Thoughts and Sox

I want your 2012 Topps Parallels

2012-02-16T20:58:00.000-06:00

Last year I didn't do very well as far as picking up the Wal-Mart and Target Topps parallels. This year I am going to try harder to get them. Topps also threw me a curveball by adding K-Mart/ToysRUs parallels this year. Now I am not going to try for the whole set just the Red Sox. So if you have any Red Sox Topps Parallels please drop me a note.

(I still need LOTS from last year and a few from 2010 too.)

Here is the 2012 wantlist I have built so far. Thanks to Pirates Treasure Room for almost every one of the 2012 Topps I have so far.

2012 Topps Base
Have 50,61, 158, 160, 170,212,318, need rest

2012 Topps 1987 Topps Minis
TM23 Dustin Pedroia
TM33 Adrian Gonzalez

2012 Topps Classic Walk-Offs
14 David Ortiz

2012 Topps Gold Sparkley Parallels (not sure what these are called yet)
Need all

2012 Topps Golden Futures
Complete

2012 Topps Golden Moments
GM16 Jim Rice
GM30 Jacoby Ellsbury
GM47 Carlton Fisk

2012 Topps Historical Stitches
HS-CF Carlton Fisk

2012 Topps K-Mart (Purple)
Have 137 Saltalamacchia need rest

2012 Topps Retired Number Patches
RN-CF Carlton Fisk
RN-JRI Jim Rice

2012 Topps Retired Rings
RR-CF Carlton Fisk

2012 Topps Target Parallel (Blue)
Have 160 Youkilis & 247 Buchholz

2012 Topps Timeless Talents
Complete

2012 Topps Wal-Mart
Need All

2012 Topps Wrapper Redemption
2 Adrian Gonzalez
10 Carl Yastrzemski

2012 Topps World Series Pins
GCP-DO David Ortiz
GCP-DP Dustin Pedroia

Card Bloggers Unite Fantasy Baseball 2012

2012-02-14T21:27:00.000-06:00

If you were one of the guys in my Card Bloggers unite please accept the invitation I sent.

Holy CRAP!!!!

2012-01-23T21:48:00.000-06:00

I got the most bad ass sketch card of all time from Dayf. I'm not a good enough writer to even attempt to give it justice writing about it. Just check it out.

It isn't just drawn either. It's freakin painted.

As if I didn't owe him enough cards already, I don't know how I'm going to pay him back for this...

(Man am I glad I opted out of a pony card and asked for a Youkilis instead)

Happy Boxing Day

2011-12-26T07:18:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday.

Most people don't know it but I have a boxing card collection as well as a Red Sox and a Virdon collection. So when I saw a card that Eric from Manupatches and Mustaches posted the other day I had to make him an offer for it.

This is a 48 Leaf Boxing Card. The perfect thing for Boxing Day. Most probably recognize it because it looks allot like its baseball counterpart. Even though I know that there is no possible way I will ever build this set complete I still collect it. I haven't counted lately but I have about 10 of them. The reason I won't ever finish it is because there is one particular card that was short-printed and last I knew there was only one reported copy of it and it sold for for $50,000 at the Boxing Hall Of Fame memorabilia show something like 10 years ago. Even if I get all but that one a 60+ year old set is a challenge to collect.

I scanned it as a normal sized card so everyone can see just what size it is. This one is a little smaller than most because one side has been trimmed.

Thank you for the great card Eric. If you ever come across anymore of them, keep me in mind.

This isn't the only boxing card I have received this year.

The Sewing Maching Guy sent me these.

The first gloved heavyweight championship was between these two guys. Corbett came out the winner by knockout in the 21st round. Back then they went until someone won. ~~Goodwinn also put out a Bob Fitzsimmons in this set that I still need.~~ (Got it) I also need the mini versions of each, if anyone out there has one.

I know that this thank you post is a long time coming but, thanks for the cards Larry!

On the 12th Day of Christmas Manupatches & Mustaches sent to Me...

2011-12-25T18:28:00.004-06:00

An oddball Jacoby...

This is no normal 206 Jacoby. No it is a No# back Ellsbury. While I never seek out variant backs I keep every one that comes my way.

It looks to me like Jacoby is standing in front of an old schoolhouse. That or an insane asylum.

Here is the aforementioned No# back.

Here is a card for Night Owl to hate on. Why? Not because he hates Lester, at least that I know of, but because of the lack of hat.

And thank you Eric. This isn't everything he sent. There was something else but it has to wait for another day.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas and you all find cards under the tree.

On the 11th Day of Christmas The Diamond King Gave to Me..

2011-12-24T08:08:00.001-06:00

A yankee named Whitey.

Kevin of The Diamond King held and awesome contest. I was lucky enough to win the 60s HOF lot.

This is actually the 2nd time I have had this card in my collection. Not just the second time I have owned a 1960 Whitey Ford, the second time I have owned this particular 1960 Whitey Ford. See I sent it to Kevin as part of the Beckett Bash. The Beckett Bash is actually what got me entered in the contest.

This is the only vintage Ruth I have ever owned. I know it isn't from his playing days but still cool.

This is also the only vintage Aaron I have ever owned. The only other Aaron I have ever probably owned would have been either an A&G or a Cards You Mom Threw Out. This is much better.

While I am very appreciative of the cards I got they are all up for trade. I'm not going to trade them for just anything though. I'm limiting it to vintage only. What I really want is a 61 Yaz but I'm open to some other vintage stuff. I think after Christmas and all these 12 days posts I will do a vintage tradebait post.

Thanks for the cards Kevin. You were very generous.

On the 10th Day of Christmas Play at the Plate sent to me..

2011-12-23T09:47:00.002-06:00

A Black Baldelli, O-Pee-Chee.

I'm sure that Brian from Play at the Plate probably doesn't remember because this was in my draft folder from September of 09. Nothing like being 2 years and 3 months late at something.

Here is the aforementioned Baldelli. Blogger won't let me put him in the middle for some reason. He is a righty so I don't understand it.

I don' t remember this guy, Lee. This was a short print card though for some reason. Sang-Hoon has to have one of the worst haircuts in the history of the game.

This is the best card of the bunch but I couldn't figure out how to rhyme it with me. Now that I already typed the rest of the post I realize that Gallery rhymes just fine with me and I could have put him at the top. Oh Well.

On the 9th day of Christmas Cards From The Quarry sent to me...

2011-12-22T09:41:00.025-06:00

Some Red Sox including a Manny..

I found this in my drafts from April. Evidently Cards From the Quarry sent me some stuff back then that I never got around to posting. Hopefully I sent him something in return. If not I hope he lets me know.

A Manny numbered 101/250. Manny wants to come back. I have been giving all my Cardinal fan friends a hard time by saying that the Cards are going to try to replace Albert's bat with Manny. Manny or JD Drew actually. They hate that.

This is a Goodwin Mini Carlton Fisk. I really liked this Goodwin set. The 2011 set, not so much.

This is actually half a card. Now he sent me the whole thing but the other half were yankee players so I didn't scan the other half. Even looking at a zombie eyed Buchholz is better than a yankee.

In case I didn't tell you way back then, thanks for the cards Johnny. If I owe you something please let me know.

On the 8th Day Of Christmas...

2011-12-21T08:07:00.000-06:00

I got a Virdon Courtesy of Joey.

I have known Joey for YEARS. If anyone recalls my Vince Carter Story it is the same Joey. He doesn't have a blog but he is a long time ebay seller. He picked up this really cool Virdon ZeeNut Virdon for me. Now I don't know a thing about this set other than this card. I don'e know if it was actually produced or if someone printed it up in their basement. It is pretty cool though. I set the scanner on 2.5" x 3.5" so that you could see that it is smaller thsn s normal card. It is a little bigger than say an A&G mini and also a little bigger than a Kimball. It has rounded corners so tit is definalty odd sized. Mark's Ephemera had some questions himself about a card like this.

http://marksephemera.blogspot.com/2011/12/oddball-earl-wilson.html

Surely someone out there knows something about these. I have since seen another Virdon ZeeNut show up on eBay but didn't have any money to buy it. It showed him in a yankee hat. Whatever this thing is it is a cool card.

On the 7th Day of Chrismas Tribecards sent to me

2011-12-20T07:58:00.001-06:00

A whole package of Oddity.

Long ago David had an oddball group break. Not odd in how he did it, odd in the type of cards. They were all stickers or oversized or just plain old not cards. Above are some great big cards, a sticker, and some tattoos. David even included a card of himself in the package.

These are all stickers too. Well, all except one. One of the Boggs is off the bottom of the original box. I with that they still did that. That last set I can think of like that was 09 O-Pee-Cee blasters. There may have been others but if so I don't recall them.

In a separate package David also sent a Random Package of Kindness. I don't remember what was in it but I kept the package to scan. I knew I would get to it one day. So probably 3 months after I got it I have finally posted it. For those of you who don't know, David is perhaps the most generous blogger I know of. There is no telling how many Random Packs and Christmas packs and even Halloween packs he has sent out.

Thank you David!

On the 6th Day of Christmas This Card Is Cool Sent To Me

2011-12-19T07:50:00.002-06:00

A Yaz from a package of Twinkee

This card traded a few hands before it found me. My Sports obsession had it before Ryan sent it to me. I realized when I stared typing this (about a week before it published) that I never returned anything to Ryan for this. I don't think I have the CC card he originally wanted for it so I sent him something else instead. Hopefully he was happy.

Thanks Ryan.

On the 5th Day of Christmas One Out Away Gave To Me

2011-12-18T07:43:00.002-06:00

A package of Red Sox Gypsy

The first two are both parallels. I like how the colors are raised like a Masterpiece card. I scanned the Minis upside down. What he sent was a Gypsy back Youkilis and Pedrioa as well as a normal back Youkilis. My 4 year old was helping me put them on the scanner bed and I didn't notice they were flipped.

Thanks for the Cards Jason. I think I sent you some stuff in return, some Masterpiece if I remember right. If not let me know so I can make it right.

On the 4th Day of Christmas the Diamond King sent ot me.

2011-12-17T07:33:00.001-06:00

A bunch of all time greats including Fred Lynnee.

I know that rhyme was a stretch but it is harder for me than it should.

Our trade started with the Williams Classic Combo card. It was part of his Beckett Bashing experiment. I took forever sending hims somethign in return and probably ruined his experiment in the process. I had good intentions when I made the trade though. Hopefully Kevin liked what I sent him.

I should have scanned the top middle Pedro by itself. It is the best card out of the bunch. In hand it looks great. It isn't like any other Topps insert I know of. It is more like a Pinnacle dufex card and I love it.

Thanks for the cards Kevin. Sorry It took me so long to get you a return package and hopefully you were happy with what I sent.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas Heartbreaking sent to me...

2011-12-16T07:28:00.001-06:00

A complete Bowman Team set (mostly all scanned and posted) for all to see.

This is another package I got long long ago. There is no better way to get a Bowman team set than all in one shot. No opening packages of guys you never heard of and chasing commons from people who only care about cards of 18-19 year old kids.

Thanks Matt!

On the 2nd Day of Christmas Carl Crawford Cards gave to me...

2011-12-15T07:21:00.002-06:00

A personalized Doerr auto for my birthday.

Yep, I got his card way back in July around my birthday. I'm not sure of the particulars on how he got it personalized but is is awesome just the same. It was a great surprise and much appreciated because July was a pretty dark time at my house.

Than you Paul for the great card. It was a great surprise and couldn't have come at a better time.

On the 1st day of Christmas someone gave to me...

2011-12-14T07:59:00.003-06:00

A package of cards with no Return Addressee

That is about as much rhyming you are going to get out of me. Seriously though I did get a great package that had no note and no return address so I don't know who to thank.

Liquor cards of Okajima and Buchholz. I'm hoping that Clay rebounds from his injury in a big way this year.

My first 2011 Chrome cards are Refractors this year. The Beckett is a regular and the Gonzalez is what I call an Atomic though Topps calls them something else now. Atomic got imprinted in my brain from releases in the early 90s so that is what they always will be, Topps new name be damned. Is anyone else as resistant to change on these as me.

Some Big Papi bling. Another Atomic from last year and 2011 shiny diamondy sparkle card. I'm not really sure what to call it. I think it is supposed to be a diamond parallel but weren't the diamond cards 1/1, imprinted with diamonds, and only available on the Give-Away site. That makes these not diamond cards. I want to call them sparkly but that would confuse them with the gimmick sparkle cards. Instead I have deemed these Diamond Sparkly Cards. Either way I am happy Papi is back for at least another year. I really hope they give him a contract for a few years though. Some people need to stay with the club that made them famous and retire there. That is just the way it should be <cough> Pujoles

Whoever sent these also included a bunch of others too. A great big stack of 2011 inserts, which is great because I didn't purchase any 2011 cards. I seem to remember someone offering up a bunch of 2011 stuff but don't remember who that was. Whoever you are thank you for the package and please let me know what I owe you in return.

This is the first in what I plan to be a series of posts with a bunch of stuff I received during my absence. A trade catch up if you will.

How did you stumble upon card blogging?

2011-11-10T06:22:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago was the 3 year anniversiry of starting this blog. I got to thinking about how first found card blogging. I started wondering how eveyone else stumbled into it. For me I was reading a Globe story about the Red Sox written by Chad Finn of Touching All The Bases. I love his writing style and lots of times he uses baseball cards in place of pictures on his articles. I noticed he had a link to Ben Henery's The Baseball Card Blog and I clicked it and found my first card blog. From there I found a link to a blog called Cardboard Junkie who had a ton of links and from that day on I was hooked. I worked out my first online trade with a blogger and then jumped into blogging myself.

So how did you find your first card blog?

I'm still here.

2011-11-09T06:06:00.001-06:00

It has been a long time. Months in fact since I posted. It has been a tough year but things are starting to look up. New home new job and slowly digging my way out of the hole I was in. I'm not totally out of it but I can at least see some daylight.

I don't want to be all gloom and doom but there are surely some sad things going on in sports right now. No matter how bad things were for me they were never as bad as what some families up in Happy Valley are having to deal with. It sucks that it happened and it sucks even more that is was my team that it happened to.

That is not all the bad stuff either. I won't mention what happened to my Red Sox; there has been plenty said about that already. But yesterday was a sad day in the boxing world. Former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier passed away from liver cancer. People that read my blog long ago (not that there were many) know that I am a big boxing fan, I even names my son after boxers. So I was saddened to hear about Joe.

