Topps Chrome Rainbow: Andre Ethier Black Refractor

For those that didn't notice, it was a bit quiet on my blog over the weekend. My mom decided to head to Vegas for the weekend, which forced me to pack up my laptop and homework to go and watch our dogs about 40 miles away. Unfortunately, I forgot to scan any cards before heading out there which meant no posting. 

It's a moot point now, as I got back yesterday evening. Waiting for me were a few awesome packages, the first containing the sweet card you'll see below.

I was able to pick this beauty up off of the bay last week for just a few bucks. Numbered 26/100, it marks my fourth black refractor out of twelve needed for my Dodgers Topps Chrome Rainbow. 

For those who don't care to click on the link, or for those just too lazy, I now have 49/120 cards needed to put together the entire Topps Chrome Rainbow. That number will increase to 50 tomorrow, as I plan on showing off the lowest numbered card in my possession yet. 

P.S: I will be shipping out cards to everybody I have talked to over the past two weeks or so this Friday! Yippee! I didn't want to take this long to ship, and most of the packages are already put together, but shipping about 20 bubble mailers at one time can be quiet costly. 

Third Time's a Charm

One of my 2014 Goals is to acquire 15 Matt Kemp autos. When I wrote out that goal post I had two Kemp autos to my name. Which means I had 12 months to get a hold of 13 more autos to reach my goal.

Nearly 5 months into 2014, I had yet to acquire one. But after a tip from veteran Dodger blogger Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle, I was able to add my third auto to my collection early last week. 

This bad boy set my back a little over 14 bucks shipped, a deal I would do again in a second. Unfortunately, the auto is on a sticker, but the jumbo white swatch more than makes up for it. My copy is #'d 8/10, and Greg mentioned that we now own 20% of the print run. 

The thing I found unique about this card was the fact that it was sold three different times in the past month and a half alone! It first sold on March 2nd for $15.49, then again on March 31st for $24.50, and finally by me for $14.50. Not only was it sold three times, it was sold by the same seller. I am guessing the seller never received payment, which forced them to re-list it. One thing is for sure, this is the last time the card will ever be sold. At least while I'm alive.

A Dre from the Bay

I spent last Friday evening scouring eBay for some good deals. Because, you know, that is what all twenty-year-old's do on Friday nights. 

I ended up only winning one auction that night, however, it was a great deal if you asked me.

Yup. My first authentic Andre Ethier auto and boy is it a beauty. Topps Tribute puts out some of the nicest autos you'll see and I was able to capitalize by having this shipped to my door for a penny under five bucks. That is a good deal for just about any auto, but the deal is that much better for the Dodger outfielder. 

Ripping Open Some New Gypsy Queen

Over the weekend, my buddy Dikran and I got the itch to rip some packs.  We headed over to one of the 7 local Targets here in Fresno and quickly decided on the new Gypsy Queen. I'm not the biggest fan of Gypsy Queen, but ripping open new cards is always fun. We ended up picking up three of the 10 dollar hanging packs. 

This card stood out above the rest, although we did pull some cool cardboard. It came out of the bonus three card pack that came with the hangar packs, cards that I now have an infatuation with. It is hard to get a feel for this card from the scan, but these cards are sweet. I will definitely be on the lookout for the rest of the Dodgers, as well as my PC guys. 

This card was later found inside of the same hangar pack. Color is nice, but sometimes the old-school look can be nice. This is a perfect example of that. Topps featured a great pose of the man that doesn't hustle, one that they will probably be re-using in another set sometime later this year. This time I won't be complaining though.

The rest of the 1st hangar pack was lackluster. Other than the Kemp, there were no Dodgers. However, the second hangar pack quickly helped my itch for new Dodgers cardboard. I managed to pull this awesome insert of the most hated man in baseball, well second to A-Rod maybe, Yasiel Puig. Like I said earlier, I am not a big fan of Gypsy Queen, but the Glove Stories inserts are pretty cool. Because Topps knows how much I enjoy them, they allowed me to pull this exact card again in the third hangar pack, but I won't be needing that. I guess it goes to the first person that claims it.

