The Ultimate Christmas Present: Slightly Belated Edition

So my best friend, and my card partner, came through in a HUGE way for Christmas. We both got into collecting at the same time and have similar interests when it comes to cards. We jointly own a few higher end cards that were bought when we first started collecting, a time when we were both very naive. We've both since learned the tricks of the trade, and have a better understanding of this wonderful hobby. 

He surprised me for Christmas with something I had thought about doing, but I don't think I mentioned it here. Enjoy the cards in their scanned glory below. Thanks again Dikran. Your (late) present is on its way!

By the way, I am still looking for the Pink and the Super to truly complete the rainbow. There will be a hefty finders fee if someone can help me out. 

Topps Chrome Rainbow: Three New Additions

I've been out of town for the past few days, unable to post about cards. I came home today to a large number of PWE's, bubble mailers, and boxes all filled with cardboard. It will take me a little time sorting through everything but it will all be up soon.

I'm starting out with three new additions to my Dodgers Topps Chrome Rainbow Quest. All three came from different people, one coming via trade. I'll discuss that tomorrow though.

Another Dodger outfielder, means another new label. Carl Crawford joins the blog in the form of an X-fractor and Blue parallel. I beleive these are my 1st two parallels for the newly engaged CC. In addition to Crawford, Matt Kemp joins the party with parallel number 7/12. I came close to acquiring the camo parallel for Kemp on eBay a few days ago, but did not come away with the winning bid. I was leading all week, but with about 3 minutes left until the auction a customer walked into my office forcing to move away from my computer and the auction. I returned moments later to see that I had been outbid at the last second, and lost it for a measly 50 cents. I wasn't very happy, but there are worse things in life then losing an eBay auction. #BlameCustomers

There will be quite a bit more posts coming in the near future. Probably most coming tomorrow, I don't really feel like getting into more stuff tonight. Don't forget to enter this week's contest to win three Bowman Silver Ice cards. Use the hashtag #BeatGreg on twitter with any post and receive an extra entry while you're at it.

Introduction to the RCD: 1995 Mike Piazza

I scanned a few cards I found while searching through some older stuff in my Dad's shed. I'll occasionally post a scan of these cards. I plan on calling this Random Card of the Day, or RCD. This will be the first post in the RCD series.

RCD Posts are opportunities for you to get Chavez Code Points!

Simply leave a comment with an interesting story you may have about this particular card, or a story that has something to do with the player. Just about anything you say about the featured  player can get you points. 

The comment system allows you to "vote up" a comment. The comment with the most upvotes will get the most points. Anybody with a cool story will get points, so don't hold back. This point system relies on you, the readers, to make this work. 

If anybody has any suggestions about this, let me know. 

The first card in this series is a 1995 Topps Mike Piazza #110

Topps Chrome Rainbow: Another Kemp Means I'm Halfway Done #BeatGreg

As I was writing out the title to this post I realized I am officially halfway done with the Matt Kemp Rainbow. It has taken me 2 months, and a few bucks to get this far. Yet, the hardest part lies ahead. I have not yet acquired any of the low numbered cards, though that may soon change. My quest for the TCR is much harder than I anticipated. I think I will take out  the rainbow player by player, focusing on the easier (and cheaper) parallels. I am in no rush to get this done, yet I am very eager to.

I picked this card up off of eBay on my mini splurge last week. X-Fractors always look good to me, and this is another card that was had for cheap. Card money has been tight over the last few weeks, mainly due to Christmas and going out with friends that have returned on their winter breaks from school. Hopefully textbooks won't cost a fortune next semester or cards will probably only be had through trade for a while. 

Don't forget to enter this week's contest. It ends right before the new year, 11:59pm PST to be exact. Just click on Stephen Strasburg's weird face to your left to be taken to the contest post. Also, in the spirit of the New Year, anybody that uses #BeatGreg on Twitter at least once will get an extra entry into the contest. Just let me know by DM or comment that you tweeted with that hashtag, and I'll add your extra entry. 

