Book Notes: Mint Condition

My Mommy got me a basic Nook e-reader for Christmas.  I’ve not done much e-reading before, but this little Nook is awesome.  It is very light and the words are very easy to read.  The first book I purchased for it was “Mint Condition” by Dave Jamieson, which I assume many of you have read, or at least are familiar with.  It’s a pretty comprehensive history of baseball cards, from their inception to today. 

Every chapter has been fascinating.  The chapter on the beginnings of Upper Deck was especially interesting.  I’m not much of a fan of Upper Deck, but after reading the chapter, I had a better appreciation for how nice and ground breaking the 1989 set was.   

Upper Deck started almost as a protest to what Topps, Donruss and Fleer were putting out in the 90s, and as a solution to the ever growing problem of counterfeiting cards.  The founders of Upper Deck believed that a counterfeit-proof hologram, foil wrappers, nice card stock and color photos of players on the front and back of cards would be a welcome addition to the at the time booming card industry, even if it meant collectors would have to pay almost twice the amount they were paying for packs of Topps, Fleer and Donruss.  I was in High School at the time, and I still remember how excited I was to get my hands on my first box of UD.  I remember thinking they were expensive, but buying some anyway.  And I distinctly remember pulling this:

UD #1 Ken Griffey Jr. card has got to be one of the top 10 most iconic cards in the hobby.  Not only was it his first and best rookie card, it was a symbol of the changes that were taking place at an incredible pace in the baseball card industry.   Like everything else in the late 80’s/ early 90’s, the Griffey card peaked and came crashing down in price.  Probably because there are millions of these cards available.   However, a quick scan through eBay shows that it still maintains some value.    This chapter also makes me want to read the book “ Card Sharks “ about Upper Deck.   It was written in 1995, so the take on where the hobby was at the time should be interesting.   Apparently, there were a lot of shenanigans going on in that company.  Has anyone read this yet?  Is it worth checking out?

2012 Goals

I come to you from the past, as this post was written last year on Dec 31, 2011.  2011 was a helter skelter year for me in terms of my card collection which naturally translated to a helter skelter year for my blog, which is really just a way of documenting my collection. 

It was my second full year back into the card hobby itself.   I threw a very wide net over all the cards I had collected previously and decided that I would finish practically every single set I had ever started.  I created a master checklist (I previously called it The Super Duper Checklist but realized that sounds really stupid) which at one point was over 100 sets.  I discovered sportlots.com and picked cards off that site on what seemed like a daily basis.  I also discovered Cleve’s auctions and was buying anything and everything I could get my hands on with no rhyme or reason. 

Several months ago, I started to get a little self control.  I’ve whittled down my checklist to 30 sets, and was able skip some auctions here and there.  I expect my purchases to further settle down in 2012, and be much more focused.  I expect to limit my chases to a few sets.  I surely will jump on Gypsy Queen and Topps Flagship, but I passed on A&G this year and didn’t miss it at all, so I can probably get by with skipping it again in 2012, unless George Will makes the set.  I probably will not chase Bowman 2012 either, even though 2011 Bowman was berry, berry good to me.    I am more interested in Heritage in 2012 than I was in 2011, but I still will likely be pretty subdued with it.  I hope the lovely wife is reading this and is impressed with my incredible selflessness and control.  Actually, I hope she doesn’t read it so that I can pretend I never wrote this when I start getting card fever when baseball season starts.

Here are some goals for 2012:

• Knock Master Checklist down to 20 sets.  I’m at 30 right now and there are a few sets I can knock out with only a handful of cards.  Again, I expect to add some 2012 sets, so I really need to knock off some of the low hanging fruit soon.
• Add 15 more cards to my 2009 Topps Sterling set.  I had a lot of momentum on this set early in the year but have hit the wall over the past few months.  The cards I need are getting hard to find, and when I do find them, they are expensive.   I need 27 more cards to finish this set, and if I can average just over 1 card a month and get most of that knocked out, I will be happy.  I don’t mind taking two more years to finish this one.
• Get one of the “Big Cards” for my SPX 2003 Winning Materials Set.  I only need 7 more cards for this set, but two of those are Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams.  They will not be cheap.  I’ll get one in 2012 and one in 2013.
• Finish 2011 Gypsy Queen Master set before 2012 GQ comes out.  The green paper parallels may be difficult to finish, but the others will be pretty easy.  I’m not collecting the relics or mini’s so I guess it’s not really a master set, but who cares.
• Hold at least 2 Big Fun Games.  Folks seemed to like these, so I will make every effort to have a few more in 2012.
• Build a Topps Sampler album.  Have one 9 pocket page for every Topps base set from 1951 to 2012.  As the pages become complete, I will over the course of time replace common cards with better known players.
• Attend the Futures Game during All Star Weekend in Kansas City with the lovely wife and kids.  Every time I see this event on TV, there are tons of empty seats.  I would hope that means tickets are readily available.  All Star Weekend in KC should provide plenty of blog fodder.
• Maintain organization of cards.  I’ve done pretty well getting everything corralled, it’s just a matter of keeping up.  I should probably thin out some of the bulk wax I don’t need any more.
• Set up a Trade Bait page with images of “good cards” I have available, and checklists of base/common cards available.