Other than the Puig card above, the second hangar pack turned out to be a dud. The third hangar pack looked to continue the trend, but I finally pulled a card of someone I collect: David Ortiz. I have seen cards very similar to this one of Big Papi, but I quickly realized how difficult it must be to find pictures of a guy that does nothing but hit. Topps could probably address this in flagship by throwing out some more "behind-the-scenes" cards you may have seen in the 90's, but most cards like that are SPs these days.

Just behind the Ortiz card was this beauty of Captain Clutch. That nickname probably doesn't apply much anymore these days, but it is still fun to reminisce about the success he had a few seasons ago. Now is the time to buy high on Ethier cardboard, which I have done. In fact, I may have some new additions show up in the next few days. 

Dikran and I were a little bummed that $30 didn't get us more of what we collect, but we did manage some decent hits from other teams. But you can head over to my freshly updated Trade Bait page to see what those hits were exactly.

BTW: Head over to Andrews Baseball Cards and enter his latest contest.

Trade with A Swing and a Hit: 42

I completed my third trade with Nathan of A Swing and a Hit. You can see our first swap here, and our second here. 

Nathan primarily collects the Astros, but also enjoys picking up Red Sox and Brewers cardboard as well. I actually sent cards to him yesterday in return for the great stuff he sent over my way.

First up is this sweet Beltre from the new 2014 Donruss set. I enjoy the look of these Diamond King inserts, but I pretty much have all the ones I had my eyes set on. With the acquisition of this card, my Adrian Beltre PC is up to 83 cards.

Accompanying that Beltre was this sweet Yasiel Puig from the same set. This particular Puig comes in the form of the slightly rarer Studio insert. I am a big fan of the Studio design, but I haven't checked the set list to see if there are any other Dodgers out there. 

Although the Puig and and Beltre cards were nice additions, this trade package was dominated by some sweet Jackie Robinson cardboard. Take the above Jackie card for example.

Also included was this awesome 2012 Gypsy Queen blue framed card of Jackie. It happens to be #'d 112/599, which made me think about how awesome it would be to own a card of Robinson's that is #'d 42/out of something. 

As if a #'d card of number 42 wasn't enough, Nathan tossed in this sweet manu-patch. It is my first Jackie patch, and probably the closest I'll come to owning any type of Robinson relic for a while. 

Thanks again for trade Nathan! Hope you enjoy the cards I sent your way.

Shamelessly Selling Some Cards

A few weeks back I decided to re-evaluate my collection. I decided to only build sets for Topps Flagship, Topps Heritage, and Topps Chrome. This left me with a few sets from 2013 that were nearly complete that I have no room for. I don't want to break up the majority of the set, but I don't want to keep them because I have no room. 

That is why I have decided to sell them, for cheap, to people who would appreciate them a little more than me. If you are interested in any of the following, just shoot me an email. Prices are negotiable, but I am looking to make a little money. I will charge $35.00 shipped if you buy all three. 

2013 Bowman Chrome (Approximately 56% complete)

Price: $15.00 Shipped

Notable cards included: Wil Myers RC, Gerrit Cole RC, Jose Fernandez RC, Clayton Kershaw, Mariano Rivera

This only includes the big league players. We are talking cards numbered between 1-220. For a list of what I don't have, click here. 

2013 Bowman Platinum (Approximately 95% complete)

Price: $10.00 Shipped

Notable cards included: Bryce Harper, Mariano Rivera, Hyun-Jin Ryu RC, Yoenis Cespedes, Jurickson Profar RC

This only includes the big league players. We are talking cards numbered between 1-100. 

The cards not included are: 19 Justin Upton, 52 Kris Medlen, 78 Robinson Cano, 90 Jedd Gyorko RC, 99 Dylan Bundy RC

2013 Bowman (Approximately 97% Complete)

Price: $15.00 Shipped

Notable cards included: Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, Hyun-Jin Ryu RC

This only includes the big league players. We are talking cards numbered between 1-220. For a list of what I don't have, click here.

