threw in a couple of sweet other goodies that I will be posting as soon as I get my scans and a little bit more free time! Make sure to check him out - I still need to put your package together, but dont think I forgot about you!

**Update**

The Cardboard Junkie helped me out with a handful more - the list is getting smaller and smaller!

**Update**

Cliff @ Capewood's Collections sent me 20 more cards towards the set - the list keeps getting smaller

** UPdate**

Reader Chris got me 14 cards closer!

Reader David helped to get me down to needing only 26 more cards!

**UPDATE**

Reader Ray got me a stack closer!

Update -

20 more to go thanks to Greg @ night Owl Cards
4 more cards from our favorite Addict Jeff Wolfe
4/2/09 - 2 more to go thanks to Greg @ Lake Effect Cards!

My Gummie Nomiations

As I am sure you have all seen, Chris over @ Stale Gum has posted the categories for the Gummie Awards! Chris has made it clear, these are to all be for baseball cards, and these are not the final ballots - just nominations from his readers. Now if you don't see a nomination next to the topic - that means I don't really have an opinion. Here are my 2 cents.

Product of the Year - Alan and Ginter - Now while this was not my personal favorite - that will be discussed later, I do think that this product does indeed have it all - good size base set w/ decent checklist - great design (even though they did little to change it) - a fair amount of attainable short prints, and great inserts from world leaders, to autos and relics.

Card of the Year - Topps Stadium Club Jackie Robinson base- beautiful card of one of the most iconic ball players ever

Rookie Card of the Year - Evan Longoria, Topps - yes - Topps sucked this year - it usually does - however its hard to foresee that in 20 years - if all the rookies that had hall of fame or great careers starting 2008, I bet you that the Topps cards end up the most iconic. They have the history,

Best Base Set - Upper Deck - Great, simple full bleed design - checklist by team - looks great in a binder - love it to death.

Best Insert Set - Topps trading card history - flexing the little muscle they have left

Best Autogamer Set - Stadium Club Beam Team Autos - beautiful - that's all you can say

Best Retro Themed Product - Goudey - I would have said Heritage, but the High Numbers product has not impressed me, and I just cant get fully into A & G even though I know its a fantastic set

Best Hobby Idea/Innovation - Stadium Club Beam Team autos - nothing else like them this year and DNA cards creep the fuck out of me.

Worst Overall Product - Artifacts - The one thing that made X look nice.

Worst Base Set - UD Heroes - Ian Kennedy is not a hero - too many of these players are not heroes - I get it - I am collecting the set - but that's because of $15 blasters - they really blew this one

Most Meaningless Product - UD X - If we wanted gaudy cards, we'd buy late 90s boxes on ebay

Most Disappointing Product - Heritage - High Numbers blew it -but at least I'm close to finishing the set!

Worst Insert Set - Mickey Mantle / Yankee Stadium Legacy - I'm sick of the fucking Yankess - these cards suck. If you had told me when I was 10 I'd be annoyed with having a stack of Mickey Mantle cards, I would have spit in your drink. Now, I need one

Worst Gimmick - Topps - all of them

Best Cardblog (You can't vote for your own!) CardboardJunkie - If I only have a change to read one blog a day - Dayf it is.

Best Hobby News Source (Again, you can't vote for own.) Handcollated - Hat Tip to Wax Heaven - it was almost you -

Hobby MVP - Evan Longoria

Hobby ROY - Evan Longoria

Hobby Top Prospect David Price - Next years rookie of the year

Jefferson Burdick Award for Contributions to The Hobby (this goes to a person) - Mario Alejandro @ Wax Heaven - Putting muscle and legitimacy to the blogging world.

Well, There's my thoughts - what are yours? let me know if you agree, disagree - so on so forth

Trade With Junkie Jeff!

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Blog Bat Around Part 2

As someone who collected in the late 80s/early 90s, and once again starting last year - my collection is neither too large, or too impressive - but it is mine and I love it. For part 2 of the fantastic Blog Bat Around hosted by Gellman and the kind folks @ Sports Cards Uncensored I present you now my 2 most valuable cards that I have pulled from packs, and then my two favorite cards from my collection.

