Trade with Brad's Blog

I have a confession. Several months ago, before life got crazy again, I had a couple of trades in the works. I believe I fulfilled my ends of all of them but I have a nagging feeling that somehow one got past me.

If anyone reading this is quietly fuming over the ne'er-do-well Potch leaving cards on the table (figuratively) then please, by all means, leave a nasty comment here. I do not want to be that guy!

Trading is the best part of my return to this hobby. I've been working on wrapping up some sets and trading has helped very much. I haven't even written much about my refined collection goals focusing on Reds, Cubs and select Tigers vintage - so thus far my progress with those goals has come via card shows exclusively.

There are other goals, of course, and then there are goals I didn't even know I had. I recently completed a trade with Brad of the fine blog, Brad's Blog. I gathered up a couple of relics in his wheelhouse, and a couple of autos I won some 18 months ago in a Wicked Ortega contest and sent them his way - along with assorted other cards and a grouping of Frank Thomas cards that he didn't have for his super Big Hurt collection.

In return, I received these two awesome autos:

I have no idea how this happened.

I neither had an Aroldis Chapman card auto nor a George Foster card auto, even though I by chance ran into Mr. Foster a year or so ago.

I also got this card that I didn't know existed. I'm not sure what that swatch is from. Hopefully not boxer shorts.

Bobby Knight's legend has dimmed considerably in Indiana and the circles in which I run, but he's still Bobby Knight and I'm an Indiana University graduate. I ran into Knight once while visiting Assembly Hall on a random day back in the early '90s.

Brad threw in some nice recent Reds I needed, including this lovely Gypsy Queen frame of the legendary catcher and popinjay Johnny Bench.

Incidentally, anyone out there who has a GQ frame of anyone, any year, should feel free to let me know.

And, of course, that goes for autographs of Reds. I will labor to make a nice trade with you.

Thanks again for the trade, Brad.

Me, Mini-Me and the Reds

Usually the hum of living - work, playing with our daughter, relaxing, yard work, streaming Netflix late at night, putting food on the table - keeps me happy and pushing forward to the next day.

Other times, the reality of how fast life is going hits me hard. I might still feel like the fresh-faced 9-year-old taking in a game at Riverfront Stadium in the summer of '78; then I get a notice that some old classmates are meeting in my hometown for a 27-year class reunion. Yeah, 27. Odd, huh?

Wasn't it just a few months ago when I watched the Big Red Machine take on the Dodgers in a twi-night doubleheader - with Bench, Morgan, Rose, the Daveys (Concepcion and Lopes), Garvey, Penguin and others holding court?

Not according to the face in my mirror. Not mine, I have a life-size present-day Cesar Geronimo photo taped on the wall opposite my mirror.

Thankfully, my daughter, six years old next week, helps keep me feeling young (when she's not making me feel much older than my 44 years, 11 months with the piggy back rides, "bucking bronco" game and ongoing shoulder carrying requests).

She likes to tease me about my baseball cards but she's taken an interest in my collection and baseball in general. Because of this, last September for one of our Daddy-Daughter weekends we left my wife behind and headed to Cincinnati for my daughter's first game - a battle with the old rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

My wife scheduled it weeks in advance and I thought maybe, just maybe, it would be a playoff clincher. Well, the Reds clinched the night before, thus many starters were rested for the game we saw. But Votto played and we saw Homer Bailey's (startbeforehis) no-hitter!!! (What, not as interesting? Well, I like to think that my daughter brought him some good luck.)

We sat several rows behind home plate - splurging on a section that has a private bathroom area and where waiters come and take your order. I wanted her to have a great view of the action too.

The Reds lost but it didn't diminish the experience and the fun she had. She really enjoyed actually watching the game (almost as much as the popcorn and cotton candy). Speaking of which, I was up for Dad of the year feeding my daughter cotton candy at about midnight. In my defense, the game had been scheduled for 1 p.m. until ESPN two weeks before chose it as their Sunday night Game of the Week.