Other than maybe touching up the design of my blog, and holding some Big Fun Games, I don’t really have many blog specific goals.   I will try to be better about rushing out posts.  I hate when I hammer out a post and then re-read it a few hours later and notice a gaffe. 

I guess I would also like to have another tournament similar to what I did with hot dogs. 

I’d also like to take a moment to thank all of you for helping make this blogging journey so much fun.  It has been even more fulfilling than I expected it to be.  I wish you all a wonderful 2012, with the Razorbacks back in a BCS game and the Rangers finding a way to get that last strike in the World Series!

Blog Of The Year

I was humbled to see I had a nomination and two votes on Jaybarkerfan’s Junk for blog of the year.   First, thank you to Justin’s World for the nomination.    Your check is in the mail.    I nominated Bob Lemke’s Blog, although I can think of about 10 blogs off the top of my head that are worthy.  

As for the two votes, I think either my mother must have found out I had a blog, or more likely, since my blog is right above Night Owl on the poll, I likely picked up a couple of “fat finger” votes that were meant to go to him.  If my votes are not the result of either of those two scenarios, then there is only one other possibility:

I AM THE GREATEST BLOGGER WHO EVER LIVED.

I’ve been reading many of the responses to the idea of a “Best Blog” award.  I agree that it’s a tough thing to define.   There are so many types of baseball card blogs out there.  What makes one better than another?  But, if the Academy awards can have a “Best Picture” why can’t we choose a “Best Blog” award?  However, the Academy awards also recognize achievement in particular niches of film as well.  We should do the same in the baseball card blog universe.   I’ve created some sub categories and have already picked winners.  I’m not going to open this up for nominations or discussion.  My word is final.

Greatest Blogger/Humanitarian In The World:  Justin’s World for nominating me for blog of the year.

Easiest Blogger To Guilt:  Manupatches and Chrome Scratches

Most Difficult Blog Name To Type:  "e Rayhahn, Rayhahn”

Most Difficult Blog Name To Say:  Sports Syzguy

Best Blogger Who Is Also A Heroin Addict And Pornographer:  Lost Collector

Persistence Award:  Juuust A Bit Outside

Hottest Wife:  Napkin Doon

Post of the Year:  Wicked Ortega

Blogger Who Saved Me The Most Money This Year:  CCC

Artist Of the Greatest Baseball Card of All Time:  Dayf

Best Blogger Who Doesn’t Yet Have a Blog:  Ryan LaMonica

Best Use of Self Deprecating Blog Name While Secretly Plotting World Domination:  Daily Dimwit

Blogger Who I Hope Scores With Hot Asian Chicks While In Japan:  This Card Is Cool…

Best Taste In Favorite MLB Team:  Play At the Plate

Blogger Who I Have A Feeling Could Kick All Of Our Asses:  Cardboard Catastrophes.  They raise ‘em big in Oklahoma.

Blogger Who Has The Largest Amount of Good Cards From Me:  Placshke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle

Blogger Who Is Secretly Charlie Sheen:  Spiegel

Blogger Who I Desperately Want Attention and Approval From: Night Owl

Blog Post That I Will Read The Most In 2012 And Stroke My Ego:  Coot Veal And The Vealtones

There you have it.  I may think of more later, but congratulations to our winners!

eTopps Football Tracker 12/30

I think this may be the last week I run this tracker post.  I haven’t bought a card at IPO in a month,  and the spreadsheet is getting cumbersome.  Of course I may still be irritated at the recent shipping charges news and don’t have much affection foreTopps right now.  I ordered a bunch of cards to be shipped in hand and should get those in next week, so that may provide a spark.   Rationally, I understand eTopps decision to change their shipping policies.  I just wish I could have got the cards that were supposed to be released back on Dec 8 with my points.  Oh well, no use beating a dead horse.

I did take the plunge and move my Aaron Rodgers this week.  I got this beauty for it:

The Rodgers card was very cool, but it’s hard to argue with a T206 Mantle.  The Rodgers will go down (and has been) in value, but the Mantle should stay pretty steady.  In fact, this Mantle is one that I am receiving in hand next week, so I’m anxious to show it off in it’s real life glory.

Other than that, it was another bland week on the tracker.  I may do it again next week, who knows.  It kind of depends what, if anything, is offered on Monday.  If team cards start, I think I will wrap it up.  Last week the only card offered was Carson Palmer.  Yikes.  I hope there is one more week with at least one interesting player card.  I’d hate to think the 2011 season was ended with Carson Palmer.

Left Field Cards- Bizarre Injury Set

I stumbled across a write up on something really interesting on Cardboard Connection today and thought it was worth a post.  The interesting something is a set of 10 postcard size cards from a NYC artist, who came to the US from France a few years ago and loves baseball.  They are cards printed using linocuts and an old printing press.   I thought the craft of how she made the cards was impressive.  Below are some of the  linocuts used for the first set.  I'm throwing around the term linocuts like I'm familiar with it, but I had never heard of it before today.

