Spring Fever at my LCS

Last week I made a trip down to my LCS to trade in some Yankees. I've mentioned it before, but my LCS owner and I are pretty good friends. He is a big Yankees fan and so I like to take in recent Yankees to him. In return he usually lets me take my pick of Dodgers he has laying around. 

I did just that.

First up is this sweet Yasiel Puig Spring Fever card. I rarely see these in his shop, but I was able to pick up this one, as well as a similar card of Jose Fernandez. I am a huge fan of Puig, yet the pricing on his cardboard has generally made him an afterthought for my collection. I try to pick up cheap singles when I find them, but for the most part I will stick to trades and LCS pickups for him.

Of course, a trip to my LCS wouldn't be complete unless I picked up some new Matt Kemp cardboard.

I plucked this recycled image out of the newly released Topps Archives and added it to my stack. The image may have been used before, but at least Topps chose a photo I really like. 

I also picked up these two cards, hailing from 2013 and 2014 Panini Prizm, respectively. I thought I already had a copy of the 2013 card and planned on sending it to a fellow blogger, but a quick look at my checklist shows that it is a new addition. In fact, it is my 149th card of The Bison. I have a post on my 150th card planned as soon as it gets in.

I also picked up a couple of cards of my favorite Dodgers pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. This has to be one of my favorite photos of Kershaw on a card, so I will be on the look out for some of the #'d versions out there. 

Speaking of great looking cards of Kid K, I was able to secure this awesome white-framed card from Gypsy Queen as well. I LOVE THESE WHITE FRAMED CARDS.

Now is as good as a time as ever to show off a couple more powdery cards from 2014 Panini Prizm. Seriously though. What was with all the powder residue on this product. I'm not sure if I was the only person with this problem. 

I don't pass up the opportunity to pick up free Harper cards very often, so I grabbed two more to add to the collection. It's a shame that Harper hasn't been able to stay healthy. The game is much better with young studs like him in the lineup everyday.

I feel like this trip was predominantly taken over by Topps Archives. I picked up these three cards, though I don't care enough about Archives to figure out the need for 3 different vintage sets. I am fans of all three, but Topps is already using the '89 design for the flagship minis. I wouldn't mind seeing some more of those '86 designs though as it may be one of my favorite sets of all-time, but it doesn't get enough credit. I did enjoy picking up my first card of Alex Guerrero, but with a bitten off ear, Topps may have to reuse the rookie card emblem again next year. 

I try not to nitpick about Topps too much, but sometimes there are some issues I like to bring up. Like why the hell they felt the need to use this picture not only in Heritage, but Archives only a few weeks later. The shot of Hanley is great, but I would like to see some more variation. 

I enjoy hitting up my LCS, but with a lack of time and money, my time there has diminished since last summer. I was able to secure another job recently (more on that later), so hopefully I will be able to pick up my first hobby box this fall. 

Sometimes You Just Can't Win

I typically have very few problems when shipping out bubble mailers to trade partners or eBay buyers. Nonetheless, I have been frustrated over the past two days after I ran into some problems on Sunday night.

I have started to print all of my labels out online using Paypal. It is cheaper than going to the post office, not to mention it saves gas as well as time waiting in line. I don't miss dealing with the nasty people down there either. 

Sunday night I got 15 bubble mailers ready to mail out and all I needed to do was purchase and print out the labels. After purchasing the first one my printer decided to run out of ink and I was left with half of a label. 

I decided to go ahead and purchase the rest of the labels with the intention of buying more ink yesterday and printing them at my buddy Dikran's house before we headed off to class. That plan never came to fruition as I noticed one of the tires on my car was flat. 

There was a decent sized nail stuck in it, but it was a slow leak and was okay to drive to town after filling up the tire with air. I was not going to have time to go to the tire shop to have the tire fixed, so I headed over to my Dikran's house to print the labels and leave for class. 

Long story short, Dikran's alarm didn't go off (!), and I was waiting outside of his house for about 30 mins while he was in a trance. 96 degree whether isn't fun when you're wearing black. 

