Chad Billingsley, You're My Hero

I mentioned my overflowing scans folder in one of my last posts, and I am feeling pretty thankful for that at the moment. I have only attended three of my six classes so far, but it looks like the work will be piling up. Of course, if you add in my time spent working at the tutorial center and my other job, my schedule looks like hell. 

The problem with my scans folder is that it is filled with Matt Kemp related posts. Shortly after he was traded to San Diego, I went on an eBay binge, and I am now left with a ton of posts on the dude. But, in an effort to spare my readers of so many consecutive Kemp posts, I am going to bounce around to some of the other subjects in my scan folder. 

One of those subjects is Chad Billingsley. I recently started an official PC for him, so I naturally fled to the bay to snap up any good deals. I found plenty, but this may be my favorite one. 

As the slab shows, this stunning card comes from 2003 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks. It features a great on-card autograph from C-Bills, and even warranted a 'Mint 9' grade from PSA. 

Injuries have plagued Bills for the past few years, and the value on his cards has declined tremendously. While that sucsk for some people, it is a great advantage for me. The beauty that you see above ran me less than six bucks shipped. A phenomenal price for an autographed rookie card, and a graded one at that. 

A Trade That Wasn't

I recently completed my second trade with my friend Austin...well...it wasn't really a trade. I actually didn't send him anything at all. But, being the great guy that he is, he sent a few awesome cards my way.

The first being this fantastic Chad Billingsley card you see above. As most of you probably know, the card comes from 2012 Topps Heritage and features the awesome dual-image design. It is interesting to note how long Chad's last name is, and how close it came to being to long to fit on the card. An extra letter may have changed the entire look of the card. 

Austin also tossed in a new #'d card of one of my favorite players, Adrian Beltre. Austin knows his way around my Beltre PC, evident by our previous trade, and his good eye showed up in his most recent package. This looks to be a copper or brown parallel, limited to just 625 copies. Stealing a page from Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown, this an exclusive eBay one of one. How you ask? Well, during Beltre's time is the American League, he has been caught stealing 55 times. So, I now happen to have the "copper caught stealing in the AL eBay 1/1". Great, isn't it?

To top it all off, Austin included this weirdly awesome Beltre relic. I consider it to be a bit weird considering the card lists Beltre as a Mariner, is Mariner green, yet features Beltre in a Dodgers batting helmet. It isn't uncommon for cards like this (pictured as one team, listed as another), but I always find these cards fascinating when they fall into my hands.

One thing that does bug me about this card in the unnecessary black box that seems to be circling Beltre's face. Perhaps it was a plot to cover up the "LA" on the batting helmet, though I doubt it. It just looks to be a part of the design that wasn't well thought out. Also, anybody else see a football field surrounding the relic? 

Thanks again for the cards, Austin. One of these days, I'm going to have to return the favor and send you something back. 

My Chad Billingsley PC

I've been collecting Chad Billingsley for a while now. It has sort of been a behind-the-scenes collection, with very few of my cards actually displayed here on the blog. I decided a few months ago to seriously start collecting C-Bills and planned on posting all of my cards in one post. This is that post.

As I mentioned in my Matt Kemp farewell post last week, Chad Billingsley was my favorite player at one point. This was in large part because he pitched the first game I attended in a number of years way back in 2006. It was also because he was one of the first young studs up from that fantastic Dodger system way back when. Who knows, maybe his reddish hair played a part in my fandom.

Billingsley with his smokin' hot wife.

Of course, Matt Kemp came up shortly after and my infatuation with C-Bills was never as large. But, Billingsley was always a favorite of mine. I'm still not sure why so many Dodger fans whole-heartedly hated the guy, but at least I know smart people like Greg and Matthew are fans.

A few months ago, I spilled some water on a stack of cards. Unfortunately, my Chad Billingsley cards took the majority of the beating, leaving me with very few commons. My hits were left unscathed, but it is a bit disappointing losing cards to a stupid mistake. As such, I will be looking for some Billingsley cards the next time I hit my LCS, but I'm not holding my breath. 

Without further adieu, my Chad Billingsley PC. 

State of the Blog: Water and Cards Don't Mix + Other Odds and Ends

I have been pretty darn busy with school and work which has hindered my ability to consistently post here. I still get the occasional custom post out, but those are becoming a little harder to stay on top off. I am chalking that up to the middle of the semester blues, something I seem to go through every semester. I am doing fairly well in my classes, though Calculus is a pain in the butt. I'm glad that I'll be done with math after the end of the semester.

