Masterpieces are part of the reason I think I can hit 3500 Jays cards.

Good Tuesday evening to you all, hope that your week is going well so far.  Those of you who read regularly know that I've started working on the '08 UD Masterpieces set, thanks to a contest win over at Potch's blog a while back. 

The blogosphere again has got me rolling towards this set quickly, I've received a handful of the SPs in trades so far, and I have a line on about 8 more from the Bench website.

I've become addicted to these damn cards.   I really like the art work.  How can you not?

Thanks to reader Steve D. for sending me this card.

I'm even flirting with the notion of going after the complete list of jersey cards, something you all know that I wouldn't even normally think of chasing...

Vlad & V-Mart

These are the 2 I have so far...so I thought, even if there are 30-40 jersey cards in the set, it may be worth it to try and collect them all over time.  Well Baseballcardpedia.com snapped me back into reality, there's actually 89 of them!  We'll have to think about that one for a while....(especially with Ripken and Ryan cards going for a pretty penny). 

Getting back to the title.  There are 4 Jays in the set...

Frank Thomas, Roy Halladay in the base set, and Dave Winfield and Joe Carter as SPs. 

Multiply those 4 cards times 10 (!) color variations (including the Pinot Red 1 of 1), and there's 40 right there.  UD Heroes is another set that has multiple color variations as well.  I don't have any of these card variations at all, and these two would probably knock about 60-70 cards off of the list.  It's crazy to think of how many variations of Jays cards that are out there that I haven't even grabbed yet. 

3500 Jays is a lofty goal by the end of 2012...but we'll see how this years sets shake down in terms of parallels etc.    (No rally squirrels here yet btw...)

Thanks for reading, Robert

2012 Trade post # 12: Juuust a bit outside

Good Tuesday afternoon to you all, hope that your week is going well so far.

Yes indeed, you're getting hit with another trade post here at the Habit.  What can I say, it's been a great couple of weeks on the trade front!!

I did a post about a week or so ago with some A&G trade bait, and Kyle from the Juuust a bit outside blog inquiring about a Matt Kemp relic.  A few emails back and forth and a trade was born.

Like I've mentioned on previous posts, what's a trade without a little insanity??

In addition, some Blue Jays found their way to my door....let's start with the old,

and then let's give you some of the new

I especially like the Halladay future stars card...something about that font, I don't know why, it's just cool to me.   The Morrow is also an A&G back, and the Escobar is one of the dreaded SPs from this years Heritage set, so all around a great bounty of cards.

There were a lot of other Blue Jays in the lot, including what appears to be the entire 1991 Stadium Club Jays team, which was most excellent to receive!

Derrek Lee was kind of lonely in this package, however he's going to join his mates as the only addition to the '09 OPC set I'm building...

 

Kyle has been as busy as I've been on the trading front lately; I know this because I've seen his blog on several posts around the blogosphere lately.  The barnstorming tour that he has started I think is quite cool, and the last I heard it was Alabama bound.  (wondering if it'll end up here in western PA...only time will tell)

Kyle, thank you again for the trade, much appreciated on this end!!

thanks for reading, - Robert

Why 2012 releases and pulls will be different for me

Good Monday evening to you all...getting psyched up for 2012 Topps are you?!

My thought process right now is probably more backwards from most of the other bloggers about 2012 and the upcoming Topps baseball releases.  This is largely due to the fact that I've started blogging, and have traded with many of you out there at least once.

Therefore, I can buy Topps this year and not worry about finding potential trade partners for cards such as these:

or these...

that's the best part. 

Before, I had to lament my luck and worry about getting stuck with cards such as these...

His future is long gone

(Billy has been out of baseball for 2 years now in case you were wondering)

Or, I'll be able to find more cards to have fun with...because I amuse really easy as you may have noticed.
There's going to be cards like this where I can say .."he does nothing but brag about his name"

I haven't had that kind of luxury over the last several years because my collecting has pretty much left me on an island.

Now of course I'm going to be realistic when it comes to this years product and know going in that I will not be able to trade away everything that I don't collect, but I'm going to maintain a positive spin on this years releases.

We have enough in our lives to worry about that brings negativity...why in the world am I going to bring that in to the hobby that I love...

Just my opinion....

Thanks for reading, -Robert

2012 Trade post # 11: Cards from the Quarry

Good Monday afternoon to you all, hope that the start of your back to work week is going well so far.

