Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday recap

So....how worn out is your debit card?

 I think the next number is a seven. Though it could be a "B".

I did the web rounds and the retail rounds.  And I'm still watching Dave and Adam's, hoping a killer deal I want comes up. Really - monster retail box of 2010 Upper Deck? Pass. 

Anyway, I started with BlowOut Cards. Picked up two boxes of 2008 UD Masterpiece. It is the retail boxes and it's a set I have long drooled over. I am not sure what the hit ratio is in the retail, if any. Boxes shipped, so I will be ripping them next week. Me sees a couple videos in the near future.

Next stop was COMC for some set fillers. All but knocked one set off my needs, plus some A&G mini sets. Have to take advantage of the free shipping. Sure, I didn't go crazy, but I wanted to get the cards that are the hardest to find at JustCommons, Sportlots or my LCS.

Speaking of my LCS, I stopped by for some great prices as well as getting some Panini Black Friday packs. I tend to pull Fielder and Kobe from Panini packs for some reason, but what the heck. Maybe not this year. But before the Panini special packs, I grabbed a box of 2013 Golden Age. Still a few cards short of completing the set (someone help me out!), but I got two decent hits from the box.


Nice legible signature of a NASCAR legend. We have a regular at my LCSs pack wars (NASCAR John) - going to see if he is interested in that card. Unless one of you want to ask me about it. Not a bad pull with the Brock bat relic. 

For every $25 spent in Panini product, you got one BF pack. I needed to pad out the box purchase, so I grabbed a pack of Hometown Heroes. Not much in it, but I did get this nice insert.


An autograph of Jaws and an insert of the Cobra. Wonder what would happen if they battled it out.

So two special packs from Panini. No Fielder or Kobe to be found, thank goodness. I pulled base of Scherzer and Ovechkin. The Max is spoken for, but if anyone wants Alex. I got hits in both packs for the other card.


I know the card on the left scanned like crap. It's a relic of Manti Te'o. The relic is the part of the white fur lining on the hat perched on his head. Interesting...... My daughter's boyfriend in a big Norte Dame guy, so it goes to him. The other is a football patch. Yup - two football hits for a guy that collects zero. If anyone wants the Tannehill, hit me up.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

They gave - let me say thanks.

Plenty of bloggers out there have expressed what they are thankful for. Greats reads. I'm not going to go that route. No one needs to read any of the drivel that will come from my mouth. I'm fortunate enough you are still reading this now.

How the hell do I unbookmark this site?

I do have a couple recent PWEs I would love to show off and show thanks for. First is from 2nd shift extraordinaire Night Owl. It's a usual 6 card envelope back and forth between NY and IL. This month's return trip contained a '13 Sale Panini, a gold ChiSox and these 3 beauts.


Topps Fan Favorites. Love these cards. You don't get a reprint but the year style with a different image. You can see the original '72 Wood here. Also about the Wood, the new picture gives a rare appearance of the blue sanitaries under the white stirrups. Thanks N.O.!

The other PWE came from John from Johnny's Trading Spot. John and I have never had one "official" trade. He just jumped in Club PWE, stole the return address from the envelope and has sent me back a few PWEs. And I will never complain, not just cuz it's free cards, but it is AWESOME free cards. Like this.


Three new for the throwbacks binder. Get used to this set - John sent a lot from it. And considering the cards, I need to look more into Fleer Tradition. For those looking close, I am sure you don't see the throwback that Wells is sporting. It's not apparent because it's not on his back. Check out his head. I am 99% positive that is the Ruth hat that Wells wore on June 28, 1997 against the Indians. If it is, we know that picture is from the first inning, as he had to remove the hat. John also hit another binder collection - double plays.


More Tradition. Man - quality photos from Fleer. And they don't stop in portrait mode.


While you don't see the turn, the Polcovich is definitely starting the 6-4-3 with the flip. How about some Big Hurt?


Where have you been all my life, Fleer Tradition? Best cards in the envelope are these two for different reasons.


