It's Been Too Long

It feels good starting a post that has some real cards in it. The cards in this post come courtesy of a fellow Dodger fan and friend, Austin.

We started talking cards, baseball, and general nonsense a while back, though I don't remember when. However, I do remember we struck a deal; It has just taken me a ton of time to get around to posting.

This sweet relic of Adrian Beltre was the center of the deal, but I received something even sweeter which I'll get to in a minute. My Beltre PC is stronger than ever, now sitting at a triumphant 105 cards. That number can only go up, and with a much more narrow focus I plan on increasing that number sooner rather than later.

I also received this extremely cool Russell Martin card from 2010 A&G. Greg is right, Martin cannot take a bad picture. This is just a gorgeous piece of cardboard. Come back to LA, Russell!!

Austin also sent over a few other cards for my various Dodger PC's, but this took the cake. Austin was nice enough to send this my way just so he could clear up a little space at home. Although I am not quite old enough to have experienced Sutton pitch, I'm definitely happy to have his bobblehead (and bobblehair) in my collection. Do any other Parks and Rec fans thing he looks a bit like Councilman Jamm? 

Thanks again for all of the great stuff Austin. I look forward to our next swap!

Happy Birthday, Greg!

No, not that Greg who also celebrated his birthday yesterday. Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle gets to celebrate his birth today. What better way to celebrate a fellow blogger's birthday, than by showing off some awesome cards he passed along my way earlier this week at the Dodger game. Of course, you can celebrate by harassing Greg on Twitter or just visiting his awesome blog.

Although Greg and I have been in contact since the inception of my blog almost a year ago, this is only our second trade. And boy, the first one (so good it required two posts) was just a sign of things to come when dealing with Greg. 

The centerpiece of this deal was a swap of autographs from the Parks and Recreation set by Press Pass. Both Greg and I are attempting to put the entire autographed set, and we were able to help each other out by flipping some of our excess autographs. This time around I was able to pick up the hilarious Joan Callamezzo portrayed by Mo Collins. I now have 5 out of the 13 autos in the set, still needing the big ones like Amy Poehler and Rob Lowe. With the prices those seem to be sitting at, it may be beneficial to just buy a hobby box and hope for the best. 

Greg also tossed in my very first autograph of former Dodger, Blake DeWitt. Although he was traded for Ted Lilly back in 2010, DeWitt remained one of my favorite players. From the looks of it, DeWitt is a free agent. Ahem....you know what to do Dodgers.

Moving from a former Dodger, to a soon to be former Dodger, Greg threw in this sweet relic of Andre Ethier. Look, I love Ethier, but his production has dropped off immensely the past two seasons. With Joc Pederson knocking on the door in Triple-A, one of Ethier or Carl Crawford will most likely be moved before the start of 2015. The Dodgers will either have to give away one of the players for some mediocre prospects, or take on another albatross contract in return. Jonathan Papelbon's name was thrown around yesterday, and even though I dislike Papelbon, it would probably benefit the team in the long run. 

Hell, the Dodgers could trade either of their overpriced outfielders for dirt and sign Shawn Green and I'd be happy. We know that would never happen, but a man can dream right? Greg threw in two Green relics into this trade package, though I decided to just scan the one. This one is #'d 226/250 and joins its brothers in my box box of Greens.

Speaking of former Dodgers I'd like to see make a return to LA, here is a sweet swatch of Russell Martin. Considering it is a fairly low numbered relic of one of Greg's favorite players, I am assuming he had a spare. If so, I don't blame him for having more than one of these spectacular cards. 

It seems like this post has turned into me clamoring for former Dodgers to make their return to the magic castle that is Dodger Stadium. However, I don't only want former Dodgers to return. It would be nice to have Withrow at the back of the Dodgers bullpen, but he is just one of many Tommy John victims this year. 

Of course, relievers tend to be expendable and with the Dodgers depth, they aren't horribly effected by Withrow's loss. The Dodgers showed off how expendable relievers can be by shipping off Josh Lindblom to Philly in the deal for Shane Victorino in 2012. In a strange sequence of events, the Phillies then traded Lindblom to the Rangers for Michael Young after the 2012 season. The Dodgers then traded for Young in August of last season to bring the trade full circle. 

Moving away from the hits that Greg exchanged with me, we have three new Matt Kemp cards for my #BEASTMODE PC. There is just something about those Triple Play cards that grabs my attention. They are wonderful. 

Triple Play is one of the low-end products, so Greg made sure to include a new Matty Ice card from one of the high-end sets. This Kemp marks four new cards Greg added to my collection, which now sits at 165 unique cards. 

Greg was also kind enough to toss in a couple of Shawn Green cards, one better than the other. I'll let you guess which one don't like. 