Anyway. I have always had this irrational fear that I would spill water on and/or destroy someone's cards right before I sent them out to that person. After nearly a year of posting here on the blog, that fear never materialized. That is, until I spilled a large cup of water over on my card desk a few nights ago. I managed to wipe out over half of my Chad Billingsley collection, a ton of Topps Chrome cards of the Braves I was planning on sending out to a certain blogger, I ton of Washington Nationals cards from the break that were just sitting around, and a few other various cards I had sitting out on the desk.

It seems that my cards took a brunt of the hit. That Chad Billingsley post I was planning on doing for way too long will never fully unfold. At least it was the base cards that took the hit. My autos/relics were luckily saved by their top loaders. The Chrome cards seem to be warping a bit, and the backs are starting to peel. For the most part, nothing of real value was lost, but it is still frustrating to lose cards in general.

RIP

That sucked, but it allowed me to make time to organize my cards and think about what I plan on doing with a ton of them.

As I mentioned a few times over the past couple of months, I am trying to downsize my collection. I enjoy collecting, but it will have to take a backseat to some of the other things going on in my life.

I will attempt to sell most of my cards pretty soon. There will be a detailed post with everything I am selling. I don't plan on trying to turn a profit, but a small amount to cover shipping and supplies is probably what I am thinking. Stay tuned if you are interested in picking up some cards for cheap.

On another note, Halloween right around the corner. Has anybody out there ever seen a costume based on cards at all? I was discussing different Halloween costumes with my coordinator at work today and we were coming up with some cool ideas, but it made me think about the card community. I could see someone making a Topps card costume pretty easily. Google proved me right.

Not Me

I Walked the Plank

I recently completed my first trade with Matt of the fabulous Bob Walk the Plank.  Matt emailed me a few weeks ago and we quickly put together a deal. My haul was much greater than what I sent his way, so I will be sure to pay it back with our next trade. 

I'll go ahead and start with my favorite card from the deal. Coming from 2009 Topps Unique Baseball, this sweet Chad Billingsley auto is an awesome addition to my CBills PC. Billingsley has long been a favorite of mine, so I try to pick up his cards on the cheap whenever possible. I have had a post about Bills in the works for quite some time now, but maybe this will encourage me to get a move on it. 

While we are on the topic of autos, let's take a look at the one of the most recently released cards. Nolasco was featured on this odd looking card back in 2014 Topps Series One. Nolasco is no longer pitching for the Dodgers, making the move to Minnesota over the winter. He has not had much success up there, but he was a pivotal piece during the Dodgers postseason run last year. 

We'll move on to a pair of contrasting Kaz Ishii relics. The top one is pretty standard for mid-2000's relic cards; it features a basic design and a plain grey swatch. However, the bottom relic is a little bit off to me. This card was released in 2002, the same year Ishii came over from Japan. Perhaps the American flag in the back is only weird to me, but it probably wasn't the most thought out design by Fleer that year. 

Matt was also kind enough to send along this shiny #'d card of Dodgers broadcaster, Nomar Garciaparra. I do like me some shiny, but I also have a bit of a problem with this card. The insert set is called "Future Stars", yet Upper Deck decided to include a 34 year old Nomar. It's not a big deal to me, honestly, but I do wonder about these things from time to time. 

Matt also sent over a fantastic Eric Gagne relic, but it appears I either deleted the scan, or forgot to scan it completely. Either way, it was much appreciated. 

Thanks again for the trade Matt. I hope to do it again sometime soon. 

I'm Club Penguin

I recently completed my third trade with fellow Dodger fan, Dodger Penguin. Dodger Penguin, who goes by Matthew in the real world, and I met up for the Dodger game I attended last weekend. 

Matthew was smart enough to bring along his side of the deal, while forgetful Freddie here left his cards at home. I was able to ship them out as soon as I got home, but I still feel pretty bad. 

I received a grand total of five cards in my side of the deal, but it just might be the only non "hit" of the bunch that which really grabbed my attention. This is technically my first Clayton Kershaw rookie card, and it probably should have been a little higher on my "to buy" list. Not only is it a Kersh RC, it is the gold foil version, which apparently is a bit tougher to get. The ominous clouds back of Kershaw signal Kershaw's quick descent as king of the mound.

I have a post planned on Chad Billingsley slotted to go up within the next week or so, and I was initially going to hold this card back for that post. However, because this is the card that started the whole trade, I figured it wouldn't hurt showing it off twice. 

Talk about a bright card! This bad boy is #'d 27/99, so I guess it could be considered the Matt Kemp parallel. I was more than happy to add a new #'d addition to my growing Greinke collection. One of these days I will have to pick up an auto of every one of my PC's. Greinke is high on that list. 