As far as athletes go I couldn't count on one hand people that had more heart than Frazier. I sold off most of my boxing memorabilia earlier this year but I hung onto my Frazier auto. (kept Ali and Foreman too) Rest In Peace Joe, you were an inspiration to many.

I promise my next post wont be so gloomy. Not going to promise when it happens but bright skeis are ahead.

Blue - My mood in Baseball cards.

2011-07-09T12:43:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to an empty driveway.

Not even a late 90s Pedro brightens your day after finding out your car has been stolen.

The responding officer said that only about half the cards stolen here are ever found. The rest make it to Mexico.

If I was still in MO the police report would have been in the paper. (press - press prof) Here it won't.

My severance ran out.

I was enjoying my time off with pay.

I got a new job.

It is not what I want to be doing but bills must be paid.

It is a 45 minute drive to the new job.

Now I must have the wife pick me up and drop me off.

I'm working the night shift.

My wife will now have to pick me up at 5AM in the morning. She is not a morning person!!!

My birthday was last weekend.

I didn't get a single card.

I only get my oldest son for part of the summer.

He goes back to MO next weekend.

I haven't been getting any cards.

My last trade package had these Topps Town Doubles in it.

Buchh is on the DL...

Along with Lester. And Beckett left the game yesterday with a twisted knee.

Some of these cards might not even be blue!!

I'm the kind of color blind where blues and purples look the same.

I could have found some bluer cards but all these cards came from Too Many Grandersons about a week ago. That was before the blues hit. So I snuck a trade post in on all the anti trade post guys. These are only a tiny sampling of the great stuff Dennis sent. Only the blue stuff. The rest were almost all different kinds of parallels. Awesome stuff. Thanks for the great cards Dennis.

Trade Bait

2011-06-24T09:44:00.001-05:00

Long ago I made a trade with CarlCrawfordCards. He was short on Red Sox so he sent some Crawfords as filler. I figured that I could turn them around fairly easily. But as it turns out the people that I would have sent Carl to don't want his cards anymore now that he is a Red Sox. So I now need to find someone else that wants them. Send me some offer to ajpca07 at hotmail dot com. Or comment. My Red Sox wantlist can be found here.

Tromps Cards

2011-06-23T07:33:00.001-05:00

Old Moosy from GSNHOF suggested that people check out TrompsSportsCards.com last week. I took his advise and was happy with what I saw. So happy in fact that I made a purchase about 30 minutes later. Here was my haul:

First there is a Heroes Papelbon parallel. I know I have said before that I like parallels but I have to admit that I really love brightly colored parallels. It was a whopping 89 cents.

These Charcoal parallels are not near as pretty as the red one but at 79 cents a piece they were a steal.

I'm not sure how I ended up finding a second Red Papelbon parallel but I did. I'm also not sure how I got it for only 89 cents.

I am now down to only needing one Xponential card from 08 to finish the thing off after paying 49 cents for yet another Papelbon. (I still need Manny Ramirez

Finally here is a Press Proof Youkilis from 2005 Donruss. I actually didn't know that Press Proff parallels existed in 2005 Donruss until looking through Tromps cards. This one sent me back an additional 89 cents.

If you haven't checked out Tromps cards yet you should. Not only did I get a great deal on some stuff but
he also sent me 10% off my next order. As soon as he stocks back up on Red Sox I will be dealing with him again.

I actually picked up a few mini cards for a certain Astros blogger too. Maybe he'll post them when he gets them.

eBay Messages Are Powerful

2011-06-22T08:16:00.001-05:00

The other day I posted a Virdon I got by sending a question asking if the guy would take less. What I didn't mention is that after he accepted my lower offer I asked him about a second Virdon he had lised. This one a 1978 Grand Slam #147. He took this offer also and combined the shipping.

I didn't feel like measuring the card or getting out the Standard Catalog to describe this cards size so I scanned it ontop of a normal sized card. As you can tell it is a bit smaller than standard. The scan makes it look like it is on some kind of matted cardstock but it is not. The cardstock is kind of a slick white card like what you would find on a TCMA issue. They just used a picture with shitty quality on it for the card.

The back is nothing more than a bio. No stats or anything. I do however like that they listed the set and the year on the card.

What is this doing on a red Sox blog???

2011-06-21T11:15:00.000-05:00

It is not to often I post a yankee card. It is something I try to avoid. Sometimes that is hard though. The guy I player collect spent some time as the yankees manager so I end up with a few. This card however looks like a yankee card but isn't. It is actually a 1975 Syracuse Chief card. The Chiefs were a farm team for the yankees and Bill Virdon spent some time there before moving into the dugout in yankee Stadium.

I didn't scan the back because it is blank.

This card has been on eBay for 3 months. It sat at $25 for a long time. I started watching when it was on it's first 30 day listing. Each time the 30 days expired I started watching it again. Finally last week I sent the guy a message that read something like:

This card has been listed for 3 months and no takers. You probably onticed that someone was watching it each time. Well that someone was me every time and if you would sell it for $X I will take it off your hands. I went pretty low figuring that the guy would come back with a different price but instead he said ok.

There is one more Virdon Syracuse Chiefs card that I have to find. The 74 version. It however has never been on eBay. I'm sure that most minor league manager cards don't sell well online so I doubt I ever see it. Hopefully someone in the New York area will see this post and run across one sometime and acquire it for me.

My Son's Auto revealed

2011-06-19T21:18:00.000-05:00

My son got an auto at the White Sox D-Backs game. UncleMoe of My 2008 Topps Blog correctly guessed who it was.

Omar Vizuel

I'm not sure how you get Omar Vizquel out of that but that is who it is. My son didn't even realize who's auto he was getting. He would have been perfectly happy with a reliever that hardly anyone ever heard of. Instead, he got a future HOFer and I couldn't have been happier for him.

Guess the Auto Round 2 Still No Correct Guess

2011-06-19T18:35:00.000-05:00

Since nobody guessed it yet I'm going to post the picture and see if someone can get it with the help.

I said it was horribly signed, meaning I can't see the guys name in it at all. Actually I'm not even sure what end is up so I took a picture of it both ways.

Good Luck Guessing...
(once again the prize is bragging rights only)

My boy had a good time and was happy to get the auto so it was a good day.

Guess the auto

2011-06-19T01:20:00.000-05:00

I took my oldest son to the White Sox vs D-Backs game tonight. He is the misguided one that likes the White Sox. He only gets to stay with me in the summer and luckily the Sox were here for interleague. The White Sox won and he was ecstatic. Not only did they win for him, he got his first in person White Sox auto.

No reward, (unless you want a bunch of Red Sox doubles) but take a guess who it was?

If nobody gets it I will take a picture and post it to see if anyone gets it with a hint. (cause it was really, really badly signed)

How do Current Player Collectors do it??

2011-06-17T13:49:00.001-05:00


2006 Diamond Signature #42

I am up to 86 unique Bill Virdon Cards. That means that there are only 44 more for me to get. (Assuming that there was no 2010 or 2011 Heritage Buyback cards) It will get REALLY difficult to pick up the last 45. Right now there are 4 Virdons on ebay that I do not yet have but they are all going for way more than I want to spend. I don't know how collectors of current players do it? Those last 44 cards seem so daunting though it is nothing compared to hundreds or even thousands of cards that some player collectors have to chase. I'm not kidding myself, there are a few that I will never get. I have seen the Virdon/Torre/Pinniella auto on ebay one time and it went for $175. That 175 would be better spent on some vintage Sox than on a card of a bunch of yankees. Plus, I doubt I ever see the Heritage Buyback cards. Still 86/130 is pretty good.


2006 Diamond Signature Back

I do continue to find oddballs like this that do not exist on any list I have ever seen. Not The Standard Catalog or Beckett lists this 1956 Game Card. It is kind of like an APBA card only the back is blank. New player collectors probably don't have to deal with this kind of thing.

1956 Game Card

Here is the current need list:

1955 Cardinals Hunter's Wieners #28 Bill Virdon

1956 Pirates Team Issue #23 Bill Virdon
1956 Topps #170A Bill Virdon (White Back)

1957 Pirates Team Issue #10 Bill Virdon

1958 Hires Root Beer with Tabs #45 Bill Virdon
1958 Pirates Team Issue #12 Bill Virdon

1959 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon
1959 Topps #543 Corsair Trio/ Bob Skinner/ Bill Virdon/ Roberto Clemente

1959 Topps Venezuelan #190 Bill Virdon

1962 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon
1962 Pittsburgh Exhibits #7D
1962 Swan-Virdon Postcard #1 Bill Virdon
1963 Jello #142 Bill Virdon
1963 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon

1964 Kahn's #29 Bill Virdon

1964 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon
1964 Pirates KDKA #28 Bill Virdon
1965 Kahn's #44 Bill Virdon
1965 Pirates Jay Publishing #11 Bill Virdon
1969 Pirates Team Issue #25 Bill Virdon CO
1970 Pirates Team Issue #19 Bill Virdon CO
1973 Pirates Post/ Gazette Inserts #24 Bill Virdon MG
1974 Syracuse Chiefs Team Issue #28 Bill Virdon
1975 O-Pee-Chee #611 Yankees: Team/ MG/ Bill Virdon
1975 Yankees SSPC #9 Bill Virdon MG
1976 Astros Postcards #30 Bill Virdon MG
1977 Astros Photo Album #13 Bill Virdon MG
1977 Pirates 1960 World Champions TCMA #7 Bill Virdon
1978 Astros Postcards #24 Bill Virdon MG
1978 Grand Slam #147 Bill Virdon
1979 Astros Postcards #25 Bill Virdon MG
1979 Astros Team Issue #1 Bill Virdon and Coaches/ (Calendar Variation)
1980 Astros Team Issue #27 Bill Virdon MG
1983 Expos Postcards #33 Bill Virdon MG
1984 Expos Postcards #34 Bill Virdon MG

1984 Expos Stuart #38 Coaching Staff/ Bill Virdon MG/ Felipe Alou CO/ Ga
1987 Astros Rainbow Postcards-Series Two #28 Bill Virdon
1987 Astros Rainbow-Series One #31 Coaches Card/ Bob Lillis/ Jesus Alou/ Bill Virdon#
1993 Pirates Nationwide Insurance #34 Bill Virdon CO
1994 Pirates Quintex #25 Bill Virdon CO
2002 Pirates Outback #31 Bill Virdon CO
2003 Upper Deck Yankees Signature Yankees Forever Autographs #PTV Piniella/ Torre/ Virdon
2008 Topps Heritage 1959 Buybacks #190 Bill Virdon
2008 Topps Heritage 1959 Buybacks #543 Corsair Trio/ Bob Skinner/ Bill Virdon/ Roberto Clemente
2009 Topps Heritage 1960 Buybacks #496 Bill Virdon

Late to the party 2011 Bowman review

2011-06-16T06:50:00.001-05:00

I refuse to buy Bowman products. I will not buy a single pack until they fix the numbering system. I don't buy into the "MLB makes them do that" excuse. Yes MLB has rookie card requirements but that doesn't mean that they have to have a crappy numbering system. The whole Chrome as inserts and a whole Chrome set later in the year is even worse.

Until the Bowman boycott is over I must rely on others to complete my Bowman team sets. So this review is courtesy of Play At The Plate who gave this to me for winning a contest. I'm posting one card of each type he sent. Even though I am going to be kind of hash in what I say about each card I still appreciate Brain sending them to me. Without great traders like him I would never have any Bowman Red Sox. Except that he didn't exactly trade these he gave them to me so even better. Now the review:

First is the base cards. Once again Bowman has a black border. Boo!!! I hate black borders. Think how good this card would look if Topps did away with the border, made it full bleed, and moved the color triangle things down to the corners with the team logo and position inside of the color. I think that would make it way better. Actually it would look something like a 2009 Goose Joak Original Card.

Taking away the black border would screw up the gold border parallel though. I guess they could use gold foil and put something on there that said "hey look at me I'm a gold card", it's been done before.

Next up with have a ridiculously numbered subset of the prerookies. Instead of just expanding the numbers they start over and throw a bunch letters in there. That gives us BP BDP and later there will end up with BDPP cards.

If all that BPDPPBDDPPP stuff wasn't confusing enough, Topps throws in a bunch of Cs to really fuck with us.
The Topp 100 Prospects is actually a pretty cool set. Not everything Bowman is bad. 90% of the regular prospects no one ever heard of and nobody ever will but these guys we will all hear of eventually. And no black border.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 13 (Double Ought)

2011-06-15T06:24:00.000-05:00

2000 was another year that I didn't collect cards. Not just baseball cards, I didn't collect anything. I always find early 00s cards that I have never seen.

I think they had some Stadium Club Chrome before 2000 but I think it was an insert only. Looks like they put out a whole set of it in 2000.

Look how young Varitek is in this card. He looks so much different now. He also has a big C on his chest now too.

Ugg, Bowman Chrome. I hate Bowman stuff and I hate Chrome products so when you put the two together you get horrible.

Carl looks like he lost a tooth on this card. I don't remember him having a gap in the front. But maybe?

2000 was probably the most boring year of Metal. Comparing it to other years it is kind of boring.

I am fast running out of BS to say. I don't know how people like Night Owl and the Troll can write a 500 word post about a single card. Ican hardly come up with one sentence.

This scan sucks. Why is it the cooler a card is the worse it scans. I know this one is because of all the shiny but cards with no frills but really great photography rarely scan well either.

When I think Private Stock I think mini cards. I don't think they were one per pack or anything like they are now but they had mini cards. I was shocked the first time I saw one but it stuck out in my head enough that I only remember the mini ones. (this is a regular, not a mini)

I hate that I don't have every single Upper Deck regular card yet. I just feel like as many Red Sox cards as I have fer every year Upper Deck base should be a set that I have all the Sox out f but there are a surprizing amount that I don't, 2000 being one of them.

Stick a big tattoo on Troy's neck and he would look just like Carl Crawford on this card. Carl grimaces just like that when he swings sometimes and they have about the same build.

To Sell A Player Collection???

2011-06-13T17:42:00.000-05:00

I think I stated before that I used to collect Marino cards. I stopped long ago. Somebody contacted me to see if I would trade or sell them. Since they have been just sitting in a box for over 10 years I am actually contemplating it. Has anyone ever sold a large PC before? How did you justify it? How much do you regret it?

I also don't know what to charge for them. I have 358 different Marino's all in top loaders. Some are inserts some are not. I know I could never get out of them even close to what I have in them but I don't know what to take for them either. Anyone have an idea how much it may be worth?

