New Blog Contest Plug

The Diamond King (can't believe no one else has come up with this yet) is a new blog and is enticing new readers with a nice contest.  Check it out here:

http://thediamondking.blogspot.com/2011/05/want-list-is-coming-and-contest.html

Help out a new blogger and win some cool stuff!

Can't believe it!

I thought my luck with the topps diamond cut cards was good.  And I thought I did well to get 3 Bryce Harper cards from my Bowman blaster vs. Rack packs experiment the other day.  I've topped those today and then some.

We are in a small Texas town this weekend visiting family, so I popped into the local Wal-Mart to see if they had any Bowman 2011.  They did and I bought.  And out of a blaster I pulled a Harper auto redemption!  This is definitely the best hit I've ever had!  I also snagged another Chrome harper and a sweet Bowmans's best Harper. 
And yes I will be going back tonight for more Bowman. 

Napkin Doon's Attic Treasure #1: Topps Micro Sets

As I may have mentioned, I am on vacation this week.  I had grand visions of organizing my cards, improving my blog and updating my super duper checklist.  I'd say about 0% of has been done so far. I was able to pull down some boxes of cards/collectables  from the attic and dig through them, but that's about it.   And, with me and the lovely wife taking the kids to the Tulsa Zoo tomorrow,  going out of town for the holiday weekend, and traveling on business the rest of next week, I don't see much accomplishment on the horizon.  Maybe when I get done with vacation, I can finally rest and get in some solid goofing off and cardboarding done.  Until then, let's take a walk through some of the crud  interesting items I found in the attic from my previous collecting days.


In one of the boxes from the attic, I found a couple of really neat Topps Micro Sets from 92 and 93.  From what I can tell, these two years, as well as 91 were the only years Topps put this product out.  I wish they would issue them again, because they are really cool.  Here are some of the cards next to a standard mini card and a penny for scale:

I felt very old looking at these cards, alternately holding them closer and further and closer again to my eyes trying to find the right distance to gain focus.  I didn't include it in the scan, but there are checklists in this set.  I defy anyone without a microscope to read them.    The 1992 set also included a 12 card "Gold" bonus set.


They also were one step ahead of themselves on the Diamond Parallel cards everybody is snapping up this year.  The 1993 factory set came with a set of 12 "Prism" Cards:

Wax Wednesday- Which $20 was better spent?

One of the pluses of living in Walmart's backyard is that there are a lot of Walmart stores around here, and they are usually run pretty well, and stocked pretty well.  This played to my advantage yesterday when I ran to the nearby Walmart to pick up a few things and took my usual jaunt over to the card section.  To my surprise, Bowman had just been replenished and the shelf was packed.  It was very tempting to grab it all, but I realized a) I don't really care THAT much for Bowman b) I couldn't afford it even if I did really, really want it and c) my lovely wife would... well it wouldn't be pretty.

So, I rationalized that some serious analysis was needed of the difference between a $20 blaster box, and (4) $5 rack packs.  So I bought the necessary data input and brought it all home.  I am still alive today, but only because I think I got pretty lucky with the pulls.  First, a comparison of the contents:

	Blaster Box	4 Rack Packs
Base Cards	29	29
Base RC	5	8
Gold Parallel	8	4
Orange Parallel (#250)	0	1
Blue Parallel (#500)	0	1
1st Bowman	16	16
1st Bowman Chrome	14	14
1st Bowman Chrome Purple (#700)	0	2
Auto	1	0
Bowman's Brightest	1	1
Topps 100	3	1
Finest Futures	2	3
Topps of the Class	1	0
Bowman's Best	1	0
International Base	1	0
Total Cards	82	80

I counted the cards in the blaster at least 4 times, and yes, I did get two extra cards.  However, I should have received 16 chrome cards but only got 14.  Maybe getting the auto or the Bowman's Best card in the blaster had something to do with the allocation, or perhaps the exceptions are explained somewhere and I am just too lazy to look into it. 

