Spring Training 2008

It's official, I am on my way to Spring Training. A life long dream will be fulfilled as my Wife and I will venture down to Arizona in March to watch the Giants begin life after Barry. I would never consider going to a pre-season football or basketball game (much less traveling to do so) but something about Spring Training Baseball is special. I will head down there and see if I can figure out what it is.

Happy E-Bay Day, Again!

Well as the last of my old stuff I was selling on E-Bay closed, a flurry of purchases allowed me to do some shopping. Low and behold, what do I find?

Oh so worth the $5.oo the guy wanted for it. I love e-bay. Oh course sometimes I hate it too, but not today. This goes very nicely beside my other favorite Giant.

Two e-bay finds, one happy Giants fan!

Want List: Part 2

Thank you to all the folks willing to help with my A&G Minis. I think I have contacted you all now on trades and will wait to hear back now.

While finishing those up though, and of course new offers are always welcome, I thought I would post part 2 of my want list....... meet Matt Cain.

Due to my recent entry back into the hobby, my Matt Cain collection is Weak. If anybody out there is interested in trading, just let me know which Cain's you may have, your favorite team, favorite player, or cards needed to complete your sets, and we can work out a trade high book for high book. Thanks!

New Kid on the Block

It has been pointed out to me that I am a new comer to the institution of Baseball Card Blogging. There seems to be some sentiment that every Tom, Dick, or Harry should not be waxing poetic about wax. The fact is the new card blogs popping up are a reflection of the growth of the industry. As people flood to the hobby, they flood to the Internet as well. For the established guard of bloggers, it seems the newcomers are stepping on toes. What was once a cornered market has become an ever expanding collection of new thoughts and ideas. I had no idea when I started this blog that I was out of line for linking to existing blogs, or asking them to link to mine. I figured other blog owners would be happy to have readers and happy to promote other peoples blogs who shared similar interests. I know now that I should have known my place. Apparently you are supposed to write your blog for years before ever hoping to have anyone read it. I figured what was the point of writing if no body knew about it. I saw that my place in the card collecting world differed slightly from the other blogs I was reading. It appeared I was willing to dive into collecting again, where as others preferred to limit or specialize their efforts. I wanted to be a voice for those that bought into the hype, and dropped the big money on a box or two. That doesn't mean I don't love the posts about the truly bad wax out there, I do, I get a huge kick out of them. I just thought there might be others like me that were willing to trust again. Ready to splurge again. Ready to give it another try now that life had settled down, and adulthood had set in. To those of you who have stopped in to check out my thoughts, Thank You. To those of you who have taken the time to comment, THANK YOU. I realize most (if not all) of my commenters have their own blogs. That means blog writers are reading other blog writers. To me, that makes us friends. People who listen to each other and share ideas. I am not interested in talking at you, I want to talk too you. If for any reason I have missed your link e-mail, or any other request you might have sent, send it again. I will be glad to add your link.

I may be a NKOTB, but I came in throwing heat, and I won't stop till I become an HOFer.

There are good days, and then there are Damn Good Days

My Wife says I am the luckiest person she has ever known. In fact she thinks if her terrible luck didn't rub off on me, I would be even luckier. To be honest, I can't really argue with her. I have never really hit that big "HOLY CRAP" pull. However, on a consistent basis I do defy the odds and prove to be pretty damn lucky. Today is one of those days.

I wish the scanner did a better job of picking up the film reel. The image is of Ruth still in the batters box with bat in hand as he follows through on his swing and looks up to the Right Field bleachers, no doubt tracking one of his 714 Home Runs. Also somewhat hidden from the scanner in the bottom right hand corner of the front of the card is the UD 1 of 1 logo. Now this is by no means the only Reel History Babe Ruth card out there, but each of us lucky bastards at least has a different piece of said history to drool over. Beats the hell out of those mirror sets with 700 cards with the same photo. I have now bought three boxes of this product this year, and have yet to net an autograph, but I will take this awesome relic of nearly 100 year old footage any time. As those of you who watched the Burns documentary might remember it wasn't until later in Ruth's career that the Yanks added numbers to the backs of their uniforms to match their spots in the batting order. Ruth got his number 3 with Gehrig wearing number 4. This footage predates that occurrence since there is no number on his jersey putting this film from the early 1920's. Pretty sweet, and a great idea from Upper Deck.

Stroke of Genius

Well, I haven't posted up any .99 cent bargains in a while, but I doubt anyone missed them much. I do like to post the very cool cards that can be had out there though, for less then an average pack would cost you. I guess I just feel that, in the overpriced world of the hobby, the "one man's trash is another man's treasure" concept can be well applied in building collections that make us happy. When considering that certain cards are only inserted at a rate of 1,2, or 3 packs per box, the chance of snapping these cards up for less then the random pack appeals to me when the subject of the card somehow enhances my overall collection. It can take the form of a player I like, a local team, a particular card design, anything that makes me feel that my collection is a better reflection of myself. So with that being said (and the hope that I might encourage others to look through "another man's trash") here are a few recent .99 cent finds, and one big, Giant (pun intended) splurge.



