My Paco Rodriguez PC

On Saturday night I had an unexpected surprise when I checked the status of the four cards I was waiting on via Topps Redemption. All four had been shipped and the first two arrived yesterday. One of those cards will be included in the Mega Trade Bait Post which I am working on, but the other is this beauty.

I picked this up on eBay a few months back for just a couple of bucks. It is #'d 148/499, and is a great addition to my upstart Paco PC. 

That auto joins this fantabulous auto I picked up a few months ago, but the fun doesn't stop there.

(Note: The autos look like they were signed by two different people....)

I also have six Paco cards that are not autos, though three of them are pretty much the same card. 

In addition, I own three of Paco's parallel's from 2013 Topps Chrome. These cards are going toward my Topps Chrome Rainbow project, so I won't officially count them toward my Paco Card total.

I thought I had another Paco around here but it looks like I don't. Without counting the TC cards, I have a total of 8 different Paco cards. It is unlikely Topps puts out a ton of Paco cards, but I will do my darndest to acquire them. 

Re-evalutaing My Collection

I have been putting this post of for a while. I guess I have been trying to hide from the madness that cards have been causing me.

A a full-time student, a part-time worker, a blogger, and the manager/editor of the MLB Section at Pro Sports Extra, I have been overwhelmed. Being overwhelmed at some point in your life is completely normal, but eventually it becomes too much to handle. Things start to get pushed back, other things start to slip the mind, and there is a constant feeling of being behind. 

That is why I am re-evaluating my collection and my goals. 

Let's take a look at some of the things I plan on continuing first.

1. My Main PC Guys

Of course I wasn't going to stop collecting my main guys. I will still be on the hunt for anything from Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Adrian Beltre, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Shawn Green.

2. Dodger Autos and Relics

I am a Dodger fan first, and a card collector second. It has always been that way and the Dodgers play a large role in my collection. I plan on acquiring more hits from my boys in blue as time passes by.

3. Secondary PC's

I will take advantage of every opportunity I get to post a scan of this fabulous card.  The Secondary PC guys will still be a part of my collection. That means anything from David Ortiz, Bryce Harper, Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Corey Seager, and Andre Ethier will still be welcome here. 

4. Tertiary PC's

This is new to most of you. I have decided to actually expand my collection in one particular area. I will not actively be on the hunt for these players, but I will attempt to add their cards through trades.

• Russell Martin
• Paco Rodriguez
• Kerry Wood
• Jose Fernandez
• Zack Greinke
• Manny Ramirez 

5. Topps Team Set Project/Topps Chrome Rainbow

I will continue these two "lifetime" goals until the dawn of time. You can check the progress of these in the title bar up top. 

6. Parks and Rec Auto Quest

No way I'm stopping this. I haven't been able to watch this show lately because they haven't uploaded the newest season to Netflix yet, but as soon as they do I am looking at an all day marathon. 

7. Topps Flagship/Topps Heritage/Topps Chrome

Finally we get to the end of the list.  I was previously collecting nearly every set that was realized for Topps/Bowman  in 2013 but that is just too stupid and expensive for my taste. I decided to cut back to just my favorite 3 sets of the year. Topps Flagship, Topps Heritage, and Topps Chrome. I will look to complete the master set for 2014 Flagship, but that will change to the base set only next year. As far as the other two sets go, I am just going to complete the base sets, including the SP's on Heritage. Otherwise, I will only be looking for Dodgers/PC people with the other sets. 

As far as everything else goes, its out the window for the time being. That includes my mini collections like Pimping Dingers, Celebrating on the Mound, and the rest. I will keep the cards I already have with the intention of starting those up again when I am out of college with a real job and an apartment of my own, but as of now they don't fit. 

Hopefully this will relieve some of the stress associated with the hobby and it will allow me to get things under a bit more control. I will be contacting a few people with some cards that I no longer have interest in and there will be a mega Trade Bait Tuesday next week. If there is anything you are interested in let me know,  and we can work something out. This will also allow me to continue with contests again. In fact, expect a new contest tonight!

An Unconventional Contest

As 2014 products begin to hit shelves, I have a need for more space. Therefore, I need some other bloggers to take some cards off of my hands. 

To claim a spot, you must send me at least one card I need from either my Topps Team Set Project OR send me a card from one of my primary PC's that I do not have. Simple enough.

Just leave a comment with the team you would like to claim. I will email those I don't have addresses for, but if your address has changed let me know. 

The cards you will be receiving will be primarily from 2013, but there may be some older cards included, as well as some 2014 Donruss. 

Furthermore, once all teams have been claimed, all of those that helped will be entered to win 100 Chavez Code points. The CC points can be used to claim autos/relics/#'d cards from my trade bait. More on the Chavez Code here.