In terms of parallel cards, the rack packs came out ahead, hitting one blue and orange version.  I also got two of the purple parallel chrome cards in the rack packs, but none in the blaster.

In terms of inserts, the blaster was much better.  I really like the Bowman's Best set, but only got one card.  I also was excited to see a Tim Beckham auto in the blaster.

So how did I do with the real reason folks are snapping this product up?  Not too bad.  I got 3 Bryce Harpers:  2 Base and 1 Chrome.

Here are the highlights:

Blaster Box Highlights

Rack Pack Highlights

Of course, this experiment is a very small sample size, and the rack packs add a strong element of randomness.  I think the best way to come up with some solid conclusions and recommendations is to run this same experiment 4 or 5 more times.  Surely my lovely wife can't argue with that logic?

 



Trade Posts: BA Benny and Steve D

Last week I received my end of a couple of trades:

1st:  A big trade with BA Benny.  He sent a whole mess of cards of my favorite players:  Tony Gwynn, Darryl Strawberry, Ian Kinsler, Keith Hernandez, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, and the list goes on.  He also sent two really cool Michael Young Ticket to Stardom cards that include a game used jersey and a ticket from a Rangers game.  That seems like a cool hit gimmick that should be continued in other sets.  Here are just a few of the highlights from the trade:

Thanks for the trade Mike! 

I also had a small trade with Steve D, who does not have a blog as far as I know.  We did a swap of jersey cards of NY catchers.  I sent him a Jorge Posada 2005 Zenith, and he sent a Piazza T206 jersey, along with an extra Piazza Ionix card (which is very cool in hand BTW):

Thank you Steve, I appreciate it!

On A Diamond Cut Roll!!!

Maybe getting these is not that big a deal after all, but once again, I was able to scrape together a few mediocre cards and trade them for another 2011 Topps Diamond Cut Card of a Texas Ranger.  In no way did I think I would get this without giving up something great:

But I did, and I don't even remember what I gave up other than 1985 and 1987 Topps Tony Gwynns and some crud cards.  I can replace those for all of $.50 on sportlots.com or sportsbuy.com.  Now I have 4 Rangers (Hamilton, Feliz, Kinsler, Young) and am halfway home to completing the team set.  And once again, the diamond code cards I used to trade for this beauty came from another $14.99 value box.

Vacation begins..

With a downpour. 

I thought a Naturals day game would be a great way to kick off vacation this week.  Unfortunately, the storms that have soaked and battered this area for about a month now made yet another appearance.  My boy and I only got in one inning before we had to run for cover.  I did get to eat a couple of $1 hot dogs and see top prospect Mike Trout strike out, but that was it.

I missed my etopps post, but the offering this week was pretty underwhelming.

Diamond Success Again!

I have to say, I love the $14.99 value packs.  I didn't get a lot of great cards out of my most recent box, but yet again struck gold on with the Diamond Codes:

Now before my Yankee friends lay claim to this card, I will tell you that it is already gone.  I put up trades for Nelson Cruz, Neftali Feliz and Josh Hamilton.  I really didn't expect to get Hamilton, but very quickly after I posted my offers, this was in my portfolio:

That brings my Rangers collection to 3:  Feliz, Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young.  I may actually put together a whole team set!

Cliff Notes

There are a few baseball players that I can easily see myself hanging out with.   I think I could hang out with Mike Piazza and Keith Hernandez.   Probably Ian Kinsler too, although I don’t have a great read on him yet.

I think Cliff Lee and I could be friends.  I can see us hanging out.  He’s a Razorback.  I’m a Razorback.  He helped get the Rangers into the World Series.  I’m a big Rangers fan.  He lives in Arkansas.  I live in Arkansas.  He is always cool under pressure.  I am just plain cool.   I think my wife and I would have his family over for hamburgers on the grill and we would watch our kids play in the backyard.  Our conversation would go something like this:

Me:  Nice evening for a cookout.