More recently, on Father's Day last month, my daughter and I stole away for another Daddy-Daughter adventure. More hotel pool time and another Reds game - a win against the Brewers this time. More popcorn and cotton candy too, naturally.

We walked away with a giveaway Reds gym bag (for me) and a Rosie Reds doll for mini-me. It joins the Brandon Phillips doll she desperately wanted (and, of course, received) at the game last fall.

Ah, she's delightfully quirky.

The reality I know is that while I think she enjoys the game and ambiance, she's quite possibly already indulging me a bit as I share my passion. She sees what makes me smile and wants to talk to me about it and be a part of it. That's a pretty great feeling for a Dad.

One day, I hope she holds dear the memories (many still to come) at the ballpark with dear ol' Dad.

Tradeable Vagueness

Excuse the title. I'm working on perfecting the awkward headline.

I've been getting my trade groove on this week and enjoying getting back in the swing.

So, this is a blatant fishing expedition to see if anyone has a want list for 2012 Heritage (including a couple of SPs), 2013 Heritage (including an SP or three) and 2013 Archives. I have quite a bit - especially of the first and the last - for trade.

I'm desperately prowling for Heritage 2011 SPs.

I really need to hold my SPs back for SPs, as I'm sure you can understand why.

If you have needs from the sets mentioned above, please direct me to your want lists. I'm basically seeking Reds, Tigers and Cubs from those three sets but I still need to work up my own want lists.

This is all so very scattershot, so my apologies. Just hoping to get a trade dialogue started.

Meanwhile, because I dislike posting sans art, here's an auto I pulled from 2011 Heritage. RED SOX LEGEND Ted Wil....er, Ted Wills.

I'm looking to trade this for a Heritage 2011 auto from a team I collect.

You Bette It's the Oldest Card In The House

One of the coolest things to happen on the card front during my blog hiatus last fall - before my more recent hiatus - occurred when we attended a festival in Northeast Indiana last fall.

Editor's Note: Bear with me as I play a little blog catch up and intersperse some card-related news I never posted with more updated stuff. I've been collecting throughout my hiatuses (hiati?). Incidentally, I have a bundle of Heritage '12 for trade, as well as some Archives '13 and Heritage '13.

So, it was a pretty big fest, celebrating all things apple and homey and autumn-esque. Horse rides and corn mazes and pioneer demonstrations and sheep shearing and rifle shooting and live music and fried things.

There were three long buildings with crafts for purchase and viewing. In the middle of the fray, what do you know - a man and his wife selling cards!

Awesome people. The gent has traveled down from higher up in Michigan for some 20-plus years. He had a lot of Tigers stuff and assorted other old cards.

He had a few autographed baseballs. No certifications. He was a sports writer way back when and attended various events with a few greats of Tigers yore - Al Kaline and Willie Horton namely. Willie, he says, is a great guy who enjoys talking about himself in the third person. Mr. Tiger runs hot and oh-so-very cold. No surprise there.

So, after visiting with this couple for awhile, I went back to my family and did the festival thing. I had my eye on a few things in his booth so I told him I'd be back. Right then, I had my other eye on some kettle corn.

When we all returned late in the day, near closing time, he and his wife struck up a doting chat with my five-year-old daughter, who had spotted some old tobacco-style minis in a small case.

She loved the cards and whispered to me that she'd like one. He pulled out the collection - of actors and actresses from way back when - and we both got a closer look. My daughter chose this one.

Good choice. There's always been something about that woman. My guess is it's the eyes.

This is card #10 from the Third Series of Player's Cigarettes "Film Stars" released in 1938. I guess Series One and Series Two were released earlier in the '30s. Most of the great stars of the day seem to be in the collection with some others including: Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Katherine Hepburn and Johnny Weissmuller.

Here's the back:

This, my daughter's card, is the oldest card in our house.

