Heritage post

 It's been 2 years since I have posted and I am finding old images on the computer to post.

LOL, this image currently means nothing to me.    I don't even know why I scanned it.

  Corey Seager is cool, can't remember why I scanned this one.  Maybe because it is #'d to 99!!

so have fun, have some laughs as I try and jog my memory by posting old scans to see what I was thinking previously.  Remember, I'm still trying to fix myself.  

Have a great Sunday, Robert.

Overload

I might have overdone it a little bit.  The Sportlots purchase I made the weekend before last contained 100 cards, a lot of them featuring Jim Thome.  I showed quite a few of them in a couple of previous posts, and have even more for you tonight.

How about a few Leaf/Donruss examples to start?

 

Interesting that all 7 examples from this brand all feature Thome in some variation of a hitting pose.  Yea, I counted him adjusting his batting glove as a "hitting pose". 

Topps/Bowman was able to sneak in a fielding pose on the 2002 Bowman card, and the Hit Parade features something that Thome wasn't well known for, base running.  19 steals in 22 big league seasons will attest to that. 

These next 4 cards are probably my favorite of the entire lot...Heritage

The eyes are a little spooky on the 2002 card, reminiscent of some of the '52 Topps cards.  My favorite is the reproduction of the '57 Topps card with Thome kneeling and using the bat as a prop.  It's hard not to like any of the Heritage cards, maybe that's telling me something...

This group of 17 will put me over the 150 mark for the Thome collection (once I catalog them, hopefully tomorrow).  I still have a little more than a dozen left to show off.  This big purchase is something that I'm glad I did; it was a good way to knock off a lot of base cards quickly and cheaply.

I'll probably do this once more before year's end, without the severe overload.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Who needs this year's Heritage?

I heard through the Twitter verse that the '14 Heritage release was put off for a week, much to the dismay of a lot of people.

I have no need to worry about that.   I've already got my set started.  This checklist will tell you so...

What would have been really nice is for this checklist to have been accurate when I purchased it.   Ernie Banks would be in hand, which would mean one less pricey card to pick up. 

Packs are 8 cards total usually for Heritage, correct?  OK, here's the other 7 cards for you.

Not a bad pack if I do say so myself.  The Rico Carty is my favorite, largely because he played for the Jays during the '78 and '79 seasons to finish off his career.  Carty also finished 2nd in ROY voting in 1964, losing out to Dick Allen. 

OK, so my Heritage set has 590 cards left to go.  And yes, it will probably cost a little more to build than the '14 set. 

At least I didn't have to wait an extra week to get it started.

Thanks for reading, Robert

My 1st 3 packs of Heritage...I can hardly believe my eyes

 A little bit of language in this post....please be forewarned...

Heritage.  The one set I planned on collecting this year.  I've said it all along, Heritage was the one set I wanted to build of all the 2013 releases.

If I keep getting packs like the 3 I'm about to show you, I just may change my mind.  I stopped at Wal Mart this morning, and grabbed one blaster and three loose packs.  The loose packs were from the same box, back to back to back.  By the way, you're only going to see scans of 6 cards.   You'll see why in a moment.

Pack #1 was opened in the Wal Mart parking lot.  Yes, I am an overgrown kid who just couldn't wait to rip into a pack of baseball cards.


191 Anthony Rizzo (first Heritage card of the year for me)
373 Ted Lilly
96   Jeff Samardzija
216 Jason Kipnis
95   B.J. Upton
NF-FM Flashback Ford Mustang
253 Sergio Romo
115 Dan Uggla  X2

Really?  Then I sit back and think, I've seen others have duplicate cards come out of packs.  So I shrug it off, and drive to work.  I'm 15 minutes early, so I sit in the parking lot and open....

Pack #2:

253 Sergio Romo
280 Ryan Vogelsong
292 Trevor Cahill
30   Chad Billingsley
258 Michael Young
491 Wei-yin Chen (only 74 more SPs to go)
20   James McDonald
348 Miguel Gonzalez  X2

So now I notice this, and I look through the windshield of my truck and say "what the f---".  I still have time before I have to go inside, so let's rip...

Pack 3!

281  Yankee Rookies
318  Kendrys Morales
86    Ivan Nova
183  Fernando Rodney
374  Luis Cruz
TN-MG  then and now Marichal/Gonzalez
280  Ryan Vogelsong

399  Dale Sveum......you can bloody well guess how many of these I got in the pack....

Then sends me into another level of pissed off....I cannot believe what I'm seeing.

3 packs, in a row, all containing multiple cards.

I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.

I didn't even touch the blaster this evening.  Topps took the one set I was really looking forward to, and turned it into a bit of a joke so far, at least from where I sit.