Matthew rounded out this lush package with a pair of sweet Adrian Beltre relics. The first (above) is one of the thickest cards I have ever laid hands on, and happens to be #'d 34/99, the Fernando parallel if you will. It hails from 2009 Topps Unique, which is very uncommon for me to see. I guess the name of the set is appropriate. 

The final piece of the trade was this beautiful relic of the Dodgers former third baseman. I absolutely love blue swatches, so corralling a blue swatch relic for Adrian Beltre was pretty grand. The blue-ish border matches well with the card and the swatch, creating one of my favorite cards of the Dodgers former masher. 

I probably owe Matthew a bit more in our next trade, and I have a card or two in mind. 

Thanks again for all the great cards, and all of your help last Saturday. Hope we can do it again soon!

Trade with Fantastic Catch: Picking up a Couple of Relics

I completed my second trade with Weston of Fantastic Catch, you can check out the first one here. We worked something out after I noticed some cards he posted on his blog awhile back, and I am just getting to posting them now. In fact, there will probably be nothing but trade posts all week. 

There were two hits involved in this trade and this is the first. This is the only CBills relic in my collection, and the light blue swatch makes me wonder where it came from. I'm blanking right now, but the only thing that comes to mind is the Dodgers throwback jerseys they wore in 2011. 

Maybe I am losing my mind and the answer is smacking me in the face, but these are the only jerseys that make since. 

The other hit that came my way was this glorious Russell Martin relic. Like the Billingsley above, this is my only relic of Martin. Now that I have added him as a player collection I expect to see soem more of these in the future. 

Weston threw in some other awesome Dodger cards, as well as some cards that fit into my various PC's. I don't have time to scan those, so I'll leave you with the two cards above.

Thanks a million Weston! Hope to do this again soon. 

Trade with Dime Boxes: An Appearance From The Penguin

I completed my first trade with Nick from Dime Boxes fame last week. After a few emails back and forth last month, I was able to walk away with some much needed cards for my Topps Team Set Project, as well as a few more awesome pieces of cardboard. 

Because I received this package earlier in the week, I don't remember exactly what was going through my head as I was going through the stack of cards Nick sent me. I do remember that this card stood out above the rest.

Being born in '93 means I only know so much about the Dodgers. Reading about the earlier teams and players is enjoyable, but at the end of the day I can only retain some of the information. Experience really helps the brain, but I never did get to experience the Penguin first hand. (Not you Matthew) When the name Ron Cey comes up in conversation, I instantly think of the all-star third baseman for the Dodgers, but after that my knowledge is shallow. 

The front of this card shows just about everything I know about Ron Cey. What he looks like, what position he played, and his all star appearance as a Dodger. But, the back of the card is a completely different story. I learned Cey had 8 RBI's in one game against the Padres in 1974, while establishing the team record for Dodgers third baseman in homers and RBI's. Those records now belong to Adrian Beltre, but baseball cards contain a lot of knowledge I may have never known. 

Although I didn't know much about Ron Cey, I did know about Kirk Gibson before receiving this awesome card. I'm fairly positive this card doesn't need to be explained, but for those of you that have been in a box for the past 25 years; Kirk Gibson hit the infamous homer off of Dennis Eckersley to lead the Dodgers to a walk-off win over the A's in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. 

Another great card courtesy of Nick is the Paul Konerko RC from 1998 Score. Too bad Konerko didn't spend too much time in the organization. 

2005 is my favorite Topps set from the past 15 years. This is only my second card from the 38 card team set, so I guess I have a little work to do. Chad Billinglsey turned out to be a great arm for the Dodgers, though after having Tommy John surgery last year, he has been out of limelight lately. Joel Guzman, if my memory serves me correct, was once a "can't miss" prospect for the Dodgers. Like so many prospects do, Guzman did not end up having any kind of success at the major league level. Even though Guzman did not pan out, I enjoy seeing these doubled up player cards, especially of my boys in blue.

Thanks again Nick. Hopefully we can do this again soon. 

Trade with Cubs Cardboard: More Walmart Blues and Set Needs

I completed my first trade with Kalib of Cubs Cardboard yesterday. I messaged him about a Walmart blue parallel he had, and we went from there. If you haven't check put his blog yet be sure to do so. 

Let's start with some 2014 Blue parallels. I have decided to complete the team set with the blue, red, red hot foil, and gold parallels. I may later choose to go after the green and yellow parallels, but they are a little harder to find right now. With the addition of these two, I have 4/13 blue parallels.