As for me, I bought, yes, one of the aforementioned signed Kaline balls. The gent had it marked at just $30 but with no certification there was a gamble involved. He said he'd sell it and the Bette Davis for $20 total. 

Deal.

Later, back at home, for kicks I looked up this guy on the Internet. Not to verify my trust but to see if any old articles came up. Learned that he had been given a community award at some point not long ago - for many things including being generally a standup fella. That doesn't guarantee the ball is legit, of course, but it was nice to read.

I'm not an autographed ball collector. I've never purchased one before, although I have several that I've personally obtained - at the formerly named Comiskey Park in the early aughts and at The National in 2011. I also - in a pinch - had a novelty ball signed last year by the great George Foster, but I couldn't resist taking the cheap gamble on a ball by a Hall of Famer.

My daughter still loves her card, by the way. She takes it out every now and then and studies it. She loves that it's her own and I think she enjoys knowing she's sharing my hobby.

My Fantasy Baseball Expansion Plan: Interested?

I'm an overgrown nerd. I'll freely admit it. For more than 20 years now I've been playing fantasy baseball. I love the intricacies, the strategies and in recent years I've narrowed my focus to a couple of select leagues.

In particular, I run two pay leagues - deep dynasty setups of 12 teams (roto) and 16 teams (H2H style) with salary caps, draft pick trading and on and on. They're both on ESPN and I update everything that happens - full rosters - in a Google doc that's accessible from the front league page. These are very fun and active leagues if you love to study baseball, numbers, trends and all of that.

What does this have to do with you? Well, perhaps nothing. Those leagues are full. We average 1 opening a year and had zero in the roto league heading into this year.

I'm rambling instead because I've decided to open one more league that will go back to my fantasy baseball roots - a single-season league (although hopefully everyone will return year-to-year to draft fresh teams); 12 team, snake draft, mixed league, roto, 5×5.

The lineups will be:  C/1B/2B/SS/3B/CI/MI/5 OF/UTIL/9 P/1 DL/3 BENCH. 

Not this type of Bench.  That wouldn't make any sense.

The league will be its own separate league but will also compete against several dozen exactly the same setup leagues on a fantasy baseball advice Web site. That site will do all of the league strength calculations and the winner will win a fantasy baseball champion "Members Only" jacket. No joke!

OK, a silly prize, yes - and so we will charge $25 (payable via Paypal to me) and will pay the top two or three teams. Yet to be decided. Probably money back for 3rd.

I'm looking for a few serious baseball fans and fantasy baseball vets, preferably. I have six in the league so far from my ongoing leagues. I expect two or three more will join and thus I'll probably need two or three additional.

And, if you're interested then in a possible opening in the other leagues I mentioned up top, I'll put you first on the replacement owners list as currently that list is dry.

Thanks. Sorry for the fishing expedition but I figured this was a great place to look for great owners.

Great Day in (My) Card Collecting History

Seeing a post tonight from The Lost Collector reminded me that I too am celebrating two years of blogging as of today. Nearly let it slip past me.

Appropriately, I attended a local card show today. I picked up some beauts for my collection that I'll have to write about soon.

But, for now, this was a special day indeed. My 5 1/2 year old daughter wanted to go to the show with me after Sunday School. She's taken an interest in my card collecting for quite awhile now and likes to razz me about it. But this was the first time she said she'd come along. I can't tell you how this warmed my heart.

She had a nice time. She made me promise to buy her 10 cards. Well, as it turned out, a few dealers offered her some cards for free. Mind you, no 1953 Topps or 1955 Bowmans, of course, but kind gestures all the same and I was proud of my daughter for politely thanking them all.

One dealer told her to pick out a card from a Reds stash.

From the Kahn's Wiener 1994 collection, I present to you, Schottzie 02. The dealer then handed me a small box with assorted cards - including several mid-80s box topper type cards and what appears to be a full set of the Reds Kahn Wiener set. I haven't checked if they're all there for sure, but I think so.

