I am soooooo glad February is done with

Good Wednesday evening to you all, hope that looking forward to the weekend as much as I am.

I hate February.  Or, as my wife likes to call it, Febrrrrarrrry.  For me, even more so the last few years, I have dreaded the month of February.  It is a dreary, boring, gray kind of month and I can never wait until it ends.

Yes, spring training has started, I am well aware of that.  You don't see highlights of guys working out. (well, I don't go looking for those kind of highlights anyhow)   Saturday is a day I'm looking forward to, because I'll get to see highlights of actual spring training games.  For me, that means we're getting close to the real thing. 

I guess you could call what I had the "February blues".  What cures the February blues?  A package that arrives out of the blue.  I had no idea that Max (Jacobmrly) from the soon to be started Starting Nine blog was sending me a package of goodies totally unannounced, unsolicited, and unexpected. 

What's a package in this household without a little insanity?  Max is awesome, and has hooked me up on several occasions with some great stuff towards that set.

There was more, Blue Jays of course.  You may have seen on this post over at Night Owl Cards yesterday that I had moved a Joe Carter RC from the '84 Donruss set Greg's way.  Well, I got a pretty cool card of Joe Carter today in this package...

We've seen the image many times, but unlike you this never gets old for me.  Joe Carter celebrating my birthday 4 days early in 1993 (OK, maybe it was something else...)

This next card is of a guy that we may see in a Jays uniform this September....

Adeiny Hechavarria (I better take the time to learn that last name...) is an up and coming shortstop in the Jays system  whose offensive stats have been on quite an interesting pattern.

2010 started in high A Dunedin, where he hit a measly .193 in 41 games.  He was then moved up to AA New Hampshire where he promptly hit .273 in 61 games.  Adeiny then starts 2011 in New Hampshire where he hits .235 in 111 games, then gets a promotion to AAA Las Vegas where he promptly hits .389 and has an OPS of .968 in 25 games.   I knew the PCL inflated stats, but wow!!

I guess most of you could tell by my writing lately that the February blahs had gotten into me.   They do every year.  I know that when I see the calendar tomorrow and it says March 1st that my mood will immediately improve.  I'm still expecting one more blast of snow to come our way, but soon enough, it will be gone, and my favorite time of the year will be here. 

Get ready kids....summer is coming!!

Max, thank you very much for the unexpected goodies!!  Very much appreciated.

Thanks for reading, Robert

2012 Trade post # 22: My Hockey Card Obsession

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

How many of you hockey fans out there watched the Tradecentre program yesterday on the NHL network and came away disappointed?  I actually had the day off due to a doctors appointment, so I watched, and waited, and nothing really decent happened until after 3 pm.  Even then the trade, while significant, still left me wanting more.

Well thank goodness the mail came yesterday, and the one envelope I did receive contained one of the quickest and simplest trades I've completed as a blogger.

I saw a card on the blog My Hockey Card Obsession.  Brett, who runs a great blog, was lamenting a trade for a Dino Ciccarelli card that fit his 1 vs 100 project.  Brett mentioned that the card was in his trade box because the person who had sent him the card originally did not bother to mention that it was creased. I sent Brett a list of cards I had for trade, and a trade was born.   1 for 1, quick and painless.

This is a 2007-08 SP Game Used card of Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli, numbered 15/22.

Even though Brett had mentioned on the post that the card was creased, when I inquired about the card, Brett made doubly sure that I knew about the creases in the card.  Fantastic stuff there. 

Brett, thank you for a quick and great trade, hope we can do it again some time in the future.

Thanks for reading, Robert

As the trade deadline looms...

Good Sunday to you all, hope that you're having a great weekend so far.

As many of you know who read my blog regularly, I decided to put the hockey want lists back up on the top of the page.  A recent trip to Sportlots.com provided me with an opportunity to start knocking down some want lists.

First, I grabbed 15 cards from the 94-95 Upper Deck set.  I will not show you them all here, but a couple of cards featured some great players...

I still love these cards, even 18 years after they first came out.  The photography is great, and the card design is unique.

Sadly, when going through the cards I had for that set, I came across 2 more card numbers that I needed.  There's nothing worse than buying cards that you think will finish a set, and then finding a couple of more holes.  Oh well....