By the time he decided to wake up from his hibernation, we had to rush out of the door to make it to class on time. 

I was able to go to Target and pick up some printer ink after class, but immediately after drove to Santa Cruz to pick up my friend who just finished class for the year. By the time I got back home (1 am), my 24 hours to re-print the labels I purchased was over, forcing me to void them all. Now that they are voided, I have to wait 15 business days for the USPS to issue me a refund. $35.00 out the door, at least for the time being.

The moral of the story is packages will be delayed a few days until I get paid again. Losing $35.00 as a college student who only works part-time is not the best situation, but cards will be out soon.

Sorry for the long rant about my bad luck, but you can rest assured that I feel good getting the whole ordeal out of my system. 

Of course, my day could have been worse. I send my deepest sympathies to the Gwynn family after the passing of "Mr. Padre", Tony Gwynn. Though I don't recall him as a player, I am more than familiar with his numerous accomplishments in the baseball world. RIP.

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On to happier news, I received a card I bought last week in the mail yesterday. 

I picked this up for a few bucks, a deal I would do again in a heartbeat. I love my blue refractors, and the '42' scribbled all over is a cool touch. What makes this even better is the fact that the card is limited to just 42 copies, with this being copy number 18. Matty Ice has been hot as of late, so for his sake I hope we see a jump in the price of his cardboard. 

Another Blaster, Similar Results

I succumbed and bought another blaster box of Series 2. Those $5.00 off coupons make my mind up for me, but I'm not complaining. The blaster boxes do come with the guaranteed manu-relic which still fetch decent money on eBay around this time. 

In fact, I flipped this Jose Canseco manu-relic I pulled for $10.00 only hours after posting it online. So this blaster box really only cost me $5.00 plus tax at the end of the day. I'd do that deal again in a heartbeat.

However, like the previous blaster box of Series 2 which I highlighted a few days ago, this blaster box was short on Dodgers. It is frustrating, but I am trying to complete the base set (as well as the minis) so it isn't all that heartbreaking to me.

This was the first Dodger I pulled. Considering it is one of my favorite cards from Flagship this year, I'll take it. I will be on the lookout for more parallels of this card.

I also managed to pull a red parallel of Series 2 cover boy, Clayton Kershaw. This is the first time to my knowledge that a Dodger was the only player featured on the cover of Flagship, at least in the past few years.

I am a huge fan of this card and you may notice a pattern of the cards I tend to like. They are all horizontal.

I am still displeased with Topps decision to continue the generic up-close shots but every horizontal card I have seen so far has been gold. Hopefully Topps can continue this in Update Series. 

Strangely, I did not pull any Dodger base cards. I did, however, pull this sweet insert of the Dodgers ace. I am a big fan of sabermetrics, and stats all together, so I do enjoy this insert set. I wouldn't mind adding a few more of these. 

I may not have pulled anymore Dodgers, but I did pull another red parallel of one of my PC's. Big Papi is featured on this sweet card (another horizontal shot!) which happens to be the red parallel. I tend to gravitate toward the blue parallels, but red works great with Ortiz.

While I was picking out a blaster box, my buddy Dikran picked up a rack pack of 2014 Panini Prizm. There were no real noteworthy cards in the pack, but Dikran continued his trend of good luck with the bonus refractors. 

I don't know how he manages to pull so many great cards, while I am generally stuck with dud packs. Duds in the sense that there are usually very few Dodgers, hits, or players I collect in general. Either way, I am glad he is my partner in crime because this beauty is now in my possession. The card is extremely shiny in person, so I will give the usual disclaimer that the scan does not do the card justice. 

My 2014 Series Two Want List is live, as well as my Minis Want List. I have bought two blasters and a rack pack (you guessed it, a dud as far as Dodgers go), and am left with only about 10 dupes. At least Topps has had decent collation. 

A Surprise from Arizona

A while back I sent off some of my unwanted D-Backs cards to fellow blogger, Daniel of It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. Early last week, Daniel returned the favor with some Dodger goodies for me.