84 Topps 123
84 Topps 124
84 Topps 202
85 topps 4
85 Topps 192
85 topps 314
85 Topps Box bottom
85 topps sticker 69
86 topps 44
86 tops 45
87 topps 6
87 topps 227
87 topps 233
87 topps sticker 143
87 topps sticker 152
87 topps sticker 220
88 topps 189
88 topps 190
89 pro set 220
89 score 13
89 topps 5
89 topps 293
90 action packed 146
90 fleer 244
90 pro set 181
90 score 13
90 score 320
91 fleer 124
91 pacific 269
91 pinnacle 70
91 pro line 159
91 pro set 25
91 pro set 210
91 pro set 693
91 pro set 340
91 pro set 726
91 pro set platinum62
91 score 385
91 score 632
91 ultra 88
91 ultra all star 5
91 upper deck 34
91 upper deck 83
91 upper deck 255
91 upper deck 450
91 upper deck 465
domino's Pizza 49
92 action packed71
92 pro set 559
92 pro line 272
92 topps 682
92 upper deck 598
92 upper deck football heroes 28
92 upper deck football heroes 29
92 upper deck football heroes 30
92 upper deck football heroes 31
92 upper deck football heroes 33
92 upper deck football heroes 34
92 upper deck football heroes 36
92 upper deck g25
92 upper deck g45
93 action packed 72
93 bowman 150
93 fleer 278
93 pacific 218
93 pro line 550
93 pro line 552
93 pro line 557
93 pro line 558
93 pinnacle 302
93 pinnacle men of autum 15
93 playoff 75
93 playoff 291
93 playoff 18
93 pro set 250
93 select 16
93 skybox 343
93 sp 150
93 stadium club 60
93 stadium club 246
93 topps 269
93 topps gold 290
93 upper deck 139
93 wild cards 90
94 action packed 62
94 action packed 178
94 action packed fantasy forecast FF12
94 bowman 140
94 cc crash game C5
94 cc then & now 5
94 collectors edge 1st day 115
94 finest 142
94 flair hot numbers 7
94 classic images 85
94 pinnacle 120
94 pinnacle TROPHY COLLECTION 120
94 playoff 3
94 playoff contenders 42
94 pro line live 80
94 select 127
94 sp 36
94 sp die cut 36
94 sp ALL PRO AP4
94 sportflics 120
94 sportflics 182
94 stadium club 621
94 topps 160
94 topps 276
94 topps 545
94 ultra 179
94 ultra achievemant award 3
94 ud 136
95 action packed 21
95 action packed 24K TEAM 4of 12
95 action packed rookies stars 18
95 action packed MNF 30
95 bowman 40
95 bowman best 47
95 classic 52
95classic game card 7
95 cc 39
95 cc silver 39
95 cc 109
95 cc PLAYERS CLUB 109
95 cc 347
95 cc Dan marino set DM1-DM10
95 cc crash C1 sept 10
95 cc crash C1 oct 8
95 cc crash C1 nov 20
95 cc crash silver set C1
95 collectors edge 20
95 collectors edge die cut 118
95 collectors edge tech 1
95 collectors edge excalibur 41
95 flair preview 18
95 flair 111
95 fleer 222
95 fleer arial attack 2
95 metal 101
95 metal gold blaster10
95 metal silver flasher 24
95 pacific crown royal 13
95 pacific (clear something) Cr-11
95 pinnacle 22
95 pinnacle Trophy Collection 22
95 pinnacle 197
95 pinnacle 244
95 pinnacle trophy collection 244
95 pinnacle club collection 12
95 playoff absolute13
95 playoff prime 13
95 playoff fantasy team FT11
95 pro line 122
95 score 36
95 score GROUND ZERO 27
95 score reflections RF1
95 select certified 30
95 skybox 72
95 skybox 142
95 skybox mirror image 153
95 skybox impact 84
95 sp 170
95 sportflix 15
95 sportflix 153
95 stadium club 240
95 score 182
95 spx 23
95 SPX Gold 23
95 SPX RECORD BREAKERS UDT-13
95 topps 31
95 topps 350
95 topps air raid AR8
95 ultra 178
95 ultra gold 178
95 ultra award winner 3
95 ud 103
95 ud silver 103
95 ud special edition SE18
95 ud special edition SE22
95 Zenith Z97
95 zenithSecond Season SS2
96 action packed 2
96 bowman best 10
96 cc 64
96 cc 183
96 cc 375
96 cc MVP M25
96 CC Stickers S1
96 cc Cut AboveCA1
96 cc Cut Above CA3
96 cc Cut Above CA4
96 cc Cut Above CA6
96 cc Cut Above CA9
96 collectors edge time warp 12
96 donruss 161
96 donruss PRESS PROOF 161
96 donruss 239
96 donruss HIT LIST 12
96 fleer 73
96 fleer previews 195
96 finest 40
96 pinnacle laser view 9
96 laser view eye on the prize 6
96 leaf 70
96 leaf die cut 189
96 metal 66
96 crown royal CR1
96 pacific 75
96 pinnacle 4
96 pinnacle silver 4
96 pinnalce foil 4
96 pinnacle 195
96 pinnacle foil 199
96 pinnacle double disguise 6
96 pinnacle double disguise 7
96 pinnacle double disguise 8
96 pinnacle double disguise 10
96 pinnalce back to school
96 pinnacle TEAM PINNACLE 4
96 pinnacle mint 4
96 pinnacle mint COIN
96 playoff illusions 62
96 pro line 5
96 pro line intense 87
96 score 14
96 score 247
96 score 275
96 laser images I-15
96 select 8
96 select 196
96 select certified 55
96 select certified 122
96 select certified red 122
96 skybox 92
96 skybox thunder & Lightning 4
96 spx 4
96 SPX GOLD 4
96 sp 88
96 stadium club 155
96 stadium club 180
96 stadium club 260
96 stadium club DOT MATRIX 260
96 summit GROUND ZERO 7
96 topps 40th anniversary 31
96 topps chrome 135
96 topps chrome 142
96 Topps Laser 10
96 ultra 83
96 ultra mr momentum 8
96 ultra sensations BLUE 56
96 Ultra Sensations GOLD MARBLE 56
96 Ultra sensations PEWTER 56
96 ud 76
96 ud HOT PROPERTIES HT-1
96 ud proview PV13
96 ud 166
96 ud record season RS3
96 zenith Z1
96 zenith ARTIST'S PROOF Z1
96 zenith Noteworthy 95 #1
97 action packed 4
97 bowman best 90
97 bowman best REFRACTOR BBP1
97 bowman best MIRROR IMAGES MI2
97 cc 62
97 cc 367
97 cc 457
97 cc 564
97 EX2000 48
97 Collectors edge force 20
97 donruss 1
97 donruss ELITE SILVER SERIES 2
97 finest 230
97 fleer 250
97 fleer million $ Moment 22
97 Leaf 7
97 Leaf Legacy 183
97 metal 140
97 motion vision
97 pacific 219
97 pacific (something) 95
97 pacific invincable 79
97 pacific invincable RED 79
97 pacific invincable SILVER 79
97 pacific invincable 13
97pacific phildelphia 173
97 pinnacle certified 2
97 Pinnacle Certified BLUE 2
97 pinnacle Instincts TROPHYCOLLECTION P88
97 pinnacle QB Club 4
97 pinnacle mint 26
97 pinnacle xpress 5
97 pinnacle xpress 144
97 pinnacle PEAK PERFORMERS 144
97 Playoff absolute beginnings 153
97 playoff chip shot 153
97 playoff zone 97
97 scoreboard 53
97 score NNO#
97 score 316
97 score 328
97 skybox premium 90
97 skybox impact BOSS 15
97 stadium club die cut T1C
97 stadium club die cut REFRACTOR T1C
97 topps 350
97 topps CAREER BEST 1
97 topps chrome 129
97 topps gallary 90
97 ultra 3
97 ultra main event 1
97 ultra blitzkrieg 5
97 ud 32
97 ud 141
97 ud black diamond 12
97 ud Starcrossed SC1
97 ud team Mates TM31
97 UD MAXIMUM REACTION MA5
97 zenith 4
97 zenith 137
97 zenith 150
97 zenith Z Team ZT2
98 bowman 135
98 bowman international 135
98 cc 239
98 EX2000 8
98 finest 170
98 metal 143
98 motion vision
98 pacific revolution 75
98 score 80
98 stadium club 20
98 sp 82
98 spx 25
98SPX Pure ENERGY 163
98 skybox thunder 203
98 stadium club chrome REFRACTOR SCC8
98 topps 270
98 topps action flats
98 topps season opener 136
98 topps measure of greatness MG13
98 topps chrome 29
98 ultra 114
98 ultra 367
98 ultra SENSATIONAL SIXTY SS35
98 ultra ULTRA SHOTS 18
98 ud 140
98 ud black diamond 43
98 ud black diamond PREMIUM CUT PC13
98 ud3 Sample 13
99 leaf rookies & stars dress for success jersey DFS-8
99playoff momentum 126
2007 donruss threads generations G1
2007 donruss Threads Century Legends CL6
2008 Topps (??) 11of 40
2008ud masterpieces 15
2009 playoff contenders Legenday contenders 20
2009 Topps Magic All American AA11

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 12 (New to me)

2011-06-13T08:39:00.001-05:00

I have a story like most others out there. we collected cards throughout childhood but we stopped collecting for some reason. My reason was girls. I couldn't afford chasing women and buying cards at the same time. Little did I know that actually catching one would become even more expensive. 98 was the last year I bought cards for a long time. I didn't have much 95-98 because I was collecting football at the time but I at least knew what the looked like because I spent plenty of time in a card shop. That said, I am always intrigued by what cards look like from the time I spent away from the hobby.

To me the "Fleer Tradition" is producing lesser cards than anyone else. All Fleer products except Ultra rated lower than Collectors Choice to me. Why that is I do not know, they have just always seemed inferior to other cards.

My LCS didn't carry much Fleer (base and Ultra only) but they carried no Pacific. To me Pacific had this allure of being rare and elusive because I could only see them in Beckett.

This is one shiny card. Maybe if I had seen cards like this back then my opinion of Fleer would be higher.

Fleer beat Topps to the retro marketplace by a few years. To bad that they had no history other than this one year. This was a retro set before retro became the normal.

Looking back SkyBox should have got the low man on the totem pole position.

I had this card. Somehow it never got marked off my list and I now have two. With a list as big as mine it happens.

I think Opening Day would be a pretty cool idea for a set IF TOPPS DID IT RIGHT!! They should do it AFTER Opening Day and and only print Opening Day players using photos from Opening Day. The jersey cards in the set should all be from from Opening Day also. I know that they wouldn't do that though, to much work and money. They could at least do their manu-patch thing and use a fake patch saying opening day.

Fleer's one bright spot, Ultra. Not a regular Ultra either, a Gold Medallion Ultra.

This Nomar looks like an insert. I almost threw it in the insert stack before I realized it was a base card. That would have resulted in not marking it off my checklist and me getting another one in a month or two.

I like the Omega line. It was only around for a couple years I see but I like all of them I had. A complete set of horizontal cards is a great thing. (that silver blob on the right looks good in person)

Finally the sets from the time I wasn't collecting are starting to pile up. That is a Victory for me. (and it doesn't hurt that cards from 1999-2004 are loaded with Pedro cards either)

Paging Justin M...

2011-06-12T13:16:00.000-05:00

Justin,

I still have your group break cards. They were returned to me by the PO for the second time yesterday. Can you please give me your address again. I trashed the paper you sent when I shipped them out. I must have something transposed cause it isn't working. Sorry for the hassle.

Adam

From The El Cheapo Break

2011-06-09T09:29:00.001-05:00

**Ain't it a bitch when you misspell something in your title and don't realize it until 3hours later and everyone has already seen how you you must be an idiot because computers tell you if you misspelled something now-a-days?

Torzul not so recently had an El Cheapo break. He bought a box of stuff and split it amongst others for a small fee. Here's my haul.

First is the newbies. At least new to me.

Top Left: This is one of those bastard cards that my checklist says I need but when I get the card to my binder I actually already had it. It mainly happens with Bowman and their shitty numbering system.
Top Right: 2010 Upper Deck Portraits David Ortiz - I hardly have any of the insert stuff from 2010. I think it is because nobody actually bought any.
Middle: 2009 Upper Deck X Xponential: I don't collect inserts but I am trying to get all these because they look so good. I have most of the ones from 2008 but the 2009 ones have been much more elusive.
Bottom Left: 2002 Fleer Genuine Anastacio Martinez - This card opened up a new can of worms. It is a card not on my checklist but it is actually a Red Sox card. Further inspection shows it is an Update card but no team checklist has been found yet.
Bottom Right: Willy Mo Pena Refractor - Not sure what year it is because I scanned it a month ago and put it away and without looking at the back of the card all Bowman look alike. I think I read somewhere that big Willy is about to be called up by whatever team he landed on. That should be fun for them. Willy hit the longest homer I ever saw in person. It was at a game in KC and he hit it over the restaurant behind left field. To bad he strikes out 50 times for each one of his titan shots.

Now on to the doubles I received. Each is for trade. All the Horizontal ones first.

Lots of 2008 Xponential cards. More people seemed to buy 2008 than 2009 Upper Deck X. Probably cause UD made basically the same set 2 years running. and everyone got tired of it the first year.
A Chicken Card. Two Papi A&G inserts.

A bunch of Topps junk inserts and a Heritage Chrome. I hate that Topps puts an insert or three in every single pack. To me it cheapens the inserts and the set itself. I know they are trying to attract the mojo collectors but do mojo collectors really want History and Tales of the Game? I don't think so.

I usually miss out on all the cheaper group breaks because the Sox get taken right away but luckily I beat all the other collectors to the punch and got in on it this time. Hopefully I get lucky once more when Thorzul does it again.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 11 (1998)

2011-06-07T06:36:00.002-05:00

The history of cards from a trade package from Dan. Enjoy the ride.

I remember getting talked into buying a box of these in 98. They were going to be so expensive in the future. I hardly knew anyone I pulled. I was so pissed at him for talking me into buying them that the guy gave me my money back. He told me that I would regret taking my money back one day. He was wrong!

Finally getting into some Pedros. I think a Pedro collection would be awesome to go through. He was in every single product and had half a dozen inserts in every single product.

These look like Circa. Yuck!

