Another TCDB trade, another big chunk comes off a want list

First off, I'm ashamed of myself because I forgot to write this gentleman's name down (I want to say it's Chris, but I don't know for sure).  But I do know that I just received a nice brick of cards from another TCDB trade, this time with user 5marchx.  I sent off 17 cards related to the SF Giants (parallels and such, you know the drill with me) and in return I received a very well package box of cards. 

People are certainly trying to get rid of my want lists in a big hurry; take a look at this big lot of '84 Topps.

By the way, in the first scan's lower right corner, that Bobby Mitchell is not yours truly, or related to yours truly.  Any similarities to people living or dead are purely coincidental.

Onwards for more '84 Topps...

There you have it, 68 cards off of my '84 Topps want list, which is now down below 200 cards.  It still surprises me how fast I've been able to knock cards off of early 80's want lists.  

Oh, and there's a couple of cards from earlier sets as well to show off:

The Dietz from '72 Topps is great.   My trade partner admitted right off that the Garibaldi was off cut, so I'll just use it right now as a place holder until I see one down the road somewhere.

70 for 17 is still a great trade in my books, no matter how you look at it.

To my trade partner whose name I've forgotten, thank you very much for the cards, they are appreciated.   I truly hope I haven't insulted you by forgetting your name...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Inbound and down #48: Sportscards From The Dollar Store

Doug never ceases with his surprises.  Out of the blue one day last week he drops a comment on the blog, warning me that a Leafs package is on the way.

Now, this couldn't have come at a better time, as the NHL regular season is just 4 days away, and the excitement for Leafs fans is higher than any point in my over 40 years of following them.

Some of the cards that I'm about to show represent a portion of the down years that Leaf fans suffered through.

Vincent Damphousse and Daniel Marois in the top row are from the 90-91 Bowman set, which is not bad considering there really isn't much of a design on the front.  Maybe that's the appeal...

That period of time in the late 80's early 90's the team was starting to improve, some high draft picks and good trades helped the team to a couple of great playoff runs in the 92-93 and 93-94 seasons.

Turning the clock back a bit farther on this page is the appearance of the great Johnny Bower, the "China Wall".  I'm still a bit sad over Mr. Bower's passing last Christmas, as he was a great ambassador for the game, and still made a lot of appearances in interviews for the team.  One day I will try and pick up a few cards from his actual playing days to augment my Leafs collection.

A nice mix of cards in this scan, including a Felix Potvin card which will go right into his PC.  The Brendan Leipsic Parkhurst card in the lower right hand corner isn't the only Leaf rookie from that set I received in this envelope.  More on that in a bit.

The Wendel Clark Stadium Club card on the center right may be the only picture you ever see where Wendel doesn't sport a mustache. 

I see Mitch Marner's card on the lower left and think back to the debate on last night's Leafs telecast on whether he's a single digit million dollar man, or a double digit million dollar man.  Mitch's contract expires at the end of this season, and no matter what the price, he's going to be A) expensive and B) a big part of this team going forward.

5 more Mats Sundin cards, I believe I need all of them for the PC.  If not, they'll go right into the Leafs stash.

These 3 cards were my first look at 18-19 OPC (thank you for that Doug), and will probably go toward building the set.   Down the road I'll be building these OPC sets, as there isn't one design that I didn't like (although there are a couple of "lukewarm" ones for sure), and the 600 card sets are always a challenge.

I really like that they added the All-Star designation on this years set as well, something that they should have done a while ago.   I rushed right out today and bought the only jumbo pack and blaster that Target had of this set.  I'll show those cards off in a couple of days.

Finally, the Auston Matthews card above wasn't the only one in the envelope...

Oh baby!!  Auston Matthews Parkhurst RC!  Awesome indeed.  Never thought I'd see one down here, but now I have it in my house courtesy of Doug.  I'm hoping he stays healthy this year and tops 90 points.  The Leafs power play has looked really good so far...

Doug, thank you for the envelope, it really is appreciated.   I've got my eye on a Joe Sakic card you have on your COMC account that I need.  When I can get some more $$ into the account I may make an offer on it.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Had me fooled

Continuing on with the effort I'm doing on updating my want lists on the TCDB, I started entering the '78 Topps set on Saturday.  So I'm clicking away.... #3, got it, #9, got it, then I notice something.

#9 says Doug Decinces on the TCDB, but my build I have Sparky Lyle.  Something wrong there, so I go back and look at #3.   TCDB says Willie McCovey Record Breakers, while my card has Cliff Johnson on it.

I find 2 others at the beginning stages of the set and I start wondering if I have pieces of a Yankees team set released by Topps back in 78.

Here are the 4 cards that had me fooled.  OK condition, corners are kind of soft but no creases.   A little research and I find out that they are from the Burger King Yankees set from '78, 22 cards plus a checklist.

