ETopps Offering 12/12/11

This week:  Tim Tebow and Victor Cruz. 

I'll probably get the Tebow just because.    I wish the card was of him "Tebowing". Etopps could have put that out for $4 and done an unlimited run and made a mint.  Too bad I'm not in charge of those guys.

eTopps Football Tracker 12/11

Not a lot of movement this week on the eTopps tracker.  I passed on the two cards that were offered last week, and I passed on the cards that were offered Monday.  The only interesting aspect this week was the plummet of the Demarco Murray card.  I was sort of expecting it, and glad I was able to trade it for a couple of cool T206 cards.

Wooooo Pig…. Soooie!!! Part 2- More Swine

There was just too much Razorback goodness left off my first post.  Plus, I just couldn't resist showing the best part of the gift from AJ of the Lost Collector:

Take it from me, the resemblance is uncanny.  I'm going to try to get the lovely wife help me incorporate this picture into my blog header.
Now, more Hogs:

Matt Jones.  I really hate that his talent didn't translate to the NFL.  In college, he was a total badass.  I still enjoy watching youtube clips of him tormenting Texas at Austin several years ago.   I hear he is living in this area now, but I have no idea what he's doing.  Maybe we'll bump into each other sometime and hang out. 

The lot also included a nice little set of Kevin McReynolds cards.  He's probably the greatest Razorback baseball player ever.   He was before my time at Arkansas, but I loved watching him with the Mets for a few years in the late 80s.  The closest I've come to meeting him was when he was checking into a hotel where my friend worked the front desk.  He got an autograph for me and said McReynolds was really nice.  Quiet, but nice.

Like Steve Atwater, Foster went pro just before I came to school.  He had a short career, but did lead the league in rushing in 1992.   I don't have anything interesting to say about him, but I'm still glad to get the cards.

Finally, this lot included several All-Time Hogs that I as of yet didn't have cards.  It's been a lot of fun going through this huge lot of cards from AJ and seeing something new each time.  Thanks again buddy!

Wooooo Pig…. Soooie!!!

I may just be a stupid southerner, but dad gummit I love my Razorbacks!  And Christmas came a little early for me this year when I came home and found a surprise package from my BCBBFF (Baseball Card Blogger Best Friend Forever), AJ from the fabulous Lost Collector blog.  In it was a big pig pen of cards of former Razorbacks.  Actually, you’re never a “former” Razorback.  Once a Razorback, always a Razorback.    

The lot AJ sent covered all the sports, football, baseball and basketball.  That’s one of the great things about collecting from your University.  The sport doesn’t matter, and their success or lack of, in the pros doesn’t matter either.  The value comes from what they did during their time in college.  Going to school at the same time as some of these guys (and yes, believe it or not I did see these guys in classes), provided unique memories that weren’t limited to what they did on the playing field/court.  AJ sent at least 80 cards, and I'd love to show all of them to you, but I'll stick to some of the cards of dudes I have personal experience with:  

• My first week of school, I remember getting on the elevator at my CO-ED freshmen dorm to find Lee Mayberry laying down some smooth moves on one little honey.   In the excitement of seeing him, I may or may have not farted in the elevator.  I may or may have not ruined any chance he had of scoring too.  At least I had the good sense to not ask for his autograph afterwards.

• Todd Day almost hit me with his car as I was crossing a crosswalk.  He slammed on the brakes and started playing with his radio, acting completely oblivious to me.  I actually could tell many other even more unflattering stories about Todd Day, but will keep them to myself.

• I had a friend who worked in the Athletic cafeteria.  It was unbelievable what he reported seeing Oliver Miller eat day in and day out.   He said Miller would take a whole pitcher of apple juice and slug it down in one shot.  

• On the last day of my senior year, I was walking out of class and felt someone slap me with what could only be described as “wrecking ball-like” force on my back.  I turned around to see a smiling Corliss Williamson, who asked me how it was going.  The man was not really all that tall, but he was a freaking tank.

• Finally, Steve Atwater went pro before I came to the U of A, but I've got to show these cards because it gives me an excuse to show this:

These cards are going to fill out my Razorback binder very nicely.  Thank you so much AJ, I owe you one!

Cleve’s Auction Night- Theyrrrr'e Great

My winnings were great, that is, and they happened to be all Kellogg's vintage 3D cards.