Contest Winnings from Big L Collectibles

Awhile back I won a contest over at Big L Collectibles. It is one of the newer blogs out there, but focuses more on the Dodgers than cards in general. Still, if you want to see some awesome autographed Dodgers gear, then head over and give Luis a follow.

After being selected the winner, I walked away with these two cards.

Now as much as I enjoy both of these cards, especially the Clemente, there are others out there who would probably enjoy them a little more than me. 

I have added both of these cards to my freshly updated Trade Bait page last night. If these cards, or anything else listed catches your eye, just let me know. 

Thanks again Luis! Good luck with the blog. Can't wait to see some more autographed Dodger goodies. 

Trade with Reader Brandon: A Couple of Relics and A Pair of Lefties

I completed my first trade with reader Brandon, who found me through Brad's Blog. After noticing some cards he wanted through my Mega Trade bait, we quickly came to a deal.

Unfortunately, I have yet to send his cards out. In fact, I have yet to send cards out to anybody in about a week and a half. I feel extremely bad, but I guess I have an excuse - today will be my first day back home since Monday. If I was smart, I would have shipped cards on Monday, but I did not think that far ahead. That said, I will be shipping off about 10 bubble mailers this Monday. 

The card I was most interested in, and the card that spearheaded this deal, is this awesome Shawn Green relic. For some reason I did not put the year of the card in the file name, therefore I am at work scrambling to find out. It's not a big deal right now however, and I will adjust my Shawn Green PC accordingly when I get home this evening. 

Brandon also threw in this Kevin Brown relic. I am not the biggest fan of Kevin Brown, though I never did really watch him pitch. I only started to get into the Dodgers and baseball when I was around 10 (2003), so I only caught the back-end of his career with the boys in blue. Adding a relic of a Dodger is always welcome whether it is Kevin Brown of *sigh* Andruw Jones. 

Finally, I will show off this sweet Koufax/Kershaw card Brandon sent over. I was surprised I did not have it yet, but there are thousands of cards I do not have, so it really shouldn't be a surprise. There aren't a ton of cards with the two best lefties in Dodger history, but I am glad to add this to the Kershaw PC. I will be on the hunt for another to add to the Koufax binder.

Thanks again for the trade Brandon! 

Highlighting a Few Fantastic Blogs Pt.5

Previous posts in this series: Pt.1, Pt.2, Pt.3, Pt.4

I will continue to highlight some of the blogs that deserve more traffic and eventually work my way up to the bigger blogs.



Foul Bunt

If you haven't visited William's fine blog, Foul Bunt, you are missing out. I met started talking with William a few months back, and he is one of my favorite people in the card community. We have been sending each other cards back and forth for awhile now (I actually have some cards ready to go out to him on Monday), which is always a cool thing to have. If the incredible card above didn't give it away, William collects Orioles. He also collects autographed baseballs, however he is toning his collection back to just HOF autos. Head over to Foul Bunt, you won't be disappointed. 

Baseball Card Breakdown

That GIF says it all. I haven't had the pleasure of dealing with Gavin yet, though we may work something out soon. Baseball Card Breakdown is one of my favorite blogs to visit, and not just because of all the fancy moving pictures. Gavin has some genuinely awesome posts over there, including an awesome series about the "Homer at the Bat" episode of the Simpsons. Be sure to check it out!

One Man's Junk (Wax)

The final blog of the post is One Man's Junk Wax run by Jeff. In case you couldn't make out Mike Trout from above, Jeff is an Angels collector. As the blog name implies, Jeff has a love for junk wax. He sent me a ton of Dodgers a while back and I am sure he may be able to help out your junk wax needs as well. Head over for a great read, and work out a deal while your there.

My Dodger Bobbleheads: Andre Ethier

If you missed my initial post on this yesterday you can check it out here. I will be going through my Dodger bobbleheads over the coming days (possibly weeks), and eventually I will cover them all. Maybe I'll be able to swing a few trades because of this too. 

Were moving on in this small series to Captain Clutch, Andre Ethier.

I absolutely love this bobble of Ethier. For one, the idea of him celebrating a homer rounding the bases is solid. The addition of the fantastic Brooklyn throwback jersey adds to my love of the whole thing. Not to mention, the Brooklyn hat is freaking awesome. I wish mine still fit my big melon of a head. 

