Thinking Deeply With 1990 Donruss & A Shout Out To The Dimwit

I made some self deprecating comments about my recent purchase of an album bound INCOMPLETE set of 1990 Donruss that I "won" at one of Cleve’s auctions a few weeks ago.  I felt it was a justifiable purchase for $2 because it also came with several back issue Beckett magazines, but mostly because the pages were in good shape and I could remove the pointless Donruss cards and use the pages for later.  It did amount to 83 pages after all.  I finally finished pulling out all of the cards the other day, and a few things occurred to me:

1)       I am never doing this again.  Do you know what a pain it is to pull 700+ boring cards out of 80+ pages? 

2)     Despite the hassle, there is always something of value in any base set if you look hard enough.  Not necessarily of monetary value, but something worth pausing over and thinking about.  For example:



Even though he was commissioner of baseball for a very brief period of time, I have grown to become an admirer of Bart Giamatti.  Some newer baseball fans may not be familiar with Giamatti and his place in baseball history.  But rather than giving an overview of his biography, I’ll partner with Wikipedia just like Topps has done recently with their Allen & Ginter cards. 

My admiration is mostly unrelated to his ruling on Pete Rose (I don’t intend to get into that here), but more due to my perception of him as a thoughtful, literate asset to the game of baseball.  If you’ve never read any of his books or essays on baseball, I highly recommend doing so.

I wonder what the landscape of baseball would look like had he not passed away and remained commisioner?  Would the steroid plague played out the same way?  Would we still have the Wild-Cards and Interleague play?  Would baseball be better or worse than it is now?  I would vote for Giamatti over Selig as commissioner, but that doesn’t mean he would have done a better job than Selig over the past 15 years.   As much as people like Colin Cowherd give Selig grief for being beholden to baseball traditions, would Giamatti been even LESS likely to make changes to the game than Selig?   I am interested in the thoughts out in blogger land. 

Also, if you don't know about it already, the one and only Daily Dimwit is having a really nice giveway, with signups ending this Friday.   Get over and check out a great blog!

Big Game Hunting At Cleve's

Do any of you have a spare bedroom or available couch?  Because if I actually get what I want from the auction at Cleve's tonight, the lovely wife may boot me out of the house a few days.

I can't go tonight, but I have write in bids on two cards.  One is a very cool Bowman 1952 common.  If I get it, it will be cheap.  The other is a 1953 Topps Satchel Paige.  If I get it, it won't be cheap but it will...be ..... the...... bomb.  There are plenty of other temptations tonight, but I'll try to maintain some control.

I'll let you know what happens...

Cheap Card Collector, But Not a Cheap Trader!

I have been out of town for a few days if anyone has noticed a lack of posts for a few days.  One of my favorite things about coming back from a trip, besides of course seeing the lovely wife and kids, is ripping open any packages that have come my way, even though I know what is in them already.  One of the packages that came in this weekend had more than I expected though, and it made my day!

Cheap Card Collecting is the kind of blog I aspire to run.  It has a point of view (how to collect on a budget) and looks great too!  Anthony from CCC contacted me about a couple of Bowman Platinums I pulled, and we worked out what I thought was a 2 for 2 trade.  This is what I knew I was getting:

2 Bowman Platinum Christian Colon (Base and Purple Parallel).  Colon is a top prospect for the Royals and plays for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals who are nearby the Doon household.  My hope is to get one or both of these autographed. 

But not only did I get the cards I wanted, Anthony also added some very cool Felix Jones cards:

The Certified card on the left is numbered to 250!    And the Topps Magic card is very, very slick. My eyes may or may not have welled up when I saw these.

And to top it off, he added a card of my man D-Mac, and a Topps Diamond Duos card of Josh Hamilton.  Bullseyes all around!

I assume if you are a serious card collector, you are aware of Cheap Card Collecting.  If not, do yourself a favor and check it out! 

Contest Shout Out- Jaybarkerfans Junk Party!