Actually, I came home with far less that I anticipated this week.  When I went to Cleve's on Saturday to scope out the auction fodder, I was interested in quite a bit of stuff.  There were complete sets of 81 and 82 Topps in albums that I was targeting, as well as a goodie album that had about 4 pages of very interesting Perma cards from 1982 and 1983.  I don't know much about these cards, but I thought I might be able to get the album for around $5 to $7.  Unfortunately, it wound up going for $11 and I chickened out.  The $11 was a write in bid and I could have had it for $12.  It had all the great 80s stars too:  Brett, Yount, Rose, Schmidt, etc.  I'm kind of kicking myself now.  

The complete 81 and 82 Topps sets in binders went for about $25 each, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting one of them too, especially the 82 set with the Ripken rookie.

But, no use crying over it.  As the great Nolan Richardson used to say when the Hogs would lose out on a top recruit, "You can't lose what you don't have."  Man I miss Nolan.  But I digress.

But I did come away with a few consolation prizes and only spent $12 on the night, which was a pleasant surprise to the lovely wife.   Here's what I picked up:

I love this 1970 Kellogg's set.   It's loaded with Hall of Famers, and, as I've mentioned, I'm a sucker for 3D and other gimmicks on cards.  And, anytime I can get an Ernie Banks vintage card on the cheap, I'm going to do it.  I got this one for $4.  I like that it's graded, even though the actual grade doesn't mean much to me.  There's something about a slabbed card that I dig, even though I know it's a vulgar practice to many of you.
I also picked up 2 other non-graded 1970 Kellogg's cards:

These were the only other two 1970 Kellogg's cards available at the auction, and they both happened to be Twins.  I think these are my first Killebrew and Carew vintage cards, making these purchases that much better.  I got both for $2 each.

Finally, I scored this lot of 3 from the 1972 Kellogg's All Time Greats set:

This set also features 3D styling, but the cards are slightly smaller.  $4 got me a Gerhig, Wagner and Hornsby.  Nothing wrong with that trio.

Grades:
Ernie Banks 1970 Kellogg's $4:  A  This set is just cool, and so is Ernie Banks.
Rod Carew 1970 Kellogg's $2:  A-  I'll take a vintage star like Carew for $2 every time.
Harmon Killebrew 1970 Kellogg's $2:  A-  My first Killebrew card, and again, this set is just cool.

3 Card Lot 1972 Kellogg's ATG $4:  A+  It's Gerhig, Wagner, and Hornsby for crying out loud. 

A Trade with The Don

I recently completed my first trade with the Don of trading- Wicked Ortega.  I was a little nervous to be honest with you.  I didn’t want to end up like this poor bastard.

I think in my short time as a blogger that was hands down the greatest post I’ve read yet.  I would LOVE to tell someone I am going to rip their heart out of their chest and I’ve often wondered about the art of doing such a thing.   I'd probably find a way to mess it up.   What if you couldn’t get a grip of the heart?  Would you leave your hand in there and feel around until you had it, or would you just immediately pull your hand out and pretend all you meant to do was pierce your opponent’s chest?  What is the threshold of time you leave your hand in the body cavity before you start to look uncool?  Would you worry about your hand getting tangled in all the veins? And wouldn’t you be worried about cutting your wrists against the rib bone fragments that you just created?  I assume rib bones would be sharp.   Maybe pulling out someone's throat would be the way to go instead.  I saw Patrick Swayze do it on Roadhouse so I know that's a real thing.

Man, what a cool way to die!  If I knew I only had 24 hours to live, I might try to find a ninja (or Wicked Ortega) and ask him to rip my heart from my chest.  Actually, I haven’t put much thought into ways I would like to die.    However, I have given considerable thought to what I would like done with my remains when it does happen.  Would you like to know?  Sure you would:

1)      Krispy Kremated:  If Krispy Kreme would allow it, I would like them to run my body through their donut conveyor belt.  I would get deep fried, flipped, deep fried some more, and then my body would slowly roll under the glaze waterfall.  Then they could put me in a casket.

2)      Doon Chipper: I would like my body to be slowly rolled into a wood chipper that was pointing out into a lake or ocean.

It will be one of those two ways, mark my words.

Until then, I will enjoy the cards that the Don sent, and sleep with one eye open if I hear he is upset with me.

This sweet David Murphy auto/patch card was my main part of the trade.  I don't have any relics or autos of the plucky Murphy, and this card is just awesome.  But the Don wasn't done yet:

He also sent a big pile of Rangers cards, and these were some of my favorites.    The Cruz and Young Heritage cards are both numbered refractors, and are incredible cards.  Like how I scanned the Feliz card on the bottom row upside down?

Thank you for the trade Don Ortega, you truly are an all time great!

