Back in Black

I took a small break in my pursuit of cards for my Topps Chrome Rainbow. For those unfamiliar with my pursuit, I am attempting to complete the rainbow for every Dodger in 2013 Topps Chrome. It was sort of my big project upon my entrance to collecting, though I know completing it will be next to impossible. However, that is only due to my card budget. I may win the lottery next week and finish the entire thing off. But I guess I'd have to buy lottery tickets for that to happen.

I decided to hit up eBay in search of some more of the black parallels #'d /100 that I needed. I was able to pick up the Paco card (#'d 11/100) for just a few bucks shipped. Now if only the Dodgers would DFA Paul Maholm and Chris Perez, then bring up Paco and Yimi Garcia.Doing so would vastly improve the bullpen for the Dodgers. Frankly, anybody could probably put up better numbers than either Maholm or Perez. 

I also picked this up for less than two bucks shipped. The card, featuring the recently re-instated from DL Carl Crawford, is #'d 52/100.Crawford may be on the outside looking in in the Dodgers crowded outfield. Matt Kemp has been hitting the ball well over the past month, and shouldn't be benched. Puig will be a starter as long as he is healthy. And Ethier and Van Slyke form a nice platoon in center. The Dodgers (and Crawford) would probably benefit by trading him, but there aren't many teams that could truly use him. The outfield situation will have to be monitored over the next few days and weeks, but hopefully egos don't get in the way of productive play. 

With the addition of both cards, my Topps Chrome Rainbow sit at 54/120 cards (45% complete). I am now up to 6 out of 10 black parallels, but still have the tougher ones (Kershaw, Puig) to acquire. A COMC purchase I made last week is in route, so that will take care of a few more parallels. I guess slow and steady wins the race. 

Of course, I couldn't use that title without linking to one of the better AC/DC songs. 

I'm at the Dodgers Game Right Now...Be Jealous

I made yet another trip to my LCS late last week in search for some cards to take to a Dodgers game I am probably arriving to at this very moment. Thanks to Dodger Penguin for selling me his tickets and getting me close to the action for autographs. I have always wanted to attend a night game, so this is a bit of a dream come true for me. I am sure there will be a post on the game sometime in the next few days. I'm headed off to Six Flags tomorrow morning to top off the weekend. I didn't do much for my 21st birthday last weekend, but I am definitely making up for it now. 

Although I didn't find too many cards that I wanted to get autographed, I did find a few quality cards to add to my collection.

The first being this fantastic USA Baseball insert of the best pitcher on the planet. I haven't discussed my love for USA cards in a while, but I love 'em. Especially the Dodgers. 

I also picked up this sweet piece, another new addition. Topps did a decent job at making these cards look vintage, well enough that I wish they would switch to these for the Gypsy Queen base set. I think another blogger may have mentioned that not to long ago, but I cannot pinpoint the blogger or the post. I guess I forgot earlier, but my Clayton Kershaw PC quietly crossed the century mark this past week. 

I made a move for some of the other aces in the Dodgers rotation and came away with these two awesome cards. Both come from the cocaine riddled 2014 Panini Prizm, and the Greinke happens to be the refractor version of the card. I am not generally a big fan on the Prizm base cards, but I enjoy the inserts quite a bit. 

I picked this up just because, but found out I did not yet have a copy when I got home. Now that I have it, I am pretty sure I have tracked down most of Ryu's rookies.

I also grabbed this out of a 5000-count box of Sox my LCS owner had sitting on the counter. Like the Ryu above, I thought I already had it, but I guess not. Maybe it's just me, but Ortiz does not rock the high socks all too well.

To finish off my trip, I grabbed this wonderful card of Russell Martin. It has a confusing cartoon in the background that I can't seem to grasp. Is the runner sliding into 1st base? Feet first? Why is the catcher waiting for a throw if the runner is going to first? I'll let it slide becuase Ken Griffey Jr. said so. 

Thanks again for taking the time to check out my ramblings on cards. Hopefully I'll show you awesome pictures and new autographed cards soon. Let's go Dodgers!

Cracking Some Allen and Ginter's

To be honest, I wasn't planning on buying any A&G this year. Don't get me wrong, I love A&G, but I ran into some car problems this past weekend and I am still waiting on a verdict on the damages. As of now, it looks like I may be getting a new car, but I am hoping I won't have to go that route. My dad's mechanic friend and I are going to check the bendix in the ring gear of the starter sometime in the next few days. If that is the problem it only sets me back 120 bucks. If not, I am going new car shopping! This means that most all of my money over the next few months will be going toward the purchase of a new car, so yea, please be the starter. Damn Fresno and it's lack of public transportation! Oh yea, damn that empty saving account of mine!