Awesome Palmer miscut. That is Be Ee Ay Utiful. The Appier has him sporting the FDNY hat the Mets wore after 9/11. I'm not surprised a manufacturer would have cards showing that, I just never owned one before. I'll need to find a place for that. Thanks again, John.

Now that you are hungry, go hit the leftovers.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Look

Look at the new header. Look who's on TV. Now look at these cards from Dave at Wax Stain Rookie.


Look at the shine. Look at the McDonalds hologram of the newest member of the hockey Hall of Fame. Look at the former Panther now back with the Blackhawks.


Look at more Hall of Famers. Look at the OPC mini of Savard. Look at the number on the sleeve of the Golden Jet.


Look at all the vintage! Look who used to wear the current captain's number.


Look at the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Go look at Dave's blog. Thanks for looking.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Recapping the war

Yesterday, November 23rd had a lot of famous battles take place. In 1248, the troops led by King Ferdinand III or Castile completed the conquest of Seville. The Civil War battle at Chattanooga & Orchard Knob, TN began with the Union General Ulysses Grant facing off against the rebels lead by General Braxton Bragg happened in 1863. A year later was the battle at Ball's Ferry, GA. The battle at Belmont happen during the 2nd Boer War in 1899.

In World War II, November 23rd saw it's share of actions. From the Germans invading Kiln in '41 to the Russians surrounding the German 4th and 6th armies at Stalingrad in '42, with the Japanese bombing Port Darwin in Australia on the same day. In 1943, the US take back control of the islands of Tarawa, Gilbert Island and Makin from the Japanese. The city of Strasbourg, France was liberated by the 2nd French Armored Division in 1944.

In 2013, it was my LCS's pack war night. And by the end of the battles, I came out a decent victor. Not from the raffles; from the ripping. That's not to say I didn't score a couple raffle items. I won my 2nd t-shirt. It's a pretty lame football shirt, so not even worth a description. The other raffle win was a McFarlane figure of my choice. There wasn't a great selection to pick from, and no White Sox. I was leaning towards a Verlander, but settled on Curtis Granderson. I told you - high cuffs always win.

When the ripping started, though, I started to really haul in the hits. First pull:


Kenny Vaccaro auto from 2013 Topps Chrome. No clue who he is, but at least it's on card. The football hits continued with:


2013 Panini Certified of Arthur Brown. Again I say "who", but it's from my not caring of the NFL as a whole. #23/100. My third football hit of the night came from Topps Prime:


Four swatch card of Knile Davis. #53/99. I almost wonder if the swatches on the right are from pants instead of a jersey. Much different weave. Anyway, all three football hits are available for trade.

One of the raffle wins was the box top from Leaf Perfect Game. Imagine the time period BEFORE the Bowman prospect cards. That's Leaf Perfect Game. Each pack guarantees a hit, and they were only $8, so I decided to give a pack a try.


If I don't know the football guys, .I certainly won't know Jakson Reetz. No worries - Leaf has a bio about him on their website. Jakson is a high schooler heading to Nebraska next year. We'll see if this card is worth anything in 10 years.

Hitting the ice, Upper Deck came out with their 2013-14 offering a couple weeks back. It's....okay. Nothing to jump up and down for. Plus, you get just one hit per box. Luckily, I got that very pack:


I could do worse. Then again, the card is a jersey dump. Orange swatch for the Kings? Carter last wore this orange jersey with the Flyers.... 3 years ago! He has since played a a half season with Columbus and the past 18 months with LA. Would it kill them to just throw away the old uniforms?

I have one more pack war hit, but we are going to move to the end of the night. My wife, who came along, felt we needed to rip some more packs, so we picked out a few from baseball, hockey and Golden Age. The first two gave nothing, but dig this hit out of 2013 Panini Golden Age:


Engleberg! This marks my third autograph out of Golden Age, with the other two being Al Kaline and Steve Stone. Nice autograph by Cavagnaro. According to the innerwebs, he's a sales manager living in Texas with his wife and four kids.

