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