Are there any Yankees fans out there that want these?  They don't fit in my collection so I'm hoping somebody gives them a good home.  Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading, Robert

The attack on my want lists continues

My good fortune in getting cards knocked off of my want list lately continues.   I received another envelope yesterday from a TCDB trade partner, this time it was Bill (User ID: minibbcards) who sent me a great deal of vintage goodness.

I sent Bill quite a few minis from various years of A&G, and as many of you may know, I'm more than happy to move them along to someone who will enjoy them more than I would.  In return, this bounty came my way.

My love for the '69 set keeps growing, as these 13 beauties were part of the envelope.  This really isn't a focus item for me right now (focus isn't one of my strongest traits anyhow), but seeing any cards from this set always brings a smile to my face.   These 13 cards bring to 148 in hand, just over 22% done. 

Anytime I see a Denver Lemaster card, I always think of Forrest Gump's line "There's Denver, he's from Phoenix".  I don't know why, but I get a chuckle every time I hear or think of that line.

Another set that isn't high on the priority list is the '71 Topps set.  But putting that want list up on the TCDB site this past week landed me these 8 cards.  Outside of the Woody Fryman crease, these cards are in really nice shape, which I'm sure will be tough to replicate as time goes on.  I'm thinking that we'll be well into the 2020 decade before I finish this set.  

I'm up to 67 cards in my '71 set, just under 8% complete.   Still lots of time to get this done.

A couple of thoughts came to mind when going through the 20 '72 Topps cards above. 

• I seem to be running into a lot of Tommy John cards lately.  Not sure why, I just am.
• Steve Stone I remember from his days in Chicago.   Had no idea that he went as far back as '72, and that he was a Giant.
• When I see guys like Joe Pepitone and Claude Osteen, I think back to my '64 build.  Osteen goes as far back as '59 I discovered while writing this.  I really don't think about this much while building sets, but it's cool to see the time line of some guys like Claude Osteen through cards over the years.   Another guy that I think of when I think about timelines is Reggie Jackson; he had a lot of great cards over the years, and there were a lot of years as well to reminisce about.

20 cards off the want list means I now have 100 in hand, but that means that the set is barely 1/8th complete.  Another set that I don't expect to finish until well into the 2020 decade.   It's all a marathon and not a sprint, right?

Thank you for the cards Bill, they are appreciated.  Looking forward to our next trade!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Another TCDB trade in the books

I've had some good success with trades lately on the Trading Card Database site.   I finished 2 trades this week, one of them with Ben (user ID:  BenG76).  Ben sent a generous offer in my opinion, asking for 7 serial #'d cards in return for these beauties.

1984 Topps is one of those sets that I'd hoped to finish relatively quickly.  I'm roughly 2/3 of the way through the set, and still need the Don Mattingly RC as the key piece of the set.  I love looking through the early to mid 80's sets, as the players bring back so many memories of my teenage years following baseball so intently.

No sooner do I mention how intently I followed baseball in the early 80's then I see the card of Bert Campaneris in a Yankee uniform.  How do I not remember that?  So, I have to go to baseball reference to see, and sure enough the '83 season was his last as a player, at the age of 41.  He hit .322 in 155 plate appearances for the Yankees, splitting time between 2nd and 3rd.

The only player that I can honestly say I don't remember at all from this 30 card lot is Darryl Cias of the A's.  Looking at BR I can see why; he only played in the '83 season, with 6 hits in 18 ABs.  Not too shabby getting a card with that limited playing time. 

I may be able to finish this set before 2019 rolls around, but my best guess right now I probably won't make a push to complete '84 T until the new year, unless a big block of cards comes way unexpectedly.   With my luck lately, that's quite possible...

Thank you for the trade Ben, look forward to more in the future!

Thanks for reading, Robert

4 packs of cards that a collector will rarely see

It's a nightly ritual.  Head home from work, pull in the driveway, get out of the car and head straight to the mailbox.  We've been in this house just over 2 years now, and I don't think that my wife has ever checked the mail since we moved in.

That's because she knows the joy I get when I open the box and pull out an unexpected bubble mailer or PWE.   It's an incredible feeling because you know that someone out there has taken the time to put this together with you in mind.  

I received one such envelope early this week (or maybe the end of last week, it's been a few days) from Kenny who always manages to put together great packages for me.

This one was creative.  As protection, he re-used 4 pack wrappers.   So, I'm counting these as opening 4 packs of cards.   Just because I can....

Let's have some fun and go pack by pack, shall we?

Pack 1

This pack he'd been saving for a while, as it's a Prizm Perennial Draft Picks wrapper from 2014.  It contained 4 base cards (not like the 5 on the pack).

Hey!  Rowdy Tellez and Vladdy Jr., right off the get go!!  Tellez made quite the splash with his September call up; he's hitting .385 with 8 doubles and 2 homers in 40 plate appearances.  Guerrero Jr. just may make the Jays out of camp next year after tearing up the minors this year, hitting .381 over 4 different levels of minor league pitching (2 of those levels were just for a cup of coffee).