I like parallels but base cards like this is one reason I stayed away from Pacific. They didn't last long so evidently I wasn't the only one.

I Pity The Fool Who... Wait that was Mr T, not Reggie Jefferson. Although Reggie Jefferson is kind of a grumpy name. At least I would consider it grumpy. Evidently so does Reggie.

I have never bought a pack of Collectors Choice. Not one ever. Never bought First Edition or Opening Day either. If I didn't know better I would have said that was Jacoby on that card. Looks just like him.

Fleer Tradition is a crappy name for a set. Seriously the only tradition they have is a tradition of making cheesy cards. Their best set was in 59 and I don't think it was even the same company.

Leaf is stealing their history also. Yes there were 48 Leaf cards but it was a different Leaf all together. I guess since Fleer stole history for their regular cards they might as well do it for their Leaf brand too.

For some reason I think I have more Brian Rose doubles than anyone else in the 90s. It is refreshing to get a new card of him every now and then.

I don't remember these coming out but I like them. It helps that they are all horizontal.

Year after year Pinnacle put out great cards. I haven't missed Upper Deck that much for the last year but I have missed Pinnacle ever since it's demise.

This card makes not sense at all. Pedro in a set called World Series, in 1998. Evidently Pedro doesn't understand it either, just look at his face.

That throwback uniform looks so much better than the milkman unis they wore against the Cubs this year. I actually kind of like it. I like the red hat way more than the alternate hat they use with the hanging Sox logo. The strings really tie it together. I know that was bad wasn't it?

The Captain looks like such a kid in this card. Who know back then that he would become the grizzled veteran.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 10 (1997)

2011-06-06T06:06:00.003-05:00

This set of posts has morphed from a whole bunch of trade posts into a history of cards. So sit back and take a trip down memory lane to 1997.

Back in 97 Fleer was still in matte mode. Evidently they thought that the experiment failed because this was the last year of it. They then went from one crap design to another.

Circa never took the hint and made the same exact set each year until they were no more. Something I will not miss one bit.

To me Leaf was a set that I considered classier than other sets. I think that back in the day they had some advertisements about how classy they were. Evidently it worked because I can't think of a single year that I would even consider a Leaf set as being classy.

My collection is severely lacking Pacific cards. I remember Pacific as being parallel happy. They seemed to have a ton of them. As much as I love parallels I hardly have any because I was still in Football card mode. I do have a bunch of Pacific Marino parallels though.

What a crappy scan. I love my scanner because it is so fast but it could use a few extra setting so I could fix scans like this one. Than again that would probably slow it down and I would hate it so screw it enjoy the crappily scanned 1997 Pinnacle.

I don't know how Nomar is listed as a Rookie in 97. He had cards for three years already.

Isn't it funny how some cards scan with absolutely no edge whatsoever?

While Leaf tried to be classy every year, Stadium Club actually did it.

Ultra was usually pretty classy too. Lots of great action shots all full bleed and with sharp as hell photos.

Ultra gold kind of cheapened up the base Ultra though.

I don't know how I still need Upper Deck base cards from any year. To me it is like base Topps yet I still need lots of cards from multiple years. 1997s hardwood floor set is one or their worst though. (hear that Night Owl? This should be the hardwood floor set.)

These last ones are Pinnacle New. I don't know what was new about them though. They are some really great cards though. I would say that this set would win for the clearest photos of all time. Seriously, the scans don't do them any justice. These are absolutely beautiful. If I was a set collector I would be chasing all these. Hell, I'm not a set collector and am considering it.

Not that seriously but at least considering it.

Archive GOLD!!

2011-06-05T06:45:00.001-05:00

I am sure that many of you do a daily ebay search for a particular card, player, or set.Me, I do a daily Bill Virdon search. In 3 years I never saw the Gold version of the 55 Archives set. Until last week. I had heard that they were very short printed but I didn't really think I would have any competition for it. Much to my surprise I bid $10 on it and lost. I was disappointed but at the same time I didn't really want to spent that much in it either. Luckily the next day I got a second chance offer and I only had to pay $8 for it. I'm not sure how 2nd chance offers work but I'm guessing it means the guy had 2 of them. I'm just happy to finally have one.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 9 (1996)

2011-06-04T06:06:00.001-05:00

In 1996 I was single making good money and still living at home. I spent a ton of money on cards. I concentrated on football though and hardly bought any baseball cards in the late 90s. When I did buy them it was playing home run at my LCS. Needless to say I have a giant hole in my Red Sox collection through the late 90s. For the last few years I have been attempting to rectify that but it has been a slow road. My good there were a lot of sets back when Fleer was still in the game.

Pinnacle Zenith are really good looking cards. Way better than these scans. The Duffex technology (I learned that term from reading Wax Heaven, never heard it prior to that) really makes these look good.

Don't pitchers have the funniest looks on their face when they are throwing? To me this was the worst year of Ultra. The Golds looked great though.

I never realized that there was a Topps Gallery that wasn't an art set. To me it looks a whole lot like Stadium Club. It is crazy to think that I have a 1996 Red Sox card of a guy that is still playing for them in 2011. Not only that but with Dice-Ks injury, Wakefield is now in the rotation. He only needs a few more wins to catch Clemens and Cy Young for most wins as a Red Sox. I hope he gets it.

Funny thing about this card is I remember Bartolo's time in Boston better than Rafael's. Not that Bartolo's time was very good, in fact it was quite awful.

I never liked this Select set. It did however have a parallel that was amazing. I don't remember what it was called though. I have a Marino one in my Marino collection but to be honest I'm not 100% sure they used it in baseball too.

I spent more money on 96 Select Certified than any other set ever. Not baseball however, football. I must have bought a case of it. I was trying to build a complete set and never pulled them all. I had to use parallels to finish it off. According to Beckett the biggest hit I ever pulled was out of 96 Select Certified Football. I pulled a Mirror Blue Emmitt Smith. It booked at $750. I traded it for $1000 worth of Marinos and Kordell Stewerts...

I think everyone has a former collection that they can't quite explain. (or more than one...)

Lots of people like these gaudy cards but to be honest I never did. It just does nothing for me.

These are Score Parallels. If you couldn't tell what is was all you have to do is flip it over and it tells you it is a Gold Rush card. Score didn't do as well with their gold parallels as Topps or Upper Deck. They are more bronze in color and just not very appealing. But I am a sucker for parallels and I'm trying to get them all.

I have a few of these Afficinato cards now and to be honest they are kind of ugly. The pixilated close up is crap and most of the action photos are blury.

I can't explain it, don't know what it is but I kind of like the Fleer matte sets. I don't know if it is just cause it is so different from everything else or what? Fleer was never afraid to try something, that's for sure.

Speaking of something different, Metal cards are defiantly different. It doesn't scan worth a damn but they are really shiny and so so different.

This two different Red Sox cards I received but just barely. The Mike Stanly on the bottom is one of those horrible cards that say it is a Red Sox card but he is in a yankee uniform. I didn't want that junk on the blog so I covered up the crap jersey. The girls over at Cardboard Problem may not agree with covering up the jersey but may like the cropping.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 8 (early 90s)

2011-06-03T06:06:00.000-05:00

So now that the junkiest of all the junk has been posted it is on to the rest of the early 90s. I'm adding a bunch together because I don't think many are interested. At least noone is commenting so I perseive that know body is reading.

If you thought that this was a normal Red Sox car than you are mistaked. Yes it looks like 92 Upper Deck but look at the hat on AAron. See the big L instead of a B.

Someone blogger out there is collecting Team Pinnacle. When I figure out who it is I have a few to send them. Not Plantier though he stays with me.

Closing in on yet another Fleer mini set. This Clemens subset was an insert though instead of a small boxed set. At least I think.

If these next few cards look familiar it is because all the Conlon cards look a whole lot alike. I think the different years are actually different shades but I'm just enough color blind I can't tell.

The last two were 92s this one is a 93.

This Fun Packcard screams early 90s. Look at Me! Look at Me!! it seems to be saying.

The card back is just as obnoxious.

I always have liked Topps Gold since it inception. I liked the First Day Issue Stadium Club also. I'm a sucker for parallels no matter how frivolous they are. (as long as it is on the front of the card)

Select issued their League Leader cards as a subset. I have a hunch that they made just as many of them as they did all of the base cards.

I have always like Action Packed. I had a ton of football Action Packed. I even had an almost complete John Madden set.

Take a look at the Zupcic card. I can't think of another card where they show someone getting brushed back onto his but.

Dan must have bought every traded set there ever was cause once again he knocked a bunch off my want list. This time 93 Fleer.

More lovely Topps Gold cards. If I live to be 1000 I may get them all.

I'm not sure what the "Gong North" refers to on this card. I'm not sure what kind of hat Tony has on either. I wonder were the Red Sox minor league team was way back when. (I don't wonder enough to actually google it though)

I think the back of Greenwell's card has to be one of the worst pictures ever on a card. This is way worse than Zupcic getting brushed back. This is The Gator losig the ball in the sun and quite possibly taking one "you know where" while his legs do a Buster Posey. (minus the injurya)

Score Gold just doesn't do it for me like Topps Gold does.

Dam you Post. I want baseball cards in my cereal still.

Finest from when Finest cards were actually the Finest cards around.

It is hard to tell from the scan but those are Silver Signatures. I didn't buy any of these so I don't know what the insert rate was for silver. I'm guessing one per pack.

A card from back when Pinnacle was at it's Zenith. Or maybe it is just a Pinnacle Zenith.

Doesn't Nomar look like a goober in this picture? I bet he laughs like Krusty the Clown.

Mo looks to be out of breath in this photo. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he isn't trying for a triple. I'm guessing he wither just made the turn from first trying to stretch it to a double or he is going 1st to 3rd. If it was a triple he would be crawling those last few steps.

Mike looks better with a hat on. Just saying.

This card is an odd case. Not odd because it is a Red Sox wearing a Cardinal uniform, odd because I had the Ultra Gold before the regular version.

This set is a perfect candidate for a Night Owl Define the Design post.

Look a Bowman card that doesn't have a black border and a ridicules numbering system. Makes me wonder how they got to where they are now.

If you couldn't tell from all the foil on the front of these the backs spell it out for you. G-O-L-D R-U-S-H. Still not as good as Topps Gold though.

I realized that I need to go back into my want list and add in Museum Collection. They are my alltime favorite parallel and I don't have them on my want list.

It is always fun to see early Leaf cards. Back in the 90s my LCS didn't believe in Fleer products and wouldn't carry them except for Ultra. He said that they were over produced. Turns out he was right they were overproduced but so was everything else.

Here is a Blue and a Silver CC Special Edition. Were these both inserted in CC or was there a Collector's Choice Special Edition set?

Next up late 90s.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 7 (Junk Runner-Up)

2011-06-02T05:35:00.001-05:00

Last Dan mailday post I said that 1990 was the pinnacle of the junk wax era. Night Owl agreed. (and left a comment saying so) Now I am going to state that 1991 is the junk wax runner up. Whether you agree with that or not here is some great stuff from 1991 that Dan sent me. (fyi... for me whether is the hardest word to remember how to spell correctly) (not counting hors d'oeuvre) (I had to look them both up)

As embarrassing as it is that I still need some cards from 91 it is worse still that I need a whole bunch from a very common set. Dan saw a huge hole in my 19 Team sets and did his best to fill it. He sent 24 cards from The Conlon Collection that I needed. I have always thought that these are great cards. I only know a handful of the players but the card back rectifies that because there is at least a paragraph, sometimes 2 or 3 on the back.

I am now only 1 card short of my Conlon team set. I still need #161 Tom Hughes.

Yep, 91 Stadium Club is still on the want list. Even after Dan sent me these. I somehow still need #309 Clemens. Yeah, don't ask me how.

I remember when Classic cards were real big. The Phone cards that they were putting out went for at the time crazy amounts. Myself I don't need phone cards I just want base cards so I was happy to receive the two cards below. You know, I wonder if one of those phone cards will still work?

Ok you might be thinking I didn't have my 91 Topps team set done from the picture but I actually do. The Scott Cooper card is from the Drat debut 90 set. I'm guessing it is a box set like Traded. The other two cards have me confused. They are I think 91 Topps Micro. The backs say that it is only a 32 card set. TEAMSETS4YOU however says it is a 792 card set with the same checklist as flagship. I just put my Standard Catalog away from yesterday's post and am to lazy to get it back out knowing that someone reading this knows the answer without looking it up.

Dana from Dan finished off my Toys R Us Rookies team set. I don't remember anything from Dana's Red Sox career because all Dana's in my memory have been replaced by a certain race car driver.

Finishing up with a Woolworth Dwight Evens. This card makes me think of riding a bike. Not because I ever put a card in my bike spokes. I'm not one of those idiots. I remember as a kid getting a bicycle from Woolworths. It seems baseball cards bring back more memories than just the on field kind.

I Interrupt Dan's Trade Posts With...A Question

2011-06-01T06:31:00.002-05:00

I used to throw questions out to bloggers because I didn't have a Standard Catalog. Well, now I do have one and I am stumped anyway.

Awhile back I posted a 1983 MLB TV Slide that I picked up of Bill Virdon. I didn't know much about the set then and I still don't now. The same guy listed a couple more and I bought them, even though I don't know exactly what they are. I flipped through my Standard catalog and can't come up with anything. So if you have any idea what they may actually be please let me know.

Here is the 1980 MLB TV Slide. The scan came out a little but more red than it actually is.

This is the 1981 MLB TV Slide Virdon. The scan looks like crap but the actual slide looks great. Don't know why one scans better than the other.

New Blog and a Contest

2011-05-31T19:48:00.000-05:00

The infamous Matt that has been trading with a few of us bloggers has started his own blog. Not only does that give us another blog to read he is having a contest. So head on over to The Diamond King and check him out.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 6 (The Pinnacle of Junk Wax)

2011-05-31T06:30:00.002-05:00

I have seen it argued before but ti me 1990 is the absolute pinnacle of the Junk Wax era. Every time I have ever bought a big lot of cards when I sort them the 1990 stack is always the largest. I always find something I need too. The box Dan sent was the same way in that the stack of 1990 cards was the biggest. Unlike any other lot I also needed every 1990 card he sent.

I remember going to Hills as a kid. I went before the junk wax era though so I didn't have any cards.

Thanks to a Google search and then a Wiki page I found out that Hills was bought out by Ames in 1999. But it didn't last and folded in 2002. We will always have their cards though.