One of the cards Daniel sent over was this beauty out of 2013 Allen and Ginter's. I almost pulled the trigger on an eBay auction for this card a few weeks ago, but thankfully I didn't. This is the second relic in my Zack Greinke PC, though I am still on the hunt for an affordable auto that is to my liking. 

Daniel also threw in this sweet relic of Hanley Ramirez. I still don't understand why there is a color difference between the "frames" of this relic and the Greinke above.

As nice as this card is, I already have a copy of it. I would be more than happy keeping it, but I am planning on flipping it at View From the Skybox for a Dodger relic that I have had my eyes on for a bit. 

Also included in this package were rookie cards of 2/3 of my favorite Dodger lefties. (Kershaw is obviously far above them both). The Ryu RC may be my favorite card from 2013, though I know a few that may challenge it. Either way, I am glad to have another one for my collection.

Anther Ryu managed to find its way into the package in the form of this sweet shot from 2014 Bowman. I am a bigger fan of Bowman Chrome than Bowman, strictly because SHINY, but I will be keeping an eye out for cheap parallels of this card.

Thanks again for the awesome cards Daniel. I hope my Dodgers can continue to beat up on your D-Backs.

A Contest at Baseball Card Breakdown

Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown is running a generous contest to celebrate his 1st year in the blogging world. There are tons of autos up for grabs, so be sure to head over and take a look. If you mention I sent you, I get some extra entries so be sure to do that ;)

Gavin is also trying to reach the 100 follower plateau. Be sure to give him a follow if you aren't already doing so. 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CONTEST

Another Bison Auto

I was successfully able to pin down my 4th Matt Kemp auto last week, and I got a helluva deal doing so. Hat tip to Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle for pointing out this card to me shortly before it ended. 

This is one of the best looking Kemp autos I've seen, so I am happy to finally have it in my hands. It is actually a mini framed auto from 2010 Allen and Ginter's, so it would be my first "mini" auto of the Dodger outfielder. This card gets bonus points for actually being an on-card auto. It seems like stickers are taking over the hobby these days. 

Kemp homered in last night's game and has quietly been on a tear recently. I have a ton of hope for the Dodgers outfielder, but I have also curbed my expectations for Kemp after major shoulder and ankle surgery. Let's hope his production causes me to go broke the next time I pick up one of his autos.  

Opening Up Some Series Two

My trunk has been full of empty cans and bottles I picked up from my grandma's house for about a month. Recycling for the win! Anyways, I decided today would be the day to take the time to head down to the recycling center and trade them in for some cash. $11.76 later, I headed off to Target to pick up a blaster box of the newly released 2014 Topps Series 2.

I have been shying away from blaster boxes ever since Nick of Dime Boxes noted that rack packs were the much better deal, but I had a $5.00 off coupon from a blaster I bought from Series 1. Let's take a look at what I managed to pull.

Every blaster box comes with one of these fake patch things, and I happened to get the reigning NL MVP. I noticed that blaster boxes don't denote the odds of pulling autos or relics, so I guess they throw these in instead. I guess it is a fair trade off, as these things can generally be sold for a few bucks on eBay. That is where this one is right now. 

I also managed to pull a Nolan Arrenado Future Stars photo variation. Other than the #'d parallels, these seem to be the most valuable things to come out of blaster boxes. Contrary to many of the SP's Topps has been putting out lately, I do enjoy the photo variations for the Future Stars. This card joins McCutchen on eBay, as I try to recoup some of my money. 

I only pulled two Dodgers from the blaster, but this one is fantastic. As I was opening the packs I was getting bored looking at the same close-up action shots that we've already seen in Opening Day. However, this card definitely stood out and is in the early running for the best card from Series Two. But then again, I have a ton of cards I still need to get my hands on. 