Bowman Silver Ice Contest

This contest is for a 3 card lot of Silver Ice Cards from 2013 Bowman. The winner will receive the cards pictured. Contest ends 12/31/13 at 11:59pm PST. The rules will be explained below. Good luck!

To enter this contest, perform one of the two things below. You may perform both for a maximum of two entries per day.

• Comment on this post.
• Retweet one of my contest tweets on Twitter

You can comment on the post once a day, and everyday you comment will add an additional entry into the contest. I will occasionally tweet about the contest, and you can retweet those to enter as well. However, only one retweet per day will count towards the contest. The winner will be selected using Random.org, and will be notified via email and/or twitter. The winner will have one week to send me their mailing address. I will ship the card to the winner for free!

Didi Gregorius Contest Winner: Could It Be Anyone Else?

I am lost for words. Even after a record number of entries, Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle managed to pull out a victory. This man is a contest magnet. You cannot stop him, only hope to contain him.

There were a ton of new entrants into this contest, a trend I hope will continue. The Top 4 will receive points, via the Chavez Code. The Top 50 entries are posted below just for a laugh. Another contest will be up shortly. Greg managed 4! spots in the Top 10. Good luck to everybody! (Except Greg)

Trade With Dodger Penguin: A Matt Kemp Christmas

I hope all my readers enjoyed their holiday. I know I enjoyed spending time with family, and I definitely enjoyed the gifts that came my way. No new cards to show you from Christmas, but I did get a few gift cards. I think I'll pick up a blaster box this weekend and do a post on the contents.

I had a few packages come in today, but one stood above the rest. After looking through the gorgeous cards sent my way, I realized that today was just Christmas: Part 2. 

That package came from the always excellent Matthew of Dodger Penguin. Please check out his blog if you haven't already. He features some great Dodger cards, as well as memorabilia. He also holds contests, so don't delay, visit Dodger Penguin's blog today!

We've been sending some things back and forth for a few weeks now, but we have officially completed our first trade. 

First up is a fantastic Matt Kemp auto.

I've actually been on the hunt for this card for quite some time, but continually fall just short at the end of the eBay auctions. It's another fine addition to my Matt Kemp PC.

But, the Kemp auto was not the main prize in this trade. 

I managed to get my hands on my first 1/1, in the form of a 2013 Bowman Chrome Matt Kemp Yellow Printing Plate.

Before today, I had never laid eyes on a printing plate. I honestly thought it would be a little heavier then it is, but I'm not complaining. There is  more obvious yellow tint to it in person, something that doesn't cross over in to the scan very well. 

You can see Matthew's original post on the card from when he obtained it here. 

Acquiring a 1/1 Matt Kemp has been one of my main priorities in my short time collecting. Matthew came through and will be rewarded BIG TIME. Say goodbye to your lead in the Chavez Code Judson. I sent Matthew some cool stuff in return for this, and I'll be sure to link his post about it as soon as he gets it. 

In addition to the two Matt Kemp beauties, Matthew threw in three much needed cards from 2013 Bowman Platinum. (Kemp, Kershaw, Ryu)

I'm not particularly fond of the look of the set, but I do want to complete the base set. My remaining needs can be found here. 

Thanks again Matthew! You went above and beyond, and I hope we can do this again soon. 

1989 Topps Dodgers Team Set

I spent a good portion of today searching through old boxes and binders full of my Dad's older baseball cards. He started collecting in the late 80's and early 90's, which means I have a lot of junk to go through. I came across some cool stuff which I will be occasionally posting to the blog.

I honestly don't know to much about cards that are pre-2012. I know that most cards from the late 80's to 90's are junk, though there are certain cards that can fetch a pretty penny. However, while searching through the binders I came across some cards that caught my eye, 1989 Topps Baseball. There isn't much to the design, and honestly they probably aren't very special, but there was enough of them that I have decided to put together the team set.

There are 33 cards for the complete Dodgers team set. That seems like a high number to me, considering 25-man rosters, but this was obviously a different era in the sports card world. After tedious searching, I have 23 of the 33 needed to complete the set. They are pictured below.