That in mind, I made a few extra bucks on eBay yesterday, so I figured I would enjoy what might be my final major card purchase of the year. My buddy Dikran and I ran into a couple of blaster boxes at Target and that money was spent. Let's get to cracking.

*Spoilers* I pulled two hits from my blaster (Dikran didn't pull any), yet this was my favorite card. Apparently this is one of the insert sets, but I would eat it up if it was sold by itself. I am a huge fan of black bordered/primarily black cards, though they are a little harder to keep in mint condition with chipping and whatnot. I love the decision to use the Rangers red jerseys on this card, rather than the white or grey. It really makes it pop.

Together, we pulled eight of these beauties. I'm headed off to a Dodger game tomorrow (courtesy of Dodger Penguin), but you can read up on that tomorrow. This beauty will probably be accompanying me on my trek to track down some IP autos. A silver or gold signature on this would look pretty damn good.

Before we get into the base cards, let me show off the two hits I pulled. The first being a nice bat slice from Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies. The card is up for trade, but I'll probably be looking to get another Dodger relic from 2014 for it. With the uncertainty of my card budget, I want to make the most of what I have now.

I'm glad I look at the backs! This was in the SAME PACK as the CarGo above. Probably the best pack I'll ever pull. I'm not sure what these will sell for, but I have high hopes. It is now listed on eBay for those that are interested. 

We only pulled two regular sized Dodgers, but quality Dodgers they are. Ryu seems to be pretty photogenic, as I can't recall a bad card of him. Shots like these are the reason why I love Allen and Ginter's by the way. Sometimes you can only deal with so many faces in Flagship.  You can't go wrong with a new Jackie either. Topps appears to be using a new image for number 42. That, or, they cropped it to the point that I cannot recognize it coming from another card.

We also pulled a mini Duke, who I am glad to see return to the Topps lineup this year. Bo Jackson, the original Yasiel Puig, also made an appearance in one of those weird black border variation things. Seriously, I have no idea what the border variation is. Feel free to fill me in.

JEETS! Pretty cool shot of the captain, but I'm sure other blogs will give you a better analysis of that card, so I'll shut up now. I also managed to recognize (!) one of the non-baseball playing persons on featured on A&G. Gar Ryness (an 80 name by the way) is better known as the Batting Stance Guy. If you are unfamiliar with his work, just check out this video. 

I could probably go on and on about these awesome cards, but I'll finish off the post with another cool insert. Fields of Yore is a 10-card set with the Dodgers old stomping grounds, Ebbets Field, in the checklist. There are some awesome stadiums on the checklist, but Wrigley is one that I would really like to go see. Like a ton of baseball fans, visiting every major league stadium is on my bucket list. Wrigley is probably #1 on that list. 

Depending on what happens with my car, I may or may not be purchasing more of this soon. I will be throwing up what I need to finish the base set on my Set Needs page sometime next week, but that may expand into the master set depending on the car (again). We pulled eight short prints (out of 50), so that is a good sign to go for the set. 

PC Madness

Another day, another trade post. I recently completed my first trade with reader Scott. I got a ton of cards for my various PC's, but I will just show off a couple.

My favorite card of the bunch was a sweet card featuring both Adrian Beltre and Ichiro. I've long known Ichiro with Suzuki attached to the back of his name, but it seems like he simply goes by Ichiro. I don't think fans need a last name to recognize one of the greatest hitters of the 21st century, however. One thing I like about this card is the expression Beltre has. It is fairly common with him, but he looks like he is about to bust up laughing. The card comes from 2006 Topps Changing Faces, a set I am unfamiliar with, and is #'d 48/75.

Scott sent 28 new Manny cards my way, but I decided I would only scan one. I'm not quite sure what draws me to this card, but I'm digging it.

Also included in this sweet deal were three cards of Manny's former mashing partner, David Ortiz. This card would be perfect for my now absolved Pimping Dingers collection, but fits nicely into my Big Papi binder.

I wasn't kidding when I said Scott sent a ton of PC cards my way. He included four new Green cards for my binder, while simultaneously pushing my Green collection over the century mark. Clayton Kershaw also reached that impressive point earlier this week, and my Beltre PC is only 8 cards away. I certainly didn't see my collection growing quite as fast as it has over the past 9 months during my time in the blogging world. 