The trade posts are adding up fast already, it's been a great January so far and I'm looking forward to the next few months of trading.

Johnny from Cards from the Quarry sent me an email inquiring about some Rockies cards that I had posted over on the Insanity blog, as well as some others that I had up on my trade list.  How could I resist this trade when I was told that serial numbered cards were coming back my way!!

What was cool is that he sent some Rockies cards back my way in return for what I sent him...great stuff!!

By the way friends, the Rockies are really hurting in terms of serial numbered cards for my insanity set...as of this writing, I only have 5(!) towards my set.  The Rox are definitely not one of the teams that I thought would be hurting at this point.  Check the bottom of your trade boxes if you have to....lol

Johnny, thank you again for the trade, looking forward to doing more in the future.

thanks for reading, -Robert

Goodwill Hunting

Good Sunday afternoon to you all, hope that the weekend is going well for you.

Yes, I am aware that the post title is a 1998 movie by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.  But it's also what the wife and I do every once in a while. 

We call it "junking".  We hit all the local area Goodwill stores, and see what kind of "junk" they have.  Now I know what you all are already saying, "why in the world would you want to buy someone else's stuff that they didn't want anymore??"  One man's (or woman's) trash is an others treasure.

You would be surprised to see what my wife can do with this so called junk, especially old lamps.  Check out this picture for example...

Everything you see there, recycled.  See the lights hanging from the tree??  Burnt out light bulbs, which instead of heading to a landfill, wound up as tree ornaments.  Wooden candle holders, snowman lamps, all taken from stuff that people would throw into a landfill.  Our little part of helping the environment. 

Now I know what you're saying...what does this have to do with cards, it is after all a sports card blog, right?

Well, the local Goodwill store had a basket at the front of the store, with 4 baggies filled with baseball cards that had been donated.  Priced at $5.99, I was a little skeptical, but with it being the last weekend of the month, everything in the store is 1/2 off.   100+ cards for around $3?  I'll take that gamble. 

Here's a card that was on top of the see through baggie...

Can't hurt to start with the Crime Dog as a Jay on top...but wait, it gets better

a couple of other decent singles...

2011 Topps Mickey Mantle...can't complain about this either.  There was 31 Topps 2011 cards in the pack.

I saw this next card and thought "cool, there's some OPC in here!"

Turns out it's a preview card from 08 UD baseball.  Still, I like it...

This next group of cards I have never seen before.

2008 UD Infield Power inserts, 9 total (the Mike Lowell didn't fit on the scanner with these).  Funny, they were in retail packs, but I never saw one, and I'm pretty sure that I bought mostly retail in '08. 

The next 5 I was kind of shocked to find in there...

5 Yankee Stadium Legacy cards.   really??  This 3 bucks is getting better by the minute...

This next one is a little off topic here, but I like this set, and it is probably the only 80's Topps set that I will try and collect in the future.

I don't know what it is, the team name at the top in the team's colors in a black background has always attracted me to these cards.  Sick, ya I know, but for me this works.  Make a mental note...'86 Topps in the future...

Finally, you all know the fun I'm having with the '77 Topps set.  Well, one of the other 70's sets that I had also planned to work on in the future is the '79 set....well I was able to get a head start on that set as well in this package...

Total of 31 cards towards that set...in OK shape, sadly someone crossed out some of the team names in pen on the backs, but as a starter lot, this is definitely OK.  One can always upgrade later, right??

Great fun for a Friday afternoon for $3...we were also able to find a couple of more lamps for her to work with as well on the cheap.   Add in some chicken wings for dinner and it was a great Friday off for me.

Thanks for reading, Robert

2012 Trade post # 10: Too Many Verlanders/Grandersons

Good Sunday morning to you all, hope that your weekend is going well so far.  A little bit of light and easy reading this morning to work your way into Sunday. 

As you may have read the other day, I recently completed a trade with Dennis over at the Too Many Verlanders blog.  I had some fun with all the Blue Jays cards he sent me, and now I'm gonna show some of the others that he sent.

Trades with me lately have been very good towards the insanity set.   This trade was no exception....Dennis sent me 11 cards towards the set, which as of this posting will now be over 400 cards complete.  Here's a few of the cards

A nice mix of years and colors, always a good thing.