That leaves me with 10 to acquire. I'm hoping my fellow Dodger bloggers can come through with anything they have to help me complete this goal. As always, there will be a bounty on the cards I need. I'll give a point per card, to anybody that can help me finish the set. My needs are listed below.

5 Orel Hershiser Record Breaker
225 Ramon Martinez RC
249 Tim Leary
254 Tom Lasorda Manager
394 Orel Hershiser All-Star
396 Kirk Gibson All-Star
425 Jay Howell
513 Jesse Orosco
736 Jeff Hamilton
755 Mike Scioscia

I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas tomorrow. If you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you enjoy your day all the same.  

A Mickey Mouse Relic

Well, it's not really a Micky Mouse relic. Adrian Gonzalez kind of earned the Micky Mouse nickname after his playful celebration in the playoffs. Cardinals players took offense to it, and for some reason it became a thing.

This is my first A-Gon hit, and it looks spectacular. I was actually surprised I won the eBay auction for as little as I did, but I'm not complaining. I love seeing Adrian in Dodger blue, a color I've been dying for him to be in since his days as a Padre. I was one of the ones clamoring Ned to trade Loney and Broxton for him. I forget which side was reluctant to do that, but it't all for naught now.

The card itself is numbered pretty low, only 27 copies were made, which is a bonus. I'm still looking for an auto of his. I'm trying not to spend too much money at the moment. The holidays are kind of killing my card budget. I'll continue to look, maybe some x-mas money will help me out.

Topps Chrome Rainbow: Two New Parallels and a Few More Bases

While writing this post I realized this is my first post with an Andre Ethier label. I managed to find time for Nick Punto, Matt Magill, and Onelki Garcia cards, but not an Ethier. It's probably due to the fact that I didn't think he'd still be around. I still don't think the Dodgers head into the season with four healthy, high-priced outfielders, all capable of starting, but I've been wrong before. Onto the cards!

I received four packages in the mail today. Two from fellow bloggers Judson and Matthew, and two from eBay purchases. Judson and Matthew, who run My Cardboard Habit and Dodger Penguin, respectively, sent me some base cards I needed for my 2013 Topps Chrome Dodgers team set. I'm still short a Paco base, as well as a Ryu base card. I'm throwing out 5 points per base card to both Judson and Matthew, as well as anybody that can help me out with my two remaining needs. 

Judson also added a Matt Magill X-Fractor.

eBay package #1 contained another parallel to help me conquer the Topps Chrome Rainbow. 

The first Ethier parallel is now taken off the board. This Orange parallel also leaves me with five more to acquire.(Ryu, Puig, Kershaw, Magill, Crawford) The odds of me obtaining a Puig for a reasonable price right now are equivalent to the Dodgers trading Matt Kemp for David Price. It ain't gonna happen. I'll certainly be looking, but the Puig parallels are not a huge priority at the moment. 

Just to clarify for those out there reading and myself. Base cards from this set are worth 5 points. Non-#'d parallels are worth 10 points. #'d parallels are worth 25 points, as well as a card of your choice from my Trade Bait. Point totals will be updated shortly for the two fantastic gentlemen above. 

A post on eBay package #2 will be up shortly. I want to eat some lunch before rambling on about cards again.

The Top CF's and The Chavez Code

I grabbed this card off of eBay for just a few cents plus shipping. I'm not a big fan of the Pinnacle look, though the scan piqued my interest and I bought it. I'm still unsure what is going on with this card. Kemp is featured on the front, which is slightly different from the back. You can see the difference in scans between the two sides. I don't know enough about Pinnacle to understand what is going on in the front. (5 points to the first person that comments with what it is). 2013 NL MVP, Andrew McCutchen, is thrown onto the back of the card. Both Kemp and Cutch have the same pose which is sort of cool. It's another Kemp added to my PC.