Cliff:  I guess so.  Whatever.

(I then check my phone for messages)

Cliff:  Is that the HTC EVO?  What do you think of it?

Me:  It’s fine I guess.  Whatever.

(Long Pause)

Me:  You want a beer?

Cliff:  (Shrugs) Yeah I guess.

(I bring back a couple of beers)

Cliff:  Nice evening for a cookout.

Me:  I guess so.  Whatever.

I can see it so clearly.  He and I would totally get each other.     I’ll need to get some cool cards for him to sign, although if we were friends, I suppose I wouldn’t really need his autograph.

Gone Already?

The holes you see in this blurry photo are where 2011 Bowman was only 2 days ago.  There were similar holes in the other Walmarts I hit yesterday as well.  I guess I was lucky to get what I did.   In fact when I got mine I a few days ago, came to the card section just as the sales rep was putting out the product.   The next day.... POOF... GONE...
So Bowman 2011 is long gone in my neck of the woods.  How about yours? 

Checklist Chipaway: Topps HD Images of Excellence/ Ball Park Figures

I am realllly getting close to wrapping up Topps HD.  This brand was only issued for 2 years, so getting all of the cards is a pretty manageable task.  I’ll probably have to pass on the auto cards though.  Too pricey for your pal Napkin.

I’ve already completed the Cutting Edge and 20/20 sets, and was only 1 card away each on the Images of Excellence and Ballpark Figures Sets.  It took a while to get these last two at prices I wanted, but I happened to get them both within a 24 hour period.  They both came in the mail this week.

Images Of Excellence- Willie Mays being the final piece:

 Ballpark Figures- Mike Piazza being the final piece:

Let’s see what the Super Checklist has to say about these two:

Well done Napkin!

Trash or Treasure?

At a recent card show in Fayetteville, I was rummaging through a dime box and finding all sorts of crap I didn’t need, yet didn’t pass because they were a dime.  There was a whole bunch of product called “Action Packed” from 1993 which I was not at all familiar with.  The cards had raised images on thick, strange cardboard, and there were tons of HOFs and Legends.   I was certain it was more overproduced 90s offerings, and turns out I was right.

However, these are actually not bad little cards.  The images are raised on the card, although you can’t tell in the scan.  And the backs are pretty informative.  I picked up about 25 of players I was interested in.  I also thought the Abbot and Costello card was neat.   I wish the older player cards had been printed in this same color theme rather than the sepia. 

So even though I know these are worthless, I’m glad to add them to my collection.  My call:  Treasure!

Bowman 2011 Rack Packs

Bowman 2011 hit the shelves of a local Walmart today, and of course, I had no control and bought a couple of rack packs.  Although I'm not especially hyped about Bowman this year, I was still somewhat pleased with myself for not loading up my basket with blaster boxes.   Bowman 2010 was one of the products that pulled me back heavy into the hobby last year when I happened to hit some Strasburgs, so perhaps if I repeat my luck with Bryce Harper,  I'll be back for more.  Here are the highlights:

Here are the base cards, gold parallels and a "Finest Futures" insert of Jason Heyward.  The Posada gold card asked to be held out of the scan, but I asserted my authority and put him in.  

The "1st Bowman Cards" of a bunch of guys I've never heard of.  Doesn't mean they won't be good, I'm just not familiar with them yet.

Finally, each rack pack includes 4 Chrome cards, so I got 8.  The purple parallels are numbered to 700.  No Harper, but who knows what sort of hidden gem there might be in here.  I also got 1 "Topps of the Class" insert card.

Overall, I actually like the design of the base card pretty well.  It's pretty clean and the silver type is nice looking.  The 1st Bowman cards don't do much for me, but maybe they'll grow on me later.  I'm going to bet I can buy a full base set cheap on eBay at some point soon, so I think I'm done with the wax.  I'd rather buy Gypsy Queen or even some of the $14.99 value packs I suppose until Topps Series 2 comes out.

