TwinsJake / Topps Project 2020

A good majority of the card collecting community may be familiar with the handle TwinsJake. Many of you may have purchased a Topps Now card from him when he had a presence on eBay. Some of you may have purchased Topps Project 2020 cards from him earlier in the year? 

If you are familiar with TwinsJake, then you'll know of the associated "issues" with him. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but he basically admitted he bit off more than he could chew and fell massively behind. Toss in the destruction of his neighborhood post office in Minnesota due to riots months earlier and it appears some health issues and he fell further behind. 

People on Twitter were ready to grab their torches and pitchforks and storm the gates. Yes, the lnch mob was ready. I tried to remain neutral, even though I had several Project 2020 orders that just didn't seem to be moving. I understand that while someone's social media appearance may be just fine, you never know what is going on once you start to peel back that layer. I tried to keep my cool and at times would even defend TwinsJake online in places such as Twitter. 

In July I tried placing an order for some Braves Topps Now cards and after 4 unsuccessful orders I gave up. Later I noticed my PayPal account was hit for all 4 charges. I reached out both through TwinsJake's website as well as through Twitter and nothing. The radio silence went on for a few months. Shortly there after, out of the blue it seems, I was emailed some tracking numbers in early September. Yes! My orders were finally going to ship.

Then nothing. The tracking numbers showed zero movement. I messaged again through the website and Twitter and at first nothing. Then I got a reply. He offered to toss in some free stuff and I told him I just wanted those PayPal transactions refunded and wanted the cards I paid for. A few days later I got a new tracking number along with a picture of my outgoing package. Then I got a message from PayPal that refunds had been processed. Last week my order finally arrived.

While I still think these cards are beautiful, I'm done with Project 2020. I was excited earlier in the year for this project...as you can tell from my purchases, but through nobody's particular fault, I've moved on. I'm glad to finally have these in my hands, especially the Jackie Robinson cards (in retrospect, I just should have stuck with his cards and ignored everyone else).

Thank you TwinsJake for making at least my situation right. I still don't know what happened behind the scenes and I don't really care to know. As frustrating as things can be when communication slows down or drops between two parties, just remember that none of us have he shoe on the other foot...meaning we don't know what is going on in the life of the other party. More communication on the behalf of TwinsJake would have been nice, but I'm not going to criticize or judge. I'm thankful he finally responded to my messages and made things right. If you happen to be waiting on orders from him, continue to keep pushing with emails, Tweets and DMs and eventually he'll get back to you. I don't think for one second that he ever set out to swindle anyone. When he eluded to getting in over his head, I believe him. The early stages of Project 2020 were crazy. I'm glad I got off that rollercoaster.

Be good everyone...

A few new pickups including some HOF RCs!

I really don't care to flood my blog with "pick up" type posts, but as I sit in front of my computer waiting for all of my stores to close at 4 PM today (so I can enjoy the rest of my 4th of July), I decided to scan a few new cards just for kicks.

We'll start off with two new Max Fried RC autographs I grabbed on the cheap. Max is coming off a dominating start against the Cardinals after being called back up from Gwinnett. He really has had the chance to make much noise in the majors, but if he can pitch like he did the other night on a consistent basis then the Braves have another bright star in their rotation. Best of all, his autos are fairly inexpensive right now. Of the two, I prefer the Finest (right) over the Tier One, but both are beautiful cards.

From 2005 Donruss Prime Patches comes this beautiful card of Ben Sheets. It not only features his autograph, but also game worn pieces of jersey, shoe, hat and pants. Best of all, it's serially numbered 01/93.

I don't have a large PC of Ben, but I ran across this card for less than $4 and seriously, how could I not pull the trigger? Ben belongs in my "Faith Brothers" mini-collection.

Ever since I started collecting baseball cards in 1990, I wanted a real RC of Cal Ripken. He played ball for the Charlotte O's in the early 80's, my hometown. While I can't say I remember watching him play at the old Crockett Field (I would've been 3-4 years old), I find it cool that a legendary player like Cal played minor league ball in my hometown. None the less, his RCs were always too pricey for my reach as a youngster so it was wishful dreaming to own some of his rookie cardboard.