Another dealer told her to pick from a box and she chose two diamond 2011 Tigers.

Then she saw this.

This is one of those oversize cards. This is more of a personal joke for us but I still admired her good taste in choosing this fine player.

Mustaches have long amused my daughter. If she sees a good one while we're out and about, she'll pull me aside to tell me. She laughs heartily at the very idea of a mustache. I can't tell you how much we've laughed together about them. I even grew a beard in November and December just so I could shave it into a mustache (for one day, while not leaving the house). I, let's just say, don't rock a mustache.

In any case, it was nice to go to a show with her and I appreciated the little gestures sent her way. Another dealer went to get her a glass of water when he heard her tell me she was thirsty. Yet another handed her a team set of - oddly enough - 1992 Cleveland Indians.

She had fun and she wants to go with me next time. I don't expect she'll be interested for too long, but you never know. Either way, I'll enjoy this while it lasts.

Wheel (er) House Mail Cards

Some of my favorite players both from teams I collect and sets I collect arrived in a trade completed this week with All Trade Bait, All The Time.

I've enjoyed the fine blog for quite awhile but had yet to make a trade with the gentleman behind it. 

I was able to send him the card he needed to complete a 1976 subset Topps set, and some other cards, and he sent me back a nice assortment of cards (including a nice surprise shown at the end) hitting right in my wheelhouse (a word I like to toss around that irks my wife for some reason).

Tony Perez is one of my favorite players from my longtime favorite team. This card is lovely - and in person the Red uni really pops in this shot. It also fits nicely in the Vintage Red collection I've finally cataloged. I'm collecting all Reds from the beginning (not of time, but of Topps) to 1983.

I also got a 1979 Expos Perez and the card below from a set I'm not familiar with. Time to start cataloging my Perez collection.

ATBATT obviously knows me (well, he doesn't but it sure seemed like it when this package arrived) because he hit another favorite Red whom I don't mention anywhere and an awesome oddball in one fell swoop of a card. I seriously need to consider collecting the Crunch set of 22. Sweet.

There were (original and reprint) Whitakers and Morgans and Dawsons - including this perfect card from the 1980 set I'm chasing.

And a Morris and a Foster and Seavers too.

And then this nugget popped out! Seriously? That looks like an autographed Trammell, with ink to match the card and the hat. And an '87 DonRuss, which I kind of dig as opposed to the majority of DonRusses. Donrussi?

ATBATT got two signed Trammells TTM a few years ago and sent this gem along, figuring I would appreciate it. He sure got that right. It looks awfully pretty and he's a Hall of Famer, to boot!

What's that?

Chasing 1983: 745 and Counting

It's time to highlight another part of a deal that knocked massive chunks off of sets I've been chasing for 30 to 35 years.

Along with 1978s and 1981s (part of the trade I haven't reviewed yet), Paul at Carl Crawford Cards sent me 244 cards from the last set I purchased before discovering girls and trouble: 1983 Topps.

Yep, you read that right - 244 cards! I kid you not. And, reminder, this was just part - the biggest part - of the deal. I posted about the first part a week ago and a link to it is at the end of this post.

This shipment brought my in-house 1983 Topps percentage from 64 percent to 94 percent. I see light ahead! Truly, this is exciting. A couple of dozen of these cards were familiar to me as I once owned them before a basement flood at my mom's house sacked a good portion of that set (and almost all of 1979, sadly) long ago. It was nice to see them again after all these years.
Below are a few favorite cards of the 1983 portion of the deal.

Back in 1979, I thought Kent Tekulve was the coolest nerd on the planet. I knew nothing about him. Might not have been a nerd at all. He's rockin' the ol' Pirates duds though. I do know that.

Nice action shot of Mr. Pushbroom Stache. Who's that guy with him? I should know this.

Jim Rice walked by me outside Tiger Stadium in the 1980s. He pretty well ignored me and the other kids nearby. I didn't think at all about autographs back then but just wanted to say "hi". Kind of hard to believe, in a way, that he turns 60 in a month.

