There's a chance

A good voter turnout this week!!  24 votes came in for this week's match, and by a solid 15-9 margin, the winner is...

1974 Topps!  '74 makes it to the semi-finals where it will meet last week's winner, '63 Topps.  There's only one match left in the quarter finals; starting tomorrow 1976 Topps will face 1967 Topps.  It's possible that the semi-finals could feature a set from the 70's facing a set from the 60's in each match.

On a side note, I wanted to thank Jim from Downingtown for his email on the side earlier this week.   Jim had asked me if the sets were going to be reseeded again after this round.   After I responded to him that the sets would advance in bracket style this round, I had to take another look at the initial post to make sure my response was correct (it sure wouldn't have been the first time that I've been wrong!!).

Jim, I found the first post, and amazingly my memory didn't fail me!  I did mention that reseeding would be done after the first round only.  I do appreciate you keeping me on my toes though.

thanks for reading, Robert

A great card state

Wednesday.  My 3rd favorite work day of the week.  It's even better when I come home and see what's in the mail.  When it's only 3 pieces, two of them being PWE's from the great state of Michigan, the day gets even better.

Yes, today Michigan is a great card state for me.   The baseball half of the PWE's comes from Pat at the Hot Corner Cards blog (my biggest PWE contributor).   It didn't take too long to get the 2 cards I needed to pass the 1250 mark for the SNI set, as Pat sent 3 cards my way today.

I see the Micah Owings card on the left, and think to myself "Micah is a pretty unique name, I wonder if I have anyone else with that name in the set".  Turns out this Owings card is the 4th featuring him in the set.   Wow.

Micah's card is serial numbered 1416, and gives the Reds 44 cards out of the 50 they need.

Seeing the Wainwright all star card made me wonder how many of those I have in the set.  I haven't broken down the numbers to be that specific, but I did find out that with these 3 cards, there are now 36 2010 Topps Update cards in the SNI set.   That leaves only 663264 cards for the rest of you (if my math is correct).  Hopefully you don't judge me too greedy....

Wainwright's card is serial numbered 763, and gives the Cardinals 46 cards out of 50 that they need.

My mind plays tricks on me every time I see the last name Cormier.  I immediately think back to Rheal Cormier, a New Brunswick born pitcher that lasted 16 seasons in MLB between 1991 and 2007.   Lance didn't have the lengthy career that his namesake did, lasting only 8 seasons with 4 different clubs.

The Cormier card is serial numbered 1151, and gives the Rays 48 cards.

Only 249 serial numbers to go....

Looking for the other PWE from Michigan??   Go here...

thanks for reading, Robert

Now we're getting serious

The National became the place for me to attack the SNI want list.  I didn't want to pick up as many cards as I did for the SNI project.  But once I got started, I seemed to become a man on a mission. 

I wound up grabbing 89 cards, which led to 19 more complete pages.  In the past I've used a post to show off a complete page, but with this large amount of new pages to display, I decided to do them 5 at a time.  (19 complete page posts would be a killer in more ways than one).

The Didi Gregorius card in the top left completed this page.  My favorite card on this page is the GQ Dale Murphy in the bottom center, which displays a great follow through on that powerful swing of his.

 Serial #'s 307-315

I needed both the Thole and the Stewart to complete the page below.  6 of the 9 cards in this page come from fellow bloggers, including a couple of retired bloggers (Ted at Crinkly Wrappers and Kyle at Juuust a bit outside).  Josh Thole in the red Blue Jays uniform is easily the favorite card for me on this page.

 Serial #'s 451-459

The Michael Cuddyer, top center, finished off this page.  He was part of the last table Orioles/Rockies binge that pulled those teams out of the hole.  The Noesi green Topps Finest parallel is probably my favorite card on this page.  You can't really tell from the scan, but the green parallels are really sharp and are much nicer in hand.

Serial #'s 109-117

I needed both the Jason Bay (top right) and Koji Uehara (bottom right) cards to finish this page.  The Minnesota Twins team card with the Kirby Puckett Pl sign may go down as one of my favorite cards in the set (thanks again to Ted for that one...).

Serial #'s 325-333

I grabbed a player from the past to complete the final page of this post.   The Johnny Mize in the center right was the final card needed here.   A couple of current bloggers contributed to this page (Brian from PATP and Jim from GCRL).

Serial #'s 100-108

I have all the other pages that I completed recently scanned as well, and those images are sitting in the drafts folder just waiting to have words added to them.  I set a goal at the beginning of 2014 to have 1400 of the 1500 cards for the set.  I was getting worried that I wouldn't even come close to that, but the National brought the set up to 1248 cards, just 2 away from the set being 5/6ths complete.  Still 152 cards by year end is going to be tough.

The set also has 3 complete teams (Yankees, Mets and Angels) and 7 other teams that are between 45-49 cards.  The end isn't close by any means, but there is a very faint light at the far end of that tunnel.

Keep those cards coming!!

thanks for reading, Robert

By the page: The Rocket

41 wins in 2 seasons.  563 strikeouts in 498.2 innings pitched.  Both seasons he had a WHIP below 1.100.  Two Cy Youngs, two all-star games.  A combined ERA of 2.33.  This guy had a lot of fans in Toronto, myself included.  It was tough to hear that he wanted out of Toronto after the '98 season, but with his desire to win a championship and the Jays looking more towards their younger core of players (including Roy Halladay), I can see why Roger wanted to be traded to a contender.

Even though he was with the Jays for just two seasons, they happened to be in the card crazy 90's, so there's a lot of cardboard to choose from.


