There is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

It's always cool to receive an email from a fellow blogger saying that they have cards for you.  What sucks is when you don't have anything in return for them.

Today, I was fortunate to receive a package from Bryan over at Golden Rainbow Cards, which contained some serial numbered goodness for the SNI project.  The 5 cards bring the total number of cards towards the project to 816, 26 of which come from the 2009 Topps set which is featured below in this lot.

A pair of Yankees bring their total to 38.  I wasn't aware that Phil Coke was part of the mega deal that brought Curtis Granderson to the Yankees.  Nady's 2009 season was limited to a total of 28 ABs after hitting .330 the year before with the Pirates.

Speaking of the Pirates, here's a gold parallel of former manager John Russell.

Kind of feel bad for the guy because he had the misfortune of leading 3 Pirates teams that were pretty much gutted by salary dumps.

The final two cards are players who were featured in Dodger blue, but are both in other locales now...

What goes around comes around.  Juan Pierre finds himself back where had some of his greatest success, down in South Florida.  119 games played for him this year will get him to the 2000 mark for his career, and 9 more stolen bases gets him to 600.

James McDonald started like a house of fire last year for the Pirates, only to see the All-Star break be his undoing.  James enters 2013 as the de facto #3 starter in Pittsburgh, and Steeltown is hoping that he can regain the form that had him among the pitching leaders in the NL for the first 3 months of 2012.

Bryan, thank you for the cards, they really are appreciated!!

thanks for reading, Robert

Common card of the day: Bob Walk

My wife and I have nicknamed him "Grumpy", just because whenever we listen to him on Pirates telecasts, Bob tends to sound a little grumpy at times.

But in truth, the five man rotation that the Pirates have for their announce team do a really good job calling games.

thanks for looking, Robert

I wouldn't mind seeing more cards like this

In a quick fit of madness while at the LCS last weekend, I picked up 3 packs of 11-12 Score hockey.   I honestly thought that they were this years, but hey there's nothing wrong with any hockey card, even if it's last years.

It was the standard 7 cards per pack, and with the 11-12 set, there was one glossy card in each pack.  For the most part, I really didn't hit anything worth writing home about.  But this one card of Rod Brind'amour really struck a chord with me.

Card #17, the jersey retirement card for Brind'amour was something that I wouldn't mind seeing more of.  I am aware that we don't see many number retirement ceremonies (in Toronto you don't see any), but the shot of Rod watching his jersey rise to the rafters of the PNC Arena is a really good shot. 

Something different every once in a while is always good.  With photos like this one, out of the norm is even better.

thanks for reading, Robert

The bloom is off the rose

Last year, I had the itch.  The year before, same thing, the itch was there.  2013, well that's a different story.

I've come to the conclusion that the modern set just isn't doing it for me any more.  There, I said it. 

I wanted to love the 2013 Heritage set.  I really did.  But 3+ weeks after its release, 2013 Heritage just isn't giving me the itch.  I will collect the set, but there's no hurry.  By the time A&G comes out in the summer, I'm sure that I'll be able to find dealers that are trying to dump the SPs for a buck or 2 in order to move product.

If I don't get them then, oh well.  There's always next year, or the year after that.  I'm still trying to complete 2011 Heritage after all, so what's the hurry?

But to say that the bloom is off the rose for me as far as the 2013 baseball card releases go, would be quite an understatement.  So far, the most excitement from the '13 Heritage set for me has been pulling these 15 SPs.

Outside of Andrew McCutchen, who I get to watch quite a bit since I reside in the Pittsburgh market, none of these players really excites me.  Ryan Braun?  Nope.  Stephen Strasburg?  The potential is there, but the sample size is small.  Same with Bryce Harper. 

Non-numbered purple parallels?  They don't do it for me either, unless they are Blue Jays. 

Topps has it right though, I do love the thrill of the chase, but even more so now for chasing cards like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Trust me, this is not a complaint at all about the current products that Topps has released.  The flagship design (or sea turtleus designus for those looking for the genus) and the Heritage design are both fine from where I sit. 

Who knows, maybe it's the modern players on the cards.  Maybe it's the umpteen inserts that are quenching my fire. 

Maybe it was finds like the $10 Koufax that thrilled me to no end (and will for a long time, no doubt).  It could have been the National last summer that showed me that there was a great world of vintage out there to be explored and bought if I only searched hard enough.