Jaybarkerfan has one of the great new blogs out there and is hosting a very interesting game.  I see that many of you already know about it and are spreading the word.  For those not in the know, check it out here.

He's also teased a wrinkle in the game as it begins....

Etopps Offering 8/1

It's been awhile since I've posted the Etopps offering.  Mostly because I've been swamped at work, but also because I have to post these via mobile Blogger due to the timing of it, which is a pain.  So I wasn't able to send a heads up that Bryce Harper was offered last week.  Hopefully anyone that was interested got one.
Allocation should be announced by tomorrow.

Of course the week I can post, there isn't much to get excited about:

Zack Cox
Tim Wheeler
Matt Harvey

Other than former Razorback Zack Cox (what a crappy picture by the way) I really am disinterested in this weeks offering.

1999 Flair- 20+ Years In The Making

I mentioned that I finally finished my 1999 Flair Master set the other day.  This is the first “premium” set I ever put together, and I am extremely fond of it.   The cards are absolutely beautiful.  Many of you who have traded with me have been the beneficiary of the excess I have accumulated while building this set through wax boxes and eBay lots.   I still have lots more and would love to trade some of it to other collectors out there, especially if you have never had any of these. 

The checklist is 144 cards, and has 3 parallel “rows”

Row 1 is comprised of 3 tiers of numbers (1-48 #d to 1,500; 49 to 96 #d to 3,000 and 97 to 144 #d to 6,000).  I love that the set count is divisible by 9 and fits evenly in 9 pocket pages!

Row Parallel Set Cards 1-9.  The Ripken card is a work of art.

Row 2 Is not numbered, but I like it just as much as Row 1.

Row 2 Parallel Cards 1-9

Row 3 is the base set.  It’s ok.  In fact, I don’t even have it in the binder.

Row 3 Derek Jeter

There is also a “Legacy” parallel set #d to 99.  I have a couple of these.  No way am I going to attempt to build that set.

Robin Ventura Legacy Parallel

Trade With Manupatches and Chrome Scratches

Eric L from the fantastic blog Manupatches and Chrome Scratches, was one of the players in my recent Big Fun Game.  Eric has some really unique collecting goals, and some of his Luke Hochevar groupings are nothing less than inspiring.  His blog is funny, and well crafted.  And, as his blog spells it out, he likes Manufactured patch cards.  So, surprise, surprise, he stole the Joe Mauer Patch Card when it was his turn to pick in the Big Fun Game.  He also took an interest in one of the unclaimed prizes, a Fred Lynn patch card, and made me an offer I couldn't refuse:

I'm ecstatic to get Michael Young relic cards, especially when I don't already have them.  He also threw in a bunch of other cool stuff:

A bunch a great Rangers cards, most of which I didn't have.  The 2008 UD Documentary set was totally foreign to me, so they were a nice surprise. 

And he also sent some of my favorite non Rangers.  The Strawberry Fleer card is the bomb!  I appreciate the extra cards, and I definitely owe you Eric!

Wax Wednesday- Bowman Platinum

I suppose my attempt to score some points with the lovely wife Tuesday night by magnanimously announcing I was refraining from attending the weekly auction at Cleve's would have been more credible had I not had 3 rack packs worth of cards in my hands at the time.  But they were rack packs of Bowman Platinum, and I had my reasons.

I've been able to mostly pass on A&G so far, but the other day at Walmart, I just happened to be walking by the card section when I saw the stocker putting out some brand spanking new Bowman Platinum.  Actually, I couldn't give you a good reason why I felt the need to grab these.  I wasn't overly impressed with Platinum last year.  Perhaps I wanted to be one of the first to post pack break results from this offering.  So far, I haven't seen much on this set in the blogosphere.  Probably,  I was still coming down from the high from Brycemas and hoped lightning would strike twice.   Yeah, actually I know that's it.  I'll save the suspense and tell you I didn't hit anything big.  But I do like these cards. 

