This is my last post of 2013, I swear

Well, another year is over, more new sets have come and gone ( a lot of which I ignored ) and it's time for the annual "let's see how I did post".

OK, so let's see how I did on my 2013 goals.

1.  2013 will be the year of Heritage, and nothing else.  Honestly, I should have made this goal a little more clearer by saying that Heritage will be the only modern set I chase aside from the flagship.

That is what I meant at the time, and I did stick to it.  I bought very little of GQ, A&G, Archives and Chrome, and not one pack of any other Topps release (other than the flagship) in 2013. 

This is a pass for me...

2.   Serial Numbered Insanity.  This is a goal I pushed a lot on the blog this year.   I was hoping to hit 1100 cards by tonight, and to be honest I didn't fare too badly. 

I posted card # 1055 the other night, and I have enough cards for one more insanity post, so I fell 40 cards short of my goal.

Yes, it is a fail, but to be honest, I'm leaning towards a D- because a lot of you out there helped me out on this craziness, and for that I am thankful.

3.   Think outside of the box at least 5 times this year.  The goal here was to get involved in group breaks.  Also, I was challenging myself to choose teams other than the Jays when I did get involved.

This is a fail.  Plain and simple.  I participated in 2 group breaks the whole year.  I'm just not feeling it for the group breaks right now.   It is what it is...

4.  Start selling again on eBay.  If I sold 10 items on eBay this year, I'd be shocked.  This is a goal I just wound up not having enough time for.

No excuses, this is also a fail.  I do have a goal for eBay this year, that involves my pursuit of the '64 Topps set and a certain card that costs mega bucks and features a switch hitting power hitter. That will be one of my goals for 2014.

5.   Shift my focus towards vintage sets, both baseball and hockey.  As the year progressed my spending did move away from modern sets, and progressed towards older baseball and hockey releases.

This is a pass.  I succeeded in moving a larger portion of my spending over the past several months towards 60's and 70's baseball.  While I didn't purchase a great deal of hockey this year, I did start a 71-72 OPC set, and picked up a few older Maple Leafs cards that I am proud to own.

6.  Start building up my hockey collection again.  I'm on the fence with this one.  In reality my goal here was to start rebuilding the mid 80's OPC sets that I had foolishly sold off a few years back.

I think I bought a total of 70 cards for those sets.  It's a start, but in truth I failed in this goal as well.

7.  This final goal is a long shot, but I'll list it anyhow.  Some time this year, I hope to celebrate my 1000th post on the blog.

When you don't average a post a day for 7 months out of the 12, and you need 400 posts to hit 1000, chances are it's not going to happen.  This is post #927.

Fail. 

When I think about it, some of these goals were quite idiotic.   Goals should help me continue on the trading card journey that I'm taking, and not be some haphazard way to write a post.

Live and learn I guess.  I do have goals ready for 2014.  I probably will spend part of the last night of 2013 adjusting them a bit to be more "realistic". 

The one card rule is still in effect...another '62 for you

The more cards I own of the '62 set, the more I look forward to putting it all together.  I have 64 cards now, or just under 11%.  A long way to go, but this is one set that I'm really enjoying so far.

Happy New Year to all the bloggers and readers out there!!!

thanks for reading, Robert

More of Wes

I've had an opportunity to take a look through all the great cards that Wes sent me last week, and I was able to pluck out a bunch of cards that I thought were worth showing/commenting about.

I thought it was cool to have both a Goose and a Gosling in the pile...

Honestly, I don't think that I've ever owned any of the '81 Fleer set, but this handful of Blue Jays that was in there showed me what everyone was talking about....the set was pretty bad

and the pile also showed that '81 Donruss was better...

I never knew that Topps Stadium Club had a set produced exclusively for Toys R Us, but this Mike Timlin card taught me so....

A young star rated R

Yes, I've learned a few things, but now I need the blogosphere to help me with a card.  Take a look at this '91 Bowman Kelly Gruber card.