While his 1982 Fleer RC may not be the most in demand or best looking card, I'm thrilled to have finally acquired this piece. Of course this just fuels the fire to acquire his Topps and Donruss cards next!

I'll blame this acquisition on Panini of America. Ever since they revived the Donruss brand, they have started to use some of the older designs, such as this 1983, in their current product. Well I ended up finding this Tony Gwynn RC for a mere $5 with free shipping not too long after I found the '82 Fleer Ripken. With Gwynn playing on the west coast his entire career, I was only able to watch him play when he played against my Braves or the Cubs (thanks to getting WGN), but I always marveled at his patience at the plate. The guy hardly ever struck out and always made contact. He may not have marveled fans with his power, but the dude could flat out hit the ball. From what I knew of him off the field, he also seemed like a great stand up guy too. I'm thrilled to add this vintage (at least to me!) piece of rookie cardboard to my collection.

Up next? Well I need to put the finishing touches on gathering all the details for my next Affordable Group break for July. Stay tuned, especially if you like Canadian cardboard!

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 12

30 DAY BASEBALL CARD CHALLENGE

DAY 12

One of your favorite cards from the 1980s

I'm sure this card will be popping up a lot of today's challenge. It's easily one of the most recoginzed cards from the 1980's if not of all time. 1989 Upper Deck. What a great set (even though I think my favorite UD design is a tie between 91, 92, and 93...they nailed it those years). As I was getting into collecting I was starting to hear about Upper Deck and how much better were there cards. It wasn't just about the quality of the cards though, it was the photographs too. They definately gave Topps, Donruss and Fleer a run for their money back then.

I still remember asking my parents if I saved enough of my own money if I could buy this card. I believe my dad understood, although at this time the card was trading for close to 3 figures and that he didn't understand. My mom? Forget it, she thought I was being irresponsible! The day I finally pulled the trigger, man oh man was I on cloud 9 for several days. Never since have I had same feeling of euphoria over obtaining a modern rookie card.

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 8

30 DAY BASEBALL CARD CHALLENGE

DAY 8

A card that reminds you of a family member

To this day baseball reminds me of my late father. I played baseball growing up, my dad usually one of my team's coachs, he took me to baseball games...so yeah, the two go hand in hand. Before my dad took me to my first Braves game in Atlanta, we (Charlotte, NC) had the Charlotte O's. I don't have as many memories of the old Crocket Park where the O's played, but I do remember that Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray both played a season in Charlotte. 

I wasn't collecting baseball cards at this time sadly so I don't own this card pictured above, but I would someday like to try and track one down. When I did start collecting cards in 1990, I can remember my dad sitting me down and looking through the cards with me and telling me a little about the future Hall of Famers such as Ripken. He reminded me of the early years at Crocket Park and how I'd usually fall asleep after a few innings of late Saturday afternoon game.

Good times, good memories. My dad would have turned 72 on April 1st this year. Kind of seems fitting that his birthday is right there near Opening Day.

Trade from North of the Border - Supporting the Minnow

Trevor from Supporting the Minnow reached out to me earlier in the month after he saw that I had some old O-Pee-Chee cards in addition to a nice stack of 2009 Upper Deck OPC that he needed. We quickly worked out a trade and off our packages went...traversing a large chunk of North America.

I used to not mess with Braves prior to 1990, the year I really got interested in following the Braves and collecting cards, but over the years my eyes have been opened more and more to the glory of vintage cardboard. I was able to grab a few from '77, '79 and '85.

Somehow I didn't have this 1991 Classic Chipper Jones, a travestry, right?! Being that Trevor resides in Canada he had some cool Canadian cards such as the 1991 Post of David Justice and the 1992 OPC Brian Hunter. The Glavine card comes from a set I wasn't familiar with, Allan's Kaye's Sports Cards News & Price Guides. The card measures just a smidge larger than your traditional trading card. Love the odd ball stuff like that.