Though I tend to hate cards of Shawn Green featured as a D-Back, I'll take any card of Jonathan Broxton. I have always been a big fan of the big man, even after Joe Torre killed him back in the Yankees series in 2010. Broxton was one of the most dominant relievers in the game during a four year stretch from 2006-2009. After that ill-fated series against the Yankees, in which Broxton pitched in 4 out of 5 games, and warmed up in the other one, Broxton was never the same. By the way, Broxton (a closer mind you) threw 99 pitches in a span of five days. As Mike Petriello, then of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness pointed out, Jonathan Broxton is a starting pitcher now, I guess. I need to get all of my Broxton cards together and officially add him to my tertiary PC's, but that means I actually have to do something when I'm not at work.

A vertical card next to a horizontal one is not very pleasing to the eyes, but this is my blog and I can do whatever I want. All joking aside, Greg managed to throw in a pair of sweet Bryce Harper cards that I did not have somehow. 

Greg also threw in a ton of other great cards, including a ton of mini collection hits, other hits, and some Dodgers. Unfortunately, I forgot Greg's side of the deal when I took my trip to LA over the weekend, but Greg will be happy to know that his cards are en route. He probably won't get them today, but a belated birthday gift tomorrow should be expected.

Thanks again for all of the wonderful cards Greg! Be sure to enjoy your birthday amigo!

I'm at the Dodgers Game Right Now...Be Jealous

I made yet another trip to my LCS late last week in search for some cards to take to a Dodgers game I am probably arriving to at this very moment. Thanks to Dodger Penguin for selling me his tickets and getting me close to the action for autographs. I have always wanted to attend a night game, so this is a bit of a dream come true for me. I am sure there will be a post on the game sometime in the next few days. I'm headed off to Six Flags tomorrow morning to top off the weekend. I didn't do much for my 21st birthday last weekend, but I am definitely making up for it now. 

Although I didn't find too many cards that I wanted to get autographed, I did find a few quality cards to add to my collection.

The first being this fantastic USA Baseball insert of the best pitcher on the planet. I haven't discussed my love for USA cards in a while, but I love 'em. Especially the Dodgers. 

I also picked up this sweet piece, another new addition. Topps did a decent job at making these cards look vintage, well enough that I wish they would switch to these for the Gypsy Queen base set. I think another blogger may have mentioned that not to long ago, but I cannot pinpoint the blogger or the post. I guess I forgot earlier, but my Clayton Kershaw PC quietly crossed the century mark this past week. 

I made a move for some of the other aces in the Dodgers rotation and came away with these two awesome cards. Both come from the cocaine riddled 2014 Panini Prizm, and the Greinke happens to be the refractor version of the card. I am not generally a big fan on the Prizm base cards, but I enjoy the inserts quite a bit. 

I picked this up just because, but found out I did not yet have a copy when I got home. Now that I have it, I am pretty sure I have tracked down most of Ryu's rookies.

I also grabbed this out of a 5000-count box of Sox my LCS owner had sitting on the counter. Like the Ryu above, I thought I already had it, but I guess not. Maybe it's just me, but Ortiz does not rock the high socks all too well.

To finish off my trip, I grabbed this wonderful card of Russell Martin. It has a confusing cartoon in the background that I can't seem to grasp. Is the runner sliding into 1st base? Feet first? Why is the catcher waiting for a throw if the runner is going to first? I'll let it slide becuase Ken Griffey Jr. said so. 

Thanks again for taking the time to check out my ramblings on cards. Hopefully I'll show you awesome pictures and new autographed cards soon. Let's go Dodgers!

PC Madness

Another day, another trade post. I recently completed my first trade with reader Scott. I got a ton of cards for my various PC's, but I will just show off a couple.

My favorite card of the bunch was a sweet card featuring both Adrian Beltre and Ichiro. I've long known Ichiro with Suzuki attached to the back of his name, but it seems like he simply goes by Ichiro. I don't think fans need a last name to recognize one of the greatest hitters of the 21st century, however. One thing I like about this card is the expression Beltre has. It is fairly common with him, but he looks like he is about to bust up laughing. The card comes from 2006 Topps Changing Faces, a set I am unfamiliar with, and is #'d 48/75.

Scott sent 28 new Manny cards my way, but I decided I would only scan one. I'm not quite sure what draws me to this card, but I'm digging it.

Also included in this sweet deal were three cards of Manny's former mashing partner, David Ortiz. This card would be perfect for my now absolved Pimping Dingers collection, but fits nicely into my Big Papi binder.

I wasn't kidding when I said Scott sent a ton of PC cards my way. He included four new Green cards for my binder, while simultaneously pushing my Green collection over the century mark. Clayton Kershaw also reached that impressive point earlier this week, and my Beltre PC is only 8 cards away. I certainly didn't see my collection growing quite as fast as it has over the past 9 months during my time in the blogging world. 