I've always had a soft spot for Beltre, which helped propel the card featured at the top of this post to my favorite of the package. Otherwise, the sweet Martin card on the left may have taken the crown. It features Martin is his original number 70 jersey, which was later changed to 55. I decided to take a look at Martin's Baseball Reference page for some jersey number history, only to find it doesn't list the number 70. Greg is my go to guy when it comes to Martin, so maybe he'll be able to clear up the confusion. 

I'll finish this post up with a threesome of Hanley Ramirez cardboard. Blogger has been taking so long to upload pictures recently, that Hanley probably pulled a hammy while I was waiting. Scott sent over 15 Hanley cards if my counting is correct, and they are all new additions. The cognac parallels from 2011 are personal favorites of mine, and the "vintage" Hanley on the far right is most dope. 

I decided to pen this post before updating my player pages, and considering it is already 2 am, I am unsure if I will finish those up tonight. 

Thanks again for the trade Scott! Hope we can do it again sometime soon. 

Our F***ing City!

I recently completed my second trade with the always great Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards. As usual, the trade got started after I saw a card I've had my eye on for awhile pop up on his blog. 

I'm sure the title may have given it away, but I have been in love with this awesome piece of cardboard since the day I first saw it. Prices online were a little more than I wanted to spend, but thankfully Tony was willing to send it my way. I have a large stack of cards headed his way in the next day or two, but it may take me awhile to properly pay him back. 

Especially since he managed to toss in 6 vintage cards, starting with this awesome 1975 card featuring Al Rosen and Roy Campanella. I've slowly been picking up cards for my Topps Team Set Project, and fellow bloggers have been helpful in sending vintage cardboard my way. This card was destined for my 1970's binder, that is until I remembered Greg of PTSIA is a huge collector of both Rosen and Campanella. The card is set aside until I hear back from him, but it's destined for the binder if he doesn't need it. 

Continuing on our tour of vintage cards from Tony, we are now looking at a pretty sweet card of Dodgers Rookie Stars from 1972. This marks my second card from the '72 set, which doesn't do a whole lot for me, positively or negatively. It is just sort of another year to me. But vintage is vintage, and it is all pretty sweet in my eyes. Maybe it's the history hidden in the cards.

Also included were my first four cards from 1974. The guys featured on these cards aren't necessarily the smallest names out there either.  Of course, since these are my first few cards from '74, I figured I needed to share my thoughts on them. I like the design on the front, but I'm not in love with it, if you know what I mean. However, all cards have backs and my love lays there. 

I don't give a whole lot of recognition to card backs on here. Frankly, they are sometimes an afterthought to me. However, I spend a little more time going over the back when it's vintage. I love the full name on the back. Is there a word stronger than love? If so, then that would express my feelings on the signature next to the name. I'm not sure if any other sets do this, but I'm a huge fan. This is more specific to the card above, but who knew there was a Pittsburgh in Kansas?

I did say he sent four cards over, so here is the fourth. It is pretty badly miscut, but I couldn't care less about miscuts for the TTSP. One thing I don't like about '74 is the blank space left on horizontal shots. I've only seen this one card, so maybe it is a combination of a "boring" team photo and the miscut. I'll reserve my feelings on the topic until I see some more.

As if Tony didn't send enough my direction already, also included in the bubble mailer were about 25 cards I needed for my Series 2 set. Hopefully I can finish that up via trade.

Thanks again for the great cards Tony. Like I said above, I will probably be in debt to you for a while, but expect some cards within the next week or so. 

Cool Kids

If you went to my high school, most of my peers would have probably told you I wasn't one of the "cool kids". I'm not saying I wasn't cool, I mean I think I'm a pretty dapper dude, but I probably didn't live up to the hefty standards that are required to be cool nowadays.

I mean, I wasn't the most outgoing guy in class. I didn't go to the house parties. I didn't drink. I didn't smoke. I had a GPA in the high 3's. I simply went about my business without drawing any extra attention to myself. 

I guess that is what cool is these days. If you can draw attention to yourself, positive or negative, you're considered one of the cool kids. That simply wasn't (still isn't) me. In fact, many of my buddies like to joke with me by calling me an old man. It's just playful banter, but I know I am not the most exciting or cool person to be around. 

But when it comes to cards, apparently I have an alter ego. 

I yearn for the cards of the players who are seemingly always in the headlines. Bryce Harper, David Ortiz, and Yasiel Puig are a few of those guys that I collect.

I relish the latest and greatest parallels. Whether they're shiny, sparkly (no, not these ones), or colorful cards, they grab my attention and keep it like a secret.