Take a look in the upper left at the crossed bats in gold.   I can't say that I've ever saw them before.  A parallel set of some kind that I never knew about?  Any help with this one is greatly appreciated.

I can't say that Fleer made a good effort with this card...

I guess Fleer was running out of gold?  Most of the Gold Medallion Edition cards that I saw over the years had a completely golden background.  Maybe I missed a year or 3?

Another set that I had no idea about until I saw this card was the 2002 Donruss Originals.

I didn't even remember Corey Thurman's name.  Thurman was a rule 5 draftee from the KC Royals in 2001.  He pitched in the 2002 and 2003 seasons in Toronto. struggled a bit, then kicked around 3 other organizations until 2007.  Since 2008 he's pitched for the York, PA Revolution in the Atlantic League, starting exclusively the past 6 seasons, and pitching fairly well until the 2013 season.

How about a bit more gold, featuring #30 himself...Todd Stottlemyre!

Finally, here's a card (and a question) for the king of all double play collectors, Jim at GCRL...

first, the card

I'd love to know if there are any other double play cards out there that show one brother taking out the other.  I think this is a great shot of the Alomar brothers, and easily the best card of the stack that Wes sent. (ED NOTE:  I need to keep up with my blog reading, after writing this post I realized that this card was posted on GCRL's blog.....lol)

Wes, that box you sent was great, thank you!!  Much appreciated....

thanks for reading, Robert

The Pittsburgh Penguins need your help

(Hat tip to Chris Creamer's sports logos website for the historic Penguins logos)

Over the years, the Pittsburgh Penguins logo has evolved.  Personally, I like the older logos that the Pens have employed.

This might be my favorite, the skating Penguin with the scarf around his neck.   This was employed for the team's first season in 1967/68.

The next 3 seasons saw a variation of this logo, which is on the Penguins jersey that I own...

This looks great with the powder blue jersey...

For the next 20 years, Pittsburgh suffered through some bad teams, and the near demise of the franchise in the mid 80's.   The Penguins employed this logo, losing the circle around the penguin and any mention of the city or the nickname.

A lot of people screamed in the early 90's when the graphic designers (I think) got a hold of the logo, and made a flightless bird into one that flied (or sort of...)

Finally, in 2002 the Penguins returned to their most popular logo, nearly recreating the 70's-80's logo, with the only change being the triangle being gold instead of yellow.

Now, with the spate of injuries that the Penguins have suffered this season, they've appealed to the NHL to change their logo to something more appropriate....

I was able to get a sneak peek, and it seems that the Penguins are right on the money with this one...

Now, it may not contain the traditional black and gold color scheme that Pittsburgh fans have become used to, but the symbol is very representative of the club this season. 

With all the jersey's that Crosby, Malkin, and the rest sell, I can only imagine how much revenue this great new logo will generate.

thanks for reading, Robert

Serial Insanity cards 1051-1055

Here are the next 5 cards towards the 1500 card serial insanity set.  I picked these all up at the December card show, and have been slow in getting them posted. 

Enjoy!!

Card # 1051:  Hanley Ramirez

Serial Number:  1329
31st card out of 50 for the Marlins

Hey there stats geeks, can anyone out there tell me if there's ever been another player in MLB history finish in the top 10 in MVP voting (pitchers excluded) and played less than 100 of the team's games?  Hanley finished 8th in the MVP race last year, playing in only 86 games he hit 20 home runs and hitting .345.  Wow.


Card # 1052:  Scott Rolen

Serial Number:  94
36th card out of 50 for the Reds.

I think the Jays were hoping for more power when they picked up Rolen in 2009.  Even though he hit well for average (.320 in 88 games), I think the 8 homers were a little disappointing.   Turning Rolen into Edwin Encarnacion may be the 2nd best trade the Jays have pulled off in the past decade...


Card # 1053:  Starlin Castro

Serial Number:  1112
35th card out of 50 for the Cubs

My prediction for Starlin Castro in 2014.  He will lead the leage in ABs for the 4th consecutive season, his average will be back over .300 and he will be the main man for the north siders again. 