I don't remember why I took this picture, but it provides a great look of the detail of the jersey. This truly is an awesome piece of Dodger memorabilia. 

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, I only took two pictures of this highly awesome bobble before taking off earlier this week. I will probably come back later and add the equally cool back part of the bobble sometime in the future, but for now these two pics will have to do. 

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If you have nay Dodger bobbles that you would like to trade, or possibly sell, let me know. I may not be ready to immediately purchase it off of you, but we could always come to an agreement. 

I'd also like to give a big thanks to everyone reading or simply checking out my blog. I know I am not the best writer, head over here if you are looking for some good writing, but I truly do appreciate those that take their time to see what I have to say.

My Dodger Bobbleheads: Clayton Kershaw

If you were to take a look at the innards of my blog, you may have noticed that I collect Dodger bobbleheads. I have collected bobbleheads longer than I have collected cards, but I only have a few bobbleheads. 

This is partly because bobbleheads usually run for over $20.00, a price range I was never really able to afford as a kid. I usually took the loose change found between my couch cushions and spent it on candy at the gas station right next door to my house, rather than save it to buy some awesome Dodger goodies. My Dad usually bought me my Dodger things anyways. My Dad recently started to pick up some more bobbleheads for me, and for good prices. 

Let's take a look at my collection, starting with Clayton Kershaw. 

This is the newest addition to my bobblehead collection. My Dad got this, as well as the 2011 Cy Young Award thing the Dodgers gave away a few years back, for under 20 bucks. I will be posting that Cy Young plaque on eBay in the next few days, but I will be keeping this sweet bobblehead. 

The first thing I noticed on the bobblehead was the small number 4 on Kershaw's right shoulder. It is obviously a patch, but one I don't recall seeing. I instantly knew it was for Duke Snider, as the Silver Fox wore number 4 for the Dodgers for 16 seasons. 

Here it is, in all of its horrible quality, head bobbling glory. Maybe I need to seek some help from Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown with my GIF's. 

Awesome Contest at Cubs Cardboard

Kalib over at Cubs Cardboard is hosting his first contest in honor of his birthday. Be sure to head over there for your chance to win. 

While you are there, be sure to check out his 2014 Allen and Ginter's Double Box Break. He still has six spots left. Spots cost $15.00 and you get a team of your choice, as well as a randomized team when all 15 spots are filled. 

Contest link: HERE
Box Break link: HERE

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As I have seemingly been stressing in my past posts, I have been busy lately. The busy-ness has just about subsided however, and I will look to get back on track with regular posting, mailing, and what not. However, that will be slightly delayed as I will be out of my house for the next three days. It looks like I ran through all of my pre-written posts about cards, but I have some other things in mind. 

Until then, enjoy my newest Matt Kemp addition. 

2014 Topps Heritage

Trade with Off Hiatus Baseball Cards: Dodger Blue Turkey Reds

I completed my first trade with Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards early last week. I ran across his blog and was lucky enough to find some cards that I wanted in his trade bait. We quickly came to a deal, though I haven't had time to send my end out yet :(

That being said, Tony should have a package sent off his way sometime in the next few days. That goes for quite a few others as well. I have been having a problem with direct deposit and my paycheck, so I am waiting to get the physical check in the mail. As soon as I do, packages will be sent out. 

I obtained an autograph in this swap, but this was the card I was really chasing. Ryu is one of my main PC guys, and I will always look to acquire new cards of his. This is a great shot of the lefty hurler, but looks pretty reminiscent of his card from Archives last year. Either way, I was able to add another sweet card to the Ryu binder.

This trade primarily consisted of Turkey Red cards, something I don't really ever plan on buying. I was able to add this awesome card of Hanley. Just like this Matt Kemp card I posted a while back, Topps forgot to finish photoshopping the grey between the D-O-D-G-E-R-S on the front of Hanley's jersey. 

Now that I've written about the grey between the lettering on the front of Hanley's jersey, let's take a look at the same thing on Puig's. Looks like Topps really dropped the ball here. Other than that small annoying feature, this card looks pretty good. Puig card don't come cheap, so adding a new one without spending any money is always a plus.