I had sent Dennis a Marty Turco jersey card in this trade after seeing a post regarding Marty being a Michigan alumnus (which I was not aware).  In return, I'm now sporting this beauty:

1996 Leaf Signature Series Carlos Delgado Auto!  On card no less, a fantastic addition to the Jays collection.

Thank you again for the trade Dennis, I look forward to our next trade!

thanks for reading, Robert

Week 27 starts with a package from the Night Owl

Good Saturday morning to you all.  Hope that you're off to a great start to your weekend.

I received a "just because" envelope from the Night Owl on Friday (Owl, your cards are in the mail as of today), with a good assortment of cards from my various want lists/projects.

First, Greg knocked off a few more cards from the 2009 OPC want list.  In addition, he hit the insanity list once with a fine looking card from Topps Marquee (lower left)

It's been a stellar week for the OPC set...the want list went from 110 down to below 50, so there's hope of completing this set in the not too distant future.

Greg also sent me a welcome assortment of Jays cards...I can always count on him for a unique assortment of Jays goodness, and he did not disappoint.

I especially like the '06 Opening day Troy Glaus blue parallel in the upper left corner.  It's variants such as this that make me believe that 3500 different Jays cards by the end of the year is becoming more and more realistic.

Bottom center by the way, is a 2002 Topps Gallery card of JJ Trujillo.  This is a set that I've been working on completing lately (it's only taken me 10 years to complete...what's another couple weeks right?), and I'm only one card away from completing.  I'm missing card # 198 of Harmon Killebrew.   (Edit:  Since I posted the one-card challenge on Friday, it has already been answered....man I love the blogosphere!)

What does one do when they are one card away from completing a set?  Why, they visit Greg's blog of course, and hit the "one-card challenge" post on the right hand side.  Can't find it you say?  Look for this:

You'll see it on the right hand side of the page....bloggers and collectors have been posting for a while now, looking for that elusive final card to complete that set they've been working on.

Greg, thank you for the cards, as always they are very much appreciated!!

thanks for reading, Robert

My own one card challenge

Good Friday afternoon to you all...hope that you're headed for a great weekend...

this is a quickie post....

Need one card to finish one of my Fab Five...2002 Topps Gallery # 198 Harmon Killebrew

I've also posted this on the Night Owl's One Card Challenge.

Help!

Thanks for reading,  Robert

Cool cards # 13 & # 14: The broken bat edition

Good Friday to you all, hope that you're looking forward to a great weekend!

A little overdue on the cool cards post, but here's two more cards, both featuring broken bats in the pics for your viewing pleasure:


# 13:  Kyle Phillips, 2010 Upper Deck # 32.

I don't even remember Kyle in a Jays uniform in 2009, likely because he only had 18 ABs with the big club.  Hard to believe that a player drafted in 2002 doesn't get a RC for 8 years, especially with all the Bowman products coming out featuring anybody who was next to nobody back then.  I'll have to check and see if this was actually his RC.

This next card I found quite interesting:

Card # 14:  Roger Clemens, 2007 Upper Deck First Edition # 223

Of course many of you like me are thinking "did anyone get the chance to throw the bat back at Roger??"

I've watched baseball for the past 35 years, and Clemens throwing that bat back at Piazza still ranks as the most classless moves I have ever seen.

Hope you enjoyed these cards, and if yo u have any cards that you think are cool that you'd like me to feature, drop me a line at rmitchell6700 at yahoo dot com

thanks for reading, Robert

2012 Trade post # 9: Design on Deck

Good Thursday afternoon to you all, here is another in a long line of trade posts this week.

I received a comment on a post from Ross at Design on Deck stating that he had some more OPC cards to help me towards completing that set.  Ross is a new blogger, but has some great designs for cards from what I've read on his blog so far.  I warn you as well, Ross is a Giants fan, so don't hold that against him.... (j/k Ross)

 

Ross was also able to complete a set for me...'11 Topps Update

Even though it wasn't one of the Fab 5, it's sure nice to get another set done and on the board.

Thanks again for the trade Ross!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

I was taught today that Blue Jays aren't always blue, and other things..

Good Wednesday evening to you all, the week is half gone, it's all downhill towards the weekend now!

I came home today to a wonderful bounty of cards.  2 PWE's, 2 bubble mailers, and a small white box that I was definitely not expecting!