Grabbed a few cards of the Iron Man too. Another Canadian Post card and an Upper Deck Post card from 1995? I don't remember those two companies working together. To finish it off a nice Then & Now hologram from 1993 UD.

Just in time for this weekend's NCAA Men's Final Four, we have a 1991 Classic card of UNLV's Larry Johnson. LJ was a big time college player who would go on to help put the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA on the map. 

Thanks again for the trade Trevor!

An interview w/ a Topps sketch card artist, James-Michael Smith

Today I present a different type of post.  It turns out a friend of mine has been doing some work for Topps, lending his incredible artistic abilities for 1 of 1 sketch cards!  I've posted a few of his Topps Museum Canvas Collection sketches on my Facebook page in the past.  I asked him if he'd be willing to sit down for an informal interview and he agreed.

1)      First of all, tell us a little about yourself.

Well, I’m an artist/Bible teacher/martial artist who grew up in Savannah, studied fine art at Reinhardt and UGA, went to seminary in Massachussets, and has lived in Charlotte since 2003. I’m also a ginger and my favorite movie of all time is Big Trouble in Little China. What did I leave out?  J

2)      What is your favorite sport?  Did you play sports growing up?  Do you have a favorite athlete?

Hands-down my favorite sport is MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)! I grew up playing basketball and doing martial arts. I wasn’t particularly great at the former, but I always did well at the latter. My favorite basketball players as a kid were Magic Johnson and Dominique Wilkins. I was also a big John Stockton fan in college. For the last seven years or so, I’ve been concentrating on Brazilian Jiujitsu, which is both a sport and a martial art and I’ve loved seeing the explosion of BJJ and MMA in American and around the world over the past decade or so. It’s hard to narrow down the fighters I’m a fan of, but I’d say my favorite MMA athletes are Renzo Gracie (whose association I train under) and Lyoto Machida for the men, and Felice Herrig and Tecia Torres for the women. Oh, and as a UGA alum I’m definitely a Bulldogs fan. Go Dawgs!!

3)      How did you come about working for Topps?  Have you done anything else for them?

I’ve been doing portraits of fighters and martial artists for the past few years and ended up connecting online with other MMA artists, a couple of whom do illustration and sketch cards on a regular basis. When Topps was looking for artists for their 2013 UFC Bloodlines set, my friend Scott Cohn (a fantastic comic book artist and illustrator whose work folks should check out @ Deviant Art) suggested my work to them. The director for Topps’ UFC department got in touch with me and I ended up doing around 80 or so cards for Bloodlines. While working on those, someone in the MLB department saw my work and contacted me about doing a set for their 2014 Museum/Canvas Collection. I ended up doing about 50 for that set which was just released a few weeks ago.

4)      From beginning to end, how long on average did it take you to complete one card?  What type of pen did you use for the sketches?

It depends on how complex the composition is really. Some I was able to do in under and hour. Some took a couple of hours to do. I used mostly Pigma Micron pens and Prismacolor art markers, as well as colored ballpoint and gel pens.

5)      Did Topps specifically request certain types of sketches?  (i.e. portrait, in game action) 

For Bloodlines, they gave me carte blanche pretty much. I could choose the reference photos from a collection they had the rights to and go from there. They asked that I try to work in the fighter’s nationality or country of origin if possible, since the set focused on the international aspect of the fighters’ backgrounds. So I used many of the color schemes of the various flags on that set.

For the MLB set, they were more restrictive. Rather than letting me choose my reference photos, they sent me ones they wanted me to work from. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of that approach because different artists’ styles lend themselves to different poses or compositions. Many “action shots” in baseball are actually pretty awkward looking when drawn at 2.5”x3.5” scale…especially if the reference photo is poor quality. So that set was much more challenging than Bloodlines (also, I have to confess I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to baseball…at least compared to my MMA knowledge! So there were a number of players I drew who I’d never seen before. But I won’t say which ones in case they happen to read this! Haha!).

6)      Which card ended up being your favorite and why?

In the Bloodlines set I’d have to say it was my Ian McCall (aka. “Uncle Creepy”) card. 

