This trade made me a little Chipper

Now before you get in a panic and ask me why I'm starting a Chipper Jones collection, I'm not.  I happened to complete a small trade recently on the Trading Card Database that netted me 3 cards that feature Chipper Jones, but fit into 3 different collections.

First, a card from 1997 Pinnacle:

I'm guessing that this is the contestants from that years Home Run Derby, and it's quite the star studded group here.   The main reason this came my way?  Top row, 3rd from left is Jim Thome.

I finally got around to adding my entire Jim Thome collection to the TCDB, and put up a want list as well.  Heckuva cool card to be the first one to come my way since adding the Jim Thome list.

2008 Upper Deck X die cut is up next.  I'm slowly making my way through this set after restarting the chase a few months ago.  Chipper is the 75th card in hand, just 25 to go. 

I started picking up the Captured on Canvas jersey cards several years ago, and then backed off of them for a few years.  I never traded them or sold them, just suspended the chase.  Now I've got the want list on the TCDB, and now I have 28 out of the 90 card set.  I believe I added 1 or 2 of these to my last COMB purchase; I'm sure I'll show it/them off when they arrive in a week or 2. 

I'm now up to 146 completed trades for the year on the TCDB, which includes one that I had written off until yesterday.  I'll write more about that in a few days as it's another interesting story from the USPS.

Thanks for reading!

Robert

The crazy things I'm still chasing

I took this want list off of the blog a long time ago, but that didn't mean I still wasn't chasing these:

I recently picked this up for $1.25 off of COMC, and it becomes the 25th card in the set that I own.  There's still 65 more to go, and while this isn't any kind of priority right now, I did put up a want list on the TCDB on the off chance that someone might have one or two that they're looking to move.

Here's another card that I picked up in a trade recently, it adds to another long lost set that I started putting together many years ago:

I love the look of the 2000-01 Topps Heritage hockey set, and I look forward to someday having the complete set as part of my collection.  A big thanks to Edward (TCDB ID:  Detfan6897) for the set help , and the player collection help as well as he hit several of my player wants.

As far as the next set goes, I wouldn't classify it as "still chasing", more likely the words "getting off to a good start" applies:

Mr. Mike Minor that you see here is already card #79 out of the 300 card set that I own.  I've had quite a bit of good luck with trading for these already, and while I know that the set isn't going to be finished quickly, I'm still looking forward to having this in hand when it's completed. 

Another parallel set that I've added another card to recently is the 2008 Upper Deck X die cut set:

Roy Oswalt is the halfway point for the set, as I now have 50 of the 100 cards.  No rush here as well, but I do have the want list up on the TCDB as well.  

I don't expect to finish this set off anytime soon as well, but the 2018-19 OPC retro parallel set is another one that I'd love to finish someday.  With just 26 out of 600 cards in hand, don't expect to see any cheering on here that the set is complete any time soon. 

Notice that only one of the 5 sets I have listed in this post is a base set.  Everything else is a parallel.

It's a sickness I say....

Thanks for reading.

Robert

Forgotten, but still around.

I stated many times on the blog over the past year my love of the 2008 UD Masterpieces set.  I remember the joy I felt the day I finished it.

I remember how much I loved the captured on canvas jersey cards.  I loved them so much that I started to collect them.

Then all of a sudden, I stopped.  Other ideas and sets came along that kind of pushed this project to the side.  But you may or may not have noticed, the tab at the top of the page did not disappear.  I still have either 64 or 65 more of these to go, depending on whether the Yunel Escobar card actually exists.

I was actually reminded about this set 10 days ago because of a couple of emails that were sent to me by Tom Slowey (thank you for those again Tom) with some interesting tidbits about the set.  Tom is the one who informed me that the Escobar was replaced by Manny Ramirez (interesting).  I looked through a few of the cards that I do own, and I pulled the Freddy Sanchez out for scanning.

I remember the last day of the 2006 season, the excitement that Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown had over Freddy capturing the batting title.  Freddy did have quite the season that year, driving in 85 runs, hitting .344 and also leading the NL in doubles with 53. 

Injuries took their toll on Freddy, and he's been out of the game since 2011.   He owns a career average of .297 and has 3 all star games to his credit.

If I ever get my ass organized again, this is one set that I will have to try and tackle with a little more gusto.

Promises, promises....

Thanks for reading, Robert

From 4 to 2 to 1 to done

The 2008 UD Masterpieces adventure is over.   The set was finally completed today.  The last 4 cards of the set that I needed were all SPs, and arrived at my doorstep within the past 3 weeks.

First, a couple of ebay auction wins provided a couple of great catchers, Carlton Fisk and Johnny Bench:

When I was down to 2, I received one of the two from Pat at the Hot Corner Cards blog, Ryne Sandberg:

When I got down to 1, I hit eBay running, and within 4 days, Bob Gibson showed up on my doorstep, in a PWE no less...

Great cards indeed.  That's the 23rd set completed since I started the blog, and also means that one of the Fab Five has been completed.

I finally decided to add a hockey set to the Fab Five, the 99/00 UD MVP silver signature parallel set.  I only need 9 more to complete that set, hopefully that task will not require a year or two to complete.

thanks for reading, Robert