And the hit of the night came from Topps 2014 Olympic and Paralympic cards. My buddy across from me pulled a Lindsey Vonn relic. I pulled the autograph out of this particular box with:


Not too shabby of a pull, and numbered to 50. Granted, she was a bit of a bust in London after all the hype, but she has turned out to be a good pusher in bobsleds, winning gold earlier this year.

Been a long time since I had such a good output from my LCS pack wars. Let's hope it continues next month.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Throwback Thursdays - 11.21.2013

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants blousing. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Mark Melancon - 2013 Topps - Pittsburgh Pirates

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Three things.

Maybe four now that I think about it.

1) I fixed my domain. If you are reading this, you really don't need to be told that. But I got a little lazy and forgot to renew my URL. It seems to be working now. Feel free to tell me that it isn't.

2) Subtle change with the layout of the blog. I widened the post area and the side bar area for easier reading and also to add....

3) You see a new addition to the home page: Radio 2x3. Basically, what you have are two playlists (YouTube limits a user to 200 videos per list) that have all the videos every posted or linked on this blog. As I add videos, I will keep the list updated to the best of my ability. I am missing a few, because they were removed from YT and I have no clue what they were. Interesting information: I have used four videos more than once: The Tubes "She's a Beauty", The Waitresses "I Know What Boys Like", The Breeders "Cannonball" and Nigel Powers ripping on the Dutch (sorry Jeroen). Also, the artist that has appeared the most? Lindsey Buckingham (solo & with Fleetwood Mac).

4) After four years of cyber squatting, I have back my first ever custom domain. Yes, someone actually squatted an old domain of mine, thinking I would pony up cash to buy it back. I hope he enjoyed wasting $50 or more waiting for me to contact him. He finally gave up and I just snagged it. It was my first foray into blogging, and I may bring it back somewhat. I'll work on getting a link, but go back and read some of my older bits of stupidity thrown at you faster than the speed of light. Curiously, that is the blog name: Stupidity At Lightspeed. The name comes from an old quote I made years ago on some Star Wars message board concerning 90% of what I say or write. As you readers probably know - I was pretty accurate in that statement. Thanks for reading this drivel, though.

Ok - that's all. I better make this post sort of card related. I picked up one of the Update monster boxes everyone has been talking about. Anybody want/need this:


That was my hit from the Update Chrome. # 94/99. Email me and we'll talk.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Throwback Thursdays - 11.14.2013

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants blousing. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Tony Phillips - 1993 Topps Stadium Club - Detroit Tigers

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

And on the 7th PWE, he rested.


That is today's mailbox for me. Now, yesterday was Veteran's Day, so there was a chance some of these would have come 24 hours ago. But still - what a nice haul out of the mailbox. It's always a treat when your name is on an envelope and the innards are not a bill of one sort or another. All of the letters, except one, were sent with a single Forever stamp. And the one that needed more postage only cost two extra dimes.


Even though they are PWEs, they are not all from bloggers/readers/traders. These two are from a Listia auction and an eBay auction respectively. Hard to pass up a Turkey Red of the Big Train when you have creds to burn. The Adam Wilk (it's a side project) was all of 11 pennies with free shipping. So the seller lost out on that one by 35 cents.


These are also Listia winnings. I probably "overpaid" for them (1000 creds), but they are kind of fun. That is Gehrig at the lower right, but I need to figure out the others. It may be Eddie Mathews to the left of Gehrig. I thought, when I bid, that the top left might be Feller, but it's a Brooklyn Bum. The umps on the middle left have a BoSox manager and a manager in a killer sweater. Could be John McGraw for the Giants. Well, those are the purchases. Now the generosity of the bloggers/readers.


AJ from The Lost Collector gets an envelope from time to time from me. He returned the favor with 5 really nice cards. Dig these three. My Baines collection is pretty low. In fact, all my early 80s is minimal, so the Koosman is a need. And finally a Floyd refrector. Thanks AJ for the great envelope!