Finally we get to the autograph. The first thing I noticed on this card, other than the boring auto, is the white Dodgers hat Garcia is wearing. It isn't very often you see anything other than the standard Blue cap, and looking at this is weird. In fact, I cant even recall the team wearing white hats. Seems like a spring training thing, but I was pretty sure the Dodgers had grey hats. Either way, I was able to pick up my second Onelki Garcia auto. Now let's hope he can get healthy and contribute to the big league club one of these days. 

Thanks again Tony. Your cards should be there soon!

Contest Results for Both Contests......Finally

I have been so incredibly busy over the past week or so that I had to combine both contest results into one post. 

USA Baseball Contest

Those who landed next to 1, 7, and 22 are winners!

I forgot to that I did not want the same person taking home multiple cards. I think that splitting them up three ways is better, but of course Evan landed in both spots 1 and 7. So I randomized the list one more time, and the lucky person who landed next to 7 was.....

...Greg! Because of course it was.  That means the winners are Evan O'Brien, Greg Zakwin, and Nate Baustad. Will you three guys leave comments with which card you want. Evan gets first choice, followed by Greg, and finally Nate. You may just want to put the three you want in order and I will work it out. 

2014 Topps Heritage Blase Box Courtesy of Dikran Contest

The 1st two names are the winner of this contest!

Nathan Tuttle is the winner of the 2014 Topps Heritage Blaster Box! He also takes home 250 Chavez Code Points. Jesse will be getting a goodie package of cards from me soon, as well as 150 Chavez Code Points!

Everybody that entered will be receiving at least 10 Chavez Code points, but the leader board will not be updated until late tonight. 

Trade with $30 a Week Habit: Another Awesome Swap

I completed my first trade with fellow blogger Robert of $30 a Week Habit. We talked about a swap a few months ago, but didn't pull the trigger until early last month. It has taken me awhile to post the cards and for that I apologize.

This was probable one of the smaller trades I've made during my time in the blogosphere, but it produced some awesome cards.

Take these awesome cognac cards from 2011 Topps for example. I have seen these parallels in my LCS, but never had the opportunity to add a Dodger, let alone two PC guys, to my collection. Thanks to Robert, I can say that I have some cognac cards. 

This was another awesome card sent to me by Robert. I am pretty positive this is the first card from 1969 in my possession, but because I have not had the time to update my Topps Team Set Project needs list in awhile, I don't know for sure. Hopefully I can get to that this weekend.  

This may be my only card from '69, but it is a beauty. From what I've heard, '69 has a ton of infamous cards including Reggie Jackson rookie card, and Mickey Mantles final regular issued Topps card. Not to mention a sweet looking Roberto Clemente card that I hope to own one day. But I am far too broke and young to be thinking about getting some of the higher end vintage cardboard at the time being. However, if I happen to win the lottery before I am able to finish college I will be sure to pick up a Clemente, Jackson, and Mantle for my collection, as well as one of each for all of you :)

Thanks again for the trade Robert. Hope we can do another swap in the future. 

Topps Chrome Rainbow: A Couple of New Kershaws

So I won an auction on eBay last week, something I am still pretty surprised about. It was a three card lot of 2013 Topps Chrome cards for Dodger's disabled ace, Clayton Kerhsaw. Included were the regular refractor, an X-Fractor, and an Orange refractor. The total cost to me: $2.99. And that includes shipping. 

These two cards put my total TCR quest at 40.00% complete. I now have 8/10 X-Fractors, and 7/10 Orange refractors. Remember, I include CC points if we can trade for a card I don't already have.  

My Favorite Bryce Harper Card

That's if you don't include this sick auto Dikran and I pulled of Bryce last year. 

We happened to find Heritage yesterday and bought ourselves a blaster box, as well as a box for the contest which ends later today. 

This was the pull of the box, and is instantly my favorite Bryce Harper card. 

This bad boy is #'d 625/999. The scan did not come out as well as I would have liked, but I'm sure many of you have seen this card posted somewhere else before. I honestly don't know why this is my new favorite Harper card, but it just has that "x-factor". Maybe it's the hair....