Here is a base card.  This is actually a case where the scanner OVER does justice to the card.   The base cards are nice, but it's not as shiny as the scanner makes it out to be.    The prospects set cards are nice too:

These look and feel more like chrome cards than the base, and in fact curl a little bit (but not as bad as Topps 2010 chrome).
Rack packs come with 3 purple parallel cards. Here was what I got:

And of course, there are all sorts of other parallels:

The Cox (Yea! a Razorback!) and Ackley are refractors, but not numbered.  The Crawford is more true red than the scan shows.

Looking at the checklist, I'll probably decline to build this set (not enough Rangers) but will probably put together some "rainbows" of a few players.  Anyone else have any initial luck with Platinum? 

Big Fun Game Wrap Up..

Thanks to all the participants for my 3rd Big Fun Game!  First, just so everyone knows this was on the up and up, here is a screen shot of the prize randomizer:

Here is the final prize list:

1. Dawgbones- T206 Lot
2. Matt - Gypsy Queen Green Lot
3. cardanathema (frzn) - Clemente from Matt, lost collector
4. Dimwit - Clemens
5. cubsfan731 (frzn) - Relic Lot from cardanathema, Dimwit
6. josh - Strasburg from Matt
7. lost collector - Longoria from dawgbones
8. eric - Mauer Patch from cardanathema
9. trey j - Joe Morgan from lost collector
10. diamond king - Bowman Harper Card

It was interesting to see the biggest reaction to any of these was from dawgbones' T206 lot!  I thought for sure it would get traded, but I'm thrilled that it was a great fit for him!

Here were the two prizes that went unclaimed:

2003 Sweet Spot Classics Patch- Fred Lynn

Topps Finest Uncirculated Johnny Damon #d to 199

Thanks again to everyone who played.  If you have not already done so, please send me your address.  I would like to get all prizes out tomorrow.

Big Fun Game Update

Looks like no one is going for a final pick. Glad everyone is happy with what they got!  I'm swamped at work right now but will post a final wrap up tonight with pics of the unclaimed prizes

Big Fun Game Pick #10

The Diamond King makes the last selection of the game and picks door #4:

2011 Bowman Bryce Harper

That's it for the first round.  If you want to take one last shot, leave a comment on this post.  Tomorrow at 12 pm Central, I will take all of the supplemental round entrants and if necessary, put them in a randomizer.  The top two can trade their cards for doors 8 or 9.

If you are going to stick with your prize, please send me a note with your address.  Also, please send me a link to your blog and your favorite team!

Big Fun Pick #9

dawgbones declines to steal and chooses door #12:

Topps T206 Lot of Bronze Parallels

I will use Matt's helpful summary to update the game:

1. Dawgbones- T206 Lot
2. Matt - Gypsy Queen Green
3. cardanathema (frzn) - Clemente from Matt, lost collector
4. Dimwit - Clemens
5. cubsfan731 (frzn) - Relic Lot from cardanathema, Dimwit
6. josh - Strasburg from Matt
7. lost collector - Longoria from dawgbones
8. eric - Mauer Patch from cardanathema
9. trey j - Joe Morgan from lost collector
10. diamond king

The Diamond King is up next and can steal any non-frozen prize or choose from doors 4,8 or 9

Remember, at the end of the game, 2 people will have a chance to make a final trade for one of the two remaining prizes.

Big Fun Game Steal

The Lost Collector can't hang on to the vintage cards he's been getting and decides to steal the first prize of the game, stealing the Sterling White Evan Longoria.

dawgbones is up again, and can choose to steal anything but the Clemente or relic lot.

He can choose from doors:

4, 8, 9 or 12

Big Fun Game Steal and Pick #8

Cardanathema gives the Lost Collector the what fer and steals and freezes the Clemente to his possession. 

The Lost Collector gets another vintage card by taking door #10:

1967 Joe Morgan

Trey J is next and can steal anything but the frozen prizes (Clemente and the relic lot) or can choose from doors 4,8,9, or 12

Big Fun Game Steal

Eric L really does love manupatches and steals the Mauer Topps card.