Onwards, to a couple of Upper Deck Vintage sets of the early 2000's.  The first one is 01-02 Vintage, featuring a design that mimics the OPC 75-76 set.

It was interesting to see when I opened the envelope that upon inspection of the cards, I noted that there were a few teams that had the team nick name on the top, while Ray Bourque's card had "Colorado" instead.  I wondered if the NHL and Upper Deck hadn't reached a full agreement, but then when I looked at the back of Bourque's card, I noticed that team nick names were there.  There were a handful of other teams that had the city/state name on top rather than the nick name, which is kind of odd.  I still need a little over 60 cards to complete this set.

Another set that I decided to chip away at was the 02-03 UD Vintage.  This design, however, doesn't mimic any set that I can recall...

This set had 350 cards, and has the same quirk as the 01-02 set, where a few teams did not have the nick name printed in the lower right, but instead had the city or state.  Strange.  Both sets were different as well as they did not feature any on ice action photos, but instead all the images were superimposed on various color backgrounds.  The backs were simple, the card number was featured inside of the NHL shield on the upper left corner, and full stats were available for only the previous 5 seasons.   To complete this set will be a little more of a daunting task, as I still have 134 cards to go in this one. 

I will say it has been pretty cool to go back in time and see a lot of the players I remember from the 90's and early 2000's, and also to see how many of them are still in the NHL. 

I believe with the lack of product out there worth purchasing at the moment pack wise, the near future for me will entail pecking away at all of these old sets.  Oh, and don't forget the insanity....with me it will always be there!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Man, I don't remember him at all: Joe Torre

Good Saturday evening to you all, hope that your day was fantastic!!

This is the 2nd in a series of posts detailing cards from the '77 Topps set that I'm putting together, and when looking at the card, I say to myself "Man, I don't remember him at all"

Now I know what you're thinking.  This guy is off of his rocker, everyone knows who Joe Torre is.  First, you're correct, I am a few slices short of a full loaf of bread.  Second, I swear to you I don't remember Joe Torre as a ball player. 

First, let's look at his card:  1977 Topps # 425 (don't panic, this card is poorly centered)

A decent card of Joe swinging away.  Since 1977 was my first year of following baseball on a regular basis, and since I was a kid and I followed the Blue Jays during their maiden voyage in the AL, there is good reason that I wouldn't remember Joe as a player.

A quick check of baseballreference.com shows that Torre's last game was Friday, June 17, 1977 against the Houston Astros, a game that the Astros won 7-1.  Joe's final career AB was in the 9th inning of that game, a fly out to right field as a pinch hitter.  Joe was released the next day by the Mets, and his career as a player was over.  Joe finished the '77 season hitting just .176 in 51 AB's.  (Joe was actually a player/manager that year)

Joe had a great set of career statistics as well.  Over 2300 hits, a career .297 batting average and a MVP award in 1971 while playing for the Cardinals. That MVP season saw Joe hit .363 with 230 hits and 137 RBI. 

Joe is more famous to the younger generation as a long time manager of the New York Yankees.  Joe's 12 years as manager in New York were successful to say the least, 10 division titles, 6 AL pennants and 4 World Series championships.  The 2 seasons that Joe's teams didn't finish their division first, the Yankees won 94 games in '97 and 96 games in '07. 

Sadly, I do not remember Joe as a player at all, though it appears from just the numbers that his time as a player was quite a successful one.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Week 31 begins with the number 50

Good Saturday morning to you all, hope that your weekend is off to a fine start.

I don't do this very often, but I just wanted to comment on a couple of stories that happened in MLB this week.

First, Ryan Braun is "exonerated" and doesn't have to serve a 50 game suspension.

This might be the craziest story going, for a long time.  I have questions about this as well.   Why in the world are we sending samples to Montreal?  Please someone tell me why MLB feels the need to do such a ludicrous thing as to send a urine sample halfway across the continent, when I'm sure that there are many labs in the US that can perform the same test. 