The fact that I am only showing off four cards goes to show how lackluster the box I bought was. This red Brian Wilson was a pretty cool pull though. The embattled reliever is having a tough go at it in 2014, but I have hope he can get back to being an effective piece out of the Dodgers pen. I am over going for the numerous parallels that come out, but I would add more colorful variations of this card without hesitation. 

I have only had a small taste of Series Two so far, but it is really just more of the same. There are a few cards that stand out, but for the most part there is nothing very exciting. I have seen a few of the other Dodger cards on other blogs, so those leave me with hope. 

I will post the red parallels, as well as the inserts I have for trade sometime in the next few days. You can reach out to me earlier if you are looking for something specific.

As usual, I will try and complete the base set, as well as the mini subset, and my want list should be up soon. I am working on it now, so it may be live by the time I post this in the morning. *Yawnnnnnnnn......maybe not*

A Contest Over at Too Many Verlanders

In the hustle and bustle of my daily life, I completely forgot to publish this post earlier.

Too Many Verlanders is running a contest with some fantastic prizes. Click here to check it out. 

The Chavez Ravining Hall of Fame

I have been collecting for slightly over a year now, and I've been blogging for just about 8 months. As much as I enjoy the hobby, I have a big problem that I have been trying to deal with for quite some time. 

How should I organize my cards?

Now, don't confuse that with "How should I store my cards?" I am simply talking about how to organize/categorize the cards I do have.

Obviously player collections are my main focus, with guys like Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu etc... getting a majority of the air time. Any time I pull a card from one of those guys, it gets inventoried and stuck in the player's respective binder. Of course, that is usually accompanied by a post here, but that isn't really important to this discussion. 

The problem I have been having is deciding how to store Dodger cards that don't belong to one of my numerous player collections. 

As of now, most non-Topps Flagship Dodgers (and non PC players) are sitting inside a couple of 1000 count boxes next to my desk. I don't value these cards less than any other piece of cardboard, hits aside, but I have been avoiding the prospect of sorting them. We all know that sorting isn't the most exciting activity out there. 

I decided I wanted to tackle this huge project piece by piece. So that is why I decided to create the Chavez Ravining Hall of Fame. I mean, if any cards deserve to be pried from their cardboard box tomb, it's the Hall of Famers. 

However, I am not talking about the Hall of Famers enshrined in Cooperstown. No, no, no. I am starting my own Hall of Fame, composed primarily of Dodgers.

I've longed wanted to have a binder full of Dodger legends, but it has taken me 8 months to get around to it. 

So here's the deal. We all know that Hall of Famers are voted into Cooperstown, so my version of the HOF will do the same. 

But I am not relying on ill-informed newspaper reporters to do the voting. That honor will be bequeathed to you, the readers. 

Now here is what you need to know.

• I will release a list consisting of about 5 players every month. 
• You will then vote on which player deserves to be enshrined into the Chavez Ravining Hall of Fame. 
• The top voter will then be forever enshrined in the CR HOF. 
• That player will then have a victory lap on my blog, in which I highlight all of their cards in my possession. 

Simple enough, right?

Now that you know what this is all about, let me introduce the inaugural class of Chavez Ravining Hall of Famers. I decided on the first two members on my own, but I guarantee that they would have been the first two voted in regardless.

 Voting on the next Hall of Famer will begin within the next few days. You can always check out the brand spanking new, Chavez Ravining HOF page at the top of the page. 

Jackie Robinson 2B/3B/OF (1947-1956) 
Career Stats: .311/.409/.474, 1518 Hits, 137 Home Runs, 734 RBI's, 197 Stolen Bases, 61.5 WAR
Career Achievements: 1947 Rookie of the Year, 1949 NL MVP, 1949 Batting Title, 6x All-Star

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Sandy Koufax P (1955-1966)
Career Stats: 165 Wins, 2.76 ERA, 137 Complete Games, 2396 Strikeouts, 9.3 K/9, 53.2 WAR

Career Achievements: 3x Cy Young Winner, 1963 NL MVP, 6x All-Star, 1963 and 1965 WS MVP 

What Makes This Hobby So Fun

I was recently thinking about what makes this hobby so fun. Perhaps it's coming across a wonderful card like the one below. How can I not fall in love with a bat barrel shot of one of greatest first baseman in Dodgers history? 