Top row:  Topps

I've always been a fan of the Topps Gallery sets, and putting that card in between two gold bordered cards was a no-brainer. 

Middle row:  Seeing red 

Funny how the platinum red card on the left scanned out pink!!  The Skybox Name Plates insert is the only horizontal card on the page, so I thought putting it in the center made sense.  I always liked the Starquest Red & Green parallels, so this card made putting this row together even easier.

Bottom row:  Pinnacle

Pinnacle was the definition of the card crazed 90's, remember Pinnacle Inside?  Cards in a can!!  I'd sooner have SPAM. 

The final result....

Not too bad, but I think I can do better.   I need two more cards for another Clemens page, but I'll worry about that down the road.  I'm at 103 cards out of the box now and into pages.   Problem is, I just about 150 in there yesterday, so I'm falling behind again. 

I've been trying to get pages together of some of the other players from the 90's-00's era, but I keep coming up short.  I'm going to have to dig harder to find 9 cards of players like Reed Johnson and Darrin Fletcher to show off.

thanks for reading, Robert

Great Scott

It's always great when you receive a package in the mail out of the blue.   Someone else out there is thinking of expanding your card collection, and they are willing to take the time out of their busy schedule to sort through their cards, pack them up and send them off in the mail.

Matt at the Bob Walk the Plank blog recently sent me a quintet of cards that are perfectly suited to my world.   5 Blue Jays (at one point in their career anyhow), 4 serial numbered cards + 1 autograph.  Great!

Officer Tony Fernandez appears on the first card, it appears as if he's directing traffic in this photo.

This comes from the 2004 Topps retired signature edition, and it is serial #'d 10/99. 

Next up, my first gold card from the 2013 Topps Update release...

[Note to self:  Get the 2013 Update Gold needs on the want list page] 

Any card that has the Toronto skyline in the background will always be welcomed here, and this Vernon Wells card is no different.

This is a 2004 Donruss Studio Proof card, and it is serial numbered 100/100 (somebody on eBay would think this is a 1/1).  Great shot of the CN Tower in the background.

If I were a Shannon Stewart collector, this would fit in rather nicely.  I wish it featured him in a Jays uniform, because it is a really nice card from the 2004 Fleer Showcase set.  It is serial #'d 81/99.

Last but not least, there's an autograph to check out.

Shawn couldn't even keep the entire autograph on the sticker!!  Even without the logos, it's still a solid addition to the Blue Jays collection. 

Matt, thank you for the cards, they are greatly appreciated.   There's an envelope headed your way, a few cards to hopefully add to the Pirates collection.

Haven't voted on this week's match yet?  If not, head here and cast your preference in the comments section.

thanks for reading, Robert

Keep one, rip one: 2014 Allen & Ginter

Normally, I'm a person that doesn't like to be late for anything.   I hated being late for school when I was a kid (don't everyone scream DORK all at once...), I don't like being late for work (I enjoy getting paid), and I hate being late for sporting events (I pay for the whole game, not just a few innings).

To say that I'm late to the A&G party this year is an understatement.  But, to be honest, I don't mind opening a rack pack and showing off what I get well after everyone else.

I may not open any more than this anyhow.   A&G just doesn't have my attention any more.  There's nothing wrong with the set, it's just something that I don't need to have.  There has been some positive reviews for this year's release, so I wanted to take a look for myself.

There's a healthy dose of Blue Jays in the set this year, 6 in the base set and 1 SP (Brett Lawrie).  I didn't pull any, so I'm relying on others to get me my Jays fix.  I'm glad to see that the numbering system hasn't changed, so I can recognize the SPs right away (Cliff Lee, middle 2nd row is #307).

The top half of the pack was all right; it's good to see the Crime Dog in the set, and getting a King Felix card is always good.

The bottom half of the rack pack was where things started to fall out of place.   Literally.  I pulled the bottom 7 cards out, and had the minis doing their best greased pig impersonation by falling out of the opening very quickly.  I had to be quick to catch them so they didn't hit the floor. 

I was hoping to pull one of the Pastime's Pastimes to see what everyone has been talking about.  Sure enough I got a Jean Segura.  I didn't get the same thrill that everyone else has over this insert.   It's all right, but it's not an insert set that I'd run out and try to complete. 

Festivals and Fairs is a standard A&G insert, same with the World's Deadliest Predators mini.  The Salazar mini is a regular back.

There you have it folks, 14 cards ready for trade.  If you need any of these, just let me know in the comments.  The keep one, rip one series is something I'm going to try and keep rolling over the course of time.  I want to build a small collection of unopened packs for myself, something of a rainy day thing where I just want something to rip open that's in hand. 

Convenience is always good....

thanks for reading, Robert

What's next? Quarterfinals: (3) 1974 Topps vs (6) 1969 Topps

I am not going to even bother trying to figure out who is going to win this week's match.  These are two sets that I really like, and I don't have a problem with either of them moving on to the semis.   The winner of this week's match will go on to meet '63 Topps in the semis.

How they got here:

1974 defeated 1971  16-4
1969 defeated 1980  13-7

How big a head start do I have on these sets?

1974 Topps:  Very Good  264 out of 660
1969 Topps:  Minimal        23 out of 664

Favorite card that I own from each set so far:

1974:  # 328 Skip Jutze (I don't ever recall seeing a player with eye black on for a posed shot.
1963:  # 295 Steve Carlton (Great card of Lefty I picked up at the 2012 National for less than $10)

As always, I look forward to reading the comments for these two sets.  Don't be shy, let's get back over 20 votes this week!!

thanks for reading, and voting, Robert