I hear that the test administrator had to keep the sample in his refrigerator until it could be sent via courier to the test site.  SO??  Come on people, if a test is administered on a Saturday night, there are no couriers open until Monday morning...what are we supposed to do with the samples then?  There should be approved labs in every MLB city that are capable of performing these tests on a moments notice.  Eliminates the need for shipping the sample, or even the potential for issues such as storage. 

OK...enough of that little rant...Ryan Braun, all I have to say is I hope you are ready for the taunts you are going to hear, and the signs you are going to see at every MLB park you visit this year.  It's going to be rough.

2nd.  Matt Kemp states that he believes he can be the 1st "50-50" player in MLB history.

Now that would be a story that legends are made from.  The closest that anybody has ever come to a season like that would be Alex Rodriguez in '98 with 42 HR and 46 SB (Yahoo!). 

Do I think he can do it?  No, not with the team he has around him.  The lineup is not strong enough to give him the support needed in order to get pitches to hit 50HRs this year.  I believe he can steal 50 bases, although that may be just as big a long shot, since he stole 40 last year in what may be a career season.  Kemp has also done well to avoid injuries the past 4 years (he's only missed 11 games during that span).  To be honest though, I'm kind of glad he made the boast.  Takes a little pressure off of his team mates, reduces the glare, just a little bit, of the ownership mess that the Dodgers have been in over the past couple of seasons.  Maybe one of the Dodger bloggers can create a "50-50" watch? 

What I found ironic (OK..it's a stretch here) is that the two cards featured here as well are the front and the back of '12 Topps Series 1.  Braun is card # 1, Kemp # 330.  If you ask me, it should have been the other way around, with Braun being the ass end of the set.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Masterpieces, the word for a new type of illness

Good Wednesday evening to you all, I'm thankful to say I have only one day left before a 4 day weekend.

These damn UD Masterpieces cards...they are an evil weakness.

I've been a sucker for the "art" cards for a long time now.  My displaying the Killebrew card that finished the 2002 Topps Gallery set for me should have been a dead giveaway.  Oh yea, I posted it twice.

Well, during a fit of boredom on the weekend, I typed in the search box on eBay "2008 UD Masterpieces Jersey".  A very nice list of cards flashed on the screen in front of me.  My cheapness always gets the better of me, so I had to scroll for a while until I found this card:

Texas Rangers helmet, but plays for the Braves!!

$0.99 plus shipping.  I bid that as the maximum.  I won.  I now have it. 

It's an illness, I swear it to you. 

This is the 5th one that I have.  There's 84 more to complete the set.

With all the damn old sets I've started over the years, why have I all of a sudden become addicted to these cards!  If I could find a bunch of them at 99 cents apiece, yea I would go for this set.  But with names like Ryan (twice), Pujols, Rodriguez, Gwynn, Berra to name a few, the 99 cent price is just a dream.

For a guy who doesn't collect insert/jersey "sets", these cards have me all messed up.

[insert your favorite 4 letter word here]

Thanks for reading, Robert

2012 Trade Post # 21: Blog reader Ryan M.

Good Wednesday afternoon to you all.  Here we have the latest in trade posts for the blog.

Reader Ryan M. sent me an email, letting me know that he had a nice chunk of '11 Topps Chrome off of my want list.  Ryan had spotted several cards on my trade list that he wanted, and a trade was started.

The dent Ryan made into my Topps Chrome list was massive, I'm down to 40 cards now to complete the set.  Here are a few of the victims:

But wait, there's more!

There were two "miscellaneous" cards in the box as well.  First, Ryan was well aware of my love of anything Maple Leafs related, and he sent me a Young Guns card of Nazem Kadri.  I'm still hoping that this kid will pan out, he's shown some flashes of a great scoring touch.

Finally, another great surprise was in the box. 

Auto/relic #25 for the Jays collection

An excellent addition to all the Chrome in the box, a JP Arencibia auto!!  My 2nd JP auto card, and a welcome surprise.

Ryan, thank you so much for the trade, and the great surprises inside.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Looking to finish 2012 Topps Series 1, and other things.

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

For some insane crazy reason, I couldn't figure out how to add my favorite blogs from the WordPress world to my blog roll.  The sad part is, it was so easy to do once I figured out how to do it that I was ashamed of myself for not figuring it out sooner.