The one thing I've learned over the past decade that I've been with my wife is that I need to sit back and have a little patience when things piss me off.  I really like this set.  I like the design, I even like the inserts so far.  

But seeing stuff like this?  How can you not help but be pissed....

OK, maybe it's just me, but it's 13 hours after I opened these packs, and I'm still dumbfounded.

Or maybe this was Topps plan, and I fell for it because I am dumb.

I'll sleep on the Heritage dilemma, and let you know....

thanks for reading, Robert

I guess it all just comes down to -age

I often kid with a lot of people about my age.  To be honest, I don't consider myself old really (I'm 45), but there are little telltale signs of my advancement towards middle age.

My last eye test a couple of years ago revealed that bifocals were needed..."welcome to middle age" said the eye doctor.  

My father called me back in October to wish me a happy birthday, and the first sentence out of his mouth after wishing me happy birthday was "you're getting old son!!".  You know you're getting old when your dad tells you that.

I trimmed the goatee last weekend, and noticed that instead of a few gray patches here and there, about 90% of it is now white.  Man, that was fast.

Maybe all of these were a precursor to how I've decided to collect this year.  The two primary ways that I planned to add to my collection this year ended in -age...

Vintage....Heritage...it's crazy what you notice sometimes when you actually sit down and think, isn't it?

It's been interesting to read the "tweets" the last couple of days, as Topps has released their 1st series checklist.  The buzz is starting to grow in anticipation of the 2013 Series 1 release....

Not me, I'm waiting for Heritage this year.  As you know, the '64 design is one that I really like, and it's featured in this year's set...

Image first posted on mybaseballcardblog.com  post dated 9/14/2012

This is likely the only baseball set I will put together from the 2013 releases, and I'm actually kind of excited waiting for it. 

I'm also looking forward to completing my '77 set, which is less than 60 cards from completion.

I also have a good head start now on the '73, '75 and '76 Topps sets as well, I'm hoping to come close to finishing those this year, as well as getting a start on the '70 set as well...

I don't remember the Padres unis ever looking like this

We're two weeks into the new year, and I've done well so far with my card purchases, sticking to the resolutions I made for myself. 

Completing sets I've been working on for a while, and working on the vintage sets that I've started.

Only 349 days left in the year, I should be able to hold on to those resolutions....

The Vegas line is 100-1 against me keeping them by the way....

thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #10: 2011 Topps Heritage

Set 2011 Topps Heritage
Number of cards in set: 500
Affordability: 7
Key RCs: Darwin Barney, Freddie Freeman, Jeremy Hellickson
Is the set built?:  468/500 (missing 32 SPs)

What I like about this set:   I love the wood grain borders.  The copy of the 1962 design is a winner in my book, because the set is easily distinguishable from the other releases.  The photos for the most part are really nice, and the backs of the cards are an easy read.  The look and feel of this set is the main reason that I am working towards completing this set.  I've bought lots of Heritage in the past, but none of the sets have inspired me to complete them as much as the '11 set has.  I am a big fan of the '64 set, so we'll see if the '13 Heritage release inspires me like this one did.

What I don't like about this set:  I will whine and moan about this until Topps changes the number of SPs in the set.  I'm sorry, but 75 is just way too much.  Do the math:  75 SPs at a rate of 1 in every 3 packs, so in a perfect world, you would have to buy 225 packs to obtain all 75 SPs.  At 24 packs in a hobby box, you're buying a minimum of 9 boxes.  Those who have pulled the SPs are not letting them go easily, the $6 common price is still not far fetched almost 2 years after release.  Rant over....

I did a search for hobby boxes for this set while writing this post, and the disparity is alarming.  While hobby boxes on Dave & Adam's are going for $71, on eBay the prices are in the $85 range, while a 12 box case is up for $970 (just under $81 a box).  Unlike the '12 release which saw hobby boxes crash below the $50 mark, this set appears to have some staying power...so far anyhow.

thanks for reading, Robert

Blue Jay Monday: A tribute to the past from modern sets

The past decade has seen multiple efforts from Topps to recreate the love of their older sets.  Heritage of course being the flagship effort, with other releases such as Archives and Fan Favorites also promoting prior designs with current players.

I decided to make this Blue Jay Monday effort about a few cards that I received from Pat at the Hot Corner blog that relived the past.

First, from the 2012 Heritage release, comes this '63 sticker insert of Jose Bautista

Although I am not too sure that Jose was happy to have had his picture taken here, I can admire a man that is able to grow a full beard in 3 days like Joey Bats can (to me it seems that way..what do you think?)  The '63/'12 set is one that I haven't gained a full appreciation of as of yet, maybe it's because I like the backs more than I do the fronts.  I'm sure that is something that will change over time, but for now, I will not be chasing either of those sets.

