One of those "Better late than never" posts...

I've been meaning to get some real organization in place for my cards and various cardboard collections (no pun intended) and after a trip to my local LCS to pick up some supplies, I can finally start cataloging all of these stacks of cards on the corner of my desk.

It didn't take too long into one of the stacks before I came across two team bags with a index card from Dennis of Too Many Verlanders / Too Many Manninghams. This gift has been sitting here for at least 6 months. Perhaps you can better imagine the mess I have on my hands that I'm now trying to work through! In these stacks were lots of great cards for several different themes I have in my collection.

Of course there were plenty of Braves cards, including several Tom Glavines and a Johnny Estrada Topps Pristine relic.

Remember when Topps made football cards? I know you're super jealous of the super hot Dwayne Jarrett RC you see peeking out from underneath Steve Smith.

My favorite Carolina Panthers card in the stacks was this dufex infused Zenith team card. Jake Delhomme may not be well known outside of Charlotte (or Louisiana), but he is a "legend" in this area. Same goes for Julius Pepper, though this is from his first tour with the team. DeShaun Foster may not be the best well known Panthers RB in the history of the team, but they needed a third player so there you go.

I saw that there was a smaller card in one of the stacks, but never in my wildest imagination would I think it was a printing plate. Combine the fact that this is a Jonathan Stewart printing plate and I was/am over the moon! JStew is one of my favorite players of all time and I've got a nice little PC of his, but nothing this cool. Thank you so much Dennis!

Also included were cards of two players for what I call my "Faith Brothers" collection...Albert Pujols and Mariano Rivera. It's not that often I acquire cards of either of these players unless I'm at a show digging through nickle and dime boxes, so this was a nice surprise. As I sat down to catalog these cards it turned out that I didn't have about 95% of them. I guess this Braves guy just had a hard time keeping cards of a guy that killed our pitching or of a stinking Yankee!

Thanks again Dennis for your kind generosity and I apologize it took so long to share these...but as the post title says "better late than never".

I'm such a tease!

Ok, get your head out of the gutter!  I wanted to gauge interest on my next break.  Would you guys and gals out there be interested in a break that would potentially give us 2 shots at either a Albert Pujols and/or Ichiro RCs?  In addition to that it looks like the 4 boxes I've chosen would also yield 8 hits + other inserts.  We'd also get about around 500+ base cards.  Sound interesting?

**EDIT** hiflew of Cards from the Quarry suggested a great idea!Two different scenarios for sign-ups.  Looking for feedback here please.  In the past I've opened the breaks up to all 30 teams and have had trouble filling them all.  I can't afford to eat teams...period.  However I'm game to whatever everyone wants.  Any Pujols or Ichiro card would be randomed off.  If we do 30 teams the price comes out to $9.75 shipped.


OR

15 slots - choose your team.  After all 15 slots are full we'll open it back up for everyone to chose a 2nd team.  If a Pujols or Ichiro card is pulled they'll be randomed off to all participants.  This way you Cardinals or Mariners fans can still have your team and everyone has a shot of landing a nice RC.  Price per slot comes out to be $16.50 shipped.

We could always drop one box to lower the overall costs too if necessary.

Whatever scenario is chosen I have to have all the slots full in order for this to happen.  So, give me a piece of your mind!  Tell me what option you would be more gung-ho for.  Do you even like having a team that isn't "your team" in group breaks?  Inquiring minds want to know!

I would like to reveal the 4 boxes and post sign-ups soon so if you have something to share please do so.  In the mean time I'll leave everyone with this teaser image:

Pack Break - 2006 Fleer Tradition (Retail)

Remember the days when you could find baseball cards just about anywhere?  One of the reasons I fell out of collecting for so many years was because I couldn't find anywhere to buy packs.  Once the grocery stores and gas stations quit carrying packs I didn't know where to turn.  This of course was long before this internet thing. Fast forward to now and you can find cards for sale just about anywhere.

While waiting on my wife the other day @ Books-A-Million I found the little spin rack full of trading cards and there was one lone pack of 2006 Fleer Tradition left for $.99.  Why not I thought.  Ugly design, but it's hard to resist a cheap pack of cards.  Maybe I'd lucky and pull something good?  Well.  Was I?  Did I pull anything good?