I've also added a couple of tabs back up to the top of the blog.

• The hockey want list is back.  I'm going to keep the tab there for good.
• I added a 2012 Topps want list/trade list tab.

Speaking of 2012 Topps, I received a Jays team set from Derek over at Tomahawk Chopping a little while back (yes, I'm overdue in posting...).

Thank you Derek!!

Derek also included 3 cards towards the insanity...also greatly appreciated.

I'm hoping to finish Series 1 via trade...I do have some dupes for trade as well.  If you would like to trade, just take a look at the Topps 2012 tab at the top of the blog.  This may be the fastest I've ever completed a set, and also the fewest number of packs purchased to complete a Topps set.  Finishing this soon will help allow me to work on other, older sets that I'm still trying to finish up.

Thanks for reading, Robert

At least one Blue Jay has a chance to make some history this year

Doing a little research for a project I'm working on this evening brought me to this realization.

Omar Vizquel, who signed with the Blue Jays in the off season, needs to appear in 92 games to become just the 9th person in MLB history to play in 3000 games.

That is one incredible achievement if you think about it. 

If you're looking to stump your friends with a little trivia, the players who hit 3000 games in the fewest amount of seasons?   Both of them were Orioles (Murray and Ripken both did it in just 21 years)

Oh, and the only player to play 3000 games and not be in the HOF....well, let's just say he's banned for life.

Thanks for reading, Robert

2012 Trade post # 20: Get the bat off your shoulder

Good Sunday morning to you all, hope that your weekend is going well.

It's actually been a few days since I've had to do a trade post, and this is the first one featuring 2012 Topps.  I emailed Anthony over at Get the bat off your shoulder a couple of times, and we worked out a deal to help each other towards completing the '12 Topps set.

I also got a bonus as a couple of Jays cards that I didn't have magically found their way into the envelope:

Anthony, good luck on finishing your set, and thanks for the help with mine!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Man, I don't remember him at all: Sandy Alomar Sr.

It has been fun collecting cards from the 70's.  The 70's was a time where I was really beginning to develop my interest in the sport.  The Blue Jays were just starting their journey as a team in the American League, I was starting to play organized baseball, and baseball cards were a big part of those years as well.

The '77 set has been fun to look through so far, seeing a lot of old faces and names that I remember from that era.  Naturally, being only 10 years old at the time, there are a lot of players in there that I don't remember at all, or barely remember playing at that time.

As I continue to develop a deeper interest in the game, through cards, I'll take a look at some of these players who when I look at their card(s), I say, "Man, I don't remember him at all".

Today's card is the '77 Topps card of Sandy Alomar Sr. (Card 54)

You older guys are probably saying that you know him.  Well, I do know the name naturally, because of his two sons, Roberto and Sandy Jr., that played in the majors in the 90's and 2000's.  I didn't know until now that their father, Sandy Sr., played up until 1978. 

Sandy's career lasted 15 seasons with 6 different clubs.  Sandy was a speedy 2nd baseman, who stole 20+ bases 6 times.  Slugging was definitely not his forte, as his career slugging percentage was a mere .288.

Probably the main reason why I don't remember him is that the last 3 seasons of his career, 1976-1978, were mostly part time utility role campaigns. 

It definitely was cool to learn a little bit about the player who fathered one of my favorites from the Jays teams that won the World Series in 92 & 93, Roberto Alomar. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

Week 30 begins with some laughter

Good Saturday to you all, hope that your weekend is off to a great start.

Laughter.  I enjoy it.  It's the one thing that truly keeps my wits about me.  I hit the local Wal-Mart today to purchase some cards, specifically 2012 Topps.  I've done a fairly decent job at keeping the spending on this product to a reasonable amount.  I can even break down the types of packs that I've purchased so far, that's how 'controlled' I've been.

1. 14 hobby packs (Ryan, I hope those redemption cards turn out well for you)
2. 3 retail packs at Target
3. 4 rack packs at Wal-Mart

That's it.  I've made one trade for 2012 product so far as well.