The next two cards come from the 2012 Topps Archives set (or Heritage lite as I've called it...)

With Topps limiting the number of SPs in the set to 40 (41 with the Harper RC), I was very surprised that the Jays were represented twice.  I've spoken many times about the duo you see above, so I will not bore you with more.  All I'll say is that it's nice to have these 2 short prints as part of the overall Jays collection here.

Pat, thanks again!!  I'll be sure to get you something in return as soon as I can...

thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #19: 2002-03 Heritage Hockey

Set: 2002-03 Topps Heritage
Number of cards in set: 180
Affordability: 8
Key RCs:  Henrik Zetterberg, Rick Nash, Jason Spezza
Is the set built?:   60/180 so far

What I like about this set:  Since I pretty much cannot afford the original 1966-67 Topps set that this was patterned after, this is a pretty good "consolation".  The TV set design is a classic, and Topps did a really good job of mimicking the original with this set.  I still haven't seen any of the relics (live) to date, but would love to obtain a Sawchuk or Bower relic card from this set for my Leafs collection.  One of the last hockey sets that I can remember that included bubble gum in the packs (I'm sure that there's probably one more recent that somebody can remind me about...)

What I don't like about this set:  No different than its baseball brother, SPs account for the last 25 cards.  At least that's more manageable than the 75 the baseball Heritage gives us. Would have liked this set to be bigger than 180 cards as well.

Buying a hobby box to try and complete the set is also an expensive proposition, with boxes running in the $150 range.  Probably will be a 2013 project to complete this set...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Another one bites the dust

The remainder of the Sportlots purchase of last weekend arrived on Thursday.  Two more envelopes of singles that finished one set and helped me get closer to finishing 3 others.

The victim this time?  2008 Upper Deck, Series 1

It's nice to get another set out of the way.  Actually, it feels really good to start getting some of these sets that have been hanging over my head for quite a while completed.  Sad to say however, that the two sets I've completed this week are just the tip of the iceberg.

I currently have 2 sets that are both just one card away from completion...

2002 Upper Deck Series 2 (need card # 521)

Baseball or not, this man died way too young...

2012 Topps Series 2  (need card # 334)

His next HR gives him 12 straight 30 HR seasons...

Then there's two sets that are in need of nothing but SPs......

2008 UD Masterpieces

Forget kid in a candy store...he runs the candy store now!!

2011 Topps Heritage

looking over his shoulder at Hechavarria

Yep, the Heritage is going to be a bitch to complete with about 50 SPs to obtain, while the Masterpieces is down to 14 SPs to go with the acquisition of the Donny Baseball card shown above.

By the way, if you missed last nights post....got a little Contest going on.  Tell me your opinion, don't be shy.

Thank you for reading, Robert

50th post, Labor day weekend and a time to catch up, and move forward..

Hello all, hope that you're having a great holiday weekend so far.  The wife and I are away visiting family in upstate NY, so my cards and the ability to update want lists, etc are sitting there waiting for me back home.  I've been able to complete trades over the past two days with Greg over at Plaschke, thy sweater is argyle, and with reader Steve D. as well via email. 

Catching up means taking more time to look at a lot of blogs, especially their pasts and how they developed their blogging styles.  Seeing as I'm still the newbie(or one of them), I'm sure that I can create more of a style that suits me (of course styles are developed by taking stuff that you like writing about theme wise, and blending them with themes from other bloggers...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, if you do it right).

These couple of days also will give me a chance to think about my own top list of cards that I would really like to own.  Thinking about it will probably lead me to two lists...one for baseball (top 25), and one for hockey (top 20).  I'm sure that you have figured out why it's 25 for baseball, and 20 for hockey, but I'm gonna go one step further, and make those lists represent an actual roster.  Now hockey is pretty much set the way that teams dress their skaters for each game (12 F, 6D and 2G), but baseball is a little different, based on the time of season, upcoming schedule (busier times of the season sometimes necessitate an extra pitcher on the roster), but I'm going to go with a more standard roster lineup (12 P, 2C 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 4 OF, 1 Middle Infielder, 1 Corner infielder, and a DH).  The cards from both sports will be a smattering of RC's, Jersey/Patch cards, autos, etc.   This will also give me an opportunity to learn more about players in both sports, especially guys that I loved to hate but really changed the game (Rickey Henderson for one), and other players that were part of my favorite teams growing up (Darryl Sittler, my all time favorite Maple Leaf).  Look for these posts coming over the next few weeks. 