First up in the most valuable section, we have a 2008 Topps Co-Signers Carlos Marmol and Geovanny Soto dual signed card. I pulled this out of a pack of co-signers which was probably about 10 bones at the time. This was the first, and so far the last "premium" set that I purchased in any quantity (I picked up a whole box at one point - waste of money) but I like this card a lot due to a fantasy baseball induced man crush on Geovanny Soto (22nd and 28th rounds respectively). Last I looked I think this card checked in @ about $50 (according to Beckett - I know that this isn't the real world price - that's more like $5 bucks I'm sure). Would I trade or sell it? Well, I can never rule out being in dire straights and needing a few bucks - but unless that happened, no I do not think I would sell it. It features a player that I am a fan of, and is a rookie of the year - plus Marmol is going to be really emerging next season I'm sure. Also, I do this for fun, not for the dough, so I don't play on ever selling any of my cards. But now I would trade this if I was confronted with a nice deal for a David Wright, Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura or similar mets type GU/Autos since I would obviously value those higher.

Next up is the most valuable card in my collection - a 2007 Fleer Ultra Alex Gordan Lucky 13 RC AUTO #d 48/99. I got this when I bought about 5 packs of the Ultra Hobby Edition packs while visiting my wife's hometown at her local over priced understocked hobby shop - He did have the pack on sale for $7 a pop - I had some money to burn and the lure of guaranteed relics/autos got me. After getting crap like Omar Vizquel and the like - I pulled this card of Alex which now Beckett lists @ 80 bucks - again, I know that's not what I could sell it for, but I like it - nothing else in my collection comes near that listing. Would I sell or trade this card? Yup - no real attachment - I would just be looking to get back similar value.

Now, we have my two favorite cards. Keep in mind there is a space here for a David Wright Rookie card which like a jackass, I have yet to go get one. Foolish of me I know - I do have a David Wright game used card, but its boring. So you will get to see 2 other players that I collect mostly due to their tenure as New York Mets. The first up, is my all - time favorite ballplayer Robin Ventura (even if he did rush Nolan Ryan - LAME). Here is the first card of his I ever pulled - the 89 Topps Draft Pick card, pictured in his Oklahoma State uniform. I loved Robin for lots of reasons - Not a GREAT power or average guy, but just a good hitter, professional. I always felt he was a winner - Had that great grand slam walkoff and was a part of what Sports Illustrated dubbed the "Best Infield Ever" with Rey Ordonez, Edgardo Alfonzo, and john Olerud. Would I trade or sell this card? No, no one else wants it anyway.

Finally - We have a 1993 Fleer Ultra Mike Piazza Rookie Card. I Don't really have too much else to say about this card besides he is the 2nd greatest Met in the history of the team (Hat tip to Tom Seaver) and one of my all time favorites. There were rough patches when I really could not stand the guy, but looking back at his career and the highlights it had - I now know he belongs where he is as an All-Time great and sure fire Hall of Famer.

Now - as I discussed for the inaugural blog bat around - I am a set collector - with a hint of player/team - so for me, the focus is not on having a "centerpiece" in my collection - Since I do this just for me, I'm just has happy with my 87 Topps set as I am any Auto in my collection, and it has everything to do with building that set and the time I put into it. So yeah, when I go to my local shop or shows and see 30 David Wright cards in the dollar bin, they do usually come home with me instead of the one RC (which I may be amending this weekend got willing), but I am okay with that.

So you have heard my piece and may be silently mocking my lack of a big ticket card, but I'm cool with it - I'd rather you have the Slice of Willie Mays skin or Megaladon or some dead president - Save the rest for me.

It Sounds like package from White Sox Cards!

So today I got my prize from being the big Weiner in one of White Sox Cards recent giveaways.

First up - the prize received is 2 1982 Topps cards. One of Chet Lemon and the other of Greg Luzinski looking like he is playing in a bear league at the age of 61. Seriously - looking back at some of these old cards, its hard to imagine that some of these dudes were athletes.

Next up is a David Wright card from 2008 upper Deck X that goes wright to my Wright pile (sometimes I hate myself) and a 2007 Deolis Guerra bowman Heritage Prospects card. I was sad to see Deolis go in the Johan Santana deal just because I'd heard a great deal of hype about him and was hoping to see him come through Binghamton - but he sucked like Chloe Sevegny in the Brown Bunny (if you know what I mean) so I guess I didn't miss too much. But who knows, the dude is young and throws gas. Good luck to him.

The last 2 cards are a 2008 Topps Stadium Club Nolan Ryan and a 2008 Topps Chrome Refractor/Meth OD card. I love the Ryan as I am a big fan of the rebirth of Topps Stadium club - while the short checklist is one of the the things I like about this set - I would have liked to see it expand a bit - Maybe 100 current players, 50 rookies, and 50 Legends - I think that would have been nice - what do you think?