OK, I'm rambling....why the laughter?  Well, I haven't pulled too many of the gold parallels so far.  5 to be exact. Take a look at them:

My luck, in a nutshell

OK math majors out there, what are the odds of pulling a duplicate gold card in the limited amount of packs that I've purchased?  Why did I laugh, well because this is the 2nd time this week that I've been able to bitch about the collation, and of course, the dupe is a Yankee.  Not something a Blue Jay fan really wants.

Honestly though, this isn't a rant, and I actually did laugh when I saw that I already hit a dupe.  I'm going to laugh from now on, because laughter is the best medicine.  Plus, negativity is kind of a downer, and cards should be fun. 

Besides, pitchers & catchers for 8 more teams reported today....these old bones are getting warmer by the second.

Thanks for reading, Robert

A little food for thought

I just read an article on Yahoo! sports that stated that MLB players who filed for arbitration this year received on average an 89% raise.

If I received an 89% raise this year (ha!), I would still make less than 1/4 of the minimum MLB salary.

I guess I should just be happy that I get 4 weeks vacation every year.

Thanks for reading, Robert

1985 Blue Jays 3rd base platoon

Good Thursday to you all, hope that your week has gone well so far.

I was flipping through some Blue Jays cards this evening and saw these two side by side, and they took me back to the platoon that the Blue Jays employed for several years during the 80's at third base.

I chose the 1985 season to look at because that was the first year the Jays captured the AL East title. 

Garth Iorg and Rance Mulliniks were an interesting combination for the hot corner.  Neither of them would ever be confused as your prototypical power hitting 3rd baseman.  They were very much a 2 headed monster, in many ways.

Both were 5'11".  Both were born in California.  Iorg was only 14 months older than Mulliniks. 

Their stats in 1985 combined were excellent.  They combined for 198 hits and a .302 batting average.  They also between them hit 17HR and drove in 94 runs.  Iorg played 104 games at the hot corner, Mulliniks 119.  They often pinch hit for each other during games.  They weren't considered base stealing threats by any stretch of the imagination, but combined they were 9 for 9 in stolen bases that season. 

Considering that they both played multiple infield positions during the season as well, their defense wasn't too bad at 3rd; they combined for 16 errors in 429 chances. (.963 field pct.)

During their 7 game loss to Kansas City in the ALCS, they combined to go 6 for 26 (.231).

Garth Iorg played for 2 more seasons and retired after the 1987 campaign, which statistically was his poorest at the plate.

Rance Mulliniks played for 7 more years, with his last game coming in 1992, the year the Jays won their first World Series.

By then, the two of them had been replaced with a newer model 3rd baseman, one who played against all pitchers....Kelly Gruber.

Thanks for reading, Robert

What I love

Happy Valentines Day to you out there....I'm sure that you all enjoyed your day with your wives/girlfriends/significant others.

Plain and simple, there are a lot of things that I love in this world.

First and foremost, my wife.  She is my rock, the reason I am still sane (barely), and the one who supports me in everything that I do, including writing this blog on a daily basis.   Jane, I love you very much, I thank God each day that you are in my life.

OK, the mush is over, on to business.

There are lots of other things that I love in my life:

A cold bottle of beer on a hot summer's day:

Not too many teams have this good a lineup

Good music: (The multiple camera angles are a freaky effect)

Toronto based sports teams:

And a set of baseball cards that took just under 10 years to complete:

On this day of love, what's left to be said??

Thanks for reading, Robert

Of course Topps doesn't read our blogs!! (I know they don't read mine)

Good Monday evening to you all, I truly hope that your week got off to a fine start..

I've had a couple of weeks to reflect on the great '12 Topps "debate", and then I took a look at a post earlier today by Cam over at Cardboard Heaven wherein he mentions that Topps doesn't read our blogs because of the design elements of one of the insert sets reminded him of an Upper Deck product.  Do I agree with that statement...you better believe it...take a look at the scan below and see if you agree.

The same only different

Of course Topps doesn't read our blogs...why should they?

Of the regular bloggers out there, how many are there...350?   400?

How many people do you think are out there buying cards in Wal-Marts, Targets, Meijer's and their local card stores.  Tens of thousands?  Maybe a hundred thousand?  More?  You get the point.


I work for a large delivery corporation, and have done so now for 13 years.  A former boss of mine gave me food for thought about how big companies work.