The reason being that I had Ian autograph it and we raffled it off to raise money for a friend who lost her husband after a long battle with cancer last year. We ended up raising over $700 for the family from the raffle of that card.

From the Museum/Canvas Collection set I’d say it was one of the Cal Ripken cards I did. My roommate of 11 years got married last week and he’s the biggest Cal Ripken fan you could ever hope to meet. So I did a few extra cards of Cal and framed a couple of them as a wedding present. 

7)      What does it feel like to see your cards selling for (usually) high dollar amounts on eBay?

It’s pretty cool, I have to admit. Seeing a sketch card you did go for 3-digit figures is really gratifying, especially if you know it went to a fan of that particular athlete.

8)      Lastly, do you have any more plans to work with Topps in the near future?

I definitely want to do another set for next year’s Bloodlines series! The UFC is launching a women’s 115lb division this year and a number of the women they’ve signed (Felice Herrig, Tecia Torres, Paige Vanzant, Bec Rawlings) are fighters  whom I’ve done charity portraits of before and who have been supportive of my work. So I told Topps that I absolutely want to do sketch cards of them for this year’s set.

Turns out that Topps sent him a few sketch cards back as part of his compensation, and with JMS not being an avid baseball card collector he has listed these on eBay.  Here are a few available:

* Atlanta Braves lot featuring John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Deion Sanders
* Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis
* Boston Red Sox great Dustin Pedroia
* Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun
* Oakland Athletics bash brother Mark McGwire
* Philadelphia Phillies legend Mike Schmidt

James-Michael Smith is not only a great artist as you can see, but he is also a great all around guy.  Oh yeah, he does commission work too so if you like the sampling of his work give him a shout and perhaps he can craft a masterpiece that will be the centerpiece of your team or player collection!

JMS can be contacted via Twitter, or to view more of his work stop by his Art of the Dojo page (quick link to his other sketch cards), Facebook and Tumblr.

A huge thanks goes out to JMS for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share with us just one of his incredible talents.

"New" pick-ups

Please tell me someone that I'm not the only one that has fallen behind on scanning new card acquisitions! With the exception of the 2014 Donruss Evan Gattis auto, the rest of the cards have been sitting in a stack on my desk at home waiting to be scanned for who knows how long!  The getting caught up work continues!

January 2012 Group Break - 1998 Pinnacle Performers packs 3-14

My first impression of this product is mixed.  The cards are really thin, but I like the design and from what I've seen on the inserts online there are some nice ones to be had.  Let's see what we pull from the next round of packs.


Pack 3:
#022 Kenny Lofton (Indians)
#065 Richard Hidalgo (Astros)

#001 Ben Grieve - Launching Pad (A's)
#105 Henry Rodriguez (Expos)
#133 Ricky Ledee (Yankees)
#085 Al Martin (Pirates)

#040 Tim Salmon (Angels)
#088 Shawn Estes (Giants)
Swing for the Fences points card

All of the inserts are seeded 1:3 through the production line so I'm not sure what inserts are easier to pull than others.  The Launching Pad inserts feature shiny foil board.

Pack 4:
#100 Mike Cameron (White Sox)
#068 J.T. Snow (Giants)
#030 Roberto Alomar (Orioles)
#057 Dante Bichette (Rockies)
#027 Larry Walker (Rockies)
#103 Jeff Suppan (Diamondbacks)
#131 Javier Valentin (Twins)
#110 Vinny Castilla (Rockies)

#029 Barry Bonds - Swing for the Fences (Giants)

Did we just get the entire Rockies team set in one pack?!

Pack 5:
#098 Eric Young (Dodgers)
#036 Tino Martinez (Yankees)

#009 Cal Ripken - Launching Pad (Orioles)
#005 Greg Maddux (Braves)
#086 Rusty Greer (Rangers)

#143 Chipper Jones (Braves)
#126 Juan Encarnacion (Tigers)
#148 Checklist

#038 Chipper Jones - Swing for the Fences (Braves)

A Ripken insert and 2 Chippers - I'd call that a good pack!