I've always had a soft spot for Beltre, which helped propel the card featured at the top of this post to my favorite of the package. Otherwise, the sweet Martin card on the left may have taken the crown. It features Martin is his original number 70 jersey, which was later changed to 55. I decided to take a look at Martin's Baseball Reference page for some jersey number history, only to find it doesn't list the number 70. Greg is my go to guy when it comes to Martin, so maybe he'll be able to clear up the confusion. 

I'll finish this post up with a threesome of Hanley Ramirez cardboard. Blogger has been taking so long to upload pictures recently, that Hanley probably pulled a hammy while I was waiting. Scott sent over 15 Hanley cards if my counting is correct, and they are all new additions. The cognac parallels from 2011 are personal favorites of mine, and the "vintage" Hanley on the far right is most dope. 

I decided to pen this post before updating my player pages, and considering it is already 2 am, I am unsure if I will finish those up tonight. 

Thanks again for the trade Scott! Hope we can do it again sometime soon. 

Four New Cards To Brag About

Almost a month ago I came across a post by a fellow blogger. I have not had the luxury of talking to him before, but his post sent me over to a small baseball card site that was having a sale. There was a ton of stuff on sale, but I only picked up four cards for my various PC's. Lets take a look at what I walked away with. 

I only spent about 6 bucks on my entire order, but this card really made the purchase for me. Before this purchase I did not have any A.J Ellis hits. I still want to get my hands on an Ellis auto, but I have been pushing that to the back of my to-do list. This particular card comes for 2013 Topps Mini Baseball Online Exclusive, a set I know absolutely zilch about. If there are more Dodgers out there though, I want them. 

I picked up another card of a Dodgers backstop, this time of my newest PC focus, Russell Martin. Martin is one of my favorite players of the past decade and it is a shame he is in Pitt. Unlike Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle, this is my first #'d Martin card. This particular copy is #'d 178/500. 

I finished off my small purchase with a pair of Shawn Green relics. The first one comes from 2002 Topps Finest. If this card is any indication of the product, then it looks to be a pretty rad set. 

The second relic is a bat slice, this time from Playoff Prime Cuts. I am not a big fan of the card, but that didn't stop me from adding it to my growing Shawn Green PC. 

Be sure to check out Tromp's Cards for sweet deals like the one I got. There is currently a sale going on, and it looks like all cards are 50% off. 

Trade with Nomo's Sushi Platter: PC Additions and a Sweet Piazza

I completed my first trade with Michael from Nomo's Sushi Platter. Looking back, I feel I owe Michael a lot more cardboard. I guess I'll have to take another look through some of my boxes. I'm slowly getting more organized, which hopefully means I'll be able to help many more bloggers out.

The package started out great, with this absolutely fantastic shot of the '93 Rookies of the Year. I am not quite sure what draws me into this card, but is a favorite of mine already. Maybe a Piazza binder is in the horizon?

Like so many of my recent trade packages have included, Michael sent over quite a few Shawn Green cards my way. If it wasn't for John's courteous package the day before, every Green card Michael sent me would have been brand new to me. Instead, I get to show of three cards that were not in the binder already. The Topps Gold Label seems like a pretty cool product, though whenever I see Green in a blue jersey, I feel like it is a Blue Jay card. 

Staying with the PC cards, Michael sent over 5 new Kemp cards. My favorite is probably the bright yellow Heritage card, though the '08 Topps Chrome card up top is giving it a run for its money. Either way, these are all sweet additions to my Matt Kemp PC. 

A large majority of this trade package was filled with cards for my various PC's. This was the lone Kershaw card in the package, but is much appreciated. The warping these cards have gone through sucks, but maybe sticking it in a top loader for a while will straighten things out. (Pun intended)

As some of you know, my newest collecting interest is Russell Martin. I have been a huge fan of his for awhile and am still pissed that he was non-tendered a few years back. I planned on discussing some of my new collecting habits awhile back, but that post is still unfinished sitting in my drafts. I guess I have something to work on this weekend.

As great as the 3 Martin cards were above, they don't hold a candle to this bad boy. Neither player is with the respective teams any more, but this is a sweet card. I'm pretty sure Greg said, "Martin doesn't take bad pictures" some time ago, and this card is evidence of that. It looks a little off-center to me the more I look at the scan, but maybe I just messed up the cropping. Either way, awesome addition. 

If I was a little less busy, I probably would have scanned some of the Hanley, David Ortiz, Andre Ethier, and mini collection cards. But, an essay I have to write is calling my name. 

Thanks again for the trade Michael. I hope to hook you up in the future and make our swaps a little more balanced.

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 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!

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.