This card, on the other hand, is cool, but doesn't touch the Heritage Chrome above. I enjoy seeing a card that shows a player both batting, as well as throwing from the outfield. Too bad there is no licensing on the product. 

Running Behind

I have been incredibly busy over the past week or so and it has left me wayyy behind. Now that I have added the gym back into my daily routine, I am having even less time to get stuff done. I know that quite a few people emailed me about the trade bait, and I will get back to you by Monday. As far as trade packages go, I am behind as well. I have stuff piled up ready to go, but they need to be placed into bubble mailers and shipped. Again, that will probably be done by Monday. 

Because my scanner is covered in cards, I am digging into my scans folder to find something to post about.

And here it is. I enjoy these inserts from 2014 Heritage, and the Kershaw is the first Dodger I have from the series. Dikran and I have picked up a few packs of Heritage, but we are still looking for a blaster box. We will be looking once again this afternoon, so hopefully we are lucky enough to walk home with some goodies for ourselves, and a box for the contest I am running. 

I will hopefully be back tomorrow with the results for the contest that ended on Monday, as I know quite a few of you are patiently waiting. Hopefully, I can knock out some trade posts this weekend and show off some new cards. Thanks for being patient with me!

Twitter Contest Winnings from MLB RBI

Those of you that have Twitter accounts know that MLB and its affiliates regularly host contests which you can enter by retweeting. It is not often that you hear about the winners of those contests. However, today you will as I will be showing off my winnings from a contest held by MLB RBI. 

I was honestly hoping I would be walking away with a box of Topps cards, but I ended up walking away with an autographed baseball. That auto belongs to Anaheim Angles pitcher, C.J Wilson. 

I am not the biggest Wilson fan, nor am I an Angels fan. Therefore, this ball does not hold any real value to me. I will probably post it on eBay and try to flip it for a Kemp auto before the prices get too high. If there is anybody out there that would like to trade for this, just let me know. I am strictly looking to get a Kemp or Kershaw auto, though other interesting offers will not be denied. 

I probably won't be winning any major contests like this again, so I guess I should be proud of myself. Even though the prize is not something that I consider super valuable, I am lucky to have won. 

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I have been extremely busy lately and haven't been able to get back to some of those who have contacted me about my trade bait. Chances are I saw your message or email, but haven't had the time to actually open it and read it. I will be getting to all of the trades this week.

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I also haven't had time to randomize the contest winners. I am planning on doing it tomorrow night, but my work hours changed and I am not getting home until about 10pm every night now. If it doesn't get done tomorrow, expect the results to pop up sometime this weekend. 

Return of the Bison

*EDIT: I wrote this post before his two homer game yesterday. All I can say is WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*

Matt Kemp has finally returned to the Dodgers lineup, a sight I have been waiting for for quite some time. I hope he can get back to his 2011 ways, but I am realistic and know he won't. A 25 homer season with a .280 average seems attainable though. If he does hit the cover off the ball then the price of his cards will probably shoot back up again, so I figured I better get my hands on some more now.

This card is f****ing awesome. I absoulutely loved the base card and this purple refractor took it to another level. If they produced this bad boy in a blue refractor, I'd be sure to find it faster than Garfield finds lasagna. It isn't numbered, but it is still a great card to add to my ever-growing Matt Kemp PC which now sits at 124 cards. 

MEGA Trade Bait Post: Non-MLB Hits

I'll be breaking down my trade bait over the next few posts. ALL cards are for trade and you can always cash in your Chavez Code points. Most cards per section will cost the same, but I will mention if a specific card costs more in points. If you don't have points and aren't interested in trading you can also buy the cards outright. 

Chavez Code Leader Board: Complete Leaderboard 

If you are interested in a card or cards, leave a comment to claim it. You can then email me with any offers or we can begin a bigger trade. I'm easy, so let me know. I am more interested in clearing up space then getting fair value.

Let's get started with some awesome non-baseball cards. 

*Cards in the first scan are 60 CC Points. The rest are 35.*