Black Friday Haul From COMC Thanks To CCC

Lest anyone say we are all just a bunch of goobers showing each other our baseball cards, ponies, chippy notes from Hall of Famers,  and mustaches, I'm grateful to say that because I read other blogs, I was alerted to the Black Friday sale at Checkoutmycards.com on, well, Black Friday.  Cheap Card Collecting was diligently posting the Black Friday deals as they went live, and because of this, I was able to get some good stuff at at good prices.  I love Checkoutmycards.com, but shipping can add up quickly since there is a $.25 per card processing fee.  On Black Friday, they ran a special for $4.95 for the first 20 cards shipped, plus $.11 each additional card.  It still was kind of expensive shipping, but if you found a card that was already heavily discounted, the shipping wasn't such a big deal.
I jumped on and was able to chip away at several sets, and picked up a few cards outside my master checklist.  Of course I grabbed some Gypsy Queen:

I was very pleased to get the Ruth Home Run Heroes, and am now only 2 cards shy of knocking out this insert set.  I was even more please to get the last 2 Future Stars I needed, completing that set.

I am also now only 3 away from finishing the Bowman's Best prospect set. One of those 3 is NOT Bryce Harper, so it won't be too difficult to finish.

As for older-ish sets on my list, I edged a little closer to finishing my 2002 Stadium Club Master set.  "Capture the Action" is now complete, and the lovely "Diamond Pearls" set is 65% done.

I also dinged my 2005 Topps Gallery Artist Proof set and Topps HD master set with a couple of onesies.
Finally, I picked up a couple of single cards of sets I'm not building, but really liked:

This Bob Feller Sterling card was only $1 so I jumped.  I much prefer 2009 Sterling over this 2010 design, but it's nice nonetheless.

 I hadn't yet seen any of the 2011 Topps Tribute in real life yet, so I grabbed this Tony Gwynn priced under $1.  These are super nice cards.  I may have to get a few more.

Finally, this Topps T205  Honus Wagner was under $1 too, and it is a beautiful card in hand. It's glossy and shiny and thick.  I'll definitely try to get more from this set.

All in all, I was very happy with my Black Friday purchase, and again thanks to CCC for the good work on the alerts!

Etopps Offering 12/5

It's been a while since I've been able to do one of these etopps previews.  Blogger is blocked on my work PC, and I had been getting no signal on my phone from my office for the past few weeks.  Someone is trying to keep me down.  But you can't keep a beast like me caged for long before I snap and start popping caps in hineys.  Unfortunately the etopps offering this week is none too exciting.  Tony Romo.  Matt Moore.  Blechh.  And I'm a Cowboys fan.  Unless they are super cheap, I'm passing on both.

Conlon Collection Part 5: Peckinpaugh Is Fun To Say

 Card #37 in this set belongs to Roger Peckinpaugh.

Try it with me:  Peck-in-paugh.  Peck-in-paugh.  See?  Told you it was fun to say.  Peck-in-paugh.  I sat on the couch the other night just saying it over an over.  The lovely wife decided she would go out for drinks with her girlfriend instead of listening to me.  Peck-in-paugh.  I need a vintage card of him.  Peck-in-paugh.  I'm disappointed there isn't a T206 card of him, at least that I can find.  But I did see this on the internets:

and I think I need one.  I don't see any on eBay at the moment, but I'll keep looking. Peck-in-paugh.   The above page of Conlon cards has lots of great stories, so I hope you have a few moments to read them.  Peck-in-paugh.

Besides a wicked awesome name (sorry, I've been on the phone all week with folks on our Massachusetts office), I thought the write up on the Peckinpaugh card was interesting, and wanted to see if any of you baseball geniuses could verify what was said:
"Roger had been named MVP for the year, spearheading the Senators into the Fall Classic. However, he made such a miserable showing that never again did the MVP voting come BEFORE a World Series."  That's a pretty interesting tidbit if it's true.  But I thought I had heard that MVP voting was done before the World Series still?  I remember in 1988 when I was certain that Darryl Strawberry, my hero at the time, would be the NL MVP.  Kirk Gibson won the award, with inferior numbers.  I was certain that Gibson's World Series Heroics had swayed the vote in his favor.  I distinctly remember hearing this discussed on the radio, and the "expert" saying that the World Series could not have had anything to do with the vote since the votes came in before the World Series.    So I'm curious who is more credible:  the half crazy writer of these Conlon cards, or a sports radio talk show host in West Texas?