"The machine keeps rolling whether you are here or not", he told me.  I think about that every time I'm not there at work. Damn straight...

The same rings true for Topps.  I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer to you all, but the Topps machine will keep rolling, whether we, the blogosphere (should I count myself in that fraternity yet?) collect them this year, or not.  There will be a 2013 set, a 2014 set, and so on.  Do I support those who have said that they will not collect this year?  Absolutely, that is 100% your choice, and I would never force anyone into doing something they didn't want to do.  Will I collect 2012 Topps, the answer is yes.  Am I doing so more begrudgingly than a week or 2 ago.  Yes, I am.  Because I've had time to think, reflect, and see first hand the product. 


I think that the point I was trying to get at before, and didn't articulate it clearly enough the first time, was that Topps isn't going to cater to us, the collector.  Why?

• We have nowhere else to go.   The monopoly on the card market for them makes it easy to spend less on design and marketing, because they know that we're stuck.  For a lot of the hardcore card collectors out there, there is only so much of the past you can go back and purchase.  
• If the card portion of their business does see a reduction in profits, Topps has other ventures to take up the slack.  How many of you knew that Topps Inc. was into fragrances?  Check this little article out.  Maybe that's why a lot of people out there are saying that Topps products stink this year, because they are more worried about other things like fragrances than they are about their baseball card line.  (Well no probably not, but a little attempt at humor never hurts)

When their flagship product sells like hotcakes every year, Topps is going to have the mentality "if it ain't broke, why fix it?"  Topps sure will never fix a base set like the flag ship either.  They'll pump their money into the high end products, where they make the big $$. Until a full fledged competitor gets a full license (MLB & MLBPA), Topps isn't going to have to fix it.  From where I sit, it's a damn shame.

When the big debate about Topps 2012 was ringing through the blogosphere in late January and early February, I read as much as I could.  I even ranted myself, and read the comments that others made about my rant.  Some of those comments I've read 2 and 3 times over.  Some were positive and agreed with what I said, while others weren't critical but went on to espouse why they weren't going to collect, and their reasons for doing so.  As always, your comments are appreciated and welcome. 

What's the reason for this long winded, meandering rant?  I bought 2 rack packs of '12 Topps on the weekend.  In the bottom portion of both of the packs, I received these two inserts.

Maybe, some day, someone will teach Topps the meaning of the word......

Random

I'm slowly turning to the dark side folks....hard to believe for Mr. Positive....

if you made it this far, I thank you for your patience, and thank you for reading

Robert

Blogger generosity? It's just a sign of the times

Good Sunday evening to you all, hope that your weekend was a good one (and you had less snow than we did here in western PA).

I've written on this topic before, several times as a matter of fact. 

Blogger generosity just rocks.  There's no other way to say it.  It's only gotten better over the 6+ months that I've been an active blogger. 

Guys sending boxes of cards out of the blue.  Emails with this tagline are more and more common now:

"Hey Robert, send me your address, I have a bunch of cards I want to send your way".  How can you not love it?

The latest and greatest was from a guy we all know and follow, Brian over at Play at the Plate.  I had mentioned on a post of his a few weeks back about an auto'd card I wanted, and asked if he could hold it for me.  A couple of weeks went by and I had not been able to come up with anything for him to swap for it, so I sent him an email to let him know I was still interested and trying to acquire a trade worthy card.  Brian then asks for my address, and a few days later, I have an envelope full of more goodness.


2001 Fleer Tradition is one of those pesky sets that I started a long time ago and just totally abandoned.  I'm trying to right that wrong now, and Brian hooked me up...

Floating heads not on jersey cards...I can live with these :)

Was happy to see a Jeter in the package!

I always wondered why the League Leader cards were vertical when the rest of the set was horizontal...didn't make sense. 

Now, the main reason for the post....

David Legwand, 2001 SP Authentic Sign of the Times Auto card. 

I know what you're thinking.  Why in the world would a dyed in the wool, bleed Blue and White Maple Leaf fan want a Predators auto card?  Legwand has been the face of that franchise for one thing, and I'm also thinking of another project (hockey this time) involving auto/jersey cards.  Not sure if I'm going to do it yet, and even if I don't, this card for me is a great addition to the collection.