Needless to say, I am thrilled when I can combine those two elements and grab myself a "cool kid" card.

I did just that a couple weeks back when Judson of My Cardboard Habit was looking to pawn of some cards on eBay to go and get a higher priced one. You wanna talk about an attention grabbing card? How about that mohawk Harper is rocking.

I bid on both this cards you see above, and was able to take them home for just a few bucks. The emerald parallel is pretty attention grabbing if you ask me. 

Judson himself is a a pretty cool kid. He tossed in another emerald Harper card to add to the binder.

But the package got even better. Judson managed to include this awesome card below, #'d 74/99, in the bubble mailer as well.

I may just be another guy, living in the background of one of the cool kids, but I am perfectly content with myself. Many people strive to be like the cool kids, but not me. Like camouflage, I am not attention seeking, but you'll notice the cool kid inside of me if you look close enough. 

Thanks again Judson. I'll definitely give the cards a good home.

A Trade and Extra Cards For My Contest

I recently completed my third trade with Weston of Fantastic Catch. Along with the cards we discussed over email, Weston sent over a few cards to max out his entries in the contest I am running right now. Be sure to enter if you haven't yet.

I'll start with a card one of my favorite Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw. I feel Topps has dropped the ball lately on the images they are choosing for Flagship, but they have been doing great on the horizontal shots. Kershaw has a slightly unorthodox delivery, and Topps was able to capture the lefty mid stride. 

I already had a copy of this card for my Kershaw binder, but I needed an additional copy for my Topps Team Set Project. Weston also sent along the much needed Matt Kemp card from 2012 US, which means I have now completed the 2012 Dodgers Team Set. Doesn't seem like much, but I am pretty happy. Only 60-odd-years to complete. Be a doll and see what you can help me out with by clicking here and scrolling down to the Topps Team Set Project section. 

Weston didn't just help with my 2012 Set Needs of course, he added 5 cards from the 2011 set that I badly needed. Included was this awesome shot of the Dodgers outfielder. It was only 3 short years ago that Topps was producing vertical cards that didn't bore you to death. 

There were more set needs that I chose not to scan, including a sweet Ian Kinsler SP from 2013 Heritage and the Joe Kelly base card from 2013 Flagship. The addition of the Kelly means that I am ONE CARD AWAY from completing the 2013 Topps Flagship set. Somebody help a blogger out and keep an eye out for card #67 San Francisco Giants. I would greatly appreciate any help on that front.

In seemingly every trade I make nowadays, new Shawn Green cards fall into my lap. My Green PC is closing in on the century mark, and I am sure it will reach that point in a couple of days. I have quite a few trade packages on my desk that I have yet to inventory. 

Though Green cards may be never-ending, cardboard of Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen is few and far between. Picking up a rookie card of the best closer in the game won't get old anytime soon.

To top it all off, Weston sent over a pretty cool card of Dodgers prospect, James Baldwin. The scan came out absolutely horrible, but this is a cracked ice card #'d 154/299. Baldwin isn't exactly a top prospect, but he has the tools to be a come a decent 4th outfielder for a big league club. His biggest strength just may be his legs, as the speedy outfielder is an advanced base stealer. His elite speed also allows him to tracks down a ton of ball in the outfield, and an above average glove makes up for his lack of bat. Chances are Baldwin will never see time with LA, but best of luck to him.

Once again, thanks for the trade Weston. Cards should be headed out your way in the next few days. 

Contender for Card of the Year and a Hand-Numbered Mini

I recently completed my 2nd trade with Douglas of Sportscards From The Dollar Store. Some time back I noticed a sweet card on his blog and we went from there.

That sweet card happened to be a hand numbered mini of Dodgers first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez. 

As most of you probably know, this comes from the great 2013 Topps Heritage set. I believe the standard version of this card is an SP, but I guess this is a true SP. It's tough to tell its mini status, but it is a great addition to my ever growing Adrian Gonzalez PC. 

Also included in this great trade package was one of my favorite cards of the year. In fact, the refractor version of it. Panini does not have licensing rights, but they absolutely nailed this card. I already shared my love for it in a post I can't seem to find a few weeks ago, so I'll just leave it at that. Well, until I talk about it in my end of the year review. 

To top it all off, Douglas sent over a ton of my set needs from 2014 Flagship and Heritage, as well as the sweet high number SP from 2013 Heritage. It appears Kuroda is approaching the end of his very long and successful career. Too bad he couldn't do it in Dodger Blue. 

Thanks again for the trade Douglas! 

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. 

.

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.