A Sweet Bison Relic From the Bay

I picked this guy off of eBay last week for the price of half a blaster. I wasn't planning on buying it at the time, but a card of mine happened to sell minutes before I ran across it. I quickly spent that money and walked away with a beautiful blue parallel relic of Matt Kemp. I have already talked about my infatuation for blue Dodgers cards, and this one is #'d 15/50. Needless to say, I am very happy with this purchase. 

As usual, I had another incredibly busy week with school and work. As if midterms weren't enough, I had to finish a 6 page paper on Frankenstein. Seems a little juvenille, but one day school will pay off for something. 

Because of my business, I haven't been able to ship anything and probably won't get a chance to get near a post office until Friday. So, if we happened to make a trade sometime in the last week or so, expect delivery early next week. 

Zip codes that are currently packaged up are:

97225
77040
95204
&
Great White North

I also have 4 more packages to send out, but I haven't gotten around to sealing up or getting addresses on the bubble mailers. Thanks for your patience!

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.

Kid K * 7

Last week I traded my only Clayton Kershaw relic to Matthew of Dodger Penguin. That trade made me realize how sorry my Kershaw collection really is. I noticed I was lacking in the hit department, so I tried to justify that over the weekend with a couple of cheap purchases from the bay.

I purchased a five card lot of Kershaw cards for a few bucks, though my eyes were only on one specific card from the lot. Turns out that I didn't have any of the five. I have seen this '72 mini so many times before, it was only natural to assume I had it. 

I also picked up my (now) favorite card from 2013. Like the mini above, I could have sworn this was already in the binder, but I guess not. I wish I had paid more attention to 2013 A&G because they had plenty of sweet cards like this one. 

This also hails from 2013 Allen and Ginter's, but isn't on the same level as the one above. It is still an awesome card, and I love that straight ahead look Kershaw is giving me. 

This bad boy comes from Topps Museum Collection, a high-end product I had no intention of buying. The design of the card isn't all that, but the autos look pretty sweet in the product. One of these days I'll get my hands on Kershaws John Hancock. 

This was the card I was going after when I ran across the auction. I love the Topps Tribute, or at least 2013 Tribute. I have some of the other Dodgers from this set, but Kershaw has eluded me until now. I picked this lot up for less than three bucks shipped, well worth the money. 

Of course, when I get an itch to spend the little card money I have every paycheck, I spend it all at once. I picked this up minutes before in a BIN format. The seller allowed me to send him a best offer, which I did and he accepted. This bad boy was shipped to my door for a penny under six bucks. At the time of the purchase, this was slated to be my only Kershaw relic. However, I quickly added a friend for the little guy.

This normal sized Kershaw relic only cost me $4.99. Somehow, I was the only bidder with minutes left and the buyer had free shipping. This card isn't licensed, but still has a sweet shot of the reigning Cy Young winner. It happens to be #'d 53/99, and even came in a nice magnetic one touch to store it in. One of my best purchases yet. 

I spent the rest of my measly card budget on another purchase which will be featured sometime in the next few days, but I am glad to have seven new Kid K cards for the collection. Considering I spent less than 13 bucks for everything above, you might say I had a good weekend. 

Trade with Johnny's Trading Spot: A Flat Rate Box Full of Fun

I completed my second trade with John of Johnny's Trading Spot recently. For those of you who don't follow John - you're missing out. On top of being a fantastic trader, John is a stand-up guy and would love to make a deal with you. Make sure you head over to his blog and work something out.

I got one of John's famous small flat rate boxes, filled with brown bricks. I wish I had taken a picture, but my extremely vague description will have to do for now.

John took a big bite of my mini collections, sending tons of cards to help me out. These nine fit into the Dodgers in the Background MC. The only card I have a hard time distinguishing is the Angel Pagan card on the lower right. If that is a Dodgers in the background, it is most likely Andre Ethier.

John also sent over a large amount of Pimping Dingers cards. I picked my favorite eight and scanned those. Ain't nobody got time to spend all day scanning. It looks like the two Jose Canseco cards are the same shot, one slightly after the other. It is hard to tell, but I am sticking to it. The Willie Mays card in the center is also my first piece of cardboard of the Say Hey Kid.