The 2 PWE's were Sportlots purchases towards the 2002 Topps Gallery set that I'm trying to complete:

Xavier Nady's card is from 5 teams ago.  I saw the Brandon Inge card and it reminded me that he debuted in the majors as a catcher and played there steady until 2004.  The Mike Schmidt card is my favorite, the powder blue unis from the early 80's were the best.  Only a handful of cards to go to complete this set, and they should be in the mail on their way to me!!

The two bubble envelopes were from two opposite sources.  One was an eBay auction win, which I will post with some other relics that are on their way to me over the next few days.  The other was a welcome package from Johnny at the Cards from the Quarry blog.  Johnny sent me some cards for the insanity set, which I will feature on that blog, and in a trade post here later this week.   Johnny, thank you by the way!!!

Finally, the last package that arrived was a total surprise, and I will say this, it came from a Prince of a blogger (cough...Dennis...cough)...

Way too much goodness in here to devote to just one post, so I decided to have a little fun with the first post.

Any package that contains a wide assortment of Jays is always a welcome sight here at the Habit...and this package was also educational!  Who knew that Blue Jays came in more than one color (colour for you Canadian/English viewers)

Let's see now....there is   Purple

 Gold

 Bronze

Black

Red

Powder Blue!!

Orange?????

Green green

and finally....Dodger Blue

How in the world did that get in there??????????(lol)

There are many more cards where that came from, thank you very much Dennis!!  Trade post to appear later this week as well.

Thanks to Dennis I now have plans for my days off on Friday and Monday....sorting cards...(grin)

Thanks for reading, Robert

p.s.  I don't know if any of you use Yahoo Messenger out there, but if you do, you can add me to your contact list (ID rmitchell6700)... when you add me, just be sure to tell me who you are...people add me to their messenger list with screen names that are totally off the wall and I have no idea who they are...

2012 Trade post #8: 'O' No, not another Orioles blog

Good Wednesday to you all, we're halfway to the weekend my friends!

I was fortunate to spot the wantlist of Ryan at 'O' No, not another Orioles blog, who had a set posted that I'm chasing as well, 2009 OPC.  I had a bunch that he needed, he had a bunch that I needed, and a trade ensued.

Between this trade and another that will be featured in the next trade post, I've managed to knock off almost half of the wantlist I had last week.  Here's a sampling of the cards I was sent...

Randy Johnson's arms are so long, it looks as if he's a mile away from you when he holds the ball out to the camera.

Ryan, thank you for the trade, I look forward to our next one!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Packs Across America: Dubois, PA

Good Tuesday evening to you all, here I have another installment of the Packs Across America series.

I did a bit of traveling for work last Friday, and stopped by the local Wal-Mart and picked up a couple packs, namely because I had time to kill, and I wanted to add another installment to this series. Here we go:

City/State:  Dubois, PA (approx 2 hrs NE of Pittsburgh, PA)
Location:   Wal-Mart
Packs:  2 rack packs of 2011 Allen & Ginter

Pack 1:


66. Starlin Castro
73. Brandon Morrow
154. Todd Helton
178. Ben Revere
195. Tommy Hanson
199. Jake Peavy
226. Andre Ethier
274. Stan Lee
298. Peter Gammons
330. C.C. Sabathia (earmarked for a certain Owl)
HH97. Hometown Heroes Brandon Morrow
AP23. Red Wolf

A Brandon Morrow hot pack!! 

 Pack 2:

14. Adrian Beltre
127. James Loney
163. Ian Kennedy
203. Aaron Hill
218. Johan Santana
238. Rudy Ruettiger ( to see a more up to date version of this card, click here)
244. Chone Figgins
252. Omar Infante
262. Manny Pacquiao
304. Madison Bumgarner
HH94. Hometown Heroes C.J. Wilson
96.  Daniel Boulud Mini A&G Back (the back says he's a chef, but I don't see the white hat like Chef Boy-ar-dee, so I'm a little skeptical ....)

Outside of the C.C. Sabathia SP which is headed to the Owl.....all the others are for trade.

The first pack gets an A (subjective grade from a Blue Jays fan...what can I say??)
The second pack gets a B+ (A&G mini, two decent pitchers for an SP and insert)

Thanks for reading, Robert

The Tigers now have a Prince, but he has expensive tastes

Just a quick post to give you all the details....9 yrs, $214 M

Take a look here at the story...

Robert

2012 Trade post #7: The Sandlot

Good Tuesday afternoon to you all, hope that you're having a good day at work (if you in fact are reading this while at work...)