Street and Harden play ball about an hour from here so there is a local feel, and some eye candy at shows and what not. Most of all I love the card design and it was a easy couple pick ups for cheap with combined shipping. I would have to imagine when this guy pulled these he was disappointed. That is most likely why he listed them on e-bay for .99 cents. To be quite honest I would have been disappointed too, but I didn't drop the hundred on the box, I dropped the $5 to purchase both items and get them shipped. That is less then my local store packs them out for. Especially since he didn't pack out this product. As for Vlad. He is a bad ass. Why would I not want that card? Come to think of it why did the other guy give it up for a buck?

This was the splurge. For half of book value I take home my first Lincecum Auto. Great looking card, great design, great photo, terrible spelling.

The Second Box

Normally I would save the best for last, but instead I just went with the worst, lol. Usually my Wife is always right, and she never liked Turkey Red. Each time I would look at the box, she would just tell me not to get it. Finally, while in the store alone, I caved. I figured I would prove her wrong and get a great pull.

Well the Andrew Miller doesn't suck, but this is a pretty unspectacular box. There were no "Ad Backs" either, in fact I still have never seen one. You do pull a good amount of rookies from the box though, so in that way you are stocking up on a lot of nice looking rookie cards. Then again some of the painting are terrible and look alot like a high school art class. This was one of the better ones though, so I will leave you in the presence of greatness.

Two More Box Breaks

I need to remember to get more organized and prior to cracking a box and getting all mixed up, actually pay attention to what I am doing as to give people a usefull box break. Well I am still learning, but I will provide a few visuals of what you will be able to expect to see in some 2007 releases. Clearly E-Bay will provide you plenty of scans, but this is what was actually netted from a box.

First Up: 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts. I bought this because the closeout price seemed fair at $55 and the last time I bought a close-out box of 2006 I ended up with this.

So why not try 2007?

Artifacts says you can expect to find 3 jersey/autos in each box.

Jersey #1

I am not even sure this is an Artifacts jersey. I think this must be a universal UD release as it does not say Artifacts in the copywrite. Would have been more collectable if this was a Braves uni. This is certainly trade bait.

Jersey #2

Sometimes you can like a card more then it's worth. This one is one of those for me. He plays on a local team, nice big jersey swatch, and low number. It's pretty sweet. Plus trade rumors that he could be moved to the Giants? That would be nice.

Jersey #3

It's a Jeter jersey card with a pinstripe and /199. What's not to like.

Jersey #4

Hot Dog! We got a bonus hit! Jersey/Auto to boot. BJ is a good young player. People have cooled toward him for no good reason. He will have a lot of good years and then get delt much like Cabrera. This will be a keeper.

Congrats Eli

I, for one, am glad Eli has taken the Giants to the Super Bowl. I think he has taken a bad rap over the last couple years. He has progressed well as a QB who keeps his team in the game. He may never put up the prolific numbers like Peyton, but he can no doubt lead a team to victory. When all is said and done I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with a couple rings, just not this year.

Masterpiece!

Well... I am late to board this train, but I am glad I decided to get on eventually. 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces was a release that I allowed to slip by after busting two boxes of SP Legendary Cuts which yielded nada, zip, nothing. At that point another historic UD release was not high on my list. Then after an exceptionally weak box of SP Authentic, I was wondering why I broke my habit and bought UD at all, but never being one to learn from my mistake I took on more gamble. For my effort I got 2, not one but two, Carlos Lee Captured on Canvas cards in the same Masterpieces box. I was pretty pissed at that point, but as I sat putting all these cards in sleeves, I noticed something. I really like these cards. They are nice! They look good, feel good, and despite the two Lee's I had to admit it was the best looking jersey card I had seen all year. The on card autos are a nice touch too. So I figured, what the hell, my local shop had another box on the shelf. It couldn't have two more Lee's in it right?
Yeah, this was a step up. Out of two hobby boxes I yielded a complete set 1-90 of the base cards. Six Captured on Canvas jersey cards: Carlos Lee 2, Jeremy Bonderman, Tom Glavine, Hanley Ramirez, and Dontrelle Willis. Two autographed Stoke of Genius cards (with the hilarious misspelling of Masterp'ei'ces on both cards) Hunter Pence, and Cole Hamels. One metallic blue framed card #/50 Frank Thomas. One metallic green framed card #/50 Howie Kendrick. Two black framed cards numbered #/100 Victor Martinez, Justin Morneau, and ten green framed cards (Ruth, Michael Jordan, Clinton, Koufax).