Card # 1054:  Sean Gallagher

Serial Number:  513
36th card out of 50 for the Cubbies

Hasn't been in the majors since a rough finish to the 2010 season in Pittsburgh.  The one key stat that jumps out over his career is the WHIP number, which he has trouble keeping below the 1.6 mark. 


Card # 1055:  Felix Hernandez

Serial Number:  1379
30th card out of 50 for the Mariners


Please don't let this guy end up in New York pinstripes.  Over the past 8 seasons, his lowest start total has been 30.  Felix has struck out 200+ batters over the past 5 seasons, his career WHIP is just a shade over 1.2, and he's won 110 games by the age of 27 for a team that hasn't been that great.  Now that he has help out in the northwest....it's scary to think what he's going to do this year.

thanks for reading, Robert

Wes is more

I've gone on and on about blogger generosity.   It's awesome.  This post is a great example.

A while ago (I don't remember exactly when), Wes from the Jaybarkerfan's Junk blog sent me an email asking me for my address.  Wes said he had some cards he wanted to send my way, and I obliged by sending him the information.  I didn't think anything of it after that...

But little did I know that when I left work early on Christmas Eve, I would arrive home to find a small priority box from the USPS waiting for me.  Wes came through, in a big way.  That small priority box was jammed full of Blue Jays goodness.

I was floored.  I'd have to say there's about 200 cards in there.  There are many in there that I've never seen before, some older Fleer and Donruss, while others are more modern issues.

After 2 days, I still don't know where to begin when it comes to writing about the stack.

So I decided to show just 2 cards in the first post...and yes, these are 2 cards I've never seen before.

Let's start with this card that I haven't been able to exactly identify as of yet...

Definitely a Leaf/Donruss release, but the back of the card kind of throws me...

I can still remember the game, the Jays knocking the cover off of the ball in Exhibition Stadium.  But I looked at both the Donruss and Leaf checklists for 1987 & 1988, and card # 39 features a player in both sets.  If anyone has more information on this card, I'd love to know what it is.  Please leave a comment!

This next card I thought was great as well, it took my thoughts to the troops serving our great country overseas during this holiday season.

Hey, if Uncle Sam can't get you pumped about enlisting, maybe Roy Halladay can!!    It's too bad I wasn't collecting cards back in 2009, I probably would have been tempted to go online and purchase a screen print of this card. 

To the troops that are fighting for our freedom, thank you for the sacrifice that you make on a daily basis for this great country.  God bless you all, and I hope you arrive home soon safe and sound.

There are dozens of cards in the box that are new to me, and I could go on and on all night about them.  I think I'll save them for another post or two when I have a chance to take a better look at them and get some themes together.

Wes, thank you very much for the surprise!!!  It was very much appreciated.

thanks for reading, Robert

Me and Brandon Magee

Very similar to the post from the Night Owl yesterday, I also received a Christmas card with a generous card present inside from Duff at the Bleedin' Brown and Gold blog.

It was just one card, an auto card from 2007 Bowman Sterling of Brandon Magee, #'d 199/199.

Brandon Magee is not to be confused with the Cleveland Browns player of the same name.  Magee never pitched in a regular season game for the Jays, only reaching as high as AA in 2009.  He pitched in Gary, IN in an independent league in 2010 before leaving baseball for good. 

Even though he never made it to the majors, it's still cool to have this card, and I definitely want to say thank you to Duff for his generosity!!

Merry Christmas to you all out there in the blogosphere.

thanks for reading, Robert

Have modern RC's lost their luster?

I had mentioned on Sunday that our friends at K-Mart afforded me the opportunity to purchase another pack of update free of the parallels that dot the packs from other big box stores.

I showed off the inserts in that post, but one other card caught my eye.

I like this kid.  Yes, I can call him kid because he's 1/2 my age.  I really enjoyed watching him pitch for the Pirates this year, and I hope to get an opportunity or two in 2014 to watch him throw live.