The Chavez Code is getting a little harder to keep track of then I thought. People have different names on Twitter than they do on Disqus which makes it tricky for me to keep track of. Please take a look at the the Chavez Code leader board to see if you are on it. If you follow the blog or follow me on Twitter and are not listed, then leave a comment and let me know. If you would like to change the name I have for you, please leave a comment and let me know. You can find more info on the Chavez Code here.

Happy Birthday Steve Garvey!

This is the only Garvey I own at the moment, but more are planned for the future. Check out the fantastic Dodger blog Garvey, Cey, Russell, Lopes. It is another great Dodger blog and he is currently running a  Steve Garvey Contest.

Happy Birthday Steve!

Yasiel Puig SP Refractor + Collector Questions

Like a lot of stupid people, I tried to finish up my Christmas shopping last night. It seems like the holiday creeped up on me this year, and I still have a few stores to visit before I am done with my gift giving. While at Target I was looking to buy some Parks and Rec packs that I've seen before. They didn't have any so I settled with a rack pack of Bowman Chrome. I didn't get anything to exciting, though I did get this.

2013 Bowman Chrome Yasiel Puig Refractor #78

It is the SP Refractor, which holds a decent value. I absolutely love the overall look of this card. The card screams Dodger baseball to me. The beautiful Dodger jersey really shines on the refractor finish, and the yellow seats in the background bring back some wonderful memories from last season. I cannot wait for the season to get started again, and I'm sure you can't either.

On to another subject now, I have been slowly uploading my inserts to my trade bait page. In addition to those inserts and the hits on my trade bait link, any card I feature on here is always available. Just like the Dodgers outfielder situation, I will always be listening to offers, though I am in no rush to trade them. Feel free to contact me if your interested in anything I post.

For those that are still reading, I have a few questions. How do you store your PC cards? How do you store other cards that are not necessarily your primary collections? How do you store your sets? I have heard numerous suggestions on how to store my stuff, but I thought I would directly ask those that have to do it. Let's hear how you do it. 

Trade With My Cardboard Habit: Saturday Night Goodies

I worked out my second trade with Judson from My Cardboard Habit. Judson is one of the nicest guys I've talked to since starting this blog, and he runs a fantastic blog of his own. He contacted me about the Darin Ruf Auto I pulled from a Topps Chrome box last week, and we quickly hammered out a deal. You can see what I sent him here.

First up is a fine Dodger auto, compliments of the young Cuban Onelki Garcia. Garcia has worked his way up the minor league system for the Dodgers, finally getting some major league action at the end of this season. I had yet to acquire his auto, but thanks to Judson, there is one less thing on my to do list. 

Secondly, I grabbed this sweet Evan Longoria Relic. I am not a Longoria collector, but adding one of the finest young third baseman to my collection is something I could not pass on. I am not too big on the black border with a green card, though it is still pleasing to look at. I'll add this card to my trade bait for those interested, but am not actively trying to move it. 

Judson also threw in a sweet Matt Kemp refractor from 2013 Topps Chrome. Although I already have the card, I will still throw some points in Judson's direction. You can never have to many Kemp cards, so feed my Kemp hunger and send me some more! 

Thanks Judson. I hope to pull some more trades off in the future!

Topps Chrome Rainbow: 5 New Dodger Additions

After declaring my desire to complete the rainbow for every Dodgers player from 2013 Topps Chrome, I went on a mini eBay bender. The first of several packages arrived today and it will take a big chuck out of Orange Parallel needs. 

This leaves me with 6 Orange Parallels left to acquire. The contrast between the Blue and the Orange looks great, though I am not fond of featuring the Giants primary color on a Dodger card. Adding the Orange Kemp puts me at 5 out of 12 of the parallels for him. The hardest and most expensive ones remain in the wild, and I have yet to see one on eBay since the dawn of my quest. I would definitely appreciate a heads up if anybody runs into one. 

I didn't just come away with Orange Parallels with this purchase though, I also picked up this sweet Purple of Dodgers Co-Ace, Zack Greinke. 

I spent seven and a half bucks to get these to my door, a price I'd be happy to pay again. You can't go wrong spending a little over a buck per card shipped, for some beautiful parallels of my boys in blue. I have updated my Topps Chrome Rainbow tab to include these. 