Here is an awesome Celebrating on the Mound shot.

I also nabbed three Andre Ethier cards in this deal. I was surprised that I didn't have the one in the center, considering it is one of my favorite cards of 'Dre. Guess I should double check my player lists before assuming I have a card.

A Brett Butler playing card? Yes, please!

John also took note of my Primary PC's, sending me (again) a ton of cards to help me out. In all I received (ironically) 29 new Adrian Beltre cards.

John did not stop there. I also received (ironically again) 15 new Shawn Green cards. For those of you who are wondering why I find this a bit ironic - Beltre wears number 29 and Green wore number 15.

*Ironically is not the word I was looking for, but I am attributing my stupidness to school again......ironically.

Thanks again for the trade John! I look forward to doing this again.

Highlighting a Few Underrated Blogs pt. 2

To see my Pt.1 of this series click here. 


Johnny's Trading Spot

You'll hear a little bit more about John later this week when our most recent trade post goes live, but just know that John is an awesome guy. Seriously, if you don't check out John's blog you are doing yourself a serious injustice. As you can see from the picture, John is primarily a Braves guy, though he does have quite a few interesting mini collections. Including Causing a Stir, Playn Dirty, Turning Twos, and my favorite Shadow Shots. Be sure to check it out.

Uncle Charlie and the Public Enemy No.1

Don't let that Ruth fool you, this is another Dodger blog. In fact, it might just be the newest one out there. I'd like to say that I helped influence Evan start up the wonderfully named blog, but I'd rather not take credit. I "met" Evan on Twitter and eventually we started talking about cards. He has decided to get back into collecting after being out of the game for quite some time, so be sure to help him out. I'm sure there are a ton of cards he would love to trade for. 

Need More Cardboard

Need More Cardboard is run by Andrew, another fantastic blogger. Like John, Andrew is primarily a Braves collector. It seems to me that the blogosphere is full of nothing but Braves and Dodgers bloggers. Andrew also has a penchant for the 90's - but then again,who doesn't. I've traded with Andrew before, and from all accounts he is a great guy.

I guess I'll make this a weekly ritual, posting about three blogs at a time. Eventually I will get to the blog powerhouses, but I'll stick to smaller ones for now. Thanks again for reading!

Trade with S.Mack Talk Cards: Another Swap for Greens

I completed my second trade with Jimmy over at S.Mack Talk Cards. We made a trade a few weeks ago and he contacted me shortly after I updated my 2014 trade bait about a week and a half ago. As usual, we emailed and quickly came to an agreement.

My favorite card to come from this was this 1990 Sandy Koufax Turn Back The Clock card. It isn't vintage sandy, but it is Sandy nonetheless. This particular card commemorates his 1965 Topps card. 

I was also able to get my hands on 11 new Shawn Green cards, primarily from his time in Toronto. I only scanned 9 of them, but I've been lazy lately so deal with it. :p

In addition to the Greens, Jimmy sent over 12 cards for my Topps Team Set Project. I am slowly moving toward finishing off the 90's, but there are plenty of cards I am still on the hunt for. 

Thanks again for the trade Jimmy. I'm sure we will have many more in the future. 

Trade with Dodger Penguin: In Which I Apologize to Greg In the Title

I completed my third trade with Matthew of Dodger Penguin fame. This one was a doozie. Let's get right into it. 

First and foremost, I would like to thank Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle for showing up. Until today, he proved to be quiet the capable warrior atop the the Chavez Code Leaderboard. However, as you will soon see, Dodger Penguin has solidified his spot at the top for quite some time. 

I figured I would show off the only card I received in the trade first. This beauty is my first Adrian Beltre auto, something I have been after for quite some time. This card hails from 1999 UD SP Signature Edition, and looks gorgeous in person. The blue ink auto adds a nice touch, and it features one of my favorite guys in Dodger blue. Can't beat this.