Gypsy Queen Life Vest- Courtesy Lifetime Topps Project

I've been a big fan of the the blog "Lifetime Topps Project" for a while now, and was thrilled when Charlie, owner of the blog, reached out and said he could help fill in some of my Gypsy Queen needs.  Charlie's blog is  informative and so thorough, it's a definite asset to the collecting world.  He just posted an overview of 1984 Topps, and reading it reminds me what a cool set that was.

He sent about 25 GQ cards I needed, including several SPs, helping take my set to above the magic 50% completion mark.  Once I get past 50% it's time to start putting the cards in pages!  Here were some of my favorites that he sent.  I was especially glad to get the Moreland and Andrus SPs:

Thanks for the trade Charlie, and keep up the great work on your wonderful blog!

eTopps Football Tracker 12/2

My God that's a beautiful worksheet.  Sure, it likely causes folks to immediately skip past my post when they are scrolling through Google Reader, and by now there are so many moving parts that it's probably completely nonsensical to everyone but me.  eTopps football will be wrapping up shortly I assume, so this string of posts will soon be history, but I will do something similar when 2012 Baseball starts up in the Spring.  Some highlights from the week:

• No way did I expect the Von Miller card to do that well.  I know he's good, but didn't expect a defensive player to hold much sway.  
• The Jake Locker card has been going up steadily.   I have no idea why, and while I'm tempted to sell high right now, I'm thinking there is something obvious that I'm missing.  Anyone see any reason to keep Locker in my portfolio?
• So far my decision to sell Brees and Newton has been validated.  The buy now prices have not exceeded what I sold them for over the past two weeks.
• No trades this week, at least of cards that are from 2011 Football, directly or indirectly.

Just Flew Back From Toronto

...and boy are my arms tired!  Whoa, rim shot!

This little beauty was waiting for me and gave me something to post about as I try to get my head above water with work this week.  I bought a Robbie Alomar jersey card from Triple Threads a while back, and knew I needed to get some Rangers from this set.  I managed to get the above Kinsler for about $5 shipped on eBay.

Checklist Chipaway- SPX Winnng Materials 2003

I'm still stunned over this:

Lost in the shadow of yesterday's package from the Cardboard Junkie, was another addition to my 2003 SPX Winning Materials set:

This is the only Blue Jay from the set, and that's too bad, because it's really nice.  A Roy Halladay would have been excellent.  I'm 74% done with 11 cards to go.

The Cardboard Junkie Made Me Tear Up

I come to you today with a spring in my step.  I received some cards from the King of baseball card blogs, dayf, aka, the Cardboard Junkie.   His was the first blog that got my attention as , as it pertained to baseball cards.  In fact, it was this post that I specifically remember that hooked me.   I followed dayf's posts about A&G religiously every day.  He made me want to buy Allen and Ginter.   His posts were creative, funny and informative.   And he inspired me to write my own baseball card blog, not because I thought I could do it as well as him, but because he seemed to be having so much damn fun doing his. 

 

And dayf is an extremely generous gentleman, too.  I sent him a little note recently, just teasing, saying he didn’t love me because he hadn’t ever replied to an email I sent when I first started blogging and asked him to pretty please put me on his blog roll.    I guess I made him feel bad because he said he was going to send me some cards I needed for my Gypsy Queen master set (which made me feel bad for making him feel bad).  The cards came in the mail today.  

I could not believe one particular card that was included.  I stared in disbelief at it for a good 20 minutes.  I'm saving it for the end of this post though. 

First, here was the note in the package:

My very own "My Little Pony" sketch from the great Carboard Junkie!  How awesome is that?  Next, I noticed that there were way more cards in the package than I was anticipating.  He sent about 20 Gypsy Queen base that I needed.  I give you but a sampling:

He also sent a couple of the very cool Sticky Fingers inserts that I needed:

I only need one more (Jeter) to knock this sucker out.

Then, I came across the first big surprise:

This 2003 Diamond King Heritage insert not only knocks the rust off my 03 Diamond King master checklist, but this is one of the toughest cards to find.   I was stunned to see it, and am extremely appreciative!  But, what I came across last, in a simple penny sleeve, immediately became the highlight of my blogging experience to date:

A 1/1 sketch card of George Will.  As you may know, I am half-ass campaigning/wishing to get George Will on a 2012 Allen and Ginter Card.  Dayf beat Topps to it, and I don't think I would trade this for one from Topps if I had a choice.   And as I stated to him, the greatness of the front is only matched by the brilliance of the write up on the back:

I'm speechless over this card.  I'm glad I have dayf's address so that I can attempt to return the favor.  I'll never be able to fully though, because the Will card is priceless.    I hope my sincere gratitude is a start.  Thank you again dayf, you are the king.