Fergie Jenkins is my favorite Cubs pitcher of all-time. I'm efforting as of late to collect all of his playing day cards. As for Leon Durham, I met him at The National in 2011. Got a few cards autographed as the right to do so came with the VIP package my wife treated me with. I wrote all about it and other former player encounters back then.

Bill Madlock is another former player I enjoyed watching who I got to meet at that The National. He signed several cards for me.

Dave Collins will always be a Red in my book. Never a Mariner or a whatever the uniform he's wearing here is.




Never heard of the Brave but I like the card. John Denny looks a bit like God here. Just guessing.

Finally, Senor Orange, or something like that. I'm a big Rusty Staub fan. When I see an old Staub card, I get it. I should probably catalog this collection and see what I need. It seems he's found a way on to my player collection list.

Meanwhile, I posted earlier today about 2013s for trade and have already worked out a couple of deals. If you missed it, take a look please. I'd love to work out some more.



Thanks for sharing the trip down memory lane and thanks again to Carl Crawford Cards. You can find more of the details of the first part of that trade in this post.

 

 

2013 Cards for Trade

I wanted to get some 2013 trade bait up for anyone interested.

I'm interested in offers of various Reds and Tigers minis, Emeralds, various color parallels, other inserts, Jarrod Parker inserts or parallels  or nice vintage Reds and Cubs, naturally. I have a want list for older stuff linked from the front page.

I also have an assortment of base cards from most teams if anyone has a want list to point out to me.

First, I have a Jose Bautista Commemorative Patch card for trade. Looks nice. 

I'd deal it for any of the rookie patch cards or any other Commemorative Patch, EXCEPT for: Adam Jones, Dustin Pedroia, Trevor Bauer, Yonder Alonso, Billy Butler or Ryan Braun.

Other stuff for trade includes...

Cut to the Chase:
CTC-8 - Ryan Braun
CTC - 15 - Dustin Pedroia

Chasing the Dream:
CD20 - Tommy Milone
CD13- Drew Hutchison
CD10 - Giancarlo Stanton
CD23 - Jose Altuve

Emerald
279 - Vicente Padilla
95 - AL Wins Leaders
168 - Kyle Farnsworth
41 - Daniel Hudson
240 - JJ Putz

Calling Cards
CC- 5 Jon Papelbon
CC - 10 Tim Lincecum (possibly pending in deal, I'm unclear at this time)
(I have Brandon Phillips)

72 Minis
2 - Dan Haren
7 - Craig Kimbrel
31 - Mark Teixeira
35 - Felix Hernandez
39 - Yu Darvish

Chasing History
CH5 - Yogi Berra
CH26 - Chipper Jones
CH34 - Robin Yount
CH36 - Kerry Wood
CH40 - Mike Schmidt
CH41 - Johann Santana

Target Reds
90 - Andy Pettitte (CList)
111 - Casey Kelly
187 - Nick Maronde

Walmart Blues
I have a stack of these. I'm looking for Anthony Rizzo, Jarrod Parker (of course) and Reds and Tigers. (I already have Latos, Arroyo, Fielder and Fister.)

Thanks for taking a look.

My First eBay Sale: Success or Failure?

The other day I wrote about buying a blaster of Topps 2013 in search of Reds, Tigers, Cubs and Jarrod Parker cards.

I came up pretty short across the board in finding those cards so that night I decided on a whim to try my hand at eBay for the first time ever. After a blogger changed his mind on the patch I pulled, I decided to list it and see if I could recoup a few dollars from a somewhat disappointing purchase.

I listed this Bryce Harper manupatch at a $4.99 start and went with the 24-hour auction timeframe. I reviewed some of the ins and outs of listing, decided instead of free shipping to go with $2.00 - and later got some great advice from a few bloggers about packaging/mailing.