John from Johnny's Trading Spot is also on Club PWE. He's a new blogger, so click the link and check him out. Start following him - that's an order! Anyhow, he decided to return the favor of a few PWE with the extra postage envelope, and boy was it awesome. The best part of getting all my White Sox sorted is having a far better idea of what I have and what I need. I need all these Scores as I don't have a single one.


Here's proof John is a reader. Are these not aweseome DP cards? And I had to kick my OCD to the curb and properly scan the Gonzalez on the bottom, cuz that one is a beut! Both players checking out first to see if the play was turned. UD always had killer photography.


This card, though, is a bit of an oddball. I really don't collect plays at the plate like Dime Box Nick or Brian at that one blog like likes those types of cards. However, I do have a catch all binder of plain awesome cards. This.....is plain awesome. Stadium Club really did it right in the past. Thanks for the mail, John!


Last is from Dennis at Too Many Verlanders. Dennis is a Tigers and a Dead Wings fan, and yet I still talk to the guy. I consider it charity work.

Ok Dennis - you got me here.

 Dennis sent the 3 ChiSox I scanned above - a Buehrle Future Star, Fisk Chrome and a sweet Baines Metal. But the highlight of the package is this little number.


It only happens to be the final card in the People of the Bible set. This card has been difficult because the price has always been far too much to justify buying it with shipping. Dennis had a COMC mailing coming and offered to help out anyone that asked. And this is the result. Thanks a ton, Dennis. 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Making an appearance

For a lot of us in the blog world, one of the finest bloggers and traders around was Collective Troll. I have had some amazing trades with him in the past, and even though he took a good 10 months off from writing, I would drop him a PWE from time to time to let him know I didn't forget him. Fortunately for us, he came back around and can be found again in the innerwebs.

Finding a Rays blogger is a rarity. In fact, I only have one other person that I send any Rays cards to. It's not like you friggin' Dodger fans that multiply like rabbits.

In defense, that is pretty dang irresistible.

 I saw Troll post a few weeks back, and then he shoot me an email to watch my mailbox for some cards. Gave me some thanks for the numerous mailings I sent him to keep him in the card hobby. Let's hope the Troll hangs around a while - we are all better for it. Here's some highlights of the package.


There were a few blue bordered Sox in the envelope, but just the one gold. Do I dare go for the rainbow on DeAza here? Ummm - nah. My Beckham is proving to be hard enough. 


Sure - they look like 2013 Allen and Ginter. More specifically, they are all numbered above 300, so that makes them all SP Allen and Ginter cards. Is it me, or are the 2013 SPs harder than in the past few years?


Yup. More short prints. A total of 11 SPs, the one SP mini of Rios, and then another dozen or so A&G cards. A nice dent in my want list for sure.

Thanks a bunch, Troll, for coming back out from under the bridge and stopping my goat in it's tracks with some great cards. Was that too much of a reach for a witty final line? I'll just let me YouTube video do the talking I guess....

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Throwback Thursdays - 11.07.2013

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants blousing. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Jose Altuve - 2013 Topps Archives - Houston Astros

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Have I got a PWE for you.

How ya doin'? How ya doin'? How ya doin'?

Step right up, cuz I am here to show YOU the latest and the greatest from across the land. I have traveled far and wide to show you some of the finest items in all the world. You could travel the skies yourself, but why, when I have taken the time and the energy to collect together to nicest specimens on the planet.

I know what you're sayin' - "how can we be sure these are the best in the land"? Let me ask you a question in return - have I ever steered you wrong? I don't know you; you don't know me. We have never had dealings before so of COURSE I have never lied to you. Now come in a little closer to see the wonders I have in store for you.

Have you ever thought "how much can I fit into a plain white envelope"? Well sir, I am glad you asked that. You would be amazed at how you can stuff a plain white envelope for delivery to another part of the world. I'm here to tell you the most astonishing items are available in an paper envelope of white.

