Contest over at Play at the Plate

Brian over at Play at the Plate is running a contest for a hobby box of 2014 Bowman, generously donated by Topps. Make sure you head over and enter. 

CLICK HERE TO BE LINKED TO THE CONTEST POST

Highlighting a Few Fantastic Blogs Pt. 6

Previous posts in this series: Pt.1, Pt.2, Pt.3, Pt.4, Pt. 5

I will continue to highlight some of the blogs that deserve more traffic and eventually work my way up to the bigger blogs.

all the way to the backstop

Although Marcus is a Padres fan, he runs a pretty awesome blog. We have swapped cards a couple of times, though it is probably time to do it again as I have a decent stack of Padres for him. Marcus is a big Padres fan, but maybe a bigger Andrew Cashner fan (how do you not love that hair). Be sure to check out his blog if you haven't already.

This Way to the Clubhouse

I recently completed a trade with Mark over at This Way to the Clubhouse. That post will be posted sometime in the next few days however. As the picture usually denotes, Mark is a Mets fan. But he collects more than just Mets. He has quite the wanted list for some colorful Topps parallels, so be sure to check that out. He also runs a cool series that he calls Four Topps that is definitely a cool flashback to "junk wax" era cards. This Way to the Clubhouse is definitely a blog you want to put on your daily reading list. 

Tenets of Wilson

The final blog I am recommending today belongs to frequent contest winner, Matthew. Don't let the picture fool you, Matthew is actually a Cardinals fan, but I figured I would show off an awesome card I sent him awhile back. Matthew has one of the largest want lists I have ever seen for a blog, so make sure you check it out and help him out. 

Thanks again for reading! I have already highlighted 18 different blogs through out this series, and I have had contact with most of the bloggers behind them. I hope to post this a little more frequently, but don't hold me to it. 

An Action Packed Swap

I completed my first trade with Justin of Mets Cardboard earlier this week. Justin reached out to me regarding the fantasy baseball league that I started for the blog a couple of months back. We got to talking and eventually agreed on a trade and now here we are.

Although Justin sent over a decent stack of cards, primarily hits for my Topps Team Set Project, there are two cards in particular I wanted to highlight. The first being this sweet Action Packed Steve Garvey card you see below.

Before this card came along, I only had a couple of Garvey cards that were not needed for my TTSP. But this card pushed me over the top, and now I will be semi-collecting the Dodger great. I'll have more on that further down the line, but keep me in mind when determining what to do with your extra Garvey cardboard. 

This card did not only stand-out because it was Steve Garvey, but because it hails from a set I am very unfamiliar with. I am fairly sure ARPSmith sent me a Willie Mays card from the same set awhile back, but it is late and I don't feel like searching my boxes for it. I could probably do a quick Google search on the set and find out everything I wanted to know about it, but like I said, it is late. One thing is for sure, I will be on the hunt for other Dodgers from the set.

The second card I wanted to highlight is this sweet 1968 Topps team card. I already have a hard time distinguishing players from the 60's and 70's, and this card does little to help me in that department. Even with a tough to see picture, this card looks great. Though, most vintage cardboard does. 

I will have to update my TTSP project one of these days (I know I have been saying that for awhile). Finals are in about a week, so maybe I will find the time when summer vacation roles around. Wait.....I decided it was a good idea to take summer classes too. Ugh. As Greg once told me, "Damn school and its importance."

A Contest by Dodger Penguin

Matthew of Dodger Penguin is running another contest, this time for the 2014 Bowman Dodgers Team Set. However, the prize can be even sweeter, but I'll just copy and paste that in here.  

If my blog acquires 5 more followers for a total of 60 I will throw in the 6 chrome set of the prospects from the same set. After that every 2 more followers I will throw in more cards. The first will be an autograph of my choosing and then after that a relic card and so and so on.

The contest runs until the end of May, so you have plenty of time to get your name in the hat. 

Go Enter! Do it Now!