Etopps 5/16 Offering

This week, it looks like only 2 cards from etopps, but one of them is a must buy IMO (unless it's $8 + with a 1,500 + print run)

Eric Hosmer

Curtis Granderson

I will definately buy the Hosmer, and if the Granderson is under $5 I'll grab it too.

Hit Question

I love the $14.99 value boxes at Target/Wal-Mart.  I seem to have pretty good luck, either with hits in the packs, or with the codes on the diamond giveaway cards.  Last week was no different.  In one of the Topps Base packs, this is what I found:

A Reggie Jackson jersey card, #d to 60.  My first question:  Why is the jersey orange?  Does anyone have an idea? 

I probably would be open to trading this, but I would want a pretty good offer for it.

Blog World Top 5 Players

This week I ran a sort of informal poll as to who are the top 5 current players to collect from a long term "value" standpoint.  Here are the results according to the responses I received:

1 Tie:  Albert Pujols
1 Tie:  Ichiro
3: Roy Halladay
4: Derek Jeter
5: Jason Heyward

That looks like a pretty solid list to me. 

There were 9 commenters who listed both Pujols and Ichiro, and after a quick spin through the randomizer, the winner of some cards arbitrarily picked by me is.....

Captain Canuck!

Thanks for playing Captain.  I don't think I have your address from any previous contests, so please email me when you get a chance.  Here is what I will send you:

I'll find another Ichiro to round out the prize to 6 cards.  I know, it's nothing huge, but not a bad payoff for giving a quick comment on my blog right? 

International Napkin

I have started going to Toronto rather regularly on business, and had my first opportunity to attend a Blue Jays game last night!  The Red Sox were in town for the last of their series with the Jays, so it timed out nicely for me.  I wish it had been the Rangers in town, but I'll take what I can get.  So in deference to our friends up north, let's have a spot 'o tea and put another shrimp on the barbie with a recap in photos:

The Rogers Centre

First of all, I can't believe a simple word like "Center" is misspelled on such a large building.  Didn't they think people would notice?  The stadium is in downtown Toronto, and is a very impressive looking structure from the outside.  Let me add, downtown Toronto has a very vibrant, young, hip vibe to it and I hope to spend more time exploring it on future visits, perhaps when I can bring along my lovely wife.

Here is the view from my nosebleed seat.  The inside of the stadium is nice too, but man, that turf looks like crap.  Again, the crowd was very youthful, diverse and energetic (though not very big).  I don't know if this was the scene just where I was sitting, but it was good to see that demographic at a ballgame. 

Before the game, I was able to go lower and get some closer pictures.  The 1st is Jonathan Papelbon warming up.  In the second, you can see I was very close to Big Papi.  In fact, I thought I was going to score an autograph but he took off pretty quickly.  Maybe my wild eyed grin and fidgeting scared him off.  The bottom picture is Ortiz and Adrian Gonzales before batting practice.  Both of them launched several balls into the stands which was foreboding:  They both hit homeruns in the game.



I don't know why this stupid picture keeps turning on it's side.  Blogger has it out for me sometimes.  It's symbolic though, because my expectations for this divine looking ballpark meal were turned upside down as well.  I was plain giddy with excitement over this footlong and Keith's pale ale.  I mean, I took a picture didn't I?  I can sum up the hot dog in one word:  YUCK.   It almost ruined the whole game experience for me.  What a letdown.  I'd take the $1 dogs they serve at the Naturals games over that.  The beer was good, as it should have been for $8.  Dammit that hot dog sucked, and I so badly wanted it to be good!

So that's the game in a nutshell.  The game itself turned out to be a laugher, 9-3 Jays.   John Lackey is struggling.   But I did see a few home runs and good defensive play, so other than that  &#*!)#  hotdog, it was a great evening!

