Kaz! Kaz! Kaz! Kaz!

A quick break from the Serial Numbered Insanity set tonight to show off some cards that I recently received from Mets blogger Mark from the This Way to the Clubhouse part of the blogosphere.  I sent Mark a few Mets cards and I received a envelope full of Blue Jays goodness.

I decided to show a bunch of the cards off in groups of 4, you'll see why later.

2009 Topps black parallels!!  Hadn't seen any of these in forever.  There was also a 2011 Topps Blue Jays team card in the black parallel form as well.   It didn't make the cut.

Various forms of gold parallels.  In case you were wondering, the Mark DeRosa is the 5th version of that card that I now own.  (Base, gold, yellow, red sparkle, Wal-Mart blue)  I'm sure that there are a few others that still need to be picked up...

Four great players that played for various lengths of time in Toronto.  2 of them are in the hall of fame, 1 has the numbers to get in but the reputation to keep him out, and the 4th isn't eligible for another 2 years, but probably doesn't have enough numbers to get in.  All 4 made an impression on Blue Jays fans in one way or another.

Gustavo Pierre was just converted in the past year from a shortstop to a pitcher.  So far, not so good, in 8 appearances in A ball his ERA is over 10.  J.P. Arencibia started with the Jays, and has bounced around the past few years.  He is now part of the Rays organization.  Justin Jackson is another player that was converted from a position player to a pitcher.  He's had more success, but is still just at the AA level.  Chris Hawkins never made it past A ball and hasn't been in MiLB since 2013. 

Sluggers.  4 of them.  Lind had 146 HR with the Jays.  Carter had 203 HR with the Jays, and the most memorable one ever.  Encarnacion has 220 HR with Toronto, and right now I would resign him before I would resign Bautista.  Delgado has 336 Blue Jays HRs, and is probably their all time best hitter in my opinion.

Why the title you may ask?  Well, I'm a big fan of the movie Meatballs with Bill Murray.  If you click the link you'll go to a YouTube clip of one of the scenes from the movie, featuring a character named Spaz.  Yes, Kaz rhymes with Spaz, but no he doesn't remind of the character.   Thought maybe one or 2 of you out there could use a laugh.  You'll notice that when the subtitles come in, Spaz! is there 4 times in each.  Not sure why that is, but I made it fit the post (or at least tried to)...

Thank you for the cards Mark, they are greatly appreciated!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

The classics keep on living

Another week has come and gone for the "What's Next?" tournament, and by a margin of 16-4 this week's winner is:

1960 Topps!  Not a surprise really, as it seems that the sets from the '60s appear to be the favorites of many a collector.   An interesting trend has developed; this is the 3rd straight week that the winning set has received exactly 16 votes.  I'm not too sure how next week's voting is going to turn out, as '74 Topps takes on the first play in match winner, '61 Topps. 

I just happened to pull card #288 Bob Mabe out of the small group of 1960 cards that I have, but what jumped out at me right away is the old style Orioles logo.  Sets such as this would be enjoyable to build for me because of the logos.  The '64 set has been fun to put together, but seeing cards like this one remind me how cool some of the older logos look.

Still a long way to go in the tournament, there's still 9 matches to go before the ultimate winner is decided.  Keep on voting, and spread the word if you can, because I'd love to see more votes each week (the voting seems to stop right at 20 for some reason...).

Thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

base+parallel+serial number=PWE

If there's one person out there that has become a major benefactor for this blogger, it's Pat from the Hot Corner Cards blog.  Pat has sent me numerous PWE's, each one always hitting multiple want lists.  Almost as if the lists were his own....

Let's start with the base.  Only one card, but to me it's a great shot of lefty Brett Cecil and his tattooed left arm getting ready to throw what appears to be a knuckle-curve.  I might go for his look the next time I need new glasses.   OK maybe not...

This next Jays card I really like....

The red bordered parallel combined with the red Canada Day Jays uni is a great look, and capturing the knuckle ball about to be thrown makes this card a fantastic add to the collection.  Insert your own jokes about red and dickey here, you know you want to.

Finally, what's a PWE from Pat without one more hit to the SNI want list.

As far as I know, C.C. Lee is not related to Cliff Lee.  There's not a whole lot to say about this Lee's career so far, because it consists of only 19 appearances in relief over the past 2 seasons.  This card is serial numbered 1110, and is the 40th Indians card out of the 50 I need for the set.  There's now 1133 cards accounted for, and the Yankees are still the only team that's complete so far.