•Arizona Diamondbacks
•Boston Red Sox
•Chicago White Sox
•Cinncinnati Reds
•Cleveland Indians
•Colorado Rockies
•Detroit Tigers
•Florida Marlins
•Kansas City Royals
•Milwaukee Brewers
•Minnesota Twins
•New York Mets
•Philadelphia Phillies
•Pittsburgh Pirates
•San Diego Padres
•Seattle Mariners
•St. Louis Cardinals
•Tampa Bay Rays
•Texas Rangers
•Toronto Blue Jays
•Washington Nationals

Some teams are not included because I have traded a majority of those cards away. I will mark off teams as they are claimed. 

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I don't want to leave you without a card, so enjoy this Manny Ramirez from courtesy of Jeff of 2X3 Heroes. Thanks for the PWE Jeff!

Contest Winnings From Foul Bunt

I recently won a contest hosted by William of Foul Bunt fame.....on Instagram. That's right, the card game has moved to Instagram. William is the only card guy I follow on there, and it is refreshing to see some cool cardboard amongst endless pictures of food or cars posted by my friends. 

I'll get to the prize in a minute, but before I do I'd like to show off five new Shawn Green cards William sent along.

Man, those sketch cards truly are something else. Hopefully I'm not the only one who thinks the sketch looks reminiscent of Wil Myers. 

Carl Pavano

This was the grand prize and I actually didn't win it. Like I said, William held the contest on Instagram and posted a picture of this ball. To gain an entry into the contest you had to simply guess who signed the ball. He randomized the few names that correctly guessed Carl Pavano and I came in 2nd. The true winner declined the ball and William offered it to me. The auto is slightly faded, but overall the ball is in good shape. I'm not the biggest Pavano fan, but adding a signed ball to my collection is cool no matter the player. 

Thanks for the awesome prize William. I will be shipping cards your way this week. 

Trade with Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle: PC Madness Pt. 1

I recently completed my first trade with fellow Dodger fan and collector, Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle. Hopefully not the last though because, Greg hooked a brother up. So much so, that I am splitting this into two separate posts. Check back for Part 2 tomorrow.

Greg decided to go straight after my PC's in this trade, hitting four of my Primary PC's in this post alone. Let's start with Matt Kemp.

Five new Kemp's, three of which I've never seen. The UD Icons card is pretty sweet, and it is a set I may put together one day.  Directly below that we see a 2009 UD SP Legendary Cuts #90. It has the appearance of a stamp, and is a fantastic card all around. Probably my favorite of the five above. With these five cards, my Matt Kemp PC sits at a modest 107 cards. Greg has nearly triple that amount, so I still have a ways to go before I catch him.

In addition to the Kemp cards, Greg sent over a heavy dose of Kershaw goodiness. Anytime I can add seven new Kid K cards to the PC, I'm having a good day. The gold Bowman on the top left is undoubtedly my favorite card of the bunch. The other are wonderful as well, but Kershaw is pitching in a USA jersey and you can't top that. 

Also included in this fantastic trade were four cards of the former Dodger/Mariner/Red Sox, Adrian Beltre. I now have six Beltre cards from his time in Seattle, and he is wearing the road jersey in every single one. No big deal, but it is a little strange.

Because Shawn Green is my favorite Dodger of all-time, I get giddy when I see new cards of his. The '91 Draft Classics card on the right is a new one for me and features Green in his high school jersey. How often do you see an aluminum bat on a baseball card? The card on the left will be mailed to Green in hope he returns it with his John Hancock. I guess I'll have to pick his address up from a fellow blogger. 

Russell Martin does not have a PC of his own in my collection, but he should. I may add him as a secondary PC in the next few days, though I'd have to go through all of my Dodger's again to pull his cardboard. These four cards are a good place to start a PC, but the Bowman Chrome on the top left may never be beat. It is instantly an all-time favorite Dodger card for me and if Greg wouldn't have sent it, I would bought it on eBay myself. WBC/Olympic jersey's are quickly becoming a favorite of mine, but we'll discuss that in a few days. 

I haven't even gotten to my favorite card of the trade, but this already rates as one of the best trade packages I've ever received. Thanks Greg!

Some New Cards For My PC's

I managed to add some more cards to my various PC's this week, primarily from 2014 Topps Series One. A set that has gotten a lot of flak in the blogging community recently. I shared my thoughts on the product about a week ago, and my stance hasn't changed. With the exception the of All Rookie Cup insert, the insert sets are nice. Topps used too much foil, but the cards look decent. This A-Gon is no exception.