It seems like I've been hearing about him for a while, but it's only been 2 years since he was drafted by the Buccos. 

But I digress.

Upon seeing this card, I saw the rookie card logo in the lower left, and it got me to thinking. 

Do rookie cards excite me anymore?  The one and only RC that I've "chased" since this blog started was the 2010 Topps Buster Posey card.  The reason I hunted for that card was to complete that set, not because I was a big RC/Posey fan.

I can't say that I've chased any rookie cards at all since the early 90's, when it was all the rage to buy 50 or 100 counts of RC's to try and cash in on the next big thing.  Now, outside of trying to pick up the big RC's from vintage sets, rookie cards just don't do it for me anymore. 

Is it because I've changed?  Is it because I've become more of a set collector now?  Is it because the hobby has other avenues for people to chase the almighty dollar?  I don't know to be honest.

I'm sure that the legions of Yasiel Puig/Bryce Harper fans probably have different thoughts on this subject, but honestly there's not one player out there that excites me enough that I need to rush out to the next card show and snatch up a bunch of their RC's.

Am I trying to diminish the importance of the rookie card?  No.  Never.  But for some reason, seeing Gerrit Cole reminded me of the rookie card "chase" of the past, and that I don't miss the chase one bit.

Maybe I'm just getting old.....

thanks for reading, Robert

K-Mart on a Sunday: 1 pass and 1 fail

I had a little bit of money left on a K-Mart gift card, so I decided to stop in there today and pickup some coolant for the truck and a pack of cards for myself.  I wasn't in the greatest mood while standing in line, but what happened while I stood in line definitely brought me a smile, and a story worth sharing.

I didn't grab a cart, so I stood in line holding the 3 items I had while I waited.  There was a sweet older woman in front of me, probably in her late 60's, getting a couple of gingerbread houses.

The cashier was a very friendly and pleasant woman as well, and she noticed that the woman had a gift card in her wallet that expired on December 22nd.  The cashier asked if she wanted to use it, since it was expiring.  The older woman said sure. 

One swipe.  Declined.

Two swipes.  Declined.

"Are you sure you haven't used this?" said the cashier.   The lady responded that she hadn't.  The front end woman was called over.  Front end asks, "did you try typing in the number?".  The cashier replied in the negative.

One attempt to type.  Declined.

Two attempts to type.  Declined again.

"Did you get this card at this K-Mart?"  No, says the older woman, "I think I got it in Ohio".  The front end woman finally decides to look at the smaller writing on the bottom of the card.

"Ma'am, I am sorry, but this card expired on December 22, 2011".  The smile on my face went very wide...

I told my wife when I got home that I found two female versions of myself; other people actually not paying attention to fine details until it's too late....

Not that you've had a chuckle (I hope), here's the cards I pulled from the rack pack of Update that I bought...nothing special, but the best part for me is no blue parallels!!

I'm surprised that we don't see more Bo Jackson cards, when I first saw this card out of the pack I thought to myself that Bo is one guy that is under utilized when it comes to using past stars in current products.  I can't remember seeing that pose from Jackie Robinson as well, maybe Topps is listening and changing things up a bit?  All 4 cards are up for trade if anyone needs/wants them.

I've purchased 3 or 4 rack packs from K-Mart and even though it's a minor thing, the lack of colored parallels is something I can get used to.  I may have to switch my retail habits and start making purchases at the Big K instead.

My plan this week is to get the Update want list up and hopefully get closer to finishing this before '14 Topps is released.  We'll see how that goes.

thanks for reading, Robert

My humorous take on the bowl season which inclues a contest plug....

I just happened to notice a contest last night on the Cards on Cards blog inviting the blogosphere to join in the fun by picking winners for the upcoming college bowl season.

Well this guy decided to get in on the fun, even though I don't know the first thing about college football.  If I do end up in last place, you'll know it's legitimate.

I figured I would have some fun and post a humorous look at why I made the picks I made....we all need a laugh or 3, right?

