A Wild Horse Sketch Appears! Or Not...

I spent quite a bit of money on cards in December. Looking back, I probably spent more than I should have, but I am happy with what I got. I'm definitely glad that I'm spending money on single cards on eBay, rather than blaster boxes from Target that provide me with little value. Though, sometimes I am able to add a card to my collection without having to spend anything. 

My buddy Dikran probably had the same expression on his face when he opened up a package and saw this pop out. He bought this card for around ten bucks back in October, but was disappointed to see he spent his hard earned cash on a print, not an actual sketch. 

As you can see from the scan of the back, this is actually a limited edition print, though it is signed by the artist. 

The card itself is pretty cool. I started getting into sketch cards after viewing all of the phenomenal ones here, so I quickly got Dikran to join in on the fun. His first "sketch card" purchase didn't go so well, but it seemed to work out for me. Dikran offered this card up to me if I took him out to Panda Express (double win!), and Puig came home to me. 

While a Wild Horse Sketch would have been cool, I'm happy to add this limited edition print into my Puig PC.

A Chavez Ravining Custom

A few of my recent trade partners may have noticed a custom sketch card made specifically for them. They were crudely drawn, sometimes featured on a 3X5 card or decoy card. I have just about zero artistic ability, but I am able to draw some boorish characters similar to The Simpsons. 

I have always wanted to make my own baseball card, and those terrible sketches were just about my only way to do that. That changed when I reached out to Ernest of Dodgers Blue Heaven. 

I recently noticed a post in which he immortalized new Dodger, Kevin Correia, on a 1959 Topps baseball card. I reached out to him to get some info on how he makes those cards. He did me one better and sent me some of the templates he uses to make those cards.

After a couple of days of messing around with the templates in Photoshop, I proudly present to you my first creation. 

1962 Yasiel Puig CR Custom #1

Based on the 1962 Topps design, I opted to create a card of the Wild Horse for my first Chavez Ravining Custom. I was debating on wheteher or not I should used a posed photo, but went with this shot of a grumpy Yasiel Puig. Although I couldn't find the direct source for this photo, I pulled it from this Bleacher Report (blegh!) article. 

I plan on releasing a new card at least once a week, and creating my very own set. I am still working out the details on how I want to go about this exactly, but I will have a page for these custom cards very soon. 

I also need to purchase Photoshop. I downloaded the 30-day trial to try this out, but I am now searching for a cheap way to get my hands on this technology. I looked into getting the student edition, but everything seems to be on a monthly membership that I could do without. Any suggestions? 

If you are interested in having me make a card for you, just leave a comment or shoot me an email. I can create these pretty quickly, so long as the chosen photo doesn't give me problems. I have different templates to choose from, but my Photoshop skill is limited. 

Following up my 21st with a 1st

I celebrated my 21st birthday on Saturday (thanks to all those who wished me a happy birthday btw), and I decided to take some of my birthday money over to my LCS. I was debating on spending the money on a Kershaw auto, but I decided to buy my very first hobby box. 

Nothing was really jumping out at me, but I decided to go with a box of 2014 Donruss. In hindsight, I probably would have enjoyed ripping something else, but the box turned out fine. 

Each box supposedly comes with two autos and one relic. Every box also comes with a box topper, which I find pretty gnarly. 

Especially, since this is the very first thing I pulled. 

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I cropped it to save some room, but I managed to pull a David Wright autographed box topper. That's a pretty damn good way to start off a box. This was immediately listed on eBay, as it should sell for about the same price as the box. 

I'll get to my other three hits (the boxtopper was a bonus) shortly, but let's first take a look at some of the #'d cards from within. 

There is a pretty good mix of teams, with some solid players to boot. The Gordon refractor will probably be heading over to Greg, but the others are up for grabs.

This may be the best #'d card to come out of the box. It is limited to just 99 copies, so I threw it on eBay for a little more than it should sell for to see if anyone bites. It does not appear like any have sold yet, so that may benefit me. 

The Mariano card may have been the "best" card in a general sense, but this Zack Greinke card was my favorite. Limited to just 263 copies, I somehow managed with card number 1. Definitely a first for me, so it was just an added bonus at the end of an awesome box.

The base cards in Donruss aren't anything special, but I certainly dig the inserts. The "Power Plus" cards may just be on my list for Top Insert of the Year, if there was such a thing. Coupled with a sweet looking card of Puig exploding out of a brick wall, I have some sweet new additions to my Puig binder. 

We finally move into the autos with two guys on the opposite ends of the spectrum. 

Miguel Sano is a promising young prospect, actually ranked #3 overall by MLB, but recently underwent Tommy John surgery. The procedure is rare for position players, but the time it takes to recover is much shorther than that of a pitcher. I doubt San returns in 2014, but he should rake in the Twins system come 2015. 