 6 Josh Beckett

40 Hyun-Jin Ryu

72 Michael Young

111 Mark Ellis

113 NL ERA Leaders

142 Zack Greinke

173 Brandon League 

193 Ricky Nolasco

197 Onelki Garcia

204 Adrian Gonzalez

294 NL Wins Leaders

314 Hanley Ramirez

331 Yasiel Puig

In addition to the 2014 blues, I got a couple of 2013 blues. I plan on putting together the entire 2013 team set with the blue parallels, but I don't have the checklist handy. I'll probably be adding it to my Set Needs page sometime in the next few days, so any help there is appreciated. I only have 5 of the 36 cards for 2013.

It seems like I am able to add another card or two to one of my PC's everyday. Today was no exception, as Kalib threw in these great Gonzo cards. I really dig the UD Icons card on the left, though some Dodgers garb would look nice. The uni UD chose for this cards works well with the color scheme of the card though, seemingly perfect. 

Buried beneath a barrage of set needs, I found this great Shawn Green UD card from 1992. I have a copy of this card already, but I had it autographed my the man himself. You can see that card below. 

I do find his auto to be a little strange. His auto is completely different these days, though I did find a few cards with the same auto for sale on eBay. 

I also got my first blue bordered Dodger from a trade. I have a few stacked up to show off this weekend, but we'll wait for the weekend before I discuss those.

My favorite card from the trade is this beauty. It features four of the best outfielders in the league, though the two guys on the bottom did not play a whole lot last year. I believe this is a four part sticker, with each player being a single sticker. I wish Topps more cards like this. 

In addition to the cards seen above, Kalib sent a ton of needs from 2014 S1 and 2013 Bowman, as well as a few other misc. Dodgers.

Thanks for the trade Kalib! I hope your cards arrive safely. 

My Best eBay Purchase Ever ft. Matt Kemp Card #100

Late last week I was browsing the Bay when I came across an interesting auction. The picture showed six different Dodger hits, and the BIN/BO price was pretty darn low. Sometimes people post pictures of multiple cards, but in reality are only auctioning of one of them. This is probably done to deceive buyers on purpose, as some buyers bid without really taking a look at the description. So when I ran across this auction, I initially thought  it was one of those. I took a closer look but found that I really would receive all six cards. I shot the buyer a best offer, even though the price was already low, and a few hours later I was the proud new owner of the following six cards. 

I won't reveal the price until the end, so make sure you read all the way through. 

This is my first on-card auto of my one-time favorite Dodger. I'm currently asking my self why I haven't gone after more of his stuff, though I should have another new Billingsley addition in the coming days. This card comes from 2003 Bowman Heritage,  the same year CBills was drafted. I'm still a big fan of his, so hopefully he comes back strong this year and sticks around with the Dodgers a little longer.

When this product was released in 2008, there is no doubt this was one of the pricier cards. Loney never did live up to the hype a lot of Dodger fans were expecting after he hit .380 with AAA Las Vegas in 2006. He was a solid player his first few years in the league, but his lack of power and declining stats forced him out of LA when the Dodgers made the trade for Nick Punto back in August of 2012. 

This is my first Loney auto, and it comes on a nice looking manu-patch. I don't plan on completing the whole name thing, but this is a cool card to have around. 

Moving onto another Dodgers lefty, though this one still plays in LA. This Andre Ethier relic is #'d 17/36, and is my second relic of the slugging outfielder. The Dodger Stadium backdrop is a nice touch.

This is what I was searching for when I ran across the lot. I wasn't specifically searching for this card, but "Matt Kemp Auto" brings up some unexpected results sometimes. I was planning on acquiring a new Kemp auto for card number 100, but this deal was too good to pass up. There is nothing wrong with a relic #'d 17/27 though, as this is a welcome addition to my Kemp PC. 

This is probably my favorite card to come from the lot, though the next one gives it a run for its money. This is my first Hanley auto, and comes from his days in Miami. It is from 2007 Bowman's Best, a product I am unfamiliar with, but something I like a lot. This happens to be card #42, which is an added bonus for me. 

This card is only last because I have been enjoying screwing with Greg. Told you it wasn't anything fancy! 

This is my first Russell Martin auto as well as my first Martin relic. It also features Victor Martinez, but Martin is the selling point here. Russell was a favorite of mine, like a lot of Dodgers, but was non-tendered a few years ago. Thanks Frank McCourt! If there is a gold lining, it's that he was replaced by another fan favorite, A.J Ellis. 

This card is an absolute beauty. It feels a little heavier than a card like this normally would, and it appears to have been made with black cardboard. I guess that's where UD Black comes from. Upper Deck did a fantastic job hiding the sticker autos, something Topps could take a lesson on. I also love the addition of the colored wood grains behind each player. Each is the team's respective color, a great look. 