I also got two signed balls in this trade, but this is the one that started the whole thing. William over at Foul Bunt contacted me about purchasing a Dee Gordon autographed baseball he had. I was interested, but as a college student money can be tight. I asked Matthew what he thought about the deal and he said it to go for it. After I thought about it for a short time, I decided not to get the ball in order to save up some money. 

Matthew later asked me if I was interested in trading for his signed Dee Gordon ball as he was getting ready to liquidate his collection. I couldn't say no, and we quickly came to a deal. Even though Dee hasn't proven to be a major league caliber player, he is a favorite of mine and has an awesome signature. It honestly looks like D-Style to me. 

The ball I was most interested in, however, was this one signed by Shawn Green. As my readers may know, Green is my favorite player of all-time and adding an autographed ball was something I eventually wanted to do. I haven't been looking to get into the signed ball market, at least for the time being, but I will probably venture that direction later down the line. Unlike the Gordon ball, this one is authenticated by PSA/DNA.

I guess I need to start getting tags to mark these things, as I already have 4 balls in my collection now. (Gordon, Gree, Sax, and Pavano). 

With the value of the balls and the Beltre auto, I was coming up a bit short on my end of the deal. Matthew and I haggled on some Chavez Code points to make up the difference and settled on a amount we both thought was fair. 1000 points.

Yup, 1000. That means Dodger Penguin is now sitting at 1,214 Chavez Code points. Not only did he get 1000 for the trade, but he got an additional 50 because a Beltre auto was on my most wanted list. Matthew has this point system down......

In awarding Matthew 1000 points, I developed an idea in my head about the value of a point. I figured that each point will be worth 1 penny, meaning 100 points is worth a dollar. Before you ask, I will not buy your points from you and they can't be redeemed for cash, but nice try :)

In the event that we do a trade, I will use this point/dollar ratio to even out our trades should the need arise. I will also trade points for cards if you'd like. I hope to add to my Trade Bait this year, and hopefully these points will amount to some cool things soon. I have some cool ideas with the Chavez Code, but they probably won't be ready until summer. 

Thanks again for the trade Matthew. I'm sure another one is just around the corner. 

Trade with A Swing and a Hit: Some Colorful Dodgers and Some Mini Collection Hits

I completed my (according to my blog) second trade with Nathan of A Swing and a Hit. In actuality, we have made numerous trades but I don't know how many exactly.

School has been incredibly time consuming lately and has nearly made me insane. I seem to always be in a constant rush and I have been forgetting a ton of stuff too. Spring Break is right around the corner though, so hopefully that will give me time to recharge my batteries. 

The scan above is evidence of my descent into madness. I guess I should make sure that I set the cards up on my scanner before clicking on that scan button.

The highlights of this trade were these two cards. Both were needs for my 2014 Dodger Parallel quest. I am simply going for the retail parallels, but it is honestly not big on my list of priorities. If you have any laying around, I will gladly take them off of your hands. 

Along with the Dodgers, I received a fair share of Celebrating on the Mound from Nathan. This one stood out the most to me which is why I scanned it. 

Along with some Celebrating on the Mound cards, I picked up some new Pimping Dingers cards. This shot of Josh Hamilton perfectly captures what I am looking for in my Pimping Dingers mini collection. I have received some Pimping Dingers cards in just about every trade I have made over the past few weeks, and so far so good. They all fit into the collection. I hope to have a larger post on the cards I have acquired soon, but for now they will be stacked together on my card desk.

Thanks again for the trade Nathan! I am just getting to posting this, yet we have another trade in the works. 

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. 

It's Been Too Quiet Around Here

As you may have noticed, my blog has been quiet over the past few days. At least it seems that way to me. I have been housesitting and haven't had any cards to show off because of that. 

I did get to go to the baseball field with my buddy Dikran to play a little baseball today though. 

The video is a blurry, but that is me taking a ball to deep left field. I'm still waiting on a call to play 2nd for the Dodgers.........

Anyways, I should be back home tomorrow and I am sure there will be plenty of bubble mailers/PWE's waiting for me to post about.