I am making good progress on 2014 Topps Series One. In fact, I finished up the base set last night. I've been collecting for a year, but 2014 S1 is the first base set I've completed. I am pretty close on a few sets from 2013, hopefully I can pick those needs up in a future need. 

This is probably my favorite card of all the inserts. I'm a big Beltre fan, and I love seeing him in Dodger blue. Most of my Beltre's feature him in Rangers gear, but I have slowly been acquiring his older stuff. 

I also added these Harper's to my collection. Both were pulled from packs after a brief stop at Target, which turned into a 20 minute browsing section in the card aisle. Considering I only have a few inserts left to add, I probably won't buy anymore Series One. I have plenty of dupes, so if you are looking to complete your set just let me know. 

Debating a Sandy Koufax PC

As I waited for my English class to start last night I was thinking about my cards. I'm sure I'm not the only one who ponders new collections, or how to sort their cards while at work or school. In fact, as I sit at my desk writing this, my mind is still on cards. I'm currently staring at a large stack of cards that have not been sorted, and I'm thinking to myself: 

Why do I even collect cards?

I never really put much thought into that. My dad collected when he was younger, so naturally I wanted to buy some packs like he did when I was a kid. 

Those memories of opening packs from Target emerged when I found a box full of my old cards about a year ago. There was no kind of organization to the cards in that box, but they piqued my interest enough to pick up some packs when I made my next trip to Target.

Well, you can see where I am now a little over a year later and blogging has played a large part in this.  It has allowed me to connect to other people who enjoy this hobby as much as I do. Blogging has also shown me that everybody collects a little differently. 

Some collectors like to collect a single player and phase out the rest of the hobby. Others like to put together team sets. Some piddle in a handful of different collections, while other stick to cards from their favorite team.

The great thing about this hobby is that you get to make all the choices. You want to collect every Tim Wallach card ever made? You're free to do so. Do you prefer to search through dime boxes to find those hidden gems? More power to you. You want to customize cards to your liking? Go for it. The point is there is no right or wrong way to collect.

Which is why I have been debating starting a Sandy Koufax PC. 

I know, I know, another PC. Apparently 12 different PC's, two ambitious projects, along with putting together the new sets as they are released isn't enough for me. 

Two different cards, one picture.....

I don't currently have a Hall of Famer as a PC interest. Adrian Beltre may get some consideration in about 10 years. Shawn Green was a great player, but he doesn't stand a chance. David Ortiz has an interesting case, but will probably be on the outside looking in. Clayton Kershaw has the best chance out of my current PC's to make it, but that's at least 20 years away. Don't forget Puig. He may hit 1000 homers while batting .500 in his career, yet won't make the Hall of Fame because he didn't play the game the "right way". But that's a whole other story. 

Wait...the same picture on two different cards again...

My point is I want to collect someone that will always be known as one of the best to play the game. Of course I wanted it to be a Dodger and the fact that Sandy did it all while playing his entire career in Brooklyn and Los Angeles makes it all the better. 

Finding Sandy's modern stuff shouldn't be too hard. As you can see, I already have quite a few Koufax cards, though Topps seriously needs to vary the pictures they use. 

Seriously Topps, a third Koufax card with the same pic?

I am much more worried about his vintage cardboard. It usually sells for a premium on eBay, and I don't want to mention how much an auto goes for. As a half broke/half cheap college student, Sandy doesn't make the best PC interest for me. 

Yup...same picture as the mini.......

But that won't stop me. I will collect affordable Koufax cards until I can afford some of the pricier stuff. I mean I'm not going to college to be broke the rest of my life...right? 

I'm pretty sure college isn't as big as a mistake as blue numbers on Sandy's uniform. I'm fairly sure the Dodgers never wore uniforms with blue numbers on the front. But what do I know, I'm no history buff. Though, I wouldn't put it past Topps to mess something up. Try calling their customer support and you'll see what I'm talking about.

  

If I don't get the opportunity to add a vintage Koufax to my PC in my lifetime it will be okay with me. I'm not in this hobby to build the most valuable collection money wise anyways. Simply adding another new card to one of my PC's, no matter the value, is good enough for me. 

If I'm not in the hobby to make money, why do I even collect cards?

Is it the adrenaline that comes trying to pull that once in a lifetime hit? Is it because I want to learn about the players that played this great game long before I was born? Is it because it brings me closer to the game I love?

Honestly it is probably all of those things. But one thing is for sure, I have fallen in love cardboard. Modern or vintage; shiny or dull; colorful or drab; 3D or diecut; I love it all. 

I plan on collecting for a long time, and I will love every minute of it. Sandy Koufax won't be the first PC I add, and certainly won't be the last.