Enjoy

35 points:  Florida State over Auburn.  Jameis Winston won the Heisman Trophy, that has to count for something, right?
34 points:  Ohio St over Clemson.   My former boss would kill me if he found out I picked against the Buckeyes
33 points:  Missouri over Oklahoma St.  I have family that are MU grads.  This pick is for them.
32 points:  Alabama over Oklahoma.  Even though I'm a big fan of "good ol JR", I like Alabama in this one.
31 points:  Navy over Middle Tenn St.   Last time I checked, Middle Tenn St wasn't part of the Armed Forces...
30 points:  LSU over Iowa.  Louisiana just reminds me more of the Outback for some reason.
29 points:  Baylor over UCF.  I read somewhere that if I picked UCF that I was doomed to fail.
28 points:  South Carolina over Wisconsin.  Tobacco producing states rock!!
27 points:  Georgia over Nebraska.   Last time I checked, there weren't any gators in Nebraska...
26 points:  Texas A&M over Duke.  The Blue Devils haven't been this relevant since Christian Laettner...besides how can I root against a guy named Johnny Football?
25 points:  Stanford over Michigan St.   Two words.   John Elway
24 points:  Mississippi st over Rice.  Even though Rice probably has better pitching and defense, I like the Bulldogs here...
23 points:  Notre Dame over Rutgers.   Wouldn't God be mad if I didn't pick Notre Dame?
22 points:  Michigan over Kansas St.   No real reason here, I just want to eat the wings....
21 points:  BYU over Washington.   Two words.   Steve Young
20 points:  UCLA over Virginia Tech.  I'm sure Spankee will not be happy with my pick here....
19 points:  Syracuse over Minnesota.   How can I root against a team that has a giant "S" on their field, just like Superman has on his chest!!
18 points:  Arizona St over Texas Tech.   I've always wanted to go on a holiday in Arizona....
17 points:  Buffalo over San Diego St.  Buffalo is closer to Idaho's climate than SDS is...
16 points:  Texas over Oregon.   I don't know if you know your history, but the Alamo is in Texas.
15 points:  Cincinnati over North Carolina.   Someone please tell me what a Belk is.
14 points:  Houston over Vanderbilt.  Hakeem Olajuwon should be good for 20 and 12...
13 points:  Georgia Tech over Mississippi.  How can I not root for a team named the Yellow Jackets!
12 points:  North Texas over UNLV.  The heart of Dallas is closer to North Texas....
11 points:  Boston College over Arizona.   Matt Ryan will finally get another win this year....
10 points:  Oregon St over Boise St.   I was going to root for the team with the blue field, but geography won out here.  Oregon St closer to Hawaii....
9 points:  Maryland over Marshall.  There's no military here....why?
8 points:  Northern Illinois over Utah St.   They're ranked...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
7 points:  Tulane over LA Lafayette.  Two words....Green Wave!
6 points:  Arkansas State over Ball St.  I just couldn't pick David Letterman's alma mater.
5 points:  Colorado State over Washington St.   I really like what Jeff Fisher is doing with the Rams...
4 points:  USC over Fresno St.  Two words:  Todd Marinovich!
3 points:  Pittsburgh over Bowling Green:  I live close to Pittsburgh.  I also live close to a Little Caesar's if that means anything.
2 points:  Ohio over East Carolina.  Last time I checked, there was a North and a South Carolina but no East Carolina.  So I'm thinking that Ohio really doesn't have an opponent...
1 point:  Miami over Louisville.  Here I am ....rock you like a Hurricane...

Yes, this was a poor attempt at humor, but hey I had nothing better to do on a  Friday evening.

Go join the contest, you have until 2 PM EST today!

Good luck and thanks for reading, Robert

Another envelope of cardboard goodness

This post will get me caught up on all but one of the envelopes I've received lately.   This latest brown marvel came from none other than Greg of the Night Owl blog, and as always he doesn't disappoint. 

Knowing the love for anything blue that I possess, let's start with some Blue Jays.