This is one of those oddball Score cards. The Writers Journey left a comment saying they were part of a boxed set in 89. Figure that 90 was the same way.

Dear Post - I would buy a lot more of your products if you put baseball cards in them again.

It's Wade and Wade and Wade and Wade and Wade and Wade...

So many Fleer mini sets. And I will never own them all.

I randomly get one of these Red Sox minor league cards every now and then. I think I am actually getting close to the set finally.

Now that is a group of Swell cards.

KayBee put out a good set of cards in 1990. I mean just look at the quality of stars in the Red Sox team set alone. A quick internet search says that Toys R Us bought out KayBee 2 years ago.

I scanned these a week ago when I got the package. Now that I am posting them I realize that I must now pull that Nick Esasky card and find out just what he was the League Leader in.

I was told that card companies designated guys as All Stars even when they were not All Stars. These two however look like All Stars to me.

I still have a decade of cards to post and the well is running dry. OR maybe it is just that 1990 Pacific cards are not exactly great fort the creative juices.

A few ears ago I had a friend that bought an early 90 Honda bike to turn around for a buck. It was dark blue with Neon pink decals all over it. It took us hours to peel all the pink off of it.

Somehow I didn't have many 1990 Leaf Red Sox. Dan helped out though I still need Clemens and Brunansky.

These are not 1990 Fleer I finished that set off years ago. These are Fleer Update. The whole team set to be exact. Aren't Greg Harris' glasses horrific?

This was one complete post. With these cards Dan finished off my Classic Update, Fleer All Stars, Fleer League Leaders, Fleer League Standouts, Fleer MVPs, Fleer Update, KayBee, Pacific Legends, Post, Ames, and Hills team sets.

This isn't the last of what Dan sent either. There is still over a decade to go.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 5 (Late 89s)

2011-05-29T07:28:00.002-05:00

I didn't exactly like admitting that I still need some early 80s Red Sox but I am almost embarrassed that I still need late 80s Red Sox. Not just one or two, I could use hundreds of late 80s Sox.

So here is a sampling of some late 80s stuff I was looking for before Dan helped me out.

I know I did a sticker post already but these are more card than sticker. They even have a reagular back with stats and all on them. Plus they feel like a regular. Actually I can't say that they really are stickers because I never have tried to peel one. Nope they go straight into the binder.

I busted an entire box of 87 O-Pee-Chee and I didn't get the team set. Dan had to bail me out by

sending the last 4 that I needed. That is what trade partners are for. (by the way does anyone need any 87 P-Pee-Chee or Leaf Pirates, Atros, Expos, or Rangers??

I have been seeing quite a few cards of Mr Boyd ever since my begging post a month ago. Sadly I don't remember him being an All Star. Evidently he was though or at least Fleer says so.

Does anyone know if there are still any Kaybee Toy Stores? I know I haven't seen one in years.

I don't know how I still need so many Sportflics? It was one of my very favorite sets as a kid but I still need a whole slew of them from every year. I don't think I have completed one team set of Sportflics yet.

A Canadian card of The Rocket. Back in 88 I would never of imagined him playing for a Canadian team at some point. Then again he went on to play for a whole lot worse teams than the Jays.

I will never complete all the little Fleer sets. There seem to be an endless amount of them. I don't even know which were extras in packs and which were their own set.

I'll probably finish both 2008 Documentary and 20th Anniversary sets before I finish off all the little Fleer sets.

.

I don't think anyone wants to look at 89 Fleer. Instead here is the back of the one that Dan sent me. It is not ordinary 89 Fleer it is part of the update set. The 80s were riddled with update sets.

Is this Pacific an early version of the Pacific that showed up in the 90s?

Why can't bread come with cards anymore. Seriously. My family goes through 2 loafs of bread a week. That is potentially 104 cards a year I'm missing out on. Actually I'm probably missing out on more than that. I'm sure that if bread had cards in it I could come up with excuses to eat more bread. That or I might find a pond with some ducks that need feeding.

Swell, was this issued in some product like the JJ Nessen card? Or was it just a Swell set. So many cards came out in the late 80s and if they were not in the Beckett I didn't know anything about them. In fact at one time if it wasn't in Beckett I didn't consider it collectible. My how things have changed.

I didn't know what Ames was. I had to Google it. How did we live before Google. Hard to imagine my kids will probably never use a dictionary or a set of encyclopedia.

Oh yeah, Ames was a department store. Now it is produces lawn and garden products. The two are in no way related and the history of the garden products is way more interesting than the department store. Seriously Ames shovels played a big part in American history. Check it out for yourself.

I learned to scan two cards above each other instead of next to each other so that they post better. I still don't know whey some images are larger than others though.

I know I had these two cards as a kid. I know were they went too. I had a friend who's house burnt down and I gave him all my baseball cards collected strictly football. I wonder what ever happened to that guy?

More of the many many Fleer small sets. If I ever collect them all it will be such a big accomplishment that I may have it engraved in my tombstone.

Here Lies Adam

Collecting all these cards killed him.

This is the least embarrasing scan of the whole post. These are a Red Sox minor league set from 1989. Of all the guys pictured Plantier, Irvine, and Zambrano made it to the next level. At least those are the ones I have major league cards of. Plantier played 7or 8 seasons.

How can a self respecting card collector say he needs 89 Donruss? Because it is Donruss Traded. See the card in the middle of the scan? T-7? That means rare. Ok maybe not rare to you but rare to me.

You are thinking "Really 89 Fleer? You are bragging about getting 89 Fleer?" I know your dog has 89 Fleer lining the bottom of his pen but does he have Fleer Update? I didn't think so.

This is not your ordinaly 89 Score. It isn't update either. It is Score Superstars. That makes it special somehow. I'm not sure how because I never saw one of these back in 89. Actually I don't even know haw they were sold. As a small set maybe?

Here Lies Adam

One of Adam's biggest goals in life...

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 4 (early 80s)

2011-05-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

Surly I'm not the only one that needs early 80s cards. It is kind of embarrassing in a way but I actually need quite a bit of them.

Dan helped me out by sending a whole bunch of them my way. Feast your eyes on the early 80s awesomeness that he sent.

I never really bought any Fleer cards. Not when I was a little kid, not even when I was a teenage collector. Fleer was just outside of my card realm. Yaz either hit pop fly or a towering home run. I'm going to imagine it is a home run.

It turns out I already had this card. It was on my checklist that I needed it but somehow it was in with my 82 Donruss instead of 83. It is probably because the copyright date in the tiny print at the bottom say it is an 82.

You would think they could have painted Teds hat on straight. He was the greatest hitter of all time for crying out loud.

When I wear a belt I put the belt buckle in the middle. Just saying...

84 Donruss is another much over looked set, by me at least. It actually isn't so bad. Some nice action shots along with a few posed shots. What is not to like. If Night Owl tries to name this one it should be the music set because the lines at the bottom remind me on the lines in sheet music and the Donruss sign looks like a note.

This is a 1984 Glossy Insert. Otherwise known as one of those send in sets I was never allowed to purchase. It is funny what was considered glossy back then compared to now.

I have been slowly tracking down all the 84 Fleer. It is about the ugliest set ever though. Wade didn't get cut off by my scanner the card is really that far off center. We forget how good we have it now-a-days.

Yep, more 80 Fleer, it is kind of the standard for this post. Although the stands look empty that is in game action on the Buckner card. There is no way he practiced that before every game.

The other day I mentioned how my brain doesn't remember Jim Rice as being a happy guy. But once again here he is with a smile on his face. If I wasn't bussy scanning hundreds of cards I would break out the 70s binder and see how many more smiling Rice cards I find.

The Canadians called, they want their cards back. Too bad though because I call no take backs. They have hoarded their Leaf and O-Pee-Chee long enough.

Tony kind of looks like George Jefferson on this card.

Mark looks like Jeremy Davies playing Dickie Bennet in Justified. You know, inbred and strung out.

Just so you know 86 counts as early 80s. Late 80s starts in 87 at least it does for me. Probably because I started collecting cards in 87 and everything pre 87 seems like an old card to me.

There is Buckner in that pose again. It's an 86 card to boot.

To Boot... get it...

Mmmmm... Chicken

This card was Fleer's attempt to make a Sportflic. Close your eyes and think smile, when you open them Wade is happy. Close your eyes and think mad, when you open them Wade is mad.

Not all Fleer cards are created equal. Some are much harder to come by like this from the 87 Update set.

Last of the early 80 cards. This is a 1985 Quaker Jim Rice. Once again he is happy on his card. I think it must be because that Amish guy had to have built a time machine to make Jim look that young in 85.

I wonder how many times they had to whip that horse to get it up to 88 miles per hour.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 3 (Stickers)

2011-05-27T06:02:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid I had a few football sticker books. I never got one filled though and I have no idea what happened to them. Time to relive that youth without actually sticking the cards. These are going in sheets instead.

I started out with just one 1981 Topps sticker and now I have all but one. (Fred Lynn)

Thanks to Dan I now have a complete team set of 1982 Topps Stickers. Unfortunately the only way i remember Yaz is the old guy Yaz like on the stickers above. Doesn't Perez look funny? He has to be stealing signs in that photo, don't know what else he could be doing.

Here is my dollar, May I please have #8 Tony Perez and any 9 random players? Tony will finish my team set for me.

I have about 5 versions of each of these cards, all with a different back. I wonder if there is someone out there that is putting together a master set of these one with every single sticker back configuration.

Next up Early 80s cards.

Dan, What A Mailday!! Post 2

2011-05-26T19:28:00.000-05:00

Dan, what a mailday post 2 is all the non 3"x2.5" cards. They are a pain in the ass to store but the oddity of them makes them more appealing to the eye than a regular sized card.

Here are two 1986 Donruss All-Star 3x5s. I keep these in a plastic container that was meant to hold a couple hundred regular sized cards. It is just the right size though to lay these in flat. I think they sold cards in these boxes at Walgreens for a while.

I went back a year in time with my second scan. 1985 Donruss 3x5 All Stars. Pictured next to a normal sized 85 ~~Donruss~~ Leaf for comparison.

I never heard of Topps Magazine but evidently there used to be one and it had cards in it. You can't tell from the scan but there are actually little punch out marks to make these regular sized cards. I prefer mine un-punched so these will go in the plastic box with the 3x5s.

Some more magazine inserts. Not Topps magazine however but defiantly Topps knock offs. 1959 and 1967 design. Unlike the Topps ones these have no punch marks so one is expected to cut real straight with scissors. Not me though, I shall keep it intact for all time in my little plastic box.

These are big but not crazy big. Big as in 50s big. They used to be a pain to store but Dan sent me all the rest I needed for my team set; that means they now get binder treatment. They fit just right in a 8 card page.

I'm not usually a back of the card person but these deserved scanning. Not only do they have crazy colors they have a great big color cartoon on them. I'm not sure if these made Greg's card back countdown but they should have. Especially on a list made up by someone who has a color fetish like the Night Owl.

These Fleer Extra Base cards are the worse shaped card of all time. They had to have been having a meeting at Fleer one day when someone lost their place in a book. At that point some intern probably said "isn't there a card shaped like a bookmark?" From that unfortunately there is now.

Here are some 89 Mini Leaders and a 2003 Fleer Double Header. These 3 Leader cards finished off my team set.

Next Post will be Stickers.

How do you come up with a good user name?

2011-05-26T07:04:00.001-05:00

For blogger I used my first name and last innitial. For Topps website I used thoughtsandsox. I'm not sure where this person got his/her name.

In case you can't see it...

I have had 3 or 4 offers from this person so far. I might just let them have my Carter but you can be assured that he isn't touching my

Evidently he has plenty already.

Dan, What A Mailday!!

2011-05-25T19:26:00.000-05:00

I didn't use that title because I didn't want to offend anyone I used it because I got a box of cards from Dan. Dan is a fellow Red Sox collector so we are good outlets for doubles. This isn't the first package I received from him but it was definatly the biggest. He warned me I had a package coming he didn't tell me however that it was an 800 count box almost completely full of cards that were ALL OFF MY WANT LIST. Never have I received as many cards that were new to me as this package. It would be the greatest package I ever received if I hadn't got that 58 Williams, Hines Root Beer Virdon, and O-Pee-Chee Red Sox package from Joey earlier this year. Quality wins over quantity, however the shear mass of this package gives Joey's package a run for it's money.

I was having scanner problems but it is fixed now. I have my old scanner back. That doesn't mean anything to you but it does to me. This scanner blows every other scanner I have ever had out of the water. It is unbelievable how much faster it is than other scanners. To celebrate this package and the return of my scanner I am going to do like Tribe Cards and scan every card that Dan sent. There was a lot of them so I'm going to break it up into bite sized chunks.

This is chunk one, vintage.

First we have 1955 Bowman or the TV Set. Not sure if Night Owl crisined this set yet, but it is the TV set regardless.

Somehow it occured to me while scanning that if I put one card above the other I can post them bigger without them running into the margin. I like the 70s red batting helmet better than than what the Sox use now.

Whoever designed the 72 set had problems. I like it, I mean I hate it, I mean I like it, I mean... Just depends on my mood I guess.

I probably made 20 different trade offers for this card on the Diamond giveaway and never had any takers. Not redicules offers I was offering 4 1977 cards or a 67 card but no takers. In hand is better than the virtual card. No more offers for "The Hair". Love the jacket though.

I know 1980 Topps isn't really vintage. But this isn't 1980 Topps.

See? No?

How about now? Yes this is Canadian cardboard. 1980 O-Pee-Chee which to me is just as rare as many vintage cards.

More scans to come.

Group Break Update

2011-05-25T12:27:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to mailing the cards out last Friday. However the automatic machine at the PO was new to me and evidently I screwed it up and everyone package got returned to me yesterday. So today they will all go out in the mail again.

Sorry

Quick Trade Post

2011-05-24T07:32:00.001-05:00

Going to do this one real quick. Getting vintage in the mail itself shows what kind of trader that Jeff of the relatively new blog My Sports and Sports Cards is.

This to me is an odd card of Jim Rice. I don't think of him with a great big smile on his face. I think of him with sort of a scowl. Not Mo Vaughn, Eddie Murry, Albert Belle scowl but unhappy.

I don't remember a thing about the 78 Red Sox team. Only what I read or see on MLB channel. I was only two.

Everyone go check out Jeffs blog and make a trade with him. He collects White Sox, Colts, and Michigan cards.

Thanks for the trade Jeff

The Floodgates Have Opened.