Thank you for the cards Pat, they are appreciated!!

thanks for reading, Robert

A dry July

After nearly 3 years of showing off the trades, purchases, auction wins and various other spoils that I've obtained while writing my blog, I've finally hit a dry patch.

It was bound to happen.  I will admit that part of the reason that I'm going to have a dry July is that bills need to be "pushed".  A little bit extra on the plastic, along with getting ahead of the game on the household bills is stretching the wallet a little bit.

Which means I have a little less green to buy the green:

A little less silver to buy some diamonds:

A shortage of $2 bills (or twonies/toonies if you're from the GWN) to buy Heritage:

I couldn't even scrape two nickels together to add to my Jim Thome collection.

[Don't even get me started on the SNI project.....]

The really sad part of all this is my predictability.  When I mentioned to my better half that my post tonight was going to be about the lack of purchases during July, she said right away "because you're saving for the big card show next month, right?" 

I guess I really am that bad, aren't I??  (Note to the NO:  Classic post tonight sir, love it)

So I guess for the remainder of the month I'm going to have to rely on the tournament and what I have on hand now for posts.  I believe I have plenty enough in my collection to get through the month....

Hopefully.

thanks for reading, Robert

I was surprised that I didn't have these cards

Taking time out from his married life, Gavin from the Baseball Card Breakdown blog was kind enough to search through the massive wilderness that is my Blue Jays want list, and sent me a few cards that I was surprised I didn't own.

Let's start with a couple of more recent Jays...

Rajai Davis had a decent run in Toronto during his 3 seasons there, 125 steals worth of running to be exact.  Reed Johnson was a player I would have like to have still in Toronto, as he's a pretty solid 4th outfielder.  Reed should record his 1000th career hit sometime in the not too distant future (he only needs 5 more).  I actually thought I already had Johnson's 2007 Topps card....guess not.

I don't recommend throwing baseballs, or doing a lot of other things from the position that A.J. Burnett is showing here on this 2007 UD series 2 card.  A.J. made his return to Pittsburgh last Sunday, and received a nice ovation from the fans, as well as a tribute on the scoreboard from the club.  A.J. showed his class and tipped his cap to the fans, as well as the Pirates dugout afterwards.

I looked at these two cards and thought to myself "yea, I already have them".   I check the list and find that they're still on there.  I also still need multiple cards from both '89 and '90 Donruss to complete the Jays team set.   What gives here?

Again, two more cards that I instantly thought I already had.  It turns out that these two cards are the final two I needed to complete the 1991 Topps Traded Jays set.  I guess looks can be deceiving.

Finally, I know that this card was not on any of my want lists, but to me it's pretty cool and I'm glad I now own it...

1995 Pacific Jays team logo card.  Love it.  I almost became obnoxious and turned the background of the blog into a picture of this card.   Almost....

Gavin, thank you for the great lot of cards, and reminding me that there is still a lot of uncharted territory that is the Blue Jays.   Congratulations on the wedding as well!!

By the way, there is still time to vote (if you haven't already) on this week's blowout match between 1960 Topps and 1979 Topps.  You might just learn a little something about a department store that sounds like a car!!

thanks for reading, Robert

What's Next? Round of 16: (3) 1960 Topps vs (14) 1979 Topps

What jumped out right away for me in this match is the RCs.  3 Hall of Famers, and Bob Welch who had 211 wins over a 17 year career.  I know that '79 is going to get some love this week, but I wonder if it will be enough to get past the last fully horizontal (I believe) release from Topps.


Tale of the tape:

1.  Set Size:  1960 has 572 cards.  1979 has 726 cards
2.  Key RCs:  1960  Carl Yastrzemski, Willie McCovey  1979  Ozzie Smith, Bob Welch
3.  Cost of complete set in NM condition:  1960  $5000      1979  $200
4.  Number of cards with high book at $100 or more: 1960: 14   1979: 0 

Blogs:  1960 Topps  vs   1979 Topps

I was unable to find a 1960 specific card blog, so all I've done is link to the 1960 set on My Baseball Card blog.  If anyone out there knows of a 1960 blog, please let me know.  The 1979 blog is by the same writer who hosts Emerald City Diamond Gems, but unfortunately both of his blogs haven't been updated since April. 

Thanks for reading, Robert