Cardanathema has to pick again!

Big Fun Game Steal and Pick #7

The Lost Collector can't resist the Clemente and steals it from Matt.  Matt chooses door number 2:

Gypsy Queen green border lot.  Eric L is next and can steal anything but the relic lot or can choose from doors :  4 8 9 10 or 12

Big Fun Game Steal and Pick # 6

Now we're warming up!  Josh decides to go with the Strasburg Rookie and Matt has to choose again.  He takes Door #1:

1958 Roberto Clemente.  Yes those are creases you see.  But still...

The Lost Collector is up next and can choose to steal anything but the relic lot or can pick from doors:

2,4,8,9,10 or 12

Big Fun Game Steal and Pick #5

Cubsfan731 steals the Relic Lot, freezing it to his possession.  The Dimwit chooses again, and picks Door #5:

Roger Clemens 2007 Exquisite #d to 99.

Josh is up next.  I think I know what he wants, but will wait until he makes it official...

Big Fun Game Steal and Pick #4

The Dimwit couldn't resist the Oswalt relic card and stole the relic lot from Cardanathema.  Cardanathema doesn't miss a beat and picks door #6:

2010 Topps Joe Mauer Manu Patch
Cubsfan731 is next and can steal anything that has been chosen or select from the following doors:

1,2,4,5,8,9,10,12

Big Fun Game Pick #3

Cardanathema also declines to steal and chooses door #11:

Lot of 3 Relic Cards:  Travis Hafner, Roy Oswalt and Marcus Giles

The Dimwit can steal any of the 3 previous prizes or can choose from the following doors:

1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10,12

Big Fun Game Pick #2

With the second pick, Matt declines to steal and chooses door #3:

2010 Bowman Stephen Strasburg

Cardanathema is next and can steal either of the two prizes that have been claimed or can choose from the remaining doors 1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12

Big Fun Game Pick #1

With the first selection, dawgbones selects door #7:

2009 Topps Sterling Evan Longoria White Parallel #d to 50.

Matt is on the clock now and can either steal this prize or choose from doors 1-6 & 8-12.

Sorry for the poor cropping on the scan.  This thing is really hit or miss!

dawgbones... Come on Down!!!

You're the first contestant on Napkin Doon's Big Fun Game!!! 

And below are the remaining 10 contestants:

1. dawgbones
2. matt
3. cardanathema
4. dimwit
5. cubsfan731
6. josh
7. cubsfan731
8. lost collector
9. eric l
10. trey j
11. cardanathema
12. the diamond king
13. matt pederson
14. dawgbones
15. jeff laws
16. matt pederson
17. play at the plate
18. mmmrhubarb
19. ryan lamonica
20. hiflew
21. cheap card collecting
22. matt b
23. spiegel83
24. greg zakwin
25. ryan g
26. mariner1
27. greg zakwin
28. eric l
29. jason
30. lost collector
31. cheap card collecting
32. kirk jacobson
33. potch
34. potch
35. morgan
36. matt b
37. matt
38. the diamond king
39. dan
40. captain canuck
41. ba benny
42. kirk jacobson
43. dominifdny
44. jeff laws

Cubsfan731 and cardanathema had some insurance, falling in the top 11 twice.  Of course everyone only gets one entry, so that let diamond king jump a slot for the final pick.

dawgbones may select any number from 1-12 and I will reveal what is behind that door once he makes his pick.  Matt will have the option then of either stealing dawgbones pick, or selecting from the remaining doors.  If Matt steals from dawgbones, dawgbones will then be able to pick again (but not steal from Matt).  Remember, there are 10 contestants but 12 prizes and at the end of the game, two people will have a chance to trade their prize if they want. 

Thanks to all who signed up, and better luck next time to those who didn't get in.  The next time I do this, I will need to figure out a way to up the odds for the folks who've entered all 3 times and never got in.  Maybe an extra entry everytime you have entered but not been selected?