eTopps Football Tracker 11/25

Lots more movement this week as well on my eTopps 2011 Football purchases:

•  I passed on the two cards offered last week, and I'm glad.  They're already tanking.  
• Look at Tom Brady's 2011 card drop!  Wish I had sold the first week and bought a couple later with the money.
• Speaking of Tom Brady, I'm not actually a big fan of his, but I seem to keep picking him up here and there.  I traded for another of his 2010 cards this week, giving up my AJ Green.  That may have been a mistake.
• Aaron Rodgers is still doing well, although I did say if the card started to move down, I would sell.  I probably won't now though since he is in line to rack up a ton of performance points at the end of the season and I can use those for the catalog or shipping.
• I was able to chuck the Steve Johnson card for a Nelson Cruz baseball card.  A little more value, and a card I'll want in hand when it's printed this December.

Conlon Collection Part 4: Rube and the Old Perfessor

It's hard to pick only a couple of favorites from these Conlon pages, but I've always been fascinated by two characters that share this page: Rube Waddell and Casey Stengel  You should take a few minutes to read the backs of their cards below.

If you want your head to spin, read Stengel's testimony to Congress in 1958 regarding anti-trust laws.


As for Waddell, I read a little about him in Crazy '08 (which I highly recommend), and that book also mentions (as does the back of the card above)  his tendency to chase fires, literally:  "Among his more respectable hobbies were chasing fires(he adored fire engines) and wrestling alligators; he once taught geese to skip rope."

But that doesn't top the end of the write up on the back of Waddell's card: "His longtime catcher was another flake, Ozzie Schrekengost.  They were roommates and bedmates as clubs doubled up players then.  Rube liked animal crackers and Ozzie got it in his contract that Rube couldn't eat those with horns on 'em."  

I need to read more about this guy, so if anyone can recommend any material, let me know so I don't have to go to the trouble of searching on my own.

Checklist Chipaway: EX Century & GQ

Picked up 3 more EX Centurys this week off sportlots.com.

I am so close, it makes me want to puke.  I just need 2 more:  Corie Koskie and Gabe Kapler.  Surely I'll be able to find those cheap somewhere.

I also knocked off a few more Gypsy Queen inserts, again, courtesy of sportlots.com. 

Speaking of puking, I spent all Sunday doing just that as a result of food poisoning.  I know, it's hard to imagine that something like that could happen to poor little Nappy, especially with my sophisticated eating habits.  But it did happen, and it put me behind a couple of days.  If you are waiting on me for an answer to a trade post, please forgive me.  I think all of my mail has finally gone out, with Cardboard Catastrophes deserving a special apology for my tardiness.  Your cards are on the way, and I'm sorry for the delay!

Gypsy Queen Life Vest- Courtesy "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog

My assault on Gypsy Queen continues.  This week, I received some much appreciated help from Ryan at "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog, who not only sent some nice GQ, but some other sets I'm working on as well.  Ryan has a beautiful blog, and I kind of want to be an Orioles fan whenever I read his posts.  Here are the GQ:

 I'm most excited about the Green Framed Paper cards.  I think this will wind up being my favorite set from 2011.  The set is only 100 cards large, so getting 4 of these guys is a big help.  He also sent a couple of Bowman's Best Prospects, which takes me to 68% done on that nice insert set.

Speaking of Bowman, Ryan sent several base and prospect cards that are getting me that much closer to completion on those sets as well:  76% complete on prospects and 93% complete on base.  I didn't scan the base, but he sent a lot.  A LOT.  He even added some 2010 base as well (interestingly, I am also 93% complete on the 2010 base also.)

Finally, he added 10 Kimball Champions, which takes me to 57% on that set, not including the 50 cards from Topps Update, which I suppose I need to add if I want to truly complete that set. 

Thank you to Ryan for a great trade, and I look forward to many more!

Gypsy Queen Life Vest- Courtesy Potch Wheeler

Man, begging for help with Gypsy Queen was a stroke of genius!  I received another big chunk today courtesy Darren from Potch Wheeler and the Cardboard Heroes.  He sent me a big batch of base cards, and several inserts:

Beautiful cards! 

I am now at the following completion %s:
Base: 40%
Green Paper Parallel: 28%
Home Run Heroes: 88%
Future Stars: 90%
Great Ones: 67%

I think Sticky Fingers is done (more on that later).

He also sneaked in a few other cards from my want lists.  I appreciate the bonus!

A big thank you to Darren!  By the way, I love the new look of your blog. If you haven't been over to Potch Wheeler, you should go.  Now.  There's always something interesting going on over there.