2011-05-22T07:20:00.001-05:00

So one day I get this email from a guy named Kevin asking if I want some Nomar cards. I was thnking to myself, "Hell yes I want some Nomar cards", but I replied, "sure sounds good." I didn't realize however how good it was. I expected 5 or 6 cards because nobody ever parts with Nomar cards, so I was stunned when I got the package.

You're probably looking at these thinking to yourself. "What is the big deal, I have that card." See that is the big deal. You have that card but do not part with it. Nobody parts with Nomar cards.

I couldn't tell you how many times I got cards in the mail where I got the entire team set minus Nomar. These filled some nice holes in my collection.

I'm hoping that this is the start of a flood of Nomars. That everyone decides that he has been retired for so long they want to make room for the Harpers and Strausburgs by sending off their Nomars. If so ship them here.

Thanks for a great package Kevin.

I know you dont care but...

2011-05-21T06:56:00.003-05:00

Yea, I know you don't care but here is another Virdon I picked up off ebay. It was listed as a 1983 TV slide. I'm not sure if it is homemade or was issued somehow but it looks like an old time slide projector slide. Though you can't tell from the scan.

It actually looks really nice. Nicer than my scanner can show you.

The guy I got it from has a whole bunch of them listed. He even recently listed 2 more Virdons though my wife is saying not to buy them right now. Usually that is reason enough to go ahead and pull the trigger but with the new business start up this time she is right. I just hope they are still around when I have the extra cash.

Gold In The Streets

2011-05-20T05:38:00.001-05:00

I received a golden package from Eutaw Street Cards. When I say golden I mean it was full of gold. Not the metal gold, cardboard gold.

Feast your eyes on some of the gold Ultra cards I got in the mail. I liked that once they started you could always count on Ultra to have gold cards. Sometimes they threw in some other parallels but they still had gold every year. The simple fact it was called gold let you know it was special.

I don't know why I scan cards 3 wide knowing they don't fit on the blog correctly, but I do it all the time. So enjoy 2 and a half 96 Ultra Gold cards. This is my favorite year of Ultra Gold Cards. It is the most dramatic change of all of them. A total 180 from 95 where it was a little tiny gold circle. (which happens to be my least favorite set of Ultra Gold)

Here is another sample of gold Ultra cards. Carl so wants to make sure you know he is a special gold card that he is spelling it out for you.

This is an example of a Die Cut Gold card. Not sure why some are die cut this year and some are not.

I didn't only get gold cards I got some international cards too. This is a 99 Bowman International. Rather than putting a map in the background like prior years (and 2011) Topps stuck a picture in the background instead. Guy from the sticks got pictures of mountains or a cornfield and city guys got a downtown skyline. Guys from Florida or California got beaches. The cards look a million times better than my scan does.

Thanks for the great cards!!

Gordon Strikes Again

2011-05-19T08:37:00.001-05:00

I have been without a scanner for a few weeks. My wife d a new business and to keep costs down instead of buying a new printer she swiped the one from home. I went and got my old scanner out of storage only to find that I lost the cord for it. That problem is now solved and I am back to posting. Though, it will take some practice getting use to the old scanner again as you can see from the poorly cropped scans.

A while back I got a package from Gordon. The same Gordon that is in 2nd place in our Card Bloggers Unite Fantasy League. Every team set collector wants someone to send their doubles to. I am ~~that~~ one of those guys for Gordon. I have received many, many packages from him. I try to repay him in kind but I usually have a hard time finding stuff he doesn't have yet. Now and then I get lucky and find a few but never very much. On to the cards...

This is one of the worse ideas for a card set all time. It would have been ok if they put out a 20th Anniversery set that we could have bout instead of giving us a couple cards per box of everything UD we bought for a year. I always wondered if certain cards from this set only came out of a certain product. Like could you only pull numbers 1-200 out of base UD, 201-400 out of First Edition 401-600 out of Spectrum etc. Someone out there knows. With the addition of this Papelbon I only need about 150 more to complete my Red Sox team set.

Not sure what this card is or what it does but I can tell it folds or comes apart or something. It kind of reminds me of one of those Pinnacle 4-In -1 Stand Up cards but I'm not the kind of collector that has to know bad enough to tear it apart to see.

The longer I live here in AZ the more I like Schilling. He is as much of a cult hero around here as he is in Boston. Maybe even a little more.

Do you want to send me a card that I will for sure put on the blog? Send me a Sportfic that I don't have yet and you can be sure I post it. Even if it isn't an all time great like Evans.

I've seen these cards on other blogs and wondered what Red Sox were in the set. Not wondered enough to do a search and find out, just wondered enough to think to myself. So now I know that there is a Williams card in it.

Yes there are 89 Score that I don't have yet. Subset cards but it is still almost embarrassing that I still need junk wax era Red Sox cards. Not so embarrassing that I won't take them off your hands or anything. I have heard that admitting you have a problem is the first part of healing. So hopefully this will result in a bunch of junk era NEEDS show up in the mail. Notice the emphasis on Needs.

Thanks for another great package Gordon. They are always appreciated. I actually found some stuff for you that will be on the way soon. At least as soon as I get my lazy self to the PO.

Same goes to all the group breakers. Everyone is packaged up, I just need to brave the PO line.

1 for 45 Diamond Giveaway Trade

2011-05-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

I got an offer on my Hellickson Die Cut that I took. It was 45 cards for one including some vintage stuff. Here is what I got.

58 Ron Blakkburn – Pirates

61 John Romano – Indians

64 Lee Thomas – Angels

67 Gene Mauch – Phillies

73 Norm Miller – Astros

74 Ken Suarez – Rangers

74 Brewers Team

74 Jim Perry – Tigers

75 Steve Swisher – Cubs

75 Sandy Alamar – Yankees

76 Blake McBride - Cards

76 Dick Tidrow – Yankees

76 Tim McCarver – Phillies

77 Jeeey DaVanon – Astros

77 Pete Broberg – Mariners

79 Larry Gura – Royals

79 Steve Henderson – Mets

97 Jack Clark – Giants

80 Don Aase – Angels

80 Lynn McGlothen – Cubs

84 Dale Murphey – Braves

85 Willie Randolph – Yankees

87 Dennis Powell – Dodgers

87 Wally Joyner – Angels

87 Joe Carter – Indians

87 Rickey Henderson TBC – A’s

87 Don Sutton – Angels

87 Ryne Sandberg

89 Joe Carter – Indians

89 Ozzie Smith – Cards

89 Robin Yount – Brewers

91 Mike Fitzgerald – Expos

91 Barry Larken – Reds

91 Roger Clemens – Red Sox

92 Todd Van Poppel – A’s

93 Howard Johnson – Mets

93 Scott Aldredge – Rockies

94 john Habyan – Royals

95 Shane Mack – Twins

95 Joe Grahe – Angels

91 Livin Hernandez – Giants

04 Jose Vidro – Expos

05 Placido Polanco – Phillies

05 Alex Gonzalez – Devil Rays

07 Chris Young - Diamondbacks

17 cards from before 1980 for one Rays card was good for me. Now all these are for trade for Red Sox cards that I don't have yet. With Blogger down for a day I made a whole bunch of trade offers. Waiting now to see if i get any takers.

I also got a Marlins Ring that I promptly traded for a Red Sox ring which I quickly traded for this. Don't know if it is rare or not. Don't know what I would do with a virtual ring either.

My only Diamond Giveaway Redemption

2011-05-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

Since I don't bust packs I don't wind up with many of these. I got a pack of cards for Easter and forgot to redeem it till today. Last year I only redeemed 3 cards and this is probably it for me unless I happen to get one in a pack for father's day. I am already seeing an offer for a 54 Ellis Kinder. I contemplated it because a '54 card for a 2011 card seems great but it would be a double for me so I am going to hold out. If you want it though make me an offer.

Need Info

2011-05-08T22:11:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have trouble opening my wantlist? My computer does it no problem but my wife's laptop will only open the first screen but will not open any other tab. Does this happen to anyone else?

Baseball Cards Rule

2011-05-06T06:40:00.001-05:00

We all know that baseball cards rule but only one of us thought to name our blog that. Here is some great stuff that Baseball Cards Rule sent me.

I have noticed that Nomar cards are starting to come in more often. I'm guessing that it is been long enough since he retired that people no longer hoard his cards. I hope that is the case.

Commander Kick Ass has finally been pitching like Beckett of old.

Pedroia has basically carried the team so far. If somehow someway we get ~~back~~ to first he needs to be in contention for MVP.

This isn't a normal Chrome this is a Refractor Dice-K.

Remember that begging post I did about Oil Can Boyd a week or so ago?

It resulted in not only getting the last 86 Donruss I needed but he also sent a 85 Fleer I didn't have. It also made me realize how few 85 Fleer Red Sox I had.

Thanks for the great cards.

Finishing up the 1987 O-Pee-Chee Group Break

2011-05-05T13:55:00.005-05:00

Pack 31
262 Joe Sambito (Red Sox) x2 somewhere out there is a box with 8 Bonds RC in it instead of this card.
190 Jim Sundberg (Royals)
223 Charlie Leinbrandt (Royals)
66 Marc Sullivan (Red Sox
366 Randy St Claire (Expos)
288 Tito Landrum (cards)

pack 32
288 Tito landrum (Cards)
360 Pedro Guerrero
158 Ed Romero (Red Sox)
24 Jesse barfield (Blue Jays)
241 Mike Krukow (Giamts)
215 Mark Langston (Mariners)
35 Sid Bream (Pirates)

Pack 33
188 Rob Deer (Brewers) Trying to overthrow Sambito for most doubles in a box
325 Garry Templeton (padres)
240 Steve Balboni (Royals)
190 Jim Sundberg (Royals) x2
73 Bob Kearney (Mariners)
66 Marc Sullivan (Red Sox)

Pack 34
237 Jim Morrison (Pirates) x2
285 Oil Can (Red Sox)
310 Frank Viola (Twins)
357 Willie McGee (cards)
72 Walt Terrell (Tigers)
165 Jeff Reardon (Expos)

Pack 35
50 Dave Smith (Astros)
316 Brian Fisher (Pirates)
243 Bill Doran (Astros)
285 Oil can x2
280 Jefferey Leonard (Giants)
357 Willie Mcgee (Cards)

Pack 36
235 Alin Davis (mariners)
328 Bob Welch (Dodgers)
360 Pedro Guerrero (Dodgers) x2
241 Mike krukow (Giants)
251 Tom Hume (Phillies)
35 Sid Bream (Pirates)

Takeaways:

If there were blogs back in 87 O-Pee-Chee would have got hammered for their coalition. Half the packs had doubles in them.
There were 8 Rob Deer, joe Sambito, and Dave Smith cards. All miscut on the back exactly the same. (there may be 8 cards of others two those 3 just jumped out at me.
1987 Gum tastes horrible and is hard as a rock.
My son agrees.
I didn't notice any gum stains on any cards.
Some of you may get cards that have gum attached to them.
If you get one of these gum stuck cards don't worry about it you probably got a double as well.
I have a new respect for people that break boxes and type out the results. This sucks.
No Conseco or Bonds. It could have been searched but everything was miscut exactly the same so I don't think it was. But looking at eBay why bother.
I don't like to watch them but I now know why people do box breaks on video.

I'll be shipping packages soon. If you don't want all your doubles please let me know soon. Hopefully I can ship these all as $1.71 packages.

Packs 26-30

2011-05-05T07:28:00.000-05:00

The Wizard of Oz. It is possible that Oz is somewhere in Canada.

Saving all the comments until the next post.

Pack 26
338 Greg Gross (Phillies)
107 Ozzie Smith (cards)
65 Tom Browning (reds)
309 harold baines (White Sox)
22 Doug DeCinces (Angels)
23 Lee Smith (Cubs)
394 Tony Bernazard (Indians)

Pack 27
300 Reggie (A's) x2
230 Don baylor (Red Sox)
204 Chris Chambliss (Braves)
185 Rob Deer (Brewers) x2
262 joe Sambito (Red Sox)

Pack 28
203 Butch Wynegar (angels)
223 Charlie Leibrandy (Royals)
198 Tony Gwyn (Padres)
225 mike Smithson (Twins x2
288 Tito Landrum (Cards)
92 mike Witt (Angels)

Pack 29
115 Donnie Moore (Angels)
360 Pedro Guerrero (Dodgers)
251 Tom Hume (Phillies)
24 Jesse barfield (Blue Jays)
50 Dave Smith (Astros) x2
237 jim Morrison (Pirates)

Pack 30
258 Steve yeager (Mariners)
310 Frank Viola (Twins)
292 franklin Stubbs (Dodgers)
230 Don Baylor (Red Sox) x2
336 Dennis Lamp (Angels)
165 Jeff reardon (Twins)

Packs 21-25

2011-05-05T05:17:00.001-05:00

So tired of typing the names of these guys over and over again that I'm skipping any comments.

Pack 21
24 Jesse Barfield (Blue jays)
251 Tom Hume (Phillies)
115 Donnie Moore (Angels)
210 LLyod Moseby (Blue Jays)
235 Alvin Davis (Mariners)
82 Kirby Puckett (Twins)
73 Bob Kearney (Mariners)

Pack 22
288 Darnell Coles ((Tigers)
161 Kent Hrbek (Twins)
201 John Cagelosi (White Sox)
273 Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers)
218 Gary Ward (yankees)
122 Jim Clancy (Blue Jays)
269 Tippy Martinez (Orioles)

Pack 23
339 Willie Hernandez(Tigers)
11 Mario Soto (Reds)
135 Mike Easler (phillies)
298 Craig Reynolds (Astros)
19 Matt Young (Dodgers)
296 Tom Candiotti (Indians) x2

Pack 24
193 Dave Concepcion (Reds)
275 Ray Knight (Orioles)
57 Darren Daulton (Phillies)
129 bob Knepper (Astros)
191 Kelly Gruber (Blue Jays)
168 Dan Schatzeder (philies) x2

Some cards will be shipped with gum attached like this Dave Smith.

Pack 25
280 Jeffrey Leonard (giants)
278 Gary Pettis (angels)
322 Ron Cey (A's)
237 Jim morrison (PIRATES)
243 Bill Doran Astros
215 mark Langston (Mariners)
50 Dave Smith (Astros)

Group Break Packs 16-20

2011-05-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

Seeing all the great players from my youth is cool but all the doubles are killing me.