Zack Attack

Lately I have been making a conscious effort to purchase less singles and inserts, and more relics and autos. For awhile it seemed like I would spend my weekly card budget on unneeded packs of cards or singles. I decided to let the base cards come to me, as most bloggers end up with extras anyways. Now I have been able to go after the "expensive" cards more frequently. 

Of course, expensive means different things to different people. As a college student, expensive can sometimes be 10 bucks depending on how many hours I worked on a given paycheck. But now that I am buying less singles, I am able to focus on some of the fun cards.

Take this sweet Zack Greinke relic from Triple Threads for example. It isn't too fancy or flashy, but neither is the Dodgers 1A pitcher. The semi-low numbering is a bonus too - this copy is #'d 12/36. Although multiple colors are always nice to see in relic cards, plain swatches like the one above work well with Triple Threads. 

This card cost me around 7 bucks shipped, not bad considering the former Cy Young's performance this season. In the past, that 7 dollars probably would have been spent on some late 2000's Matt Kemp or Clayton Kershaw base cards. I guess this is a classic case of quality over quantity. Something I plan on sticking to in my future card endeavors. 

A Vintage Garvey and More from Foul Bunt

I completed another trade with William of Foul Bunt fame recently. William is one of the nicest people you will meet in the hobby and he has definitely been a joy to talk to during my short stay in cards so far. We set things aside for each other nowadays, so packages tend to be full of surprises. William's latest package was indeed full of surprises, so let's get to it.

I used to save the best for last in my posts, but that has changed recently. A card like this does not deserve to be posted at the bottom of the post, so Mr. Clean is leading off this afternoon. 

This was the big surprise that William sent over. It was staring at me when I popped open the package and I was staring right back. 1975 Topps is one of the most popular years ever in terms of collecting, but I had yet to unearth one until now. Not only did William send over a 1975 Topps, he sent over a Steve Garvey. It doesn't get much better than that. This card is not too entirely expensive to pick up online, but William will definitely be receiving some extras in our next trade. 

As great as the '75 was, there was still more vintage cardboard to dig out. This time in the form of 1969 Topps. Because I have been able to add at least one card in a majority of the years for the Topps Team Set Project, names are starting to become a bit more familiar. Though the name Hank Aguirre doesn't ring a bell, Ron Fairly sure does. I will gladly add these two cards to my other 69s, though I have to find the time to organize my cards and update my needs list. 

Vintage is great, but modern cards, such as this 2007 A&G Matt Kemp, hold their own. From what I understand, Allen and Ginter's was just being released around this time. The cards were simple, yet effective. This Kemp is no exception. The fact that William was able to send me a Matt Kemp card that I didn't already have nearly put the cherry on top of this proverbial sundae.

However, this awesome Bryce Harper insert was able to do just that.  I don't have much luck pulling Bryce, so I have been very dependent on my fellow bloggers to help me out. Thankfully, many of you have come through and helped me add to the collection. If only I hadn't shipped off those Harper's to Judson a few months back. I'm just kidding of course. I may not have the Harper's anymore, but I do have a few awesome Beltre relics to show for it. 

Thanks again for the cards William! I am looking forward to our next swap. 

My Favorite Colored Cardboard

After a long week of school and work, I finally came home to some mail last night. Two of which were trade packages (fantastic by the way) and one being a purchase from the bay. I initially planned on posting something else today, but I am writing this at 11pm and I have to be at work at 6am. Therefore, I decided to take take the easy way out and post about the card I bought from eBay. 

Maybe it's just my eyes, but these blue framed cards tend to come out much darker in scans. What matters most is what it looks like in-person though, and I'll tell you it looks fantastic. I have mentiooned this plenty of times in the past, but Dodger cards are a bajillion times greater when they are of the blue variation. This particular blue variation is #'d 168/499. 

I am not a big fan of Gypsy Queen, but I absolutely love these framed cards. Although, I do slightly prefer the white framed cards to the blue framed ones. For those wondering, my Matt Kemp collection now sits at 129 unique cards. I'm coming for you Mr. Zakwin. 