Finally, I always think I hate chrome cards. but then I get one. I always think refracters are kinda weak. Then I get one. Sometimes I think its a bad idea to do too many hallucinogens and look at baseball cards - then I realize its supposed to look this way. and I like it.

And now finally - there was one last special present in the case in form of a mix cd from our good friend. Now, I am not as dedicated as he is so you wont see a full track list here - Just will let you know there were some truly bitchin' tunes here. Great songs from the Beastie Boys, Butthole Surfers (Pasture of Muppets is the greatest album title ever), Breeders, Flaming Lips, Nirvana (sweet B Side from the Teen Spirit single I believe), Pearl Jame, L7, REM and Willy Shatner. My sister loves the Shatner cds so I was an old hand to this, but its still a fun listen non-the-less.

So thank you to Steve - everyone be sure to check out his blogs White Sox Cards and his tunes site The Soundtrack of my Life

Trade With The Night Owl

Ok - So I got a few packages last week which have yet to see the light of Internet day - the first of which will now get its debut!

A While back I sent Greg @ Night Owl Cards a stack of various goodies - some want list stuff, some dodger stuff, a few Game Used cards - I think that he liked it.

So in return there was a bunch of want list stuff

12 - 1992 Topps Cards

3 - 2008 Baseball Heroes

1 - 2008 Upper Deck

2 - 2008 Heritage (an SP and Insert)

8- Random Mets

1- David Wright

Here are the scans of my favorite cards from the Mets pile

Here we have an 86 Upper Deck Gary Carter card that I am surprised Greg let go - it's either a photo taken with the worst camera ever, or a night shot. I wish I liked Gary more - something about born agains that doesn't sit right with me.

Next up is a severely miscut, but wonderful 74 Topps Tom Seaver Card. When I started collecting, I never really thought that I would get into the vintage stuff - but now its just another thing I will spend too much time and money on - love the card - Thank you

finally - Chris Donnels Score Rising star from the 1992 Set I think. Chris sucked, but he's a great dude - my buddy joe @ mlb collecter wrote Chris with a TTM request, and not only did he sign a bunch of cards, but wrote a really nice letter back to him. Someday hopefully this card will make the same journey.

Finally - the best card of the bunch is a 2008 David Wright Heritage Refracter #'d to 559. It looks like a normal chrome in the scan - but I assure you, it is not (and if you dont believe me, you can eat a box of cocks).

So Thank you very much Greg, and everyone should really check out his blog - it is quickly becoming one of my favorites and is for sure one of the first ones I read each day.

2000!

Wow - 2000 hits in 40 days -

THANK YOU!

Now that I guess I am mildly established - what I am doing that you like? what dont you like? what could I add? what could I do more? I would love to hear your suggestions - drop me a line and let me know!

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights Want List

Here goes -

2, 14, 21, 33, 38, 49, 70, 128, 134, 146, 176, 212, 218, 240, 242, 278

help me please - so close to the end and I now have tons of doubles available. If anyone has everylast one of the cards listed above for me - I'll send a game used card of your choice (I've got a stack of approx 20 for trade) that can be yours - if you have them all. Let me know!

Helpers -
Scott @ Hand Collated sent me #44- dayf - the ball is in your court now! Thanks guys!

Gay for Gilbert Arenas?

This is just too fantastic.

Reader Trades

Wanted to give a shout out thank you to 2 readers who were kind enought to help me knock a few more cards off my various want lists.

The first package comes from Steve K who wanted to swap some 08 heritage High Numbers. there are 9 less cards on that list now thanks to Steve - was even kind enough to include an SP or 2!

The cards included were

Ross Gload
Mark Sweeney
Darin Erstad
David Delucci
Tyler Yates
Matt Diaz
Emmanuel Burriss
Josh Fields
Chris Volstad

2nd package came from a wonderful fellow named Ray who emailed me to take a chunk out of my 2008 Upper Deck, Heritage, and Baseball Heroes Sets

Here's the haul

08 UD

Randy Johnson
Phillip Humber
Justin Morneua
Matt Wise
Michael Barrett
Adrian Beltre
Matt Clement
Odalis Perez
Greg Maddux Season Highlights
Tom Glavine Checklist
Johan Santana Checklist
Cheeseburger Season Highlights

Heritage

Kenny Lofton

Heroes

John Smoltz
David Ortiz
Manny Ramirez
Dustin Pedroia
Johnny Bench
Jeff Francis
Hunter Pence
Luke Hochevar
Billy Wagner
Felix ?Hernandez

Thank you both so much - sorry for no scans - its loud and the wife is sleeping!