Any questions???  Ok, let's go!!

Cleve's Auction Night: "This Is Getting Ridiculous, Napkin"

Yeah, I might have a problem.  I mentioned in my last post about the super awesome card auctions every Tuesday night at Cleve's, that for a couple of weeks I would be unable to attend while on business trips.  I also said I could go in and put down some write-in bids on anything that caught my eye, but that I wasn't going to. 
That was a lie only in the sense that I wound up going in and putting down a whole bunch of write-in bids.  But they were lowwwww bids, and I got some good stuff again.  Let's move beyond the lovely wife's reaction when I came home with the goods Saturday afternoon.  I think she's getting numb to it.

Let's review, shall we?

1960 Fleer Lajoie and Foxx

These were the cards I really, really wanted from this auction.  This 1960 Fleer set is one of Fleer's first, is chock full of HOFers, is only an 80 card checklist, and is relatively inexpensive to build.  Those are facts.  Add to that, I love the looks of the set, and this set is a new top priority for my collection.  I missed out on a couple of pages of "commons" from this set at this last auction, as obviously my write in bids were not enough.  But I did manage to land these two at $2 each, which gave me great joy.

Of course I bought some goodie binders...

I don't mean to repeat myself, but for most of these binders, the value is in the pages and the binder itself.  That is true for the most part for the 3 binders I got this week.  Here they are by binder:

Binder 1: 80s Stars Binder

I paid $5 for this one, mostly because it had several George Brett and Mike Schmidt cards- players I didn't collect much earlier in my life, but now realize how great they were.  I also wanted the Tony Gwynn and Darryly Strawberry pages too.  There are about 50 pages in this binder and also included stars such as:  Mattingly, Boggs, Puckett, Clemens, Ozzie Smith, Gooden, Dawson and so on and so on. 

Binder #2a:  1990 Donruss near complete set

Before you do a spit take over the thougt of someone paying real money for an INCOMPLETE 1990 Donruss set, allow me to interject and inform you this binder was a package deal with this binder:

Binder #2b: (10) Mid 90s Beckett Monthly Magazines

This was what I wanted, and didn't mind taking 1990 Donruss set (and the near 80 pages I will have once I remove the crappy cards from them) to get it.  And don't scoff at me buying old Becketts either.  I have a side project I am working on and I need the data from them.  And as I've said before, I like the old articles and advertisements.  And there was nice little bonus that I didn't even notice when I was initially looking through the binder when I placed my bid:

A quick scan of ebay shows these are nothing special, but they look cool to me.  I was a broke college kid in the mid 90s so I wasn't able to afford McDonalds fine dining to get these cards.  A $1.97 combo at Rally's was my idea of splurging..

So how did I grade out?

1960 Fleer Foxx and Lajoie:  $4 Total-  A+  Plenty to like here, with two of my favorite vintage stars.  1960 Fleer is now on my radar too, and I think I can build it in a couple of years.

1980s Stars Binder:  $5  B+  Nothing special in these albums, and I might have won this with a write in bid of $3, but what's a couple of bucks?  Again, the pages, Gwynn and Strawberry cards were the key.

90 Donruss and Beckett Package:  $4  A-  Yes, I'm sure paying for 1990 Donruss should instantly cause me to lose credibility in the card collecting world, but repeat after me:  It's the pages that are the value!!!!  80 pages people!  And they are nice, non-cloudy pages too.   I consider the Becketts more supplies than collectibles, and the McDonalds cards are a nice bonus. 

A total of $13 bucks this week.   I think that shows a lot of restraint myself.  When I went in to pick up my cards Saturday, I looked over the Tuesday night fodder.  Lot's of really nice 50s Bowmans...  What will the lovely wife say Tuesday night I wonder?  It's going to be bad...

Oh, in case you are wondering, Big Fun Game participants will be announced today!