Brian, thank you very much for the cards....I owe ya, and for me, those 3 words are a sign of the times as well.

Thanks for reading, Robert

The insanity set just keeps moving on thanks to a Cool Breeze

Good Sunday morning to you all, hope that you're having a great weekend so far.

Another newbie to the blog world, Roger who runs the Cool Breeze blog, asked for my address so he could send me a few cards.  Little did I know the bounty of serial numbers that were to come my way...

17 of them as a matter fact...

Also, Roger sent me a couple more 1977 Topps cards....still a long way to go with that set, but it's being chipped away.

Love em both....

Thank you Roger, the cards are very much appreciated, and I will get a bunch of those '09 OPC cards to you as soon as I can.

thanks for reading, Robert

Week 29 starts off with a Killer card

Good Saturday to you all, hope that you are having a good weekend so far.

Here in western PA the snow is coming down pretty good, 4" so far with maybe another 4 more by morning.  So, no post office, no shopping today.  Thankfully, neither snow nor sleet nor however that jingle goes stopped the postman from delivering a couple of more packages to my door today.

The first package was from Max, or better known to us all as the Google profile Jacobmrly,  and it contained a Killer card, which actually his response to my one card challenge to complete my 2002 Topps Gallery set.

Mark another set completed, which means a new addition to the Fab Five list.  2008 Upper Deck Series I baseball has been added to the Fab Five, and the set is currently 88 cards from completion. 

Max also sent a handful of other cards, 3 more Blue Jays to add the growing collection, and one more card towards true insanity.

Guess you could say Max has the Harang of what I collect.

Max, I started putting together an envelope for you...still needs some work but I will let you know when I get it in the mail.   Thank you again!!

I also won a cheapo eBay auction this week, and this card becomes the 24th addition to the Jays auto/jersey PC....

This is the 4th one I have of Chacin, not bad for a guy who only played for 3+ years with the Jays.

Now to get up to speed on that insanity set.....


Thanks for reading, Robert

On my way to 10,000 hits

Good Friday evening to you all, hope you're getting ready for a great weekend. 

This is just a quick post to say thank you to everyone who has looked in on my little corner of the universe over the past 6+ months.  I will reach the 10,000 hit mark on the blog this weekend.

Never did I think that my ramblings, musings and rants would attract so many hits this quickly.

I never thought that my addiction to anything Blue...

Serial numbered...

Or related to set building...

would attract this many views in this short a period of time.

As always, I am grateful to my regular readers (the few of you there are...), and my regular trade partners as well. 

You've all shown me that this hobby is more than what a magazine says it is.

See you at the next 10,000 mark ....I'll probably need an oil change by then

thank you for reading, Robert

Ha! I've got my own wrapper redemption program.

Good Thursday evening to you all, we're almost to the weekend my friends!

Well, indeed I have my own little wrapper redemption program.  Being on a budget has kind of kept me from buying a boat load of 2012 Topps so far.  I did however tell Ryan from "O" No!!! Another Orioles blog that I would have some wrappers for him to get closer to the 50 mark in order to claim the redemption.

It actually worked out great, I wound up with 14 wrappers total after the weekend card show, and sent an email to Ryan telling him this.  14 was the exact number he needed, and was grateful.  Well, I got them off in the mail yesterday (you should get them in the next day or 2 Ryan, they are in a PWE.), and I got something in return from Ryan today.

A little more insanity... and all Gold (see my wrapper redemption brings me Gold cards as well )

A lone Blue Jay found his way in there as well, a Chrome 2010 Lyle Overbay card.

There was also one more card in there, and it was something I hadn't seen in an envelope from Ryan previously.  Great stuff...

Love how the orange really stands out...

Ryan, thank you for the insanity!!  It is appreciated...good luck with the redemption!

Thanks for reading, Robert

2012 Trade post # 19: The Baseball Card Snob

Good Thursday afternoon to you all, have another installment in the multitude of trade posts.

Paul from The Baseball Card Snob inquired about a few of the OPC cards I had up for trade, along with some Turkey Red from 2010 Topps that he needed.  Paul made me a very fair offer indeed, and another trade was in the books.