Easy answer. I can't.

Now I know there are numerous collector's out there, all with different tastes and collecting habits, but for me the best thing about this hobby may be the element of surprise.

This awesome card of the former Dodgers pitcher is not surprising in itself, but it would be surprising to see Topps put out a shot like this in a new product.

But I digress. Whether it's ripping open a fresh pack of cards, digging through dime boxes, or simply getting a package of cards in your mailbox, the surprise factor makes this hobby great. 

Nick of the infamous Dime Boxes blog hit the latter of the two surprising features in this hobby. Not only is he a dime box extraordinaire, he is an awesome dude willing to share some of his loot with me. 

In fact we just completed a trade which means I get to share that loot with you. 

I'm sure your face is as lit up as Eric Davis' in this fantastic piece of cardboard Nick sent my way. 

I was expecting a few cards like this from Nick, and he came through. But he also hit a ton of different collecting interests of mine. 

Let's start out with some of my player collections. 

Nick must know I love Matt Kemp because he sent me 4 new awesome cards for my PC. I cannot pick a favorite when it comes to Matt Kemp, but that 2012 Heritage red parallel is freaking beautiful.

However, it gets even better. Take a look at this sweet card featuring Clayton Kershaw at the plate. Well, he could be in the batter's box or something, but it doesn't really matter. I am a big fan of these UD Spectrum cards, but even more so after laying my eyes on this beauty. 

Of course, Nick is a great trader and managed to hit quite a few more of my player collections.

As if new Kemp's and a new Kershaw wasn't enough, Nick went ahead and found 4 Shawn Green cards that I had yet to get my hands on. 

Manny Ramirez sighting!

Nick must have got bored with sending me standard cards of my PC's, because he sent 2 awesome minis of Dodgers shortstop, Hanley Ramirez. When I first got into this hobby I despised minis. They were hard to store and even harder to keep track of. However, my opinion on them has done a 180 in the past few months. This change of heart would have been surprising to me late last year.

Hey! Here's another mini from Nick. Considering I have only seen two of these mini's from the flagship design, this was a big surprise. I guess I will have to talk about these fantastic minis from Topps in the near future. *Hint: I LOVE them.*

I could go on with the barrage of cards Nick sent me toward my PC's, but let us take a break to look at some vintage goodiness. 

I'll start with the Sutton on the left. I was never able to see Sutton pitch, but from what I hear he was a fantastic pitcher. If baseball cards could speak for a players performance, Sutton is a Hall of Famer. 

Of course, the same thing can be said for Ron Cey aka The Penguin. Topps delivered a beautiful set in 1980, so hopefully this is not the last Cey I grab from this set.

Moving on to one of the worst miscut cards in my possession. I guess that goes to show you that I don't have a ton of miscuts laying around. Hailing from 1966, this Tommy Davis is not only a great vintage pickup, it is a valuable addition to my Topps Team Set Project. (Scroll down a bit on that link).

Speaking of my Topps Team Set Project, here are 6 more cards that Nick sent my way. 

Now these cards may have surprised me the most. Specifically the Kaz Ishii on the left. Even as a Dodger collector, I don't run across too many of his cards. So when I ripped open the bubble mailer to find this, I was more than excited. What is so special about Ishii you ask? 

Well, he started the first Dodger game I ever attended (or at least remember). 

My dad took me to Dodger Stadium close to ten years ago for one of many Dodger games we have attended over the years. Ishii started the game against the crosstown Angels, a game in which the Dodgers kicked some butt. Here is a recap from that game for anybody interested. I completely forgot that Beltre homered twice in that game, not to mention Bartolo Colon was pitching for the Angels. Ahhhh, nostalgia.

I guess these two cards meant a lot more to me than Nick intended them too. 

So yea. I guess surprises are what make this hobby so damn fun. At least that is what I tell myself.