Overall this product is just awesome. The sticker price of $100 was still a bit high for me, seeing what possible pulls there were. However, there is no denying the overall quality of the product. There are some chances for low number parallels, some one of ones, and a chance at the original oil paintings. Those chase cards keep the sticker price up around the century mark, rather then the $65 that seemed more appropriate to me based on the auto and gamer possibilities. The rookie class overall is solid. The veterans and legendary players are well chosen as well for such a small set. The omission of Kirby Puckett's game six heroics is unforgivable, although they give me something to look forward to for next year. PLEASE Upper Deck bring this product back. Spend a little more and get some legend autos and relics, and expand the base set.

I know I am not the first to say how much I enjoyed this set, but I am sure I will also not be the last. These scans really don't do justice to how nice these cards actually look. As always many of these cards are tradeable, just ask.

I need your help!

This is my first trade want list. If anybody out there is interested I would love to talk more about this. As a reference I can say that I completed a flawless trade with Chris Harris of Stale Gum, and am a fast and extremely secure shipper. What I need help with is completing my 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini set. I do not care which type of mini they are. Regular backs, A&G Backs, Black Backs, whatever... I will take them. That doesn't mean I won't give you full value for your rare ones though. I will go High Book for High Book out of the most recent Beckett (crazy sp multipliers and everything). So if you have any of the numbers I need, I will be glad to work out a trade. All the cards I have posted on this site I own, and I have loads and loads more to trade, just let me know what you are into or what you need.

Thanks.

2007 Topps A&G Minis:
2, 5, 22, 26, 32, 39, 41, 43, 46, 48, 49, 54, 57, 62, 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 77, 83, 88, 90, 91, 96, 99, 103, 104, 106, 107, 109, 110, 115, 118, 128, 127, 167, 168, 170, 176, 179, 185, 188, 189, 191, 202, 213, 219, 222, 224, 232, 239, 242, 244, 248, 250, 256, 267, 268, 277, 278, 279, 282, 284, 288, 294, 299, 302, 303, 305, 306, 309, 315, 316, 317, 320, 323, 332, 336, 338, 340, 341, 342, 343, 345

I know it seems like that is just about all of them but I am about 70% there.

The REBIRTH of the HOBBY!!!

There are recent posts going around about the current state of the hobby. Badwax.net and White Sox Cards have both posted excellent commentaries about the goings on in their local areas. There are resounding similarities amongst all the stories especially when it comes to the local card shop. There is a pining for the loss of the lovable store owner, and the fellow collectors to share your great pulls, or awful luck, with. Well, my brothers, I bring you tidings of great joy!! We are at the forefront of the Great Rebirth!!!

The world is changing. Communities are changing. With a change of perspective we can see that all is not lost, but born again. We are no longer collectors with no one to collect with. We are no longer shoppers without a store to shop in. WE are the new community! We are the voice of the hobby. No longer are we separated by geography, collecting habits, time zones, team loyalties, we are joined together by the Internet. We have a group to share with. People telling stories, and floating ideas. We have great minds like Stale Gum, Poets like the Baseball Toaster: Cardboard Gods, trailblazers like The Baseball Card Blog. We have the ear of the largest retail shop in the country in Dave & Adams Card World who link customers to our blogs. We are even recognized by the gold standard of the industry, Beckett, who helps to set the market for our precious cardboard. Not only that but we are all the owners of our own card shops through E-Bay where we can be connected with other collectors the world over. Since discovering this community I have sold off excellent cards in order to purchase even more excellent cards in my own mind. I have made a trade of cards of my favorite player's pants for random cards to complete a set. I have found new friends to share ideas and thoughts with. Folks if this isn't the best card shop you have ever been in, then I need the address of your favorite shop.

Sure things have changed, but when did you ever have a way for your ideas to be seen by thousands of people? When did you have access to that card you really wanted that was pulled by the collector 2000 miles away? When did you have the chance to select exactly the product you wanted and have it shipped right to your door? I am not trying to sell you anything here folks, I am just trying to renew your faith in the hobby. The hobby as we knew it is dead, long live the new hobby. Don't despair about the past, rejoice in the future. Want to tell someone about your great pull? Start a blog, or post it on mine, I would love to hear about it. Need to get something off your chest? Ramble like I am doing, or send it to one of us in an e-mail, I bet we would be glad to post it up for you. All I am saying is you are not alone. We all had 10 hobby shops we could ride our bikes to where, hopefully, some of our friends would be around to shoot the sh*t with. Well now your friends are all around, and we are waiting to hear your collecting stories.

Fear Not, I bring you tidings of great joy!