The top row you could say is made up of 3 D's, Devon, the Duck and the Dog...OK maybe the younger Schofield wasn't known as "duck" like his father was.   That Schofield card is only the 2nd card of him in a Jays uniform that I remember having.  I may have to start a secondary Blue Jays collection one day, featuring Blue Jays wearing the red Canada Day uniforms.  The Josh Thole update card fits in nicely.

Two-Morrows!!  I've always wanted to make that joke.....

Moving on.

Bautista's on the left and Edwin's on the right

I kind of got a kick out of this scan....3 cards featuring 2 players, both of them having 1 and a half cards apiece.  If Encarnacion keeps hitting HRs the way he has the past 2 seasons (78 total) the $29 million over the next 3 years the Jays are paying him may be the biggest bargain in baseball.  Get a healthy Jose Bautista ahead of him in the order, and my trip to PNC park at the beginning of May to see these guys might be a fun one. 

How about a half a dozen Jim Thome's to add to my burgeoning collection of the slugger.

A great mix of base cards, I especially like the Topps Gallery card in the top center.   That particular set was something I enjoyed finishing up early on in my blog writing, and the Thome card was something I was surprised I didn't have, but am glad I now do.  The Bowman's Best in the lower left is a thicker card, and I like how it scanned with the background turning blue.  There were a couple of Dodger cards in the envelope, which I hope Greg didn't have too much trouble parting with.  You see the first one above, the 2nd one is below.

This Clayton Kershaw was a great surprise to find in the envelope, as Greg is a big Kershaw collector.  Even though the serial #, 1034, is one that I already have, I believe that I'm going to replace it with this card, for two reasons.  First, the card is from Greg (his blog is the reason I started blogging myself...), and 2nd the card I currently have in spot 1034 is from a mystery donation.  This donation from the Night Owl will be the 17th card (and 8th Dodger) that Greg has contributed to the SNI project.

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

thanks for reading, Robert

70 percent complete

Another milestone for the serial insanity set, cards #1046-1050 are being posted tonight, which brings the set to the 70% point.

Doesn't appear as if I'll hit the 1100 card goal by the end of the year, but thanks to those out there who gave it the ol' college try!!

Enjoy the next 5:

Card # 1046:  Jon Gaston

Serial Number:  716
26th card out of 50 for the Astros

I'm sure that the incredible 2009 season he had in the California League had something to do with this 2010 Bowman Chrome card being produced.  139 games, 35 HR, 100 RBI and 114 runs scored is a great season no matter what level of baseball you're playing in.  Unfortunately at age 27 and having only reached AA so far, it's not looking good as far as making the bigs...

Card # 1047:  Jon Lester

Serial Number:  726
35th card out of 50 for the '13 World Series Champs

Two cards in a row of guys named 'Jon'.  This Jon has had a few seasons of big league success, and reached a milestone in 2013 by winning his 100th game.  5 out of his 6 seasons as a full time starter he's won 15 or more games....not too shabby.

Card # 1048:  Cole McCurry

Serial Number:  875
21st card out of 50 for the Orioles

2nd card in this post featuring a purple bordered 2010 Bowman Chrome card.  Cole has bounced back and forth in the minors between the rotation and the bullpen, but AAA he's spent all his time in the pen with less than stellar results.  Another prospect that may be running out of time at age 28, we'll see if he gets a shot this year with the Braves...

Card # 1049:  Marco Scutaro

Serial Number:  1301
32nd card out of 50 for the Giants

Immediately when I see this card I think of GCRL...a great double play shot (sorry Mr. Votto).  I wonder if Scutaro is going to be the next "ageless wonder".  The Giants signed him to a 3 year deal before the 2013 season which will take him to the ripe old age of 40.  A full season this year should see Marco hit the 1500 mark in both games played and hits for his career.

Card # 1050:  Alfonso Soriano

Serial Number:  399
34th card out of 50 for the north siders...