Hey mister....

Go away, kid....ya bother me.

Now seein' is believin', and I'm gonna tell you there is plenty to see. Why, with a little effort, some remarkable things will fit in a plain white envelope.


Take these two cards from Johnny at Cards from the Quarry. Some may think that's not much, but I am here to tell you that a bordered rookie parallel and a chrome Heritage card make for great collection additions.


Now what you see here are some older ChiSox cards garnered across the land by Jim from GCRL. And I'm here to tell you these are not the limit of cards Jim was able to send, as long as you don't mind a little extra postage. 


Sir - I heard you mumble over there: "I don't have extra postage". Not a concern at all. What you see here are 4 cards courtesy of Weston from Fantastic Catch. What Weston did here was compare the want list from this site to the extras he had, found a few and packaged them out. It doesn't get easier than that. So whatcha waitin' for? Still not convinced? Maybe these will help you decide.


Can I get an "oooh"? Can I hear an "ahhhh"? 

Yes folks - those are relics, more rare forms of items available. Ma'am - I can see that look upon your face. "How do they arrive without damage?" That's a great question, ma'am, and I'm here to tell you that it was no trickery nor slight of hand. You see, Chris and Kyle from Old Foul Cardboard placed these objects of wonder within separate hardened containers, and then placed those containers into an envelope. I assure you the condition they arrived is EXACTLY the same as how they were mailed. 

Now before you go, let me show you one last envelope. Most envelopes cost one stamp. But I'll tell you - a little more money can make the package sunny. A bit more cash can mean more flash.


Yes siree - you can place minis in those envelopes. Duane from Democratic Roadkill did just that. And it doesn't need to be just a few minis.


With the right packing, and two more dimes of postage, you can fit quite a bit in the kit. And you can even include some regular sized cards too.


So don't be shy. Give a PWE a try. 

Friday, November 1, 2013

Who did it better?

After a recent flurry of incoming packages, and a lot of desk cleaning, I was doing pretty good. For about 48 hours. Needless to say, I have about six more bloggers and readers showing some love with incoming packages. I will say this - be on the lookout for PWEs. I just mailed to the entire Club PWE database, as well as a few of you other past traders.

Today, let's look at two bloggers: Nick from Dime Boxes and Pat from Hot Corner Cards. Nick hit me with a padded envelope of cards for the numerous PWEs I have sent him over the past couple months. Pat had 4 PWEs trickle in over two days in thanks for PWEs I have sent him. The common idea between the two bloggers were they both hit the same want groups of mine: ChiSox, throwbacks, and bunts. Plus Pat dropped some DP turns while Nick sent a couple miscut cards. So, let's scan and compare what was sent.



I am holding pretty true to my statement of purchasing no Update this year. Besides a rack pack and a couple jumbos (LCS pack wars), I avoid them. Nick sent me a nice stack of Update Sox. Pat sent me two Sox Chromes. I bought only a rack pack of Chrome and my only Sox is a orange parallel of Peavy. So all these ChiSox are needed.



Lot of throwback cards between the two of them. Nick sent the larger quantity on the top with the brilliant painted facial hair plus the rare throwback double play card, while Pat dropped some great earlier throwbacks in the Detroit Stars plus a Angel card someone in the blogsphere highlighted a few days back.




Nick really brought out the bunts with a good dozen. You see just ten scanned in the first two images. I love seeing hitters like Yaz, Gwynn and Trammell squaring up. Pat had three bunters and all are needed. I had the Andrus base, but not the Opening Day. Ned Yost. Now that's a name from the past.



Lastly, we have Nick's two early micust cards. Those are so sweet. And while I have the Kenny Lance Blankenship, the other three are needed for the binder.

So - now the ultimate answer. When we compare the mailings side by side, who was the winner?

Simple: me. I won, cuz I got all these super cool cards to add the my collection. Thanks a ton, Nick and Pat. Keep watching your mailboxes.