Pack 16
164 Carlton Fisk (White Sox)
184 Paul Molitor (Brewers)
73 Bob Kearney (Mariners)
80 Wally Joyner (Angels)
43 Tom Niedenfuer (Dodgers)
82 Kirby Puckett (Twins)
293 Bob Rodgers MGR (Expos)

Pack 17
188 Rob Deer (Brewers)
336 Dennis lamp (Indians)
240 Steve Balboni (Royals)
262 Joe Sambito (Red Sox)
164 Carlton Fisk (White Sox)
184 Paul Molitor (Brewers)
73 Bob Kearney (Mariners)

Pack 18
11 Mario Soto (reds)
299 Jerry Hairston (White Sox)
41 Bo Diaz (Reds)
244 Mark Clear (Brewers
50 Dave Smith (Astros)
237 jim Morrison (Pirates) x2

Pack 19
322 Ron Cey (A's)
278 Gary Pettis (Angels)
280 Jeffery Leonard (Giants)
121 Dwayne Murphy (A's)
156 Bill Caudill (Blue Jays)
13 Nick Esasky (Reds)

Pack 20
203 Butch Wynegar (Angels)
262 Joe Sambito (Red Sox)
190 Jim Sundberg (Royals) x2
80 Wally Joyner (Indians)
154 Rick Reuschel (Pirates)
82 Kirby Puckett (Twins)

Group Break Packs 10-15

2011-05-04T19:18:00.005-05:00

This one starts where pack 9 left off.

Pack 10
241 Mike Krukow (Giants)
215 mark langston (Mariners)
35 Sid Bream Pirates
237 Jim Morrison (Pirates)
316 Brian Fisher (Pirates)
278 Gary Pettis (Angels)
285 Dennis Oil Can Boyd (Red Sox)

Pack 11
121 Dwayne Murphy A's
330 Mike Scott Astros
188 Rob Deer (brewers) x2
325 Garry Templeton (padres)
240 Steve Balboni (Royals)
190 Jim Sundberg (Royals)

Yep total of 8 Rob Deer cards in this box. Every one is miscut the exact same way.

Pack 12
386 Kirk Gibson (Tigers)
122 Jim Clancy (Blue Jays)
83 Bob Ojeda (Mets)
273 Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers)
388 Darnell Coles (Tigers) x2
51 Mel Hall (Indians)

Pack 13
262 joe Sambito (Red Sox) x2
188 Rob Deer (Brewers)
100 Steve Garvey (Padres)
280 Jefferey Leonard (Giants)
330 Mike Scott (Astros)
322 Ron Cey (A's)

Pack 14
277 Tom Henke (Blue Jays
241 Mike Krukow (Giants)
50 Dave Smith (Astros) x2
316 Brain Fisher (Pirates)
243 Bill Doran (Asstros)
285 Oil Can (Red Sox)

Anyone need some 87 O-Pee-Chee Red Sox doubles?? Card Splitter is getting some but I doubt he wants 4 copies of Oil Can and 6 Sambitos....

Pack 15
164 Carlton Fisk (White Sox)
154 Rick Reuschell (Pirates)
73 Bob Kearney (Mariners)
339 Willie Hernandez (Tigers)
43 Tom Niedenfuer (Dodgers)
135 Mike Easler (Phillies) x2

Group Beak Packs 7-9

2011-05-04T16:50:00.002-05:00

I had some help opening these. I never opened any 87 OPC but I did a lot of 87 Topps so this brought back some good memories.

He was excited every time we pulled a Red Sox. HE couldn't understand why there were no D-Back cards though. If you know how to explain expansion teams to a 6 year old please tell me cause I failed at it.

On to the cards.

Pack 7
98 Brook Jacoby (Indians)
258 Steve Yeager (Mariners) -Used to have a guy that worked for me named Steve Yeager. Good Guy!!

244 Mark Clear (Brewers)
50 Dave Smith (Astros)
241 Mike Krukow (Giants) x2 The back to back doubles strike again
115 Donnie Moore (Angels)

Pack 8
280 Jeffrey Leonard (Giants)
336 Dennis Lamp (Indians)
165 Jeff Reardon (Twins)
262 Joe Sambito (Red Sox)
325 Garry Templeton (padres)
184 Paul Molitor (Brewers)
190 Jim Sundberg (Royals)

Pack 9
80 Wally Joyner (Angels)
154 Rick Reuschel (Pirates)
82 Kirby Puckett (Twins) x2
135 Mike Easkler (Phillies)
210 LLoyd Moseby (Blue jays)
241 Mike Krukow (Giants)

Packs 4-6

2011-05-04T13:50:00.000-05:00

There were two different wrappers. I scanned the first for post #1 here is wrapper type number 2. Not as cool as the say to drugs wrapper.

Pack 4
158 Ed Romero (Red Sox)
360 Pedro Guerrero (Dodgers)
328 Bob Welch (Dodgers)
92 Mike Witt (Angels)
225 Mike Smithson (Angels)
366 Randy St Claire (Expos)
67 Todd Worrell (Cards)

There were not many yankee cards in the box. At least we pulled one the most famous ones possible. (I won't say best, not a Mattingly fan)

Pack 5
229 Don Mattingly (yankees)
203 Butch Wynegar (angels)
100 Steve Garvey (Padres)
188 Rob Deer (Brewers)
230 Don Baylor (Red Sox)
72 Walt Terrell (Tigers)
311 Davey Lopes (Astros)

Pack 6
158 Ed Romero (Red Sox)
288 Tito Landrum (cards)
328 Bob Welch (Dodgers)
351 Andy McGaffigan (Expos)
225 Mike Smithson (Twins)
150 Wade Boggs (Red Sox) x2

At least the double in pack 6 was a HOF Red Sox

Group Break packs 1-3

2011-05-04T05:30:00.002-05:00

Well here goes. I hope you are not expecting much because like I said I wasn't very happy with it.

Pack 1
150 Wade Boggs (Red Sox) - Good start to this box.
370 Fred Lynn (orioles)
370 Fred Lynn(orioles) Fred was never meant to be in a uniform other than the Sox.
189 Joe Hesketh (Expos)
100 Steve Garvey (Padres)
72 Walt Terrell (Tigers)
204 Chris Chambliss (Braves)

Pack 2
300 Reggie Jackson (A's)
292 Franklin Stubbs (Dodgers)
216 Steve Farr (Royals)
54 Dick Schofield (Angels)
317 Clint Hurdle (Cards)
317 Clint Hurdle (Cards)
263 Mitch Webster (Expos)

Pack 3
300 Reggie Jackson (A's)
54 Dick Schofield (angels)
54 Dick Schofield (angels)
348 Carmelo Martinez (Padres)
244 Mark Clear (Brewers
277 TomHenke (Jays)
241 Mike Krukow (Giants)

Three packs with back to back doubles. I'm beginning to see a pattern here...

More packs will be posted throughout the day.

Group Break Update - Need Addresses

2011-05-03T17:30:00.002-05:00

I busted the box and you should start seeing the results soon. But I'm going to warn you, I was not very happy with the results. I went out and spent all the rest of the group break money and a few dollars of my own to get something that was cheap but also something that hopefully some of you would want. So what I did is I bought a brick of 87 Leaf cards. I got them from one of my LCSs for a good price. It is about 800-1000 cards. I will break it up per the teams you choose. Since I am already out some money on this I'm not going to ship every single double to you out of the Leaf, hopefully I save a few cents in shipping that way. (But I will ship all the OPC doubles since that is what you paid for to start with) (unless you don't want them, I understand if you want to be the guy with the most 87 OPC Rob Deer cards. Actually I can't understand that but if you want them you got them)

I'm not going to post the results of the Leaf just expect them in the mail with your other cards. The first Pack Break is scheduled for in the morning.

I need addresses for

1967ers and Tribecards. I have an old one for you David but wanted to make sure it was still the same.

APBA

2011-05-03T11:42:00.000-05:00

This showed up in an eBay auction. It was listed kind of high so I took the Make Offer option and it was accepted.

It was listed as a 1960 Game Card. I hadn't seen it before and since he took my low offer so I am very happy with it. I'm not sure where the "Quail" comes from because I never saw it mentioned with Virdon before. I'm not sure how many years that they made these because they are not listed on Beckett.

Bet you I waited longer than you...

2011-05-01T08:06:00.001-05:00

Ever have a redemption that seemed to take a year to get? Well, it seems Topps, UD, Panini, and anyone else have quicker customer service than Dayf the blogger. I claimed a card from a box break of his on December 8th 2008. It arrived this weekend. Behold 2 years and 5 months + of waiting

This is a 2008 Stadium Club 1st day Issue Ted Williams. Beautiful card from a crazy screwed up configured set. But worth the wait. Teddy Ballgame isn't all he sent though...

2009 O-Pee-Chee was one of my favorite sets of 2009. It is a toss up between O-Pee-Chee and Goodwin. Here are a few black bordered O-Pee-Chee that dayf sent.

I also got a few 2011 Heritage in my package. Since I have swore off showing any more of them I didnt' scan any of them except this. It is some kind of black bordered card. (# C71) It looks much nicer than the regular ones.

Seriously this was all in good fun. I'm sure there is someone out there waiting two years or so for a card I promised them too. Thanks for the cards.

I'll get your Ginter SP card in the mail sometime in 2013.

Cool Boxing Pick Up From Chuckie Cheese

2011-04-30T20:53:00.002-05:00

If you have little kids at some point you have to take them to Chuckie Cheese. It is crazy boring but they love it so you have to suck it up and go. Usually I steal a few of their tokens and shoot some basketballs but this time I just stole some of their tokens.

Instead of having Chuckie Cheese on them these have a boxing glove and the words "J C Chavez Campeones". A quick Google search lead met to this sight. I had no idea it existed and that it is close makes it even better. Needless to say as a boxing fan I will have to go and check it out. Meanwhile, while not cards, these are going in the boxing binder.

So Why Is This Group Break Taking So Long?

2011-04-29T19:15:00.001-05:00

If you wondering why it is taking me so long to break a single box of 87 O-Pee-Chee let me explain. I really only thought a few people would buy a team but then with my final post asking for people to claim teams I sold 6. So I ended up with a few extra bucks. Rather than pocket them I have been trying to find something else to spend it on. I think I found it but don't have confirmation yet. I soon will though.

Just wanted everyone to know I wasn't stealing their $3...

2011-04-26T07:25:00.000-05:00

In my most recent trading binge I sent Matt of Cardboard Conundrum some stuff off his wantlist. I got quite a haul in return. Check it out.

Matt sent a few Select cards from my wantlist.

A manupatch. (my scanner killed it)

A Diamond

An original video card.

Some abuser cards. (figure I will be getting quite a few Manny cards in the mail)

Ok that's it. wait.. Nomar (quite possibly the worse joke ever blogged...)

Thanks Matt

New Best Package of the Year!!

2011-04-25T22:52:00.000-05:00

The package I received from Ryan a week ago was great but what my friend Joey sent blows it out of the water. Remember that awesome package Night Owl got a few weeks ago with a Mays card. Not up to snuff with this package.

Anyone that has been reading knows that I got rid of all my cards before I moved to the Phoenix area from Missouri. I gave them all to a friend and fellow collector that I have dealt with about 15 years now. He is the guy that opened up a card shop in our small Missouri town. I called him one day and told him to come to the house and pick up some cards to get rid of for me. I gave him a whole trunk of late 80s early 90s complete football sets, two monster boxes of Red Sox doubles, a whole bunch of 90s football inserts and a bunch of comic book toys. Here is the first installment of my return.

Those look like late 60s and 70 Topps cards. They are not. They are 60s and 70 O-Pee-Chee cards. You can't tell from looking at the fronts so here are some back scans.

The purple one is easiest to tell that it is not a Topps card from the great big O in the left corner. The 70 in the right is harder to tell cause it just says printed in Canada on the left.

1964 and 65 are the same with the only difference being the printed in Canada.

It is a good thing that he pointed out they were O-Pee-Chee cause I would have never noticed. All I look at on the back of a card is the number. Everything else is just there.

I have been chasing this next card for years.

This is a 1958 Hires Root Beer Bill Virdon for the Virdon collection. They are almost always graded on eBay and always lots of money. See what I mean? I have watched many many go by because they were out of my price range. Once a long time ago there was one for 20 that was autographed I passed on cause I didn't want one signed unless I got it in person. Afterwards I wished I had bought it cause I didn't think I would ever see another go cheap enough again. Now I don't have to look for it anymore.

Here is the back because I know some people are interested in that sort of thing. I think it is kind of cool that the number is inside of a root beer bottle lid. That reminds me I found a old style pull tab on the ground in Payson, AZ this weekend. It has been years since I saw one which I thought was funny because they used to be on the ground all over the place.

Now the card that really makes the package great.

A 59 Topps Ted Williams All Star card. It isn't in the best shape but a Williams card from his playing days is a gem in my collection. I kind of like that it is not in good shape cause I don't have any remorse putting it in a binder with my other 59s. If it was in really great condition I would have to put it in a top loader instead.

To top it all off he still has a ton of stuff to get rid of for me. That means I have more stuff coming at some point.

Chopping My 2011 Wantlist

2011-04-25T06:45:00.001-05:00

I got some cards from Derek of Tomahawk Chopping. He knocked out some of my 2011 want lists.

I think that this was the last Opening Day I needed. I haven't seen the checklist but I have to be close to having them all.

I was always amazed that Adrian could hit the ball from his knee. I'm glad that Topps captured it on a card. I miss the way he brought it every night. I don't miss it enough that I would rather have him over Adrian but I love how hard he played every single night last year. I respect a guy that goes 100% on every single play of every single game.

I also just received another package from him that I am going to post a different day. Thanks Derek!

Quick Trade with Rhubarb

2011-04-24T06:31:00.001-05:00

I love and hate this set. It is so maddening that there are 162 Red Sox in the thing yet I must get them all. I think lots of us got trapped in Documentary. That is probably what Upper Deck had in mind but it took everyone a while to realize it. One of the first to realize it was the Rhubarb Runner. He has been picking these up and trading them all over the place.

He sent me 13 new ones and promised that he may be sending more.

Yes I know there are 15 cards scanned. That is because Rhubarb is an enabler. These last two are not normal Documentary cards, they are Gold parallels. A parallel to a set with almost 5000 cards in it. How many boxes do you have to buy to finish that off. No thank you. I'm not even going to chase all the Red Sox. I refuse, it's ridicules. Yes I'll take them all in trade and I will purchase every single one that I see for sale but I'm not going to collect them. Not even going to add them to my checklist. (until I get closer to having them all) Damn Enabler!!