Wax (Philosophical) Wednesday and Mini Contest:

I assume one of these days I will outgrow this hobby.   Or maybe not.  But I at some point I will hand over the collection to my children and hopefully at least one of them will want it and will continue to maintain, improve and enjoy it. 

That said, for the most part, my collecting process is driven by collecting what and who I like, and not necessarily who I think 20 years from now will be “valuable” to the caretakers of my collection.  On the side, I do try to build cards of players of whom I think have long term value.   As you may have seen in my player checklist at the top of my blog, I list 5 players who fit this bill, in my opinion (Jeter, Ichiro, Pujols, Halladay and Mo Rivera). 

Clearly there are others.  So my question for you:  If you were to build a collection of 5 active players, solely for the purpose of passing along down the road, and you wanted that collection to be as valuable as possible, who are the players you would select to collect.  Select to collect… I’m a poet and didn’t know it.

To incentivize responses, I will ascertain which player gets the most votes in the comments, and randomly select a winner from the commenter list.  I will then send that commenter at least a couple of cards of the winning player.     However, you must have that player listed in your comments to win.  For example, if Eric from Manupatches and Chrome Scratches thinks he should list Luke Hochever as one of his 5 players for the ages, and somehow, Luke Hochever does not get the most overall votes but someone not on Eric’s list does, Eric is out of luck…. 

I will post the winner sometime this Sunday.  Also, please keep your list to active players only.  Retired players will not be counted, your comment will be stricken from the record and you will be banned for life from my blog.

Cyber Monday: Etopps 5/9 Offering

Looks like I’m saving some dough this week:

Lance Berkman

Aroldis Chapman

Alex White

Looks like I'll be passing again...

Trade Post- Mother's Day Edition

I wrote this post Saturday night and scheduled it for today just so I dedicate all my attention Sunday to  pampering my lovely wife. (If I suck up a little now, I might get a chance to play with my cards Sunday Night).  So Happy Mother's Day to any and all mothers who read this blog.

Speaking of mothers, The Dimwit is a bad mother for trading me these GQ cards:

Base cards of three of my favorites, and an incredibly cool Josh Hamilton relic.  I was glad to get back a Michael Young since I gave away the one I opened during the Big Fun Game: Gypsy Queen Edition.
I sent him some Astros relics and base cards too for my end of the trade. 

The Dimwit, along with The Lost Collector, have taken up the invitation to play Words with Doon  posted on my sidebar.  I've enjoyed getting to know both of these gentlemen and their blogs but have not enjoyed the unmerciful beatings I've been receiving from them on Words.  I think they cheat.

Mail Arrivals- "I Should Not Have Done This" Edition

If you have nothing better to do and have been following my blog for a while, you might have surmised that two of my collecting... "motifs" for want of a better word are: 1) I like to build sets and some master sets with the inserts sets included and 2) I don't typically spend a lot of money on one card.

There are times when these two themes conflict.  Case in point: Donruss Diamond Kings 2003.  I have managed to sneak in several of the Hi Book inserts to my master set and have pretty much accumulated all of the affordable pieces to this puzzle.  There are a few jersey, bat and autos that I am lacking (please see "Current Checklist Progress" Tab for overall quantities missing per set).  They typically have a high BIN price on eBay, but the other day, this was up for bid with a low starting price:

Clearly I bought it, or what a worthless post this would be.  I put in a bid I didn't think had a chance, but was still higher than I typically go.  I've mentioned the feeling before of watching an auction I'm winning come to a close and teetering between hoping I win and hoping I get outbid and am off the hook.  Would that be called "bidder's remorse?"  So I wound up winning.  Man was it worth it!  The gray flannel swatch on this card just looks and feels like a piece of history.  Plus the card is numbered to 50.    If I can do the same with the Ruth and Gehrig I am still needing, I will poop myself.

Here Comes The First of Many

Eric Hosmer was called up to the Royals yesterday and makes his debut tonight.  I was fortunate to see him play a game here for the AA affiliate for the Royals, the NW Arkansas Naturals.  He breezed through pretty quickly so I didn't get too see much more than a few at bats.  It was pretty easy to tell he is the real deal though.  It will be fun over the next few years watching the parade of prospects marching toward KC that I was able to watch develop here in Arkansas.  

