What Tony Gwynn turned into

No doubt if you've read over the past couple of weeks, you are aware that I put the Tony Gwynn auto card up for auction (no more scans...I promised).  I've had a fun 10 days making a few purchases that have definitely enhanced my collection.

Time to show off share some of the fruits of my "labor" (yea, as if mailing a card to Arizona was really tough on me...)

First, I scored a decent lot of 27 '70 Topps cards...nothing earth shattering, but hey it's 27 closer to the set..

All 3 checklists have markings on them, no worries here though.  For the price I paid for this lot ($5 shipped), their condition is fine.  I can always upgrade later if I really need/want to.

Next, I put a bit of a dent into a long neglected set, 2008 UD Masterpieces.

Tom Terrific.  It is even more terrific now that I have him.

This Yogi-ism is perfect for me.  "you better cut that pizza into 4 slices, because I'm not hungry enough to eat 6."   I love pizza....

  

Roberto Clemente.   As close to God as you're going to get in the eyes of Pittsburgh sports fans.

Let's not forget about my favorite set, '77 Topps.  I picked up only one card from the set, but it's a good one.

 

We all know about Nolan's strikeout prowess, did you know that he actually walked 202 batters in 1974?  Wow.

Finally, time to show off a couple of beauties from the '75 Topps set.

To be honest, I would have been happy getting just one of these cards with the funds from eBay.  I am very lucky to have obtained both of these.

First, the Robin Yount RC

Yes, off center, and a ding on the lower left.  Again, if I really need to I can upgrade later on.  Still, I'm very happy to have it.

Last but not least, George Brett comes a calling...

Great card, corners are sharp and the centering is pretty good.  I don't think I'll have to worry about upgrading this one.

I believe after all these purchases I still had about 5 or 6 dollars left to spend.  I managed to sell the numbered Phil Pfister red A&G back for $15, so when that arrives to its destination I'll have a little bit more money to play with.

I could get used to turning cards I don't want into cash which in turn feeds the habit.   It sure has helped me spend a whole lot less this month so far. 

Have to get the disaster area cleaned up first.   That....is a project in itself. 

thanks for reading, Robert

It's official, there are 16 people who are truly insane

To those 16 out there,  whose ballot box stuffing efforts to try and get me elected Blog of the Year fell just shy this time around, I have only one thing to say.

Try harder next time....AHEM....(clears throat)

Thank you very much for voting for me.  It really is nice to know that my slice of insanity is entertaining at least a few of you out there. 

While I may not reign supreme as the king of the blogs, I'm sure that at least a job in the royal court is a possibility.   Court jester perhaps?

To be a part of the top three with what are the two best blogs going (Night Owl & Dime Boxes), it is truly an honor.  Thank you to Wes as well over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk (kind of a misnomer if you've been part of one of his card drafts) for running the vote. 


One card rule is still in effect...this one is a hats off to the champ..

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

You thought last night was bad?

Yes, I was hard on myself last night.  Disorganization could have been my middle name, but my parents chose Robert instead...

Another of my faults is my ability to become easily distracted.  I can sit down at the computer, start typing up a post, then a thought will come in my head, maybe about an auction, or an email, or something just totally random. 

6 hours later, the post still sits half finished.  The cards on the table aren't packed. 

Yea, that's bad.  How have I tried to remedy the situation?

I set myself a timer.

 

 

Yes indeed, that is my iPhone, with a timer set on it.  This is actually the fourth time I've set a block of time aside to work on my blog/collection.  Sad, isn't it??  You know what's worse..

It works.

Yea, with a specific amount of time set aside to do nothing but post, sort, pack envelopes, or put cards away, I actually get shit done.

The first 3 times I timed myself, I set the clock at 2 hours.  I actually was able to get posts completed, cards put away and shipped, and was happy when I finished.  The 4th time I set the timer for 90 minutes.  Yep, still getting things done.

So the next time you sit at your desktop/laptop/iPhone and read one of my posts about hockey...

Will he be making spectacular saves somewhere else this year?

Or baseball...

1 of the 70

Chances are that the post was written under duress....