Thanks David.

Cards from BigD

2011-04-23T07:25:00.000-05:00

I sent a bunch of Elway cards to BigD of Hey That's Mine right before I moved. It was an attempt to get them to someone that wanted them before I dumped all my unwanted cards cause I didn't want to move them. He sent back a package in return.

2011 Topps Team card. As I am writing this things are looking up. Youkilis is hitting again and all may be well once again in Red Sox nation.

It is hard to tell from this scan but this is a parallel of the base set. I'm not sure what to call it but it has a non-straight edge. I guess that it is supposed to look like the edge of a ticket. Good try Topps, but...

This Buchholz was my favorite card of the package. It is a SP from the 2008 Timeline set. These have been extremely hard to track down. This is probably the first one I have added to the team set in about a year.

I'm not sure what this Ortiz insert is from. It is made by Topps but I have never seen it or one of a different player like it. Was it from the base set or something else. With as many blogs as I read I would have thought there was not an insert set that came out I haven't seen but this one slipped by me. Anyone know what it came from?

Thanks for the great package.

Last chance for the Group Break

2011-04-22T11:53:00.004-05:00

There is still lots of teams left at $3 a piece in my 87 O-Pee-Chee break. I don't have to sell them all but I would still like to sell a few more. I figured with the amount of Ranger Oriole and Phillie bloggers out there they would have been claimed already. I figured that KC would have got grabbed also for a shot at a ~~Bo Jackson OPC~~. 1987 Topps was full of iconic cards that are in O-Pee-Chee also. Ontop of ~~Jackson~~ there is Conseco, ~~McGwire~~, and Bonds.

** I just realized from Matt's comment that there is no McGwire or Jackson. I had always figured it was basically a parallel set.

So comment below

TEAMS
1. Angels -
2. Athletics -
3. Rangers -
4. Mariners -Justin
5. White Sox -
6. Indians -David
7. Royals - Justin

8. Twins - Heartbreaking Cards (paid)

9. Tigers - Potch Weeler (paid)
10. Red Sox - Thoughts And Sox

11. Yankees - BA Benny (paid)

12. Blue Jays - 1967ers
13. Orioles - Justin

14. Cubs - Potch Weeler (paid)

15. Cardinals -

16. Brewers - Collectors Crack (paid)

17. Pirates -
18. Astros -

19. Reds - Writers Journey (paid)

22. Padres -
21. Dodgers - Night Owl

22. Giants -

23. Braves - Cardboard Collections (paid)
24. Expos -
25. Mets - The SandLot (paid)

26. Phillies - Justin

Posting late so the right guy reads it first.

2011-04-22T02:31:00.000-05:00

I received a package from the very best writer in the blogosphere, Night Owl. I know my post will never be as well written as one of his but I must subject you to the package anyway.

My son hates mascots and is scared to death of them but he likes mascot cards. The one that he got at the D-Backs game is now his favorite card. He had the same smile on his face when he got it as old Wally does on this card. I must get this one into a binder before he sees it and I have to chase down another one.

Opening day Blue is a hard parallel set to track down. Greg was nice enough to send me two of them. First up is a guy that will be putting on a Boston uniform for many many years to come. I like what I see of him so far.

He hasn't quite pitched like the ace he is so far but I think he will get better as the season goes on. Last year I thought he should be the opening day starter but Beckett got the nod. This year he really was the opening day starter and Beckett has ended up looking way better than he has.

This is the last of the 2011 Heritage I am going to show cause it is so ugly. Actually I plan to show one more once I get JD Drew. He is the kind of boring player that this set deserves, plus he is the last SP card I need.

Night Owl knows that everyone like shiny. Here is a shiny orange refractor from last years Chrome that looks extremely red to me. At least being color blind keeps me from having to shop for kids clothes. I got two more orange ones from a different blogger today that I shall post at a later date. I am slowly getting all these orange refractors from last year. One good thing about the Topps monopoly,there are a lot less things to chase after so it is easier to get what is out there. Marco is the only Atomic refractor I need from 2010 to complete that team set. (they are not really atomic refractors anymore but in my mind they still are and shall always be atomic refractors)

Thanks Greg.

One of my favorite 2009 cards isn't a Red Sox.

2011-04-20T07:22:00.010-05:00

The reason I collect cards is because the feelings and memories that are attached to the happenings of the cards subject. I collect Red Sox because I have a passion for the Red Sox baseball team, boxing cards because I love the sport, and Virdon because of the former home town affiliation. One of my favorite cards of 09 though isn't one of the things I collect. It is this card.

It brings back memories of it's own. No I'm not a motorcycle rider. In fact I have never rode a motorcycle. It brings back memories because I, like Chad Reed, raced motorcross, just not on a motorcycle. I raced it on ATVs. I only raced for about 4 years but some of my fondest memories are related to my racing travels. It started from watching a friend race his motorcycle at the local fair and hanging out with him in the pits. Someone that was an acquaintance was racing his quad the same night and we got to talking. Soon I had bought my own quad and went to a race with him. I had never rode an atv before except for to test ride the thing at the Honda shop before we took it to the race track. Of course I got dead last and was lapped by everyone except the guy who crashed out but I was hooked. I started practicing and going to more races. After a few months I got fast enough that as long as I didn't crash I won. The catch there is as long as I didn't crash. At that point I went all in buying a top of the line quad with all the extras. I raced and traveled with the same 4-5 guys all the time. We raced together worked on our bikes together and partied together. Our schedule was:

Saturday: Race night somewhere. Usually a fairgrounds race, I sucked at these, small tight tracks were a guarantee I was going to crash.
Sunday: Races all day. Problem was that they were always hours away and the Saturday night race usually lasted till after midnight. So usually only ran on 2-3 hours of sleep.
Monday: All of us would meet at one of our garages, bbq and wash the bikes. This was the time we figured out what we had to do to get ready for the next week. Not a week went by that one of us didn't have to replace something major.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: Practice or watch others practice while waiting on parts for my own bike.
Friday: BBQ and clean up again to get ready for Racing Saturday night.

This was normal schedule from about late February to November until we stepped up to racing nationally.
Has anyone seen that commercial on tv where the guy gets a hamburger that is like a foot tall? When we went to the Redbud ATV National we accidentally found that truck stop and I ordered one of those burgers. I split it with someone though. Accidentally found the first Burger King ever while on the same trip. Good Times...

All the races were great but it was all the garage and practice days that I liked best.

Oh yeah about the card. Every February Supercross would come to St Louis. Every year all us racers from my area would get together and go the the race. So every time I see this card I remember the times I spent with my racing friends. I have the normal and mini versions of it. Somewhere along the way I would like to pick up the Gypsy Queen version.

I can't wait till one day they print a quad racer card.

Allen & Ginter SP Tradebait.

2011-04-19T21:26:00.001-05:00

If you are still trying to put together Allen & Ginter sets I happened to pick up a bunch of SP cards from various years. If you need some let me know. I also have a bunch of non SPs if you need them but I'm not taking the time to list them all out. I'm not even taking the time to capitalize names...

2010
310 polonco
311 figgins

2009
346 dominique
336 ludwick
325 navarro
322 volstad
320 bj ryan
319 sheffield
317 baker
312 burnett
311 g floyd
304 escobar

2008
348 masterson
347 dejesus
338 polonco
333 crisp
331 castillo
326 a kennedy
322 blalock
320 dm young
313 harriet beecher stowe
311 bj ryan
302 lidge

To bad my comments arn't as funny as over there

2011-04-18T07:07:00.000-05:00

Julie from Things are Funnier Here runs a great blog and she send a great trade package.

Batting leadoff is Card Crawford. To bad he sucks so far this year. Nothing like signing someone to a huge contract and them stinking. I would like to say I didn't like the Crawford signing before he started to perform horribly. Just look at some of the comments I made on Sections 36s blog when the signing happened. But a Red Sox card is a Red Sox card and I needed this one.

Beckett is starting to look like the Beckett of old. Too bad the rest of the team isn't following suit.

Youkilis is starting to heat up. I think he is the key to the Red Sox offense. Once he is on track the rest will follow. I find the photo used is kind of odd with the blue background. It looks almost as weird as the Wal Mart version of his 2010 card. (almost but not quite)

There is that Crawford guy again. This time on a card design that should have stayed in the past. I feel the same way about the 62 set as I feel about Crawford.

I don't know why but I like parrallels. I hate inserts but I like parallels. How much sense does that make??

Look more parrallels. This time they are the mini version. My favorite type of parallel.

I'm surprised that I don't get more Clemens cards in the mail. I mean everybody hates the guy now so why do they hold on to his cards. It must be because they know that he was one of the greatest pitchers of all time regardless of the other stuff.

Thanks for the great stuff Julie.

Best Mailday of 2011

2011-04-17T19:08:00.000-05:00

The same day Greg over at Night Owl posted about an awesome lot of vintage he received, I received a package from Ryan of "O" No!!! Another Os Blog. It was the best package I have got all year.

First off it contained a whole team set of 63 Fleer.

Yes it only consisted of 3 cards but we're talking about 3 cards from almost 50 years ago.

One of which is Yaz. It is in no means mint condition but that is okay with me. It makes it easier for me to put in my vintage binder without remorse.

I don't know allot about some of the Red Sox that came before my time. So what I know about Monbouquette is that he has an extremely long hard to pronounce last name and he is the last guy I need to complete my 1960 Topps team set. he has been the only one I needed for over a year now. Why I don't just buy one on eBay I don't know but I have been waiting to find one at a card show or to get one in trade.

I know lots of people love 1962 Topps but it is one of my least favorite sets ever. I still want all the Red Sox though.

That is why 1962 Topps cards that are bent, have paperloss, and are a little bit moldy are great pickups for me. I can't put any money in this set at all and these two examples fit right in with the rest of the 62s I already have. Heck 1991 Fleer looks better than 62 Topps. ditto for 2011 Heritage (I put that 1962 Topps comment in a comment on someones blog a few months ago and got blasted for a week, lets see how much hate mail I get this time.)

I don't feel compelled to look up old ballplayers but when the posting well runs dry you look them up. I did this with Conley and was glad I did so. I didn't realize he was the same Gene Conley that played for the Celtics.

I can't remember who it was at the moment but somebody the other day said how boring 65 Topps was. Myself I don't dislike it at all. I mean baseball is all about winning pennants and 1965 gives you one with every single card. Cardboard greatness.

Ryan didn't just send vintage he sent a small stack of new stuff to but the vintage was so great that I didn't scan any of them.

Thanks Ryan for all the great cards!

Sandlot Cards

2011-04-17T06:46:00.001-05:00

I got a great package from The Sandlot. All it took me to get all this great stuff was some Mets cards.

Joe sent some Vintage, Upper Deck Vintage. I'm always glad to get a Nomar. I have noticed that people are getting a little less stingy with their Nomar cards. This makes me happy.

What is this a white 07 Topps Chrome? That is because it is a numbered refractor. I'm guessing that people start unloading their Manny cards soon. Surely his retirement will cause a shuffle of peoples cards. I'll take all the Red Sox ones everyone is willing to part with.

Another Manny Chrome, this one is a Turkey Red Chrome Parallel. I don't remember how these came though. Is it a parallel of Chrome or a parallel of Turkey Red?

This next card makes me think of Thanksgiving at my grand-in-laws. That is because all food at my grand-in-laws is deep fried, even the Thanksgiving turkey. And this is a Crispy Turkey Red card.

He also sent a bunch of 06 Bowman Heritage Mini cards. I scanned it next to the Crisp so that you could see the size difference.

This is a mini card also scanned by itself so it looks supersized. Funny thing is I just sent a few of these Bowman minis to Rhubarb the day before I got this package. Mark Lorretta looks exactly like someone I went to high school with in this card.

This is my favorite card of the package. Not only is it a mini Lester RC it is a mini Lester SP RC.

Lastly I'm showing a 06 Bowman Heritage Game Used Curt Schilling. It is kind of an odd picture with his hat covering his eyes. As much of a folk hero he has become in Boston for his 04 playoff performances I have found he is as big or bigger here in Phoenix.

Thanks for all the great stuff Joe.

More Vintage PC Cards Arrive

2011-04-16T06:31:00.002-05:00

I do a daily search of Virdon stuff on eBay. For years these next two items have not been listed even once. Oddly enough both of them appeared at the same time. (different sellers)

This is a 1962 Shirriff Coin. I didn't think I would ever see one of these. When I did I pounced and outbid everyone. I still thought I got a good deal though. It looks exactly like the more common Salida coin. Same picture and everything.

The only difference is the back has Shirriff Potato Chips on it instead of Salida. Shirriff is or was a Canadian chip company so the seller I got this from was from north of the border.

The second Virdon card I received in the mail was a 1962 Jello card. It looks exactly like the Post Canadian card only it doesn't have the Post logo at the top. Evidently Jello wasn't sold near as much as other Post products cause in over 2 years this is the first one that has been listed on eBay. It cost me about $9 after shipping.

A Quick Trade With Tomahawk Chopping

2011-04-15T07:39:00.001-05:00

Opening Day card of opening day starter Jon Lester.

My 2nd Heritage Card is Big Papi. He brought his bat so far in April, too bad the rest of the team left theirs in Ft Myers. (Well, Gonzalez brought his too)

I really like these Wal Mart Parallel cards. Too bad Topps had to screw that up when they quit putting them out in blasters by themselves.

Thanks for the great cards Derek.

Seriously, Nobody Has an 86 Donruss Oil Can Boyd for trade.

2011-04-14T06:51:00.002-05:00

For about a year now the #1 card on my Top 10 Most wanted list has been a 1986 Donruss #50 Oil Can Boyd. I don't know if nobody ever looks at the list or what. Maybe I need to make it bright yellow or something so someone looks at it. That or maybe nobody wants to part with it because it is so awesome. Doesn't Mr Boyd look like a pimp on this card? Satin jacket, big sunglasses, if only that was a fur instead of a towel around his neck.

1986 was the year that the Sox played a game in foggy Cleveland one evening and "Oil Can" said, "That's what they get for building a ballpark on the ocean." Classic

Don't forget you can still get in my O-Pee-Chee box break...

2003 Bowman Heritage Parallels for trade

2011-04-13T16:32:00.001-05:00

I doubt anyone is chasing this set but maybe some player or team collectors will want them. I know there is a Bagwell and Pudge collector ont in blog land but I for get who they are.