I had totally forgotten that Alfonso was traded for A-Rod.  Take a look at this post and see what you think of the comparison of that trade to a more modern deal, Brandon Phillips for Miguel Cabrera (if that were to happen).  It's hard to believe that Jon Hart also took on that much money ($67 million of Rodriguez's contract after he left was still paid by Texas) and lived to tell about it...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Dime box cards not from Nick

Anyone who is well acquainted with the card collecting blog world is well aware of the legendary Dime Boxes blog run by Nick.  Nick does a fantastic job of taking his treasure trove of finds and turning them into blogging gold.

But this time, I received cards from a dime box that weren't sent to me from the Midwest.

Another great trading partner, Max from the Starting Nine sent me an envelope last week that contained a dozen cards that found their way into his hands from a dime box excursion over Thanksgiving.

Needless to say, I have to show them off here...

How about we start with a sextet of outfielders.

Even though Dave Winfield only played 26 games in the outfield during the 1992 season in Toronto, I'll always think of him as an outfielder.  You could probably say that these 6 guys may be the best ever to play the outfield in a Jays uniform (you'll hear some arguments that Moseby and Devon White could be part of that 6...).   I got a kick out of the Shannon Stewart card on the bottom.  It's 3D, and instead of the player changing "positions", the background is actually what changes, going from a ball to a bat.  Can't say for sure if I've ever seen that, but for me it was still a pretty cool effect.

Let's move on to the infield, shall we?

Let's start on the mound, with two of the better pitchers the Jays have developed in their history, Key and Hentgen.  The third pitcher is someone I'd never heard of before today, Adam Meinershagen.  The 1994 Bowman card that features him was one of 7 cards that featured his likeness, and there were none after '94.  Meinershagen never made it past AA ball, and was out of the Jays system by age 23.

I like the effect that the scanner gave the Brett Lawrie refractor; the bluish tinge really showed well.  I remember buying some Fleer Game Time packs back in the day, but can't say whether I ever pulled any Blue Jays back then, so the Carlos Delgado card is a welcome addition.

Max knows my love of hockey and anything Maple Leaf, and this envelope didn't disappoint.   Check out the airbrushed greatness of Paul Harrison...

Topps got creative with this 78-79 card, as Harrison had been traded to the Leafs in the summer of '78 by the Minnesota North Stars for a 4th rd draft pick.  Harrison never did wear #35 for the Leafs, he switched to the #30 and kept that for the 2 seasons in the blue and white.  Even the mask that is in this photo was not worn by Harrison in Toronto, he switched to a completely different design after the trade.  Still a pretty cool card and one I'm glad to have in my collection.

A fabulous dozen cards Max, thank you for sending them my way!!  Much appreciated...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Eyes of a stranger

It's funny what will inspire a post.  I haven't written anything in the past 4 days.   I haven't even looked at my blog, that's how far removed I've been since last Thursday.

I've written 28 posts (including this one) since the beginning of November.  For someone that took pride in producing a post a day for the longest time, the past 6 weeks have been different.

I've taken time away from the blog.   I've had to.  I don't know if it's the stress of work that is getting to me, but for some reason this "peak" season is the worst for me of the 15 that I've endured in my career.  Evenings have been spent relaxing at home.  This past weekend I started my Xmas shopping, and again the blog was pushed to the side.  Even though I had received some great envelopes from fellow bloggers in the past week, I just wasn't motivated to get them posted for the world to see.

Then out of the blue, a song came on the satellite radio while at work today.  A song I probably haven't heard in over 20 years.  The song is also the title of this post...Eyes of a Stranger by the Payola$.  You'll see the music video (if you so desire) at the end of this post.  This is a song that I grew up with in the 80's, and unless you're a true 80's music buff, you probably never heard it south of the 49th parallel...

Naturally, with my personality, I've been obsessed with the damn song all day. I've bought it on iTunes and played it a couple of times already.  It also made sense to tie it into this post.

I've been so disengaged lately that I feel like I'm out of tune with the card collecting blogosphere.  Outside of a few comments I left last week on blogs, for most of the past 6 weeks I feel like I'm looking at your blogs with the eyes of a stranger. 