In addition, another feature that I plan to start doing is "Packs across America".  My wife and I love to travel, and we have family spread out across the US and Canada.  Naturally, the card fiend that I am, I will take the opportunity to buy packs at a LCS or a big box store.  Look for those posts, and see if I have any better luck with packs when I travel than what I have locally.  I also may enlist some of my trade partners to help me out with this as well...look for that in a future post/email coming your way.

Another feature that I plan to do monthly is "hobby box of the month".  An earlier post of mine lamented the fact that I went 8 years between the purchase of hobby boxes.  Well, that is no more.  I plan to buy a hobby box once a month towards the end of the month to break and post for my readers.  It may be a current product, such as the '11 Heritage BB box I busted not too long ago, or something older that I may be trying to put a set together of (as long as I can find a hobby box). 

My Thursday posts that I've done over the past two weeks, the "random thoughts" will also continue.  Sometimes it's nice to not have to come up with a specific idea for a post, just random ideas or junk that pops into my head.

If you have anything you would like to see me write about/post..send me an email or post a comment, and I'll be sure to discuss it with you to maybe develop it further and feature it.  I also have an idea that will feature another blogger based on current topics that are hot in the blogosphere.  Lots of ideas, lots of time to get them rolling. 

Thank you for reading....Robert

Week 3: Friday brings a busy trade week to a close

     Good evening friends, and happy Friday to you all! Up to Wednesday I was $8.51 in the hole, I then completed a trade with Eric over at Manupatches and Chrome Scratches.  I was able to send him a couple of patches he didn't own, along with some mustache cards ( I think that is one of the coolest topical sets I've come across in a long time) and some Royals cards as well.  The postage on that was $1.88 putting me down $10.39....  until....I paid a long overdue visit to a card store that is near my work.  I hadn't bought any packs in a couple of weeks, and since I hadn't been there in quite a while, I figured I'd go check it out.  Limited on cash, I however was able to find a deal on 2009 Topps Heritage high number packs, 4 for $10.  Since I had never purchased any '09 Heritage, I figured what the hell, give it a shot....I normally don't do a full rundown, but this time I will because I feel I did all right today.  I also got a bit of a surprise when I opened the packs because I was unaware that they contained 6 Heritage cards along with 2 Topps Update cards...

Pack 1:

645. Mike Sweeney
667. Willy Taveras
597. Jason Vargas
517. Michael Saunders
578. Gerardo Parra
UH 89 Phil Hughes
UH 92 Edwin Encarnacion (Jays, another one to add to the collection)
, and finally....

 CHR 160 Ken Griffey Jr. 0861/1960.


In all the different years I bought Heritage, I had the worst luck pulling Chrome cards, so pulling this was pretty cool.









Pack 2:

620. Kenshin Kawakami
648. Trevor Crowe
677. Ryan Sadowski
631. Laynce Nix
639. Scott Kazmir
UH 98 Hanley Ramirez NL All star
UH 142 Jorge Posada season highlights

And, as you can see from the scan on the right, another chrome card...
CHR133 David Huff 0358/1960

This pack was all right as well, 3 rookies and another chrome card...wow, maybe luck is changing for me!!

Pack 3:

527. Brandon Wood 
678. Ryan Spilborghs
539. Chris Perez
660. Ramiro Pena
669. Rocco Baldelli
UH29 Rich Hill
UH316 Hunter Pence/Ryan Braun

and finally, shown in the scan,  RP-13...Rookie Performers Ricky Romero, another Blue Jay to add to the collection! 

Pack 4:

526. Brandon Lyon
562. Diory Hernandez
579. George Sherrill
604. Joe Crede
UH 281 Kevin Youkilis

Then two more Blue Jays!!
536. Mark Rzepczynski (I always have trouble with that name)
UH 297 Brett Cecil

Finally, today was my lucky day, a third chrome card in 4 packs

CHR128 Vin Mazzaro 0532/1960




I took a look at the seeding for the Chromes, the wrapper said 1:3, and I hit 3 of them.  Then again, the wrapper also said short prints were seeded 1:3, but I was unlucky there and failed to pull one.

Honestly, I like these cards, the regular cards have 2 photos of the player on the front which is pretty cool.  The multicolored lettering is different, kind of freaky if you ask me, but it's something you really don't see at all.  The backs of the cards have some variety as well, some have "season highlights", where the card lists 4 different dates of the season, and what that particular played accomplished on those days.  The other type of backs have a 7-8 line "biography" of the player (as much of a career recap one can fit in the limited space).

The $10 I spent on the 4 packs for me was well worth it, and brings the running total to $20.39 in the hole to end week 3.  Week 4 starts tomorrow, have a few trades started with fellow bloggers, and it's time to start cleaning up all these monster boxes of cards (ugh!).

Robert