As you tell from the 9 cards above nothing really stands out here.  Sure, I got a Braves player (Joey Devine - who never did anything in the majors) but over all I was ready to call the pack a bust.  Then I noticed the last card in the pack "peeking out" looked a little different:

OK, now I feel better about spending $.99.  Albert Pujols Grass Roots #GR-2. 

Trades, acquistions and whole lot more

You've probably noticed the lack of posts lately, but that doesn't mean that I don't have anything to share.  Over the last few weeks I've acquired lots of new cards via trades and cheap finds.  Instead of spreading these out over several posts I decided to just combine them all and share them at one time.  Besides, I don't know how much more time I'll have to blog in the coming week.

We'll start with the Braves since well, they're my team.

 
David Justice 
2005 Topps Pristine Refractor #78 (063/549)

Now the question is whether or not to crack this card out of it's sealed case?




Chipper Jones 
2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX A Piece of the World Series base #PS2

I've wanted one of these World Series base cards for a long time.  I was surprised the seller accepted such a low ball offer too!

Chipper Jones
1996 Leaf Limited Pennant Craze #10 (0911/2500)

I was really hoping we'd pull one of these cards from the last group break I hosted.  The pennant portion of the card is felt.  I love gimmick cards.  I believe that these cards fetched some pretty prices in '96.

Andruw Jones 
2002 Upper Deck Mid-Summer Stars Swatches #MS-AJ

Gotta love free cards!  The seller threw this in with the card below.

Andruw Jones 
2003 Upper Deck Vintage Dropping the Hammer bat #DH-AJ

Another gimmick card if you will.  The first card from this insert set I got was of Lance Berkman.  For the longest time I didn't even know that a Braves player was on the checklist.

Charlie O'Brien 
1999 Skybox Molten Metal #19

I have no idea what this insert is called, but I love the big die-cut Atlanta "A".

Martin Prado 
2011 Topps Heritage SP #486

I HATE short printed cards, thankfully though I was able to snag this SP for a buck fifty.

Tony Gwynn 
2011 Topps Tribute blue parallel #54 (084/199)

This is about as close to Tribute as I'll get this year thanks to the prices being through the roof.  I love how on this blue parallel Tony's shades are the same refractor like blue.

Tony Gwynn 
2002 Topps Reserve bat relic #TRB-TG

I know there are no shortages of sets for Topps, but I wish Reserve would come back.  

Tony Gwynn 
2000 Fleer Ultra Swing Kings

Have I mentioned before on my blog that I love clear acetate cards?  No?  You sure?

Albert Pujols 
2002 Fleer EX Hit & Run base

I couldn't believe I won this card for just over 5 bucks.  This is my first game used card of Pujols.  The fact that it's a base card makes it even better.  I wish Topps would change up the whole relic thing and start using other materials again.

 

Frank Thomas 
1996 Leaf Limited Lumberjacks #4 (1051/5000)

I was so impressed with the quality of these Lumberjacks cards after pulling a Sosa from the group break that I had to have at least one.  I thought about building the set since it's only 10 cards, but a quick scan on eBay and you'll that some of the cards are rather pricey.  So I think I'll stick w/ my $2 Frank Thomas for now.

Ben Sheets 
2001 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Rookie Premiere Materials bat #161 (030/700)

No, I'm not impeding on Cynical Buddha's Brewers.  I got this card for my batting pitchers collection...a collection of which I haven't done much with lately.  This card actually comes courtesy of Matt from Cardboard Conundrum.  I believe we swapped some cards before he claimed the Cubs from my last group break.

Todd Helton 
2005 Fleer Authentix Jersey Authentix #JA-TH

One of the better card designs for Authentix.  I love the gray piece of jersey w/ the angled pin stripe.

Matt Holliday 
2007 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Ultimate Star jersey #SM-MH

Not the best design in my opinion, but at least the jersey piece has the pin stripe.  That and the card was $.99.

Matt Holliday 
2008 Bowman Sterling bat relic #BS-MH

Love chromed relics.

Matt Holliday 
2008 Upper Deck A Piece of History Timeless Moments jersey #TM-19

Matt Holliday 
2007 Topps All Star Game Stitches #AS-MH

If jersey cards are going to be made then at least the card companies can use something other than the traditional jersey.  This was taken from a All-Star festivities jersey.