In this pack as well was a different sort of insert...minis!

A little crooked on the bottom row, but I wasn't going to bother fussing with the scan.  These are stickers from 3 different Panini products, and they bring back memories of the old Panini sticker books from the 80's, trying to fill those up as kids. 


Pack 2

 A little more recent, this pack is a series 2 wrapper from 2018 Topps.   It was close to 12 cards.

Another Rowdy Tellez card!  Adeiny Hechavarria has already been traded 4 times since his 2012 RC was released (Miami, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, New York).  I believe the Joe Young is a buyback card, as it has a stamp on the front (70th).  I wasn't aware that Joe was Canadian born (Ft. McMurray, AB) and spent 6 years in the Jays system, reaching as high as AA.

I'll have to check, but I'm betting most of the pack may be doubles.

Nothing wrong with the inserts though, 3 cards from the 2017-18 OPC set.  Pretty sure that I need them all so these are great for me!


Pack 3

 I'd lay money I don't have that Kenny ripped quite a few of these packs this year.  My pack beat what's listed on the wrapper, as it was bursting with 14 cards inside.

Mostly recent cards in this Blue Jays lot.  I'm pretty sure that I need the Biagini Heritage for that set build, and most of the others will likely be needed for team sets. 

By the time Heritage came out in 2010, Roy was already wearing the red "P" Philadelphia Phillies logo, but I imagine that that photo was taken from the 2009 ASG, which was Roy's 6th and final appearance as a Jay.  The other 3 cards are likely doubles, even the Daniel Norris.

Not a bad insert in this pack though, a P.K. Subban Canvas card.  I'm a sucker for these cards, and this one is no slouch.  There are quite a few copies of this card on COMC (136 to be exact), so there's no expectation of short supply at all.


Pack 4

The final pack is one that I've ripped a few times, a 2017-18 Upper Deck series 1 pack.  The pack says 8 cards, I pulled nearly double that.

Some Bowman for you, a couple of copies of Josh Donaldson who has moved on, and a couple of versions of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s card from 2017.  I have a feeling Lourdes will be a regular member of the Jays in 2019, as his rookie season was a good one, hitting .284 with 9 homers in 61 games.

Zack Erwin is a member of the Oakland organization, so not sure how he made it in this pack.  Jon Harris does belong though; the Jays actually drafted him 2x.  He split 2018 between AA & AAA, having a couple of decent starts when he was promoted to AAA Buffalo for a week just before the July 4th holiday.

There are some nice cards on this scan, but the only 2 that I believe I need are the Topps Total cards of Hentgen and Woodward.  Maybe this Wednesday when I have the day off I'll go through all of these to see what I truly need.

Kenny, what a great idea that I'm going to have to steal off of you!!  Thank you for the cards, they are truly appreciated.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Card show: vintage represented

Not only did I find a boat load of cards in the nickel boxes, but when I hit the vintage box down at the other end of the same dealer's table, I found quite a few cards worth grabbing.

I showed this card off on Twitter back on the day I bought it.  Can't get much better than a well loved '67 T Ernie Banks card for a buck.  Soft corners, one crease right through Ernie's neck, another one just below his signature.  No matter, I love the card.

These were also $1 apiece, both in pretty good shape considering their age. 

The Luzinski and WS Game 7 cards were both a dollar apiece, but the other '72s were 5/$1.  I'm barely over 10% of the '72 set in hand, but picking up a few cards here and there lately has been fun.  I have some more coming in a trade I just completed on the TCDB website, so the crawl to 100 cards for this set continues.

The Tommy John and Tony Perez cards were $1 apiece, not bad.  All the others were in the 5/$1 box, which provided no complaints from me.  With this small haul, the '69 set is a little more than 20% complete. 

Lastly, I was able to knock out 40 cards from the '76 Topps want list, including the 27 you see in the scans above.  Three of the players in those scans would end up as Blue Jays within the next couple of seasons, 2 of them as part of the original Blue Jays team in 1977. 

I'm down to 140 cards left to complete the '76 set, with Dennis Eckersley being the rookie card that will cost me the most.   There are quite a few star cards to pick up as well, including a few All Time Great cards such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb that will cost a few dollars. 

When said and done, it was a pretty good haul for me, at just $35 total.  For me, the best part was putting some good dents into the 76 Topps baseball and 83-84 OPC hockey want lists.  I hope to get as lucky again at next months show.

I'm sure you knew John Mayberry was a Blue Jay (I'd mentioned him in a post last week), but give yourself a gold star if you were able to name Dave Lemanczyk and Hector Torres as the 2 players that were part of the original '77 Jays squad.  Lemanczyk was one of two double digit win pitchers for the Jays (13), while Torres played just 91 games for the Jays, hitting .241

Thanks for reading, Robert