At least the duress that can be created by an iPhone timer.

Thanks for reading, Robert

21 is done

2012 is done, finally.   The Update set has been completed, my 21st completed set.  The final two cards arrived yesterday in the last of 4 Sportlots envelopes to hit my mailbox. 

What I didn't realize is that the final two cards were players who wear the black and orange...

The enemy, according to the Owl

It's a relief to get that set out of the way, and move on to focusing on the older sets that I'm working on.  I still haven't changed my mind about 2013 releases, the plan is still to chase Heritage only. 

Let's see how well I stick to that plan.  I've weakened in the past, but so far in the new year my resolve to complete the boat load of sets that I have partially completed over the years has been strong. 

On a side note, I have 9 unused Golden Giveaway code cards from this year...they expire on February 1st.  Anybody still entering codes?  If you need them, let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Disorganized? Yea, that's me

I am my own worst critic.  Hard on myself?  You better believe it.  I don't know why that was ingrained in me as a child, but when I make mistakes, the Scottish temper flares right up.

There's really no need for it, but it happens.   This evening is a prime example.  I opened an envelope that I received from Sportlots, and part of the package was these 5 cards.

If only Billy knew what was going to happen to him later in the year...

5 1986 Topps cards.  Getting that much closer to the set!!  Why is this bad?

I only needed 7 to finish the set before placing the order.  What the hell??

It's things like that piece of foolishness that make me wonder about myself sometimes.  There's no excuse for ordering 5 out of the 7 commons that I need to finish the damn set.  Come on man, get with the program. [EDIT:  turns out that I actually needed 8 commons...damn you Bobby Valentine]

The best part of the Sportlots fun from last week?  I ordered cards from five different sets that I've been building for various lengths of time.  Five...

Speaking of five, here's 5 cards that I ordered from the 01-02 Vintage set.

So blah of a design, and yet I love the damn set

Now, on the flip side of all this, I at least am proud of myself for one achievement (cheapness is always a thrill..)

I specifically shied away from these cards at the Expo last November, for the specific reason that the table I purchased the other 08/09 OPC commons from wanted 50 cents a card for these.  Sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to pay that kind of change for Patrice Bergeron and Jason Spezza.  18 cents apiece on Sportlots?  Yea, I can do that...

Finally, 33 more of the 2001 Fleer Tradition cards were bought off of Sportlots.  I'm probably suffering from a bit of buyer's remorse with this set, because I realize now that if I had taken the time and thought it through, this set is probably one that could have been set aside for more loftier goals.  Once I got below 100 cards to finish this set, it was a given that that the set needed to be finished. 

Even though I may regret the "overpayment" for the cards, the collector in me still loves this set.  I'm sure that the money spent on it will never be recouped, but in this case, the love of this set will outweigh that.  Just 53 more cards to go until completion.

That's one set I'll be happy to remove from the Fab Five list.   It's been there way longer than it should have been.

thanks for reading, Robert

I took your advice, and so far I'm liking the results

Back at the end of August, when the newness of the A&G hobby box that I had ripped for the Gint-A-Cuffs contest had gone away, I decided to ask the blogosphere what to do regarding this card:

This should be the last time you see this picture on the blog.

The majority of the responses revolved around trading or selling the card.  Not to denigrate a lot of the guys that are on the forums, because they are in large part a great bunch, but I had a couple of experiences that were kind of questionable so I shied away from that option.

I kind of kept the card on the back burner for the past few months, then having made my one of my resolutions last week to start back selling on eBay again, this was naturally the first choice as far as auctions go.

The goal was to make as much as I could, but not make the price so high that the card wouldn't receive any offers. Two days later, I had an offer that was sufficient enough, and I finally had some  money to play with on the bay.  I've already turned the one card into 3 key additions toward some of my 70's sets that I'm working on, and I still have some money left to play with. 

I actually sold the Phil Pfister A&G numbered card yesterday on the bay as well, so that's another $15 to play with.  When I'm all done with using the $95 I made on those two cards, I will display to you all what I was able to turn them into. 

Just the opposite of the old saying "out with the old, in with the new", don't you think?

Thanks for reading, Robert