As you can see, I came across an awesome lot of cards. To make it all the better, I paid $15 bucks to have these beauties shipped to my door. Only 15 dollars. If you take out the 3 bucks from shipping, we are looking at 2 dollars a card. If that isn't a good deal, I don't know what is. 

I probably won't come across a deal this good again anytime soon, so I will just bask in these cards warm glowing, warming glow. 

It's Raining Dodgers

It has been a long week. I feel like I've sort of abandoned the blog this week, though I did manage to scrap together a few posts. School starts next week so I need to get back on track with daily posts. 

I did manage to pick up some awesome cards from my LCS again this week. I always take in my Yankee base cards in exchange for free Dodgers cards or supplies. The owner is a great guy and he gave me some awesome stuff this time around.

Before I dive into the cards, please check out my secondary player collections in the sidebar. I have recently been deciding on a few more players to collect that don't call Los Angeles home. I have finalized those players, and now I am on a mission to gather up their cards. If you have anything from those players I would be glad to take it off your hands. Just shoot me an email and hopefully we can work something out. 

I'll start out with a card from Scott Van Sly......err....Chris Withrow. Albeit, a mustache-less Withrow. I'm sure there is a Ron Swanson/mustache line I can throw in here, but I am just to tired to think of anything clever. This happens to be the refractor version of the card, meaning it is #'d 382/999. I have a shocking lack of Withrow cards, this being only my second, something that needs to be fixed in the immediate future. I'm thinking an auto may be next. 

Another Sandy Dandy, for him and me. I know I have this card already, but I think it is in the 2013 Heritage set I am still trying to put together. I don't know if the number 32 is intentionally blue, as I am obviously not old enough to have ever seen the lefty pitch. It seems like it may be an oversight by Topps, but what do I know. 

Moving on to one of my favorite Dodgers, Chad Billingsley. The overly criticized righty may soon be pushed out of Los Angeles if the Dodgers wind up with Tanaka. The Dodgers are loaded up with arms, and that is before you account for Billingsley and the young studs in the minors. I hope he sticks around for a while so I'll be able to pick up some more of his cardboard.

My favorite, yet still not resigned Dominican, Hanley Ramirez. I cannot fathom where the Dodgers would be without him. If the Ned Colletti and company are smart, he will be about $100 million dollars richer come Spring Training. I love the card on the right, though not because of the actual design of the card. I really like the shirt Hanley is wearing, and I  love when players are smiling as big as he is. 

Another A-Gon card, though in Padres gear this time. 2010 Topps Chrome is the warpiest (is that even a word?) set of cards I have ever laid my hands on.I have a few more to show in this post, so more on that later. 

The final Dodger/Secondary PC card of this post belongs to Andre Either. I think Andre looks especially good in the Dodgers uni. I honestly cannot envision him in another teams colors. The orange border contrasts nicely with the card which is #'d 153/250. I may chase all the orange borders from this set, though I really hate chasing orange cards. I do my best trying to ignore the Giants here in Fresno, and the orange cards don't make it any easier. 

I talked the owner of the LCS into handing this card over. He can sell Ryu's for a pretty good price in town, but I told him I have a few dupes I can bring his way. I love getting my hands on Hyun-Jin's Ryu-kie cards, and the numbering is an added bonus. I plan on acquiring every rookie card Ryu has out there, so if you have one that isn't listed in my Ryu PC, let me know. I will make it worth your while if you do.

I always love it when I can add more cards to my Kershaw PC with spending a penny. In this case, I added both the 2010 and 2011 Bowman Platinum Kershaw's to my PC. I like the design of the left one a slightly more. The one on the right doesn't have a huge difference between the 2012 and 2013 versions of Bowman Platinum, both sets that I am not too big on. 

Another Kershaw, another warped card from 2010 Topps Chrome. You can see the obvious darkness on the top of the card, all due to the warping. It is a shame these cards are warped, though it seems like Topps has fixed the problem in recent years. 

Some more warped cards from 2010 Topps products. Another from Chrome and one from Topps 206. The 206 is an absolute beauty of a card. In fact it is my favorite card of the Bison so far, excluding the autos. This happens to be the refractor parallel #'d 116/499. I know there is a blue parallel of this card, but I can't seem to find any other parallels. I don't know if this is because I am half asleep writing this, or my research skills are simply lacking. Either way I will make it a point to add more of these beauties to my collection. 

Another successful trip to my LCS landed me some great cards. They merely cost me some lowly Yankee bases, so I am more than thrilled. If you have any Yankee's laying around I'd love to work them into a trade. I will probably be making many trips to the LCS with Yankees in the future.