A Suprise From The Lost Collector

I recently returned from a West Coast business trip, not expecting any envelopes or bubble mailers that have been crowding my mailbox for the past several, several months.  I've slowed down my purchases considerably, at least online, now that Brycemas is over.  However, there was one envelope waiting on me that I did not expect.  Inside was this beauty:

and a nice note from AJ over at The Lost Collector blog, one of my favorites.  In fact, AJ is one of my favorite people out in blogger world, and the card hobby is better for him returning to it.  We had a trade a little while ago, and he felt like he needed to add a follow up card.  It wasn't necessary my friend, but I am stoked about the card nonetheless!  Ian Kinsler is one of my favorite Rangers, and I didn't have this sweet relic card of him yet.  Better still, it's numbered to #199.

He also sent a cool Kevin McReynolds card from the 90s, but I was in a rush and didn't have time to scan it.  That's former Razorback Kevin McReynolds, thank you very much.

Thank you for the cards, AJ, I really appreciate it!

On The 12th Day of Brycemas

My Harper Gave To Me:

12 BIG FUN GAME PRIZES!!!!

You didn’t think I wouldn’t share my good fortune with my pals in Blogger Land did you?

I have 12 cards/card lots that came in with my Harper Haul that will be used as prizes.   Some of these have been seen in the 12 Days of Brycemas Posts, and some have not.   I will guarantee that none of my Michael Youngs will be part of this contest.  Or the 1965 Koufax.  This will be my 3^rd Big Fun Game.   For those not in the know, I am only keeping this contest named as such at the insistence of a few of you.  I’m looking at you Lost Collector.

Signups will take place from now until Sunday.  There are only 2 things you need to do to qualify: 

1)     Be a follower.  I had been stuck at 47 for a while, and was horrified to see someone left me and now I’m at 46.  I sure would like to get over the 50 mark.

2)    Post a comment in this thread stating you are in.  If you want to promote this contest in your blog, post a link to your comment and you will get two entries to the game drawing.  

If you've already participated in one of my Big Fun Games, please feel free to sign up again!

Sometime on Sunday, I will enter all of the names in the randomizer and announce the 10 game entrants.

“But Napkin, I thought you said there were 12 prizes?”  There are.  There will be 2 remaining prizes after the game is over.  Once the game is over, anyone who would like to make one final swap for a prize will have an opportunity to post a comment that they would like to trade one last time.  If more than 2 people want to trade in their prizes, I will take all of the names of those who want to make one final trade and put them in the randomizer.  The top 2 listed will get to make one final swap and choose from the remaining 2 prizes.  Hopefully, you will get something you like better, because once you swap, there is no trading back.

After the game is over, feel free to trade amongst yourselves before I mail out the prizes.

Here are the particulars of the game if you aren't familiar with them.



*******UPDATE**********  Sign ups are closed and the 10 contestants have been named!!!

On The 11th Day of Brycemas

My Harper Gave to Me:

11 Bowman’s Best

This is my favorite insert set of 2011, slightly ahead of the Sticky Fingers set in Gypsy Queen.  I like it because the checklist has staying power, it’s shiny, it’s not scarce, but not common, yet I’ve been able to complete it very cheaply.  I needed 11 cards to complete my set of Bowman’s Best.  I still need several more for the Bowman’s Best Prospects set, but I have the Harper and the rest will be manageable.

I’ll just show you the full set rather than the last 11 I needed:

On The 10th Day of Brycemas

My Harper Gave to Me:

#10 Texas Rangers DH, 1B, 2B, 3B and SS, Michael Young.

Winner.  Team Player.  Leader.  Hustle. Work Ethic.  Integrity.  Luscious.   But enough about me, let’s look at some Michael Young Cards:

I have one of those “jersey” T-Shirts of Michael Young, and that’s as close to a jersey I will wear of any team or player.  I’ve got nothing against fans wearing jerseys, especially to games.  I just can’t pull it off.  It doesn’t look or feel right on me.  I wish my lovely wife would wear one though.  That would be so, so, so hot.