Didi Gregorius Auto Contest

This contest is for a 2013 Topps Chrome Didi Gregorius Base Auto. The winner will receive the card pictured. Contest ends 12/26/13 at 9pm PST. The rules will be explained below. Good luck!

To enter this contest, perform one of the two things below. You may perform both for a maximum of two entries per day.

• Comment on this post.
• Retweet one of my contest tweets on Twitter

You can comment on the post once a day, and everyday you comment will add an additional entry into the contest. I will occasionally tweet about the contest, and you can retweet those to enter as well. However, only one retweet per day will count towards the contest. The winner will be selected using Random.org, and will be notified via email and/or twitter. The winner will have one week to send me their mailing address. I will ship the card to the winner for free!

David Price Refactor Winner

Congratulations to Matthew Wilson! You are this week's lucky winner. In addition to the card you will also receive 4 points. The Top 4 is shown below.

Another Matthew, the Dodger Penguin one, finished with both 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Instead of awarding multiple points for both spots, Matthew will receive 3 points for 2nd and two extra entries into the next contest for his 3rd place finish. Nate rounds out the list with 1 point. 

Matthew you may choose to pass on the card in exchange for 4 additional points. If you choose to do so the David Price Refractor will be added into next weeks contest. Let me know what you'd like to do. 

A new contest will be up shortly. Good luck!

Contest Winnings From Dodger Penguin

I recently won a contest over at the fantastic Dodger Penguin blog run by Matthew. Matthew features some great cards of all things Dodgers, and sent me some awesome things. 

The Seager's were the main prize, and something I have been trying to get my hands on for awhile now. I don't like spending more on shipping than I do on the actual card, which is why I have not added these to my PC yet. Luckily, school taught me something and I was able to correctly guess some of the questions Matthew asked in his contest. 

Next up is a fantastic Purple Refractor of Matt Kemp. I wouldn't normally associate purple and the Dodgers, but the card looks great. Matthew also gets 20 points for sending this my way. This purple refractor marks the 4th card out of 12 for the Mattycakes rainbow. 

Thanks again Matthew! I look forward to your next contest.

Trade With Big 44 Sports Cards: Camo Beltre, Set Needs and More

2013 Topps Chrome #122, #'d 3/15

I was targeting the above card when I contacted Nate who runs another great card blog, Big 44 Sports Cards. Nate is a big Pirates fan and I had quite a few Pirates laying around. You can see what I sent him here. We worked out a deal through email and my end of the deal arrived today. 

As I have mentioned before I am a big fan of Beltre. Although he hasn't done time with the boys in blue since '04, he is one of the best players to come through their system in the past 20 years. Beltre plays for the Rangers now and seems to have a pretty cool relationship with Elvis Andrus. I was pretty psyched when I saw this in Nate's trade bait and I made sure we got the deal done. It is the camo parallel #'d 3/15. I am currently deciding whether or not to pursue the Beltre rainbow, especially considering my rather zealous attempt creating a 2013 Topps Chrome Dodgers Rainbow. 

Nate also threw in a few awesome Dodgers. Both are new additions to my respective PC's, and are greatly appreciated. 

2012 Topps Finest X-Fractor #40

2013 Bowman Chrome Refractor #220

Nate also helped out a ton with some of my set needs from Series 2 and Chrome. Both are very close to being completed, and I have some more sorting and more set needs that will be posted eventually. 

Thanks again Nate. I have updated the point totals and your on your way to catching Greg at the top of the list.

Another Cracked Ice Matt Kemp

2012 Panini Prizm Cracked Ice #3

I added another Kemp to my PC today with this Panini Cracked Ice from 2012 Panini Prizm. This card is limited to 25 copies and only set me back 5 bucks. Scans of cracked ice cards usually look 100 times better than they do in person for some reason, and this is no exception. 

I have also added 3 new cards to my TradeBait/PrizeList. Scans of two of them are below.