Getting better with age

No, the title is not referring to me.  During last weekend's card show, I managed to pick up one single solitary jersey card.  It's of a guy who I would say is definitely getting better with age, A.J. Burnett.

For a cheap $3, I brought home another Blue Jays relic to add to the collection, from 2008 UD Timelines:

I really like the card.  The design is clean and simple, nothing fancy about it.  It has a good picture of Burnett getting ready to snap off one of those curveballs that he's famous for.

A.J. is unquestionably the leader of a very young Pirates team, one that is truly starting to believe that it can win.  All the Pirates really need is some stability in their rotation, and they could contend in the NL Central sooner rather than later.

Maybe you'll be seeing guys like Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon before too long on the blog...

Thanks for reading, Robert

The final three

The long quest is over.  The final three arrived in the mail today...

My journey towards building one of the great sets of my childhood has been completed. 

1977 Topps is done.  I will be going through the set this weekend to see if there are any cards that I may want to upgrade, but most important to me is that all 660 cards are in my possession.

To be honest, I don't think it has sunk in yet.  Once I get these last 3 into the binder, and start taking a lot at all of the cards, I'm sure that a smile will come to my face.

I'm sure that the 24 other sets that I have completed while writing this blog will not compare to my  '77 Topps set by the time this weekend rolls around.

A set that I started, and lost, as a 10 year boy is back with me again.

Life is good.

Thanks for reading, Robert

The first big "chunk" of Heritage comes in

You might have seen within the past week a post from Jeff over at 2 x 3 heroes saying that he enjoys cleaning out space in his traders box.

Thankfully for me, Jeff was able to clear a good amount of his '13 Heritage traders out and send them my way.   55 cards worth to be exact.

It's kind of funny how you can look at 55 cards and find some similarities.  OK, maybe it's not funny.

How about a 9 spot of head shots??

Maybe 9 cards of guys with bats on their shoulder is more your speed.

Or maybe Yu just want one player on a scan with a Rookie Cup.

Any way you slice it, I'm 55 cards closer to this years Heritage set thanks to Jeff.   Much appreciated!!

thanks for reading, Robert

Serial insanity set cards 821 through 823

Going to change things up and start posting cards for the insanity set on the main blog.  I will probably retire the other blog before too long, I'm actually not sure why I haven't done it as of yet.

These three cards on this post are courtesy of Jeff over at 2x3 heroes as part of a group of 9 serial numbers for the set. 

Get ready for cards 821-823 out of 1500.

Card 821:  Kurt Suzuki

Serial Number:  299
Team:   Oakland A's, 38th card out of 50

The total number of 2012 Topps cards towards the insanity set is 51.  Suzuki's current caught stealing percentage is 15%, his lowest since his rookie season.  I'm sure that will change..

Card 822:  Adam Wainwright

Serial Number:  1262
Team:  St. Louis Cardinals, 35th card out of 50

I'm kind of surprised that I didn't see more numbered cards out there from the Opening Day set.  So far, I only have 4 cards from the 2012 Opening Day set towards the 1500.  Adam currently leads the NL in SO/BB ratio with an incredible 16.00.

Card 823:  Edinson Volquez

Serial Number:  1481
Team:  San Diego Padres, 29th card out of 50.

When Edinson has been healthy, control has been his Achilles heel.  Last year was no exception, as he led the NL in walks with 106. 

The format for the posts will be somewhat similar to the SNI blog, but should come more often now that I've switched them to this blog.

Thank you for the cards Jeff, much appreciated!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Sakic Sunday: Additions from the card show

I spent a lot of time at one particular table at the card show on the weekend.  The dealer had several boxes of cards that were priced starting at 50 cents each, and the more that you bought, the less the cost per card.  I'm sure you've seen those types of tables at shows.

Thankfully, this one particular dealer had one monster box filled with nothing but hockey.  Hockey cards at the monthly show are few and far between if you're looking for something that doesn't have a Penguin logo on it.

I did snag a few Leafs, including the Wendel Clark RC, out of that box, but you're here (hopefully) to see the Sakic cards. 

5 cards from 4 different Upper Deck brands, and all inserts.  The biography of a season insert on the upper right of the scan reminds me of the Biography set that UD release right around the same time for baseball.  A little research revealed for me that these BOS cards were available only as a wrapper redemption, which is probably why I've never seen this particular card in a display case before. 

The more collector friendly UD releases are also featured here, as I scored both a MVP and Victory insert each.  I've always liked both of those products, and their inserts usually have some pretty good designs.

The work on the Sakic PC page continues, I've managed to finish typing another 11 pages worth of cards.  There's still quite a bit to do, and what's not helping me is that I have the cards in pages not totally in order by year.  I have another 12 pages worth of cards to research, along with all the cards that I've not moved into pages as of yet. 

thanks for reading, Robert

Dense

Everyone out there knows that if it is Blue and White and Toronto based, chances are I cheer for it.

Jays (10-21 and already dead in the East...yea I said that), and Leafs (even with the Bruins 1-1!!) have been a staple in any house that I've lived in since I was 7. 

It's funny, however, that I sometimes go to card shows, pick up cards that I like, and don't realize what I've bought until I get home.

Take this Wendel Clark card for example:

86-87 Topps #149.  I have owned so little of this set over the years that I forget simple things, such as this is Wendel's rookie card!  I picked up this card for the paltry sum of 50 cents. 

I'm so dense that I didn't even realize this simple fact until this morning, almost 24 hours after I bought the card.   I simply bought it yesterday because it was a great looking Leaf card that was priced at 50 cents.

I guess I should take a good look at the rest of the cards I picked up yesterday....

thanks for reading, Robert

Mr. Cub

Today was the final card show of the season, unfortunately the local monthly card show doesn't start up again until September.  Makes sense, when I went to the mall today at around 1 pm, it seemed like a ghost town. 

That's probably why I didn't stay as long as I normally do, and I spent a lot less than usual by going over the weekly budget by only $20.

One fifth of my expenditures today went to only one card, another piece of the puzzle that is the '64 Topps set I'm putting together.

Hello Mr. Banks!

2nd straight show that I was able to pickup a listed star at a very affordable price.  Sadly, I'll be missing the big Pittsburgh show in a couple of weeks because I'll be away on vacation (2nd straight year I've missed that show....damn).

May have to hit the road this summer, try and find a card show within a reasonable drive.   Who knows, I may end up hitting a card show near you...

thanks for reading, Robert