Next up on the trade list, Joe at The Sandlot.  Joe emailed me a couple of weeks back, and asked if I was interested in trading for some Jays cards that I didn't have, along with a few serial #'d cards.

Silly rabbit, of course I am!!  Mind you, Joe has the patience of Job while I procrastinated for 2 weeks.  Finally, I got off my duff and pulled a few Mets cards for him, and thus a trade was completed.

First, the Jays cards...

Might be able to call them the Black Jays with these cards.  Seriously though, I love the Unique cards especially, the names along the left hand side of the card are pretty cool and the design for me isn't too busy.  The Morrow card in the upper right is from '11 Bowman, and features the white hat, which you don't see the Jays use very often.

A few insanity cards were also included...here's a sneak peek...

Sneaking ever closer to the magic 1500 number!!  Joe, thank you for the trade, next time I'll be a little quicker on the draw for ya....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Wondering if the trade deadline is February 1, 2012

Good Monday to you all, hope that your first day of work this week was not overbearing.

For me, this weekend was one of the busiest that I can recall ever on the trade front.  I completed 5 (yes five) trades, which for some of you may be nothing, but for me it probably was the busiest weekend on the trade front since I started the blog almost 6 months ago.  I have a couple of more trades on the go as well.

Am I complaining?  Hell no!!  But the influx of trade offers on the weekend kind of caught me off guard, and with the upcoming release of Topps '12 Series 1 on the 1st of February, I was just wondering if everybody was just getting their last minute trades in before the new cards come out...lol

Some of you may have noticed I made a Sportlots purchase on the weekend as well.  The first of those envelopes came in today, with some '01 Fleer Tradition and a '02 Topps Gallery card to show for the first of 7 envelopes that I will (hopefully) receive.

I've loved both of these sets for a long time, and after seeing these cards come in today, I regret not finishing these sets 10 years ago.  They are both on the fab five, and I'm now making a more concerted effort to finish these off.

Keep an eye out for a boat load of trade posts over the next couple of weeks...the Habit has been hit hard...OPC , Insanity, Jays, and I'm loving every minute of it.

By the way, in case you hadn't sent a bubble mailer with the new rates, up to 3 ounces now costs $1.95...so don't have too big a heart attack when you hit the P.O. for your next trade.

Keep the trades a coming, maybe I'll hit the 100 envelope goal before school's out!!   (that's not a dare btw, lol)

Thanks for reading, Robert..

2012 Trade post # 6: My 2008 Topps Set Blog

Good Sunday evening to you all, I hope that you've enjoyed your weekend so far!

If you've looked at my Serial Insanity  blog over the past couple of days, you'll notice that I've posted the cards that I received from Larry over at the My 2008 Topps Set blog. 

If you've never looked at Larry's blog, now's the time, because he has what I would say to be one of the most ambitious projects I've seen to date.  Larry is having each of the 990 cards in the 2008 Topps set autographed, and he's posted 471 of them so far. 

Larry sent me 4 cards toward the serial insanity set, as you'll see below (again)

I'm not quite as far along in my project as Larry is...nor is mine quite as detailed.

Larry, thank you again for the trade, your cards go in the mail tomorrow (I apologize for the slowness)

thanks for reading, Robert

Packs Across America: Fowler, CO

Good Sunday morning to you all, hope that your Saturday went well, and you are ready for some great football later on today!

A little over a week ago I was involved in a trade with Eric @ Manupatches & Chrome Scratches, and part of the trade was a pack of Allen & Ginter that came my way.   I haven't had much of an opportunity to travel lately, so this pack for me was a way to get another of the Packs Across America posts in:

City/State:  Fowler, CO
Location:   Unknown
Packs:  1 rack pack of 2011 Allen & Ginter

Inserts: 2 

Hometown Heroes HH69 Yovani Gallardo.  
Minis:  49 Javier Vazquez Regular Back

Base cards: 9

22. Michael Bourn
76. Chase Headley
101. Peter Bourjos
108. Roy Oswalt
124. Chad Billingsley
148. Sonya Richards
183. Mike Napoli
215. Andrew McCutchen
253. Mike Minor

Short Prints: 1

345. Zack Greinke

All in all not a bad rack pack.  Got the requisite mini, insert and short print card.    No RC's though, so we'll grade the pack a B.  Thanks again Eric for the trade, much appreciated!

These cards are for trade if needed, so just let me know:

Thanks for reading, Robert