More Diamond Giveaway Magic!

I'm still bouncing off the wall about getting a Michael Young Diamond Cut Card on the Diamond Giveaway promotion.  I liked it so much, I thought I would try to scrounge up all the other cards I had online and see if I could somehow trade them for either an Ian Kinsler or Nelson Cruz di cut card.

Long story short, look what showed up in my portfolio today:

Call me butter, because I am on a roll!

Basically this cost me a bunch of commons and a 1958 Bob Hazle.  I can pretty much get any of those cards on sportslots for nothing should I ever decide I really need them.  I would have not gone to the trouble to have those shipped from Topps (shipping would have cost more than they were worth anyway).  But I will have no problem paying a few bucks for these Kinsler and Young beauties.

Now I just need more codes so I can try to get a Cruz and Josh Hamilton.  Ah, Topps has me in their clutches as always....

Finally...

I finally unlocked a cool Diamond Giveaway card:

I have pretty much zero interest in Brett Wallace, and I posted a trade for a similar card of Michael Young.

And guess what?  No sooner had I started this post, and looked on the website to pull images of the other crap I had uncovered when  looky what was in my collection!  Not 20 minutes after I posted the trade offer too:

So my first thought was "YES"!  My second was:  Did I just screw up?  Is there something about Brett Wallace I don't know?    I mean, that trade got accepted quick! I'm wondering if I am missing something?  I didn't trade away the Black Diamond version of the card, so I know that's not it.  Whatever, I'm freaking jacked about this Michael Young card!

I also got a couple of vintage a while back that I may try to trade into something for my collection, or just have delivered with the Young:

I should be able to turn these into something I would think....

Big Fun Game Final Pick!

Greg stops the stealing and selects the final prize #10:

These are the NL cards from the blaster, including Jason Heyward and will include the Aaron Rowand card from prize 2.  11 cards total.

Here is the randomized prize list so you can see I didn't play favorites.  I hate that there weren't any big hits in the box, but I hope everyone likes the free cards!  I will post the video of the box break in the next day or two if anyone wants.  I assure you I didn't keep anything.  I'm probably the most ticked there weren't any hits because it would have livened up the game and got more buzz for my blog.

Again, if you have not done so,  please send me your address so I can send your cards. 

Thanks for playing this second round.  I hope to do another game at some point, so if there are any suggestions for how the game is played, please let me know. 

For those that played or watched the first game, did you like the random prizes like before, or do you prefer a theme like Gypsy Queen?   I like the idea of doing a box break this way, but I couldn't really review the cards as they were revealed.  I didn't want to say anything that might be seen as influencing the picks.

I am interested in your feedback!

Big Fun Game Pick #12

Fan of Reds does not take being stolen from lying down and steals his own set of minis:

Greg Zakwin is back on the clock and can steal anything (but these minis) or can choose prize #10.

Big Fun Game Pick #12

Play at the plate has some Nachos for breakfast and steals the mini cards of active players from Fan of Reds.

Fan of Reds can steal any other prize or choose prize #10

Big Fun Game Pick #11

Steve D won't let the party end and steals the Sticky Finger lot from Play at the Plate.

Play at the Plate can steal any lot (except the one that was just stolen from him) or can choose the final prize #10.

Big Fun Game Pick #10

Fan of Reds puts down the Nachos and selects prize #2:

Lot of 5 active player mini cards.

Steve D can now take any of the first 9 prizes or select the final prize # 10.

Big Fun Game Pick #9

Don Wicked Ortega also declines the steal and chooses prize #4:

These were the 2 Home Run Heroes insert cards in the box.  Carlos Pena and Jose Bautista

Fan of Reds is next and can steal any of the lots or choose from prizes 2 or 10