Long story short, the card sold that night for $19.38, not counting the $2.00 shipping. It appears this card is going anywhere from $8.00 to $23.00 on eBay. I like the card, actually, but was surprise I got what I got. I think the appeal will wear off some as the set ages a few weeks.

Interestingly, another seller popped up early in the sale day and listed the same card for an auction ending at the exact same time as mine. I was concerned as he had several other cards available and combined shipping options. He also was a highly rated seller. Choosing the same auction ending time as mine seemed bush league but all is fair I guess.

In the end, it didn't matter. His card fetched almost $4.00 less than mine!

I had never sold on eBay before, although I also asked bloggers about it last spring when I pulled my greatest card find from a retail purchase - a Bob Gibson/Matt Holliday dual auto from a value pack at Walmart. I'm still planning to sell that card as it was going for more than $200 - although I may have missed my window on that.


I'll likely rarely sell on eBay as I prefer trading but there are some bundles of cards in my trade list that have gone unclaimed for some time that I may end up listing.

In any case, it feels good to get my first eBay sale in the books. It felt even better when the buyer paid with five minutes of winning the auction!

Comfort Card Show Prep

Looks like I'm heading to a local card show tomorrow!

Is it sad for a 44-year-old man to get giddy that the wife is letting him out so he can have a chance to stand near, while largely ignoring, a small group of other grown men in a Comfort Inn meeting room, all of us searching for pictures of other grown men?

Don't answer.

No matter, I'll be on the prowl to see if I can knock a few more cards off my 1976 list. I've been so darn close but in a holding period for 18 months. I'll also look out for Topps set needs from 1978-83. I'm foolishly working on them all at once!

One great trade helped me out greatly with 1978, 1981 and 1983. I'm still planning a post related to the bounty I received for the latter two years.

As for the show, truth is, I'm doubting I'll find anything from the late '70s and early '80s. I've been to this show several times in recent months. Lots and lots of newer stuff (so I'm at least interested this time in seeing what they have from this week's release) and then there's one dealer with some old stuff - some late '50s and '60s cards.

That's perfectly fine with me of course as I'm chasing all vintage Reds and a good spot of vintage Tigers and Cubs. And, as always, I typically have an eye out for a superstar of yesteryear - perhaps a Hall of Famer who has managed to evade my collection.

To wit, here's something I brought home the last time I attended this show a few months ago.

My first card of this legend.

Did you know Willie McCovey was born on May 6, 1931? You didn't? Neither did Willie, who was born on Jan. 10, 1938. After this post, I'll be selling this error card for $35,000 on eBay.

In short, what I'm saying is I always go into a show with a plan and I seldom stick to said plan. But that's OK. It's all about having a little fun.

And no place better for that than when standing near, while largely ignoring, a small group of other grown men in a Comfort Inn meeting room, all of us searching for pictures of other grown men.

Giving eBay a Go

I remain one of the few U.S. residents to have never sold anything on eBay. This is about to end.

I'm hoping for a few tips on shipping. I know how to properly protect and ship for an eBay buyer but I'm curious if there's anything special that should be done for shipping labels and if it's critical for seller protection to get tracking with all packages. I'm certainly assuming it is.

Anything else you think I should know?

I appreciate any and all tips.

Meanwhile, I listed last night some 2013 cards available for trade. Take a look at the end of the post if you are in the market and missed it.

Thanks.

My Last Bite on 2013 Retail Flagship

I bought a blaster this afternoon hoping for luck pulling a few Reds, Tigers and some other favored players. This is surely it for my taste of 2013 flagship (retail purchases, at least) since I'm not collecting the base set. That said, opening at least a few packs of new cards can just be fun when the day's been rough. Before I go on, I've listed a bunch of cards I'm happy to trade.

My luck wasn't what I had hoped for but I did manage to pull the Walmart blue of the entire Marlins team (shown here).

I like Former Mike. Really not much of a shot but I'll probably keep it around.