There of course was the obligatory group of Blue Jays cards, and a couple of 2001 Fleer Tradition cards that I needed.

The OPC Blue Jays checklist in the black border version was also a very welcome sight. 

The next two cards take the cake....one of them I picked apart the other day, but naturally it's still welcome at my home.

The jersey card on the left is a 2004 UD Vintage Matinee Idols jersey.  These 2 bring me up to 23 total Jays relics/autos...  well on the way to the 30 mark that I set at the beginning of the year as a goal.

thanks again for a great trade Paul...and best of luck with the new blog!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Masterpiece Theatre

Good Wednesday evening to you all...we're over the hump and on the way to the weekend!

I had the good fortune last week of finding a collector over on the Bench website that had an offer up for some '08 UD Masterpieces SPs at a very reasonable rate.  After hemming and hawing for a couple of days, I decided to take the bite, and for $13.50, I was able to add quite a few SPs and a couple of the Captured on Canvas jersey cards to my collection.

 First, the SPs

The only SP I couldn't fit on this scan was the Albert Pujols.  Some more great art on this group of cards.  Reggie Jackson in the A's uniform leaning on the bat is great.  Steve Carlton with the early 70's Phillies uniform with the larger numbers on the back.  Joe Carter as he makes his way around the bases after his WS walk off HR.  The more I see these cards, the more I adore them.

Here's the jersey cards...this makes it 4 down and 85 to go  ...maybe

If I keep getting lucky and finding these at $2 apiece, then it may be worth it to go for the set of jerseys as well.  No big rush on this anyways.

I now have just 15 SPs remaining towards completing the set, not too bad considering I started not too long ago. Here are the 15 I need:

94,97,98,99,100,101,105,106,108,109,110,114,115,118,119

Still some big names in that group of cards:  Mattingly, DiMaggio, Clemente to name three.  Not sure how this came to pass, but this set kind of passed the others in the Fab Five, maybe I have been lucky in acquiring a bunch of the cards through trades/purchases so quickly.  It wasn't the intent to work on it so quickly, I guess it kind of just worked out that way.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Picking apart the design of a jersey card featuring a player from your favorite team

Good Tuesday evening to you all.  Hope that you had a great day, and you are ready for the back side of the week to start.

I know what you're thinking. Does this guy have any idea of how to be critical about cards, because he sure doesn't write that way.

Well, let me try.

I received a card from Paul over at the Baseball Card Snob  blog as part of our trade.  Yes, I haven't posted this trade yet if you're asking....figured I'd spare you guys a trade post for at least one day...lol

This card is a 2003 Fleer Tradition jersey card of Carlos Delgado.   Blue Jay...right!  How in the world am I going to pick apart the card?

Well, here are the scans.

 The back, kind of bland like all jersey card backs are.  At least it tells us that the jersey was actually game worn.  Cool beans.  Weird thing though, the Blue Jays logo, all alone on the back of the card at the bottom for no real reason.  Kind of odd, don't you think?

Don't you think that the Blue Jays logo would have blended in much better on the front of the card? 

Now hear me on this, I will always love a jersey card of any Blue Jay player....the team will be ingrained in my consciousness until the day I pass from this great planet of ours.  BUT...this card may give me bad dreams.

What in the world is up with the floating head????  That may be the creepiest idea for a jersey card yet.  The white glow around Carlos' head makes it even spookier.  Eeeeesh.

Next.  The card is titled "Milestones".  Someone help a poor old blind guy out.   Where is the milestone being celebrated noted on the card?  Does anyone see it, because I sure can't.

I am having fun picking it apart so far.

Now there are a couple of things that I do like on the card.  I like the multicolored border around the jersey swatch.  Ties right in with the uniform colors that the Jays were employing back in the early 2000's. 

I also like the background behind Carlos.  The gray and white representing a baseball diamond for me is kind of understated, and doesn't take away from the picture of Carlos or the area around the swatch. 

Don't get me wrong, I love this card.  I will go into the vault as part of my Jays collection. 

Someone for the love all things holy, just get that floating head out of my head!!

Oh, and by the way....Paul, thank you very much for the trade, it really was appreciated!!

Thanks for reading, Robert