Horton, on the other hand, retired in 1980 after an illustrious career with 6 different organizations, primarily the Detroit Tigers. Horton was a 4x All-Star, World Series Champion, 1979 AL Comback Player of the Year, and had his number 23 retired by the Tigers in 2000. 

Pretty solid autos if you ask me. 

To top it all off, I pulled a nice relic of the reigning NL MVP. I was hoping for a multi-colored patch, as my LCS owner had a few laying around his shop. However, I ended up with just a plain gray swatch, but I'm not complaining. 

At the end of the day, the David Wright Box Topper basically made me my money back on the box. I managed to pull quite a few cards that I enjoyed, and even more that other will appreciate. Most everything shown above has been added to my Trade Bait page, so be sure to head over if you are looking to deal. 

It was a happy birthday indeed.

Fearless

Fearless does not really emulate my mindset heading into my Calculus final tomorrow. 

However, it does mimic the style of play Yasiel Puig plays with every night. 

Fearless could also describe my feelings when purchasing this card. For $6.00 shipped, I feel I got a pretty good deal. The only thing I was really fearful of was the USPS losing or damaging the card during the shipping process. 

You may be wondering, "Why did he pay $6.00" for that?" I believe that question is fair. I mean it is a cool and all, but six bucks for a single card? Well, this happens to be a purple refractor (looks more pink to me) that is limited to just 99 copies. My copy just so happens to be #'d 2/99. 

I mentioned this in a post a couple of days ago, but I have generally been priced out of Yasiel Puig cardboard. As soon as I saw this while browsing eBay in class (Yes, I'm that guy), I knew I had to win. I was feeling like purchasing some Puig cards anyways, so good timing.  I spaced out of the lecture for about 15 minutes while the auction was winding down to ensure I would win, and I did. Well worth it by the way. 

Anyways, back to studying for tomorrow's final. It is gonna be a doozy. 

A Chavez Ravining Pack War

I officially started summer school this week. Because of that, I have had very little time to write anything. It doesn't help that I haven't really picked up any cards lately, in store or in trade. After spending 4 hours in math class this afternoon, I decided to drop by Target to pick up a couple of packs in anticipation for my very first pack war. 

I settled on 2014 Bowman, though I am not really interested in it. I wasn't feeling anything else they had, so I dealt with it. 

I will pin the cards, in order, against each other and determine the winning pack. The better card will receive a point, though I can award more points if I see fit. Obviously, pack one is on the left and pack two will be on the right.  Let's get started. 

We started both packs off on a good note, pulling 2/5 of the Dodgers outfield. However, Crawford has no chance in hell to win this matchup, as a Puig card is just about the best thing I could have pulled. 5 points to pack one for pulling the Wild Horse.

PACK ONE: 5 points

PACK TWO: 0 points

Surprisingly, I pulled another pair off teammates at the 2 spot. Both are effective starters for that other LA team, but Weaver gets the nod, and one point, in this match-up.

PACK ONE: 5 points

PACK TWO: 1 point

I thought the first match-up with Puig was a no-brainer, but this one tops it. Bogaerts will be fighting for the Rookie of the Year award in 2014, whereas I have never even heard of Kohler. One point to pack one. 

PACK ONE: 6 points

PACK TWO: 1 point

Well here is a dreaded match-up between two guys I have never heard off. I guess someone has to get a point, soooooo Mr. Dozier and pack two will gain a little ground.

PACK ONE: 6 points

PACK TWO: 2 points

Yay! Another match-up between two guys I have never heard off. I guess this is why I am not a big fan off Bowman. The Rivero card is one of the Hometown parallels, so pack two gets another point. 

PACK ONE: 6 points

PACK TWO: 3 points

Hmmm. I have a feeling that I will never do a pack war with a Bowman product again. Yet another match-up between two unknowns here. They both play for both Chicago organizations, two teams I am fairly indifferent about. I can't pick a winner. Draw.

PACK ONE: 6 points

PACK TWO: 3 points

I am starting to sound like a broken record. Two unknown guys, but pack two gets the win.

PACK ONE: 6 points

PACK TWO: 4 points

Thank goodness, Major Leaguers. Of course, I know very little about Rienzo, but I do know plenty about Alvarez. Big time power beats the reliever. 

PACK ONE: 6 points

PACK TWO: 4 points

More big league guys, though another rookie I know very little about. Either way, Prado gets the win with one of my favorite throwback jerseys from recent years. 

PACK ONE: 7 points

PACK TWO: 4 points

We finally get to the last match-up! Cueto will attempt to make the comeback against pack one, but he will fall just short. 