I found precious few Reds in the box. Two, actually. Zack Cozart and the Walmart Blue Mat Latos. So, also with Sean Marshall in hand and a promise of Joey Votto and Didi Gregorious in a trade, I need everything else. Base cards, inserts, color parallels, so on.

I had more luck with the Tigers. I snagged Ryan Raburn, Max Scherzer and Jhonny Peralta and a Walmart blue Prince Fielder. I also have Tigers ALDS Game 5. 

 

I'm in the market for anything else Tigers.

By the way, check out the Raburn card.

At first I thought maybe this was some kind of extra special annoying short print, but apparently not.

Notice the couple of stray arms entering the shot from either side. How pissed you must be to be those guys. Oh so close to being on a baseball card. Wow. 

 

I suppose it could be worse. They could have made the card and been making a bizarre face - saved for card eternity. Or you could be shouting to the ages that you're a Pirates fan.

But really, how cool will it be for those people to show their grandkids? Amazing to think, but this card will be packed away in their great-great-grandkids basements in their houses on Mars long after they're all gone.

(Pictured) Great-great granddaughter's house of the dude in the yellow shirt who's head is cut off in the card.
Not the Pirates guy, but the other yellow shirt. 

The blaster did yield some cards I really wanted, or learned I wanted. On the Cubs, a team near and dear to many in my family, I look for a couple of Cubs (Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo).

I pulled zero Cubs from the base set but I snagged the Rizzo '72 mini, which is cool, and the Walmart blue Starlin Castro - which I think is sharp with the Cub uni.

My patch was the Bryce Harper, commemorative patch card. It's currently promised and not available for trade. I dig the logo and I guess these have some appeal to many.

Finally, below I'm listing the cards I have on the block. 

 

Reminder: I'm looking for Reds and Tigers that I didn't mention above; any other versions of Castros and Rizzos; as well as cards of local product Jarrod Parker - along with Adrian Gonzalez and Clayton Kershaw. More on why those two in a future post.

 

So, here are my available cards (including inserts) broken down by teams in no particular order. If I trade inserts, I'd want the same back ideally. But obviously if you have a gold parallel or pink (yeah, I'm going to look for these), those carry weight with me.

Red Sox:
15 - Dustin Pedroia

66 - Daniel Nava

118 - Daisuke Matsuzaka

Emerald 279 - Vicente Padilla

(an additional insert card featured at end of post) 

 

Dodgers:

9 - Dee Gordon

16 - Andre Ethier

74 - Kenley Jansen

Walmart Blue 158 - Chad Billingsley

295 - Brandon League

 

Yankees:

Chasing History 5 - Yogi Berra 

72mini - TM31 - Mark Teixeira

52 - CC Sabathia

Target Red 90 - Andy Pettitte (checklist)

212 - Eric Chavez

214 - Curtis Granderson

282 - Russell Martin

329 - Rafael Soriano

 

Nationals:

97 - Danny Espinosa

120 - Ian Desmond

170 - Eury Perez (who with 3 stolen bases is just 1,403 away from Rickey Henderson's record)

328 - Jayson Werth 

Diamondbacks:
Walmart Blue 131 - Ian Kennedy
169 - Brad Ziegler
169 (again) - Brad Ziegler
240 - J.J. Putz
Walmart Blue 274 - Miguel Montero

Royals:
167 - Luke Hochevar
243 - Aaron Crow


Padres:
77 - Dustin Moseley
Target Red 111 - Casey Kelly
Walmart Blue 223 - Yonder Alonso
290 - Tom Layne

Cardinals:
Walmart Blue 50 - Adam Wainwright
188 - Brian Fuentes

Angels:
72mini - TM2 - Dan Haren
Target Red 187 - Nick Maronde
210 Vernon Wells
266 - Albert Pujols (checklist)
Walmart Blue 313 - Maicer Izturis

A's:
ChasingDream 20 - Tommy Milone
48 - Ryan Cook
76 - Brandon Inge
259 - Bartolo Colon