Matt Holliday 
2005 Upper Deck SPx autograph #85 (029/225)

Sure it's another sticker auto, but anytime you can score a nice auto of a power hitter and all around swell guy for under $5 why not?

Matt Holliday 
2010 Topps Update Series All-Star Game Workout Jersey #AS-MH

This makes 2 different all-star game jersey cards I have now!


Matt Holliday 
2009 Topps Silk Collection (16/50)

This beauty comes courtesy of the Cards From the Quarry.  I e-mailed Johnny to let him know that I had picked up a Larry Walker Rockies bat relic and asked him if he needed it.  He offered up this Holliday card and the rest was history.

Micah Owings 
2006 Bowman Signs of the Future autograph #SOF-MO

I grabbed just about all of these next few cards of Micah for $.99 or less.

Micah Owings 
2005 Topps Chrome autograph #UH235

Micah Owings 
2006 Bowman Sterling Prospect autograph #BSP-MO

Micah Owings 
2007 Upper Deck Exquisite Rookie Signatures autograph #187 (031/150)

I didn't expect much competition from other bidders on the majority of these autos, but I was kind of surprised that I won this card for the opening bid of $.99.  Beautifully THICK card.

Micah Ownings 
2009 Upper Deck Inkredible autograph #OW

Still looking for the red auto version.

Otis Nixon
1998 Topps Arizona Diamondbacks & Tampa Bay Devil Rays #382

I haven't seen any of these cards in a long long time.  I picked up both versions for my Rey Ordonez PC back in '98, but haven't really come across any the players until recently.

Well, that's about it for now.  I really want to get better at posting my hauls from group breaks I've participated in as well as completed trades.  With any luck I'll have some more things to share soon.  Until then have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

In the mail 3/16/10

I got a nice assortment today in the mail box. Let's start with a few older Braves cards.

Bobby Cox 1978 Topps #93, 1991 Topps Micro #759, Joe Torre 1983 #126, Ron Gant 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #30, Sid Bream 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #31, 1991 Topps Traded #13T

I ran across this John Wetteland card in the closing minutes of it's eBay auction. Nabbed it for $2.50. While I wouldn't normally add a Yankee to my collection, I've collected John Wetteland since discovering he was a Christian in the early 90's. I'm not entirely familiar with this Upper Deck set so if someone can shed some light on the card I would greatly appreciate it. It's number is #AU-39 and it's from 2004. The Pujols is a nice thick insert from 2001 Topps Stadium Club #RT19. Pretty card for a buck.

2010 eTopps 206 Albert Pujols Insanity

I don't buy a lot of eTopps cards, esp. when Topps first releases them due to the cost. Most of the ones I have paid full price just seem to drop in price on eBay so fast. I saw the new 2010 206 style Pujols card offered last week and I thought about it...but since I'm focusing on my Braves collection right now I passed. I took a peek this evening to see what the card is now trading for and my jaw hit the floor. Did people not know the card was available for $7.00 last week?

In the Mail (Weekend Edition)

I got more swag in the mail this weekend than I had time to scan! So I grabbed some of my favorites and slapped them on the scanner.

Tom Glavine 07 Upper Deck Divisional Artifacts jersey (159/199), Andruw Jones 98 Pinnacle Epix, 03 Topps Tribute (015/225), Chipper Jones 98 Pinnacle Epix, 01 Upper Deck Championship Caliber, David Justice 98 Pacific Paramount Special Delivery, Greg Maddux 09 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary, Fred McGriff 95 Score Rules, Mark Teixeira 07 Bowman Sterling bat

Mike Gonzalez 10 Topps Gold (1630/2010), Tommy Hanson 09 Tristar Obak, Tim Hudson 10 Topps Peak Performance jersey, Brian McCann 08 Upper Deck Game Materials jersey, 08 Upper Deck Documentary, Albert Pujols 04 Studio Stars, Cal Ripken Jr. 98 Pinnacle Epix

08-09 Topps Signature Gerald Wallace autograph #d 0001/1499. I only paid $2 for this card and I had no idea until I received it that it was numbered let alone that it was #1! At least the sticker Topps used was semi-clear so it blends in with the white background.