For some reason, hearing that song today has got my juices flowing again, as you can plainly see with this drivel that I've produced for you. 

I can even write about one card that I've received in the past week....

"Toronto starter outstanding again in losing effort".  Why in the hell then is there a picture of Alex Rios on the card?  The description on the back is about Dustin McGowan striking out 9 batters in 7 innings, only to have the Mariners win in the 9th inning 2-1.  I'm guessing the word "fail" would be appropriate here?

Anyhow, that's enough of my insanity.  Hopefully this will be the start of my return to being heard in the blogosphere, both here and on your blogs as well.  Eyes of a stranger no more...

Enjoy the video..

Thanks for reading, Robert

Can you people out there see what I'm doing? No really, come on...can you??

Let's rewind a bit, back to the card show from last Saturday.  I decided to put another dent into the '73 Topps set I was working on, which means another visit to my favorite vintage dealer Ray.

As you will see by the scan, I am at the point in building the set where the star cards are in play...

Yea, they're crooked, I failed scanning 101....

Since I hadn't bought a lot of cards in the past month, I went a little higher than usual at Ray's table, spending $60 (after discount....it's great when a dealer takes care of you).  There were 18 cards in my '73 pile, but there were a few cards that I put back, largely because of the condition.

Here are two of them...

Now I know what you're probably thinking...if you put them back into the dealers box, how can you scan them and show them on the blog?

Well, it appears that Jeff from the Fan-Attic Sports Cards Blog has a camera trailing me, because the envelope I received from him today had these two cards in it!

It's spooky when you open an envelope and you see two cards that you have in your hands just a few days prior, put them back and all of a sudden they show up on your doorstep. 

Jeff also sent me something a little older.  One card from the '68 Topps set, which is another set that I plan on putting together in the future.  The "burlap" set represents the first Topps release after I was born, and should be an interesting build as it features a 598 card set with one of the most expensive RCs I'll ever chase, Nolan Ryan.

That card goes along with the two other commons I picked up for a quarter apiece....

The 4th card in the envelope was another addition to the SNI set, and it will be featured in the next post of serial numbered cards.

Jeff, thank you for the envelope, it is much appreciated!! 

Christmas does come early....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Serial Insanity cards 1041-1045

5 more cards on the way to 1500...thanks to Pat and Brian for their contributions featured here.

Card #1041:  Carl Crawford

Serial Number:  1268
40th card out of 50 for the Rays

A little bit more than $82 million over the next 4 years is owed to Carl by the Dodgers.   Any chance that they might try and unload some, if not all of that deal to another team?

Card #1042:  Pablo Sandoval

Serial Number:  704
30th card out of 50 for the Giants

It seems as if Sandoval has been around forever, and yet he's only 27.  $8.25 million might be pretty cheap for him this year, and free agency should look mighty good to him at the end of the 2014 campaign if he has another solid season.

Card # 1043:  Adam Warren

Serial Number:  548
46th card out of 50 for the Yankees.

Only 4 more cards left before the Yankees "fill up".  2 of his 34 appearances were starts in 2013, but his longest outing was a scoreless 6 inning relief appearance against the A's in June.  The Yanks lost that game 3-2 with Warren not figuring in on the decision.

Card #1044:  Buster Posey

Serial Number:  1247
31st card out of 50 for the Giants

Did you know that the NL MVP in 2012 earned just $615,000?  The guy who finished third in voting that year made just $500,000.  Who says that you need to pay a boat load of money to get MVP material??

Card #1045:  Jonathan Pettibone

Serial Number:  1030
33rd card out of 50 for the Phillies

In his 18 starts Jonathan kept the Phils in the ball game.  11 times he left the game with a difference of 2 runs or less, and 4 other times the Phils were ahead by 3 or more runs.  I'm curious to see if he'll get a longer look this year now that Philly is down one pitcher...maybe more if the trade rumors are true.


thanks for reading, Robert