Pack 6:
#150 Checklist
#025 Ivan Rodriguez (Rangers)
#055 Fred McGriff (Rays)
#128 Richie Sexson (Indians)
#016 Mark McGwire (Cardinals)
#008 Tony Gwynn (Padres)

#051 Barry Larkin (Reds)
#069 Jason Giambi (A's)
Swing for the Fences points card

Mr. Hall of Fame Barry Larkin.  I know someone that will want that card!

Pack 7:
#012 Nomar Garciaparra (Red Sox)
#079 Denny Neagle (Braves)
 
#001 Frank Thomas - Big Bang #d 03002/10000 (White Sox)
#078 Ray Lankford (Cardinals)
#004 Alex Rodriguez (Mariners)

#117 Paul Konerko (Dodgers)
#142 Greg Maddux (Braves)

#125 David Ortiz (Twins)

#012 Ken Griffey Jr. - Swing for the Fences (Mariners)

Another great pack!  The Big Bang cards are serially numbered...but to a typical 90's production number.  The card itself looks great with etched foil.

Pack 8:
#033 Paul Molitor (Twins)
#097 Todd Walker (Twins)
#049 Jay Buhner (Mariners)
#119 Miguel Tejada (A's)
#149 Checklist
#082 Omar Vizquel (Indians)
#054 Edgar Martinez (Mariners)
#087 Bobby Bonilla
Swing for the Fences points card

Pack 9:
#099 Brett Tomko (Reds)
#007 Chipper Jones (Braves)
#058 Jim Edmonds (Angels)
#124 Eli Marrero (Cardinals)
#104 Robin Ventura (White Sox)

#003 Cal Ripken (Orioles)
#084 Kevin Appier (Royals)
#039 Bernie Williams (Yankees)
Swing for the Fences points card

Pack 10:
#101 Karim Garcia (Diamondbacks)
#121 Ben Grieve (A's)
#145 Tony Gwynn (Padres)

#014 Hideo Nomo (Dodgers)
#064 Ken Caminiti (Padres)

#130 Enrique Wilson - Peak Performers (Indians)
#017 Scott Rolen (Phillies)
#032 Manny Ramirez (Indians)
#031 Ken Caminiti - Swing for the Fences (Padres)

Peak Performers are foil parallels - sharp looking too.

Pack 11:
#098 Eric Young (Dodgers)
#036 Tino Martinez (Yankees)
#049 Jay Buhner (Mariners)
#005 Greg Maddux (Braves)
#086 Rusty Greer (Rangers)
#143 Chipper Jones (Braves)
#126 Juan Encarnacion (Tigers)
#148 Checklist

#032 Vinny Castilla - Swing for the Fences (Rockies)

Pack 12:
#038 Chuck Knoblauch (Yankees)
#067 David Justice (Indians)
#094 Jose Guillen (Pirates)
#015 Roger Clemens (Blue Jays)
#056 Moises Alou (Astros)
#122 Travis Lee (Diamondbacks)
#102 Brian Jordan (Cardinals)
#130 Enrique Wilson (Indians)

#030 Ellis Burks - Swing for the Fences (Rockies)

Rockies seem to be doing pretty good thus far.  2 packs in a row w/ an insert.

Pack 13:
#053 Tom Glavine (Braves)
#081 Jason Kendall (Pirates)
#062 John Smoltz (Braves)

#118 Todd Helton (Rockies)
#138 Ken Griffey Jr. (Mariners)

#102 Brian Jordan - Peak Performers (Cardinals)
#034 Mike Mussina (Orioles)
#096 Jeff Abbott (White Sox)
Swing for the Fences points card

Pack 14:
#033 Paul Molitor (Twins)
#032 Manny Ramirez (Indians)
#017 Scott Rolen (Phillies)
#119 Miguel Tejada (A's)
#149 Checklist
#082 Omar Vizquel (Indians)
#054 Edgar Martinez (Mariners)
#087 Bobby Bonilla (Marlins)
Swing for the Fences points card

That was a disappointing pack as it was mostly duplicates.  We've still got another 10 packs before this box is done so we'll see about getting so more cards for the teams lacking like the Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Reds & Royals.