FINAL:

PACK ONE: 7 points

PACK TWO: 5 points

What a yawner. Pulling these lackluster cards, with the exception of the Puig, was a no better than writing this post. At least I know now that I need to pick different packs for pack wars. Everything seen here, except the Puig and Crawford, are up for grabs. Leave a comment if you are interested. 

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.

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!

Trade with Playing With My Cards: Properly Thanking the Correct Blogger

I completed my first trade with Ethan of Playing with my Cards a while back, but I am just getting around to posting my loot. You can check out his post on what I sent him here. 

A few weeks ago I improperly credited Ethan with some cards I received in a trade. He quickly notified me of my mistake and now I am finally going to make it right.

I'm pretty foggy on the details of the trade because it has been so long since we talked about it, but I believe this was the center of the deal. I love adding new Puig cards to my Puig PC and this one is no exception. It seems like people either love Puig or hate him, typically leaning toward the latter. It is a hate that I can't get my head around and something that was produced by mainstream media. I hate playing the race card, but there is probably a lot racial fueled hate toward the young Cuban. Wil Myers got nowhere near the same attention as Puig last year, though he played with the same flare Puig usually shows and probably missed just as many cut-off men. It is an argument I don't really want to get in the middle of, but an argument I seemingly get pulled into quite a bit. 

As far as the Future of the Franchise moniker this card displays, I have a hard time agreeing with it. Clayton Kershaw is obviously the Future of the Franchise, though he is also the Present of the Franchise, and for the past few seasons has been the Past of the Franchise. Puig will play a big part on the Dodgers over the next several seasons, but the Dodgers belong to Kershaw for the time being.

The beauty of this trade however, comes in the form of a 1972 Topps Bill Buckner. The card is not in the best shape, but it works for me. The '72 design is one of the best of the decade and this is my first card from the set. I could do a lot worse than a fantastic bat barrel shot of the first baseman and the All-Star rookie cup is a phenomenal touch. 

I have been busy lately (my way of saying lazy), and haven't updated my Topps Team Set Project needs in a few weeks. I have a pretty decent sized stack of cards to take off of the list, including a ton from Ethan. I wish there was something special to show you from 2010 Topps, but there isn't anything that really stands out. 

Ethan also sent over a ton of cards that fit into my now defunct mini-collections. Those have been placed into a large box which contains the rest of the cards from those mini-collections, and will be revisited sometime in the future.

Thanks again for the trade Ethan. Hope we can do another swap again soon. 

2014 Topps Series One: Yasiel Puig Rainbow

Editors Note: This post comes from Dikran Samarjian. He will occasionally have posts here. As you may know, Dikran and I usually split the price of higher end cards to share, at least until we are out of college and can actually earn some money. If you would like to get in touch with him, you can give him a follow on Twitter @D_Samarjian. Any comments you leave will be forwarded to him as well. Enjoy!

This post is way past overdue, but the wait is over.

Ever since 2014 Topps Series One came out, I had made it my duty to venture out and complete the Yasiel Puig rainbow. Of course the 1/1 platinum is almost impossible to get, so I had to make my quest more realistic. It cost me a pretty penny, but long story short I finally completed it!

It was very hard to get the cards for the right price, especially when it’s Yasiel Puig. People get pretty greedy when you’re dealing with one of the hottest players in baseball. Also not to mention, when the cards are eBay firsts, it is expected to pay highest dollar for it. (I had wasted no time starting my journey to complete the rainbow.) The majority of the retail bases I had purchased cost me at least 10 dollars including shipping.

The numbered cards are a whole different story. Obviously the most expensive card was the clear #'d /10. Though the card hit triple digits, it was a great buy. I think the clear cards are gorgeous regardless the player. Props to Topps for creating such a nice card. I completed the much more realistic 12 card rainbow and quickly secured the cards in plaques. 

It was a fun and highly anticipated journey with the bid wars and delivery wait, but I am not much of a parallel collector. I love the sexy “chunk-a-licious” multicolored patches and on-card autos. Alex and I have decided to put the rainbow for sale. I will also accept a fair trade. I am a Celtics fan, and of course a Dodgers fan. I want to add a booklet or two to my collection just letting you guys know ;) lol!

Contact Alex with any trade offers, and as for the purchasing goes it will be on Alex’s eBay. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy the cards as much as we did. If these cards were from Chrome I would definitely keep them because the Chrome line is gorgeous!

I am going to have Alex embed my latest track I had produced to this post. If you guys could check it out and show some support/give me some feedback it would be more than appreciated! I’m just a kid with a talent and a huge love for music and some support wouldn’t hurt. Thanks guys! Until next time, take care!