Blue Jays:
Chasing Dream 13 - Drw Hutchison
304 - Kyle Drabek
311 - Rajai Davis

Pirates:
98 - Gaby Sanchez
174 - Jason Grilli
262 - Kevin Correia

Mets:
Chasing History 41 - Johan Santana
21 - Lucas Duda
89 - Johan Santana (checklist)

Rays:
133 - James Shields
Emerald 168 - Kyle Farnsworth
218 - Ben Zobrist

Giants:
Walmart Blue 3 - Hunter Pence
38 - Brian Wilson
132 - Ryan Vogelsong
256 - Madison Bumgarner WS Game 2
298 - Pablo Sandoval WS Game 1

Rockies:
165 - Ramon Hernandez
185 - Rob Scahill

Brewers:
Chasing History 34 - Robin Yount
149 - Yovani Gallardo
307 - Norichika Aoki

Phillies:
Chasing Histoy 40 - Mike Schmidt
Walmart Blue 6 - Ryan Howard
83 - Darin Ruf

Indians:
17 - Shin-Soo Choo
267 - Jason Kipnis

Braves:
72 Mini - 7 - Craig Kimbrel
105 - Freddie Freeman
Walmart Blue 115 - Tim Hudson

Orioles:
Walmart Blue 143 - Jim Johnson

Mariners:
Walmart Blue 252 - Dustin Ackley

No Team:
94 - AL ERA League Leaders (Price, Verlander, Weaver)
95- AL Wins Leaders (Price, Weaver, Harrison)
Emerald 95 - AL Wins Leaders (Price, Weaver, Harrison)
189 - NL Batting Average Leaders (Posey, McCutchen, Braun)

Oh, and before I go, I also found this card in the box.

I pretty much would be happy with about any other die-cut in return except for: Darvish, A. Jones, Price, Cruz, Cain or Hamilton.

Thanks for the pageview.

Sampling the Goods, Bads and Mehs

I'm a vintage guy nowadays. Whatever that means. I've made that fairly clear to the two readers who stuck with me after I returned from my half-year blog sabbatical.

Yet, like last year, I knew I'd act like a kid again and pick up a small sample of the new Topps offering. So, that I did.

In 2011, my return to the hobby, I collected the set. In 2012, I sweared off of the new base set and stuck to it - mostly. I picked up some cards the day of the 2012 release and absentmindedly snagged a pack once or twice. Instead, I asked for your Reds, Tigers and Cubs and made trades to gather them.

That's my plan again. But today, I was a kid again.

The coolest shots of my modest Target hangar pack bunch included the cards above. I pulled one other Cub.

I pulled just one Red and one Tiger card. I didn't scan those cards. Sean Marshall and Tigers ALDS Game 5, for the record.

I did scan, obviously, the fun cards below. I can't argue with anything that makes you smile.






Finally, some more inserts and parallels. I'm inclined to hang on to the Yount and Kimbrel but I'm not married to the idea. Again, players from aforementioned teams are preferable (although I really like those guys).

For a few personal reasons, I'd also love to pick up a handful of pink parallels so if anyone has any available, let me know. Pink Reds, Tigers and/or Cubs would be particularly swell!

So, again, I scanned the better cards. The others didn't do much for me, including:

Ramon Hernandez (COL), Ryan Cook (OAK), Jayson Werth, Yovani Gallardo, Rob Scahill-RC (COL), Luke Hochevar (pretty card, actually), Eric Chavez, Brian Fuentes (STL), Kevin Correia (PIT), Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brad Ziegler (ARIZ).

Oh yes, before I forget, here are the Target Reds I pulled.

Struck out on Reds, Tigers, Cubs - heck, even a White Sock would be nice. 

If anyone wants to trade, let me know. Perhaps we can expand any deal to other sets and needs.

So that's likely it for me and purchasing the 2013 base set. If I attend a show, I'll probably grab some players I like and a few cool inserts but the bulk of my card funds will continue to go to the old stuff.