Pre '86 baseball, I'm all ears.  Newer stuff is going to be purchased at a more leisurely pace, if purchased at all.  I realize that this may take away a lot of my potential for trading in the blogosphere.

Sorry about that, but the thrill of the chase is going to be on my terms.   The bloom is off the rose.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Common card of the day: Derrek Lee

Taken back when the Marlins had a team....at least I think they did..

thanks for looking, Robert

Now that 2008 UD Masterpieces is complete...

Bring on the original.  The quest for the 2007 UD Masterpieces set has now begun.  I was fortunate enough to have a pack of them sent to me courtesy of Pat over at Hot Corner Cards (a nice surprise by the way, thank you Pat), and they did not disappoint.

I will not give you scans of John F. Kennedy and Tom Glavine, but this one card of two Hall of Famers is definitely worth a look.

A great reason why my love for these cards is justified.  I may be 6 years late in trying to collect this set, but at only 90 cards, with no SPs, I should be able to knock this one out of the park relatively quickly.

I only have 84 to go....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Common card of the day: Ron Perranoski

Involved in two different trades with guys that had a 'Z' in their names.  Was traded in 1960 for Don Zimmer, and then in 1967 was part of a trade that sent Zoilo Versalles to the Dodgers.

Thanks for looking, Robert

The Purple Card Eaters

I stopped by my closest LCS yesterday, probably for the last time ever.  This is the same store that I've kind of complained about before, but it is close to me and I was in need of a couple different supply items.

Why will it be for the last time ever you ask?  I opened the door to the shop, and it hit me.  The absolute stench of cigarette smoke.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with people who smoke.  Mrs. Habit is a smoker (kind of an ironic statement there...), but she doesn't smoke in the house at all. 

When I walked in and that wall of smoke hit me, it truly turned me off for good.  I got what I needed, and I got out of there for the last time ever.   It really is a shame, because it's only about a 20 minute drive from my house, and the Mrs. and I are in that town at least once or twice a month. 

Anyhow, while I was making my supply purchase, I grabbed a few hobby packs of Heritage and brought them home for ripping.  To what did my wondering eyes see, but a purple refractor in each of the 6 packs:

 
I pictured only 5, because the 6th one is already in a PWE headed to another blogger.  I didn't see any odds listed for these cards, so is 1 per pack the norm, or did I stumble into a purple hot box? 

They are not serial numbered (damn), so for me, they are trade bait.  Drop a comment if you wish to own one or more of these cards, and I'll do my best to get them to you as quick as I can.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Auction #1: 2011 Topps Diamond Parallel Babe Ruth SP

Duration:  As long as it takes
Buy It Immediately Price: $15.00
Description:   Pulled from a pack many moons ago, I decided to put this up on my own auction site to see if I could attract anyone's attention.  No reasonable offer refused.
Shipping:  PWE is free, otherwise single cards are shipped in a bubble mailer for a cost that I feel like charging you depending on the day of the week.

If you haven't grasped it yet, this post is a semi-humorous/semi-serious attempt at poking a little fun at our friends over at eBay.  I've thought about this post for a couple of days now, largely due to the response I've seen over the increase in fees that eBay is putting in place.  I wonder how big a hit (if any) eBay will take from card sellers decreasing/removing their auction load altogether.  eBay does have the power of a world wide audience, but you know that some people are just going to be fed up with all the extra money they are losing and they'll end up searching for other avenues to sell their product.

Like it or not, most of us do sell cards.  My success recently with the numbered Gwynn and Pfister cards only helped to enhance my collecting/blogging experience by affording me the luxury to buy cards such as the Brett and Yount RCs from 75 Topps. 


With the money that eBay and other auction sites charge for fees, I wonder when someone will turn their own blog into a money making venture by incorporating auction style posts into their day to day posting regimen. 

For all I know, there may be somebody out there doing it now, and I just haven't come across their blog as of yet.  If they are, all the power to them if they can make it work.  

Little guys like me, who knows what the future holds when it comes to selling cards...

thanks for reading, Robert

Common card of the day: A.J. Pierzynski

2009 OPC #5.  Whoever that is sliding into home, I'm pretty sure he's out.

thanks for looking, Robert