Topps Chrome Rainbow: Matt Magill Camo Refractor

I was able to pick up another card for my Topps Chrome Rainbow last week in the form of a Matt Magill Camo Refractor. 

The card is #'d 14/15, which, believe it or not, is the lowest numbered card I have in my rainbow so far. As far as the individual player rainbows go, I have 8/12 Matt Kemp cards and 5/12 Matt Magill cards. However, completing the Magill rainbow will probable be completed sooner because I have the hardest ones in hand, with the exception of the Atomic, Pink, and 1/1. That and they're cheaper. 

This marks the 50th card toward the 120 needed. Frankly, I didn't think I would get this far, but at the same time I don't feel like I have 50. Finding the numbered cards has been a challenge lately, especially when ebayers are listing the cards for ridiculous prices in BIN formats. My goal is to stay patient and pick them up without breaking the bank. 

I was able to land this card for a little over 4 bucks. Though I did feel a little bad in doing so. I was watching this card for just about the entire time the auction was up, but decided to wait and bid right before the auction ended. Normally I just place my high bid and hope I win, but I figured I would try DodgerPenguin's strategy of sniping at the last second. Lucky for me, the bid I placed at the last second was a penny over the other bidders final bid. Guess I'll be sniping more frequently now. Look out!

I See You

By now, most of you have probably seen the awesome Matt Kemp game-used, autographed, and cracked bat that my buddy Dikran got me for my birthday. What you you haven't seen is part two of my birthday gift.

It got over-shadowed quite a bit by the bat, but that doesn't take away from the pure coolness factor this card has. 

Although it may be a bit hard to see, this bad boy is numbered 15/25. Unlike most Dodgers relics you may see, this features a baby blue patch. I originally thought it was from the throwbacks the Dodgers wore a couple years ago, but quickly remembered that Hanley wasn't on the team at that time. Honestly, I doubt it actually came from something Hanley wore, but a generic Dodger fabric they decided to use. I have always had my doubts about the authenticity of the relics included on cards, but this just about confirmed my suspicions. Hanley may have worn a jersey this color and I may be completely blanking, but I'm sure some of my fabulous readers would point that out to me if it were the case. 

Anyways, thanks again Dikran. I guess your birthday gift from me will have to be pretty great to top this. 

The Grand Daddy of Matt Kemp Memorabilia

Last Friday, I hinted at a brand new piece to my Matt Kemp collection.

Got the granddaddy of all Matt Kemp memorabilia today. #BEASTMODE #Dodgers
— Alex Markle (@ChavezRavining) April 26, 2014

Unfortunately, because I wasn't home, I was unable to post about it until today. 

Now, before we get any further into this post, let me say one thing: it pays to have good friends. 

My best friend Dikran, being the stand-up guy he is, decided to buy me a birthday gift a few months early. He told me this and it seemed a bit unusual, but he had a good explanation. He quit his full-time job so he can go back to school, and knew he wouldn't have any extra money by the time my birthday rolled around in July. Therefore, he decided to buy me an awesome gift while he still had the cash.

No complaints here. Especially after I saw what my gift was.

Yup. A Matt Kemp autographed, game-used, cracked bat. I stole that picture, as well as the others coming up, straight from the eBay auction he won. It is unbelievably hard to take a good picture of a bat.

I am still amazed that this is now in my possession, but even more amazed after finding out how much it cost. Needless to say, I owe Dikran a grand birthday gift of his own. 

The fact that this bat is not only game-used and autographed by Kemp, but cracked makes it that much sweeter. You can bet I was extremely careful getting this thing home. 

Surprisingly, the bat weighed a lot less than I imagined. From what it weighed, I imagine Matt Kemp is swinging a 34, but a small part of the bat is missing so who knows. The knob sticker thing is pretty sweet as well. It happens to be covered in pine tar, as well as about 50% of the bat. 

I am still speechless that this is in my possession and that I have have a friend that would actually spend that kind of money on me. But it is mine all mine and will be for a very long time. Happy early birthday to me!