2008 Topps Stadium Club Want List

Once again I bet to you my good people

Base

3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 63, 66, 69, 72, 75, 78, 84, 87, 93, 94, 96, 99, 102, 105, 108, 111, 114, 117, 120, 123, 126, 129,132, 138, 141, 144, 147, 150

First Day Issue Rookies

101, 102, 107, 108, 110, 112, 113, 116, 119, 122, 123, 124, 125, 127, 128, 131, 133, 135, 136, 139, 140, 143, 145, 149,

I will be buying more of this so I wont depend on you fine people for all of it - but please if you get doubles or a few stragglers you are not attached to, think of me.

Friends -
Chris from Nachos Grande got me 5 closer
Greg @ Night Owl Cards got me 2 closer

Reader Steve got me 20 closer!

2 2008 Topps Stadium Club blasters

Picked these up recently at the Mart (K)

Between the 2 blasters, I received no doubles and plenty of the first day issues and lots of rookies. I have decided to finish this set 1-150 with both versions of each card 101-150. I will be getting a want list up shortly.

Now, its a shame that Topps had to bring back a brand in order to finally commit to some nice photography. In the 2 blasters I got, I found 5 cards depicting nice action shots of plays at the plate. If they could start using photography like this consistently in their sets, I think combined with the history of Topps, they would easily be back on top of the card world.

Now, while hits are not guarenteed in these boxes, I have been very lucky. Last time I pulled a Beam Team insert of Jeff Salazar - this time getting a redemption card for Mariner Prospect Jeff Clement - Now lets see if they can get me the card by March 09 as they are predicting

2 Blasters of 08 UD Timeline

Uh oh... I like it...

I might want to collect this set. This is quite foolish of me, but I feel like I just made a big mistake.

Here is what I got in 2 blasters worth of this stuff from the local K Mart.

First up we have a trio of the regular base cards. Nothing too fancy here - just a nice trio of All Stars and perennial MVP contenders. I was able to get doubles of all of these seen here so 1 for the set and 1 for the team sets. Very happy.

Next up is from the 92 Minors set - This is one of 3 Longoria rookie cards pulled in 2 blasters - not too bad - I like that these cards hold true to their originals in that they are not glossy.

These 2 cards come from my favorite set within a set. I think that these have such a classic look to them even though they come from a contemporary UD set. If I dont decided to collect the set as a whole, I would at minimum like to get all of this edition.
Cheeseburger. Thats all.

Here we have a couple of die cut rookies whos cards I am sick of getting.

Next up is a card of a rookie I am not sick of - In fact I have a bit of a man crush on Mr. Max Sherzer - if his arm doesn't fall off, lets just say his first name ain't baby - it's Max, Mr. Scherzer if you're nasty

Finally we have the 2 "Hits". A Game used Jim Edmonds bat (any cubbies fans out there?) and a Andrew Miller Jersey (already sent an email to Mario to see if he needs it)

So - I guess I know I will be picking up a few more blasters of this before I make my final decision - I have a strong feeling I am going to need to get most of this set on E-Bay and trades - not so much by packs unless I want 10 copies of each base card. But at least the look nice enough to send out for a signature or 2. Time will tell.

2008 Topps Updates and Highlights Rack Packs

At Target recently I saw a few rack packs of the 08 U/H set that needed a new home - I really like the idea of the $10 rack pack. 80 cards, and hand full of inserts/parallels and not nearly as much extraneous packaging as comes with a blaster. Everybody wins.

Please read the story linked off the last card about Kevin Mitchell - mind blowing


We have all seen these cards now, and I am sure for the most part, we are interested in them more out of obligation than truly caring. Heck, if I have all of Series 1, most of 2, I may as well finish this one as well. Here's a few rookies

A few of the Target inserts - along with Chipper and Josh I also got Adrian Gonzalez, Edison Volquez, Lance Berkman, and Dan Uggla Stick - anyone working on this set? they are available.

And of course everyone's favorite cat murderer Kevin Mitchell. I have to like this set because of its Mets focus after dealing with all this Yankee bullshit all year.

I will be putting together a want list for this set shortly.