Apparently she is going to be making a few sets, with this 10 card set being the inaugural offering.  I guess each set will have a theme.  The first 10 card set features players who have had freakish injuries in their career.   For example, the Nolan Ryan card states that Ryan was "Bitten By A Coyote." 

The cards come 5 to a pack, and there are two packs you can currently buy.  Each pack is $15.  That’s not bad considering the time, care and effort that obviously goes into these.  

Check out this link to learn more.  If you purchase any, I’d say tell them Napkin Doon sent you, but they would have no idea what you were talking about and might cancel your order.

I was monkeying around on the website today and saw the planned themes for follow up series, and all looked fun and  interesting:

Series 1: Bizarre Injury Series (available now)

Coming Soon:

Series 2:  Edible All Stars (I assume these are players with food names.  I hope there is a Darryl Strawberry Card)

Series 3:  Curious Second Careers

Series 4: Remarkable Mustaches (Are you in cahoots on this one Eric?)

Series 5: Men with a Van

Conlon Collection: Smack Talking Christy Mathewson and the Babe

I guess toward the end of composing the write ups for this set, the author started feeling a little cocky.  He comes right out and says Christy Mathewson looked like hell at the end of his career, and if you need proof, this set provides all you need:

Card #46:  “Christy Mathewson, as you can see, has had it.”

The author suggests lining up the other Mathewson cards to see the regression of Mathewson.  Easy enough, here they are:

What do you think?  Does it look like Mathewson has had enough?  I’m not that bright or perceptive so I’m not getting anything from looking at these cards.  I especially don’t see much difference in one side of his face to the other.  But it was fun interacting with this page of the set nonetheless. 

The author was also blunt towards Babe Ruth.  Check out the write up on card 48 of the Bambino.  Again, the author asks the reader to compare cards, basically “before and after.”    A scan of the two cards is beside the point here.  What’s important was the comment on card 48:

Card #48:  “Compare the prior picture of Babe Ruth in 1922 and this one two years later- in 1924.  Note the fat and the aging.”

 

As an experiment, I would like all of you guys with girlfriends to find a current picture of your gal, and one from at least two years ago.  When she is your presence, hold up the pictures side by side and say “Huh.  Note the fat and the aging.”  Please document her response and send me a recap.  I will compile the data and release an executive summary of my findings.  Notice I didn’t ask the married guys to do this.  I do not want to be responsible for any divorces.

Checklist Chipaway: SPX Winning Materials

Quick post to show a lot of 4 2003 SPX Winning Materials cards I received this week.  Got all of them of eBay for pretty good prices.  I am now only 7 cards away from completion. 

Ho Ho Hogs...

Hope everyone is enjoying their day.  I had to take a moment to show off this awesome painting the lovely wife got me for my office.  The more I look at it the more I love it!

Also I keep forgetting to mention 2011 A&G blasters and rack packs and Topps Chrome 2011 blasters are all on Rollback 25% off at Walmart.  FYI.

Texas Rangers Stocking Stuffers

Well, these weren't really in my stocking, because that would be insane unless they were well protected.  But I got a few nuggets in the mail this week:

Jurickson Profar relic card-  I'm not necessarily a huge prospector, but I do like to keep an eye on minor league talent, which is partly because of the Royals AA team in my area. Since they are a Texas League team, every year I get to see the Rangers AA team come to town a few times.  I think Profar may get to AA this year, and everything I hear about him leads me to believe he could be special.  In fact, one scout said Profar had Hanley Ramirez's physical skills with Dustin Pedroia's makeup.  He's really young and several years away (and blocked up the middle by Kinsler and Andruz) but I'm still excited about his future with the Rangers.

 Speaking of Kinsler, I also got this graded Turkey Red rookie card this week.  It was only around $3 shipped, and I love the way Beckett Graded cards look and feel.  So sterile and organized.

I now have 8 variants of the Michael Young 2005 Finest Card.  I don't know why I decided to do a rainbow of this card, but I did.  I do like the looks of the card, I just can't really explain why I need a page full of different color versions of the same card.  I just need it.

I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Holiday season! This experience in the blogging world has been a gift that has kept giving all year long through the contact and interaction I've had with all of you, and I appreciate it!

A Trade With A Guy Much Smarter Than Me

Yes, I could title all of my posts about trades with this same title, thank you very much mister smarty pants.  I secretly always hoped I could avoid a trade with David at the brilliant blog "e rayhahn, rayhahn", but not because I didn't think he seemed like a good guy, I just didn't want to get further exposed as a hack by someone who new what they were doing.
He certainly knew what he was doing with the cards he sent me:

I didn't have either of these relic cards of Young and Kinsler, and they are very welcome additions to my Rangers collection.  The Young card is numbered to 75, and is a really pretty card in hand.

He also added a couple of bonus cards.  Actually, this is my first Attax card that wasn't an insert with the Topps base card packs.  I actually kind of like it, and sort of have an interest in picking up some more and trying to play the game.  Has anyone played Attax?  Is it fun?

Thanks for the great cards David, and I hope you enjoy what I sent you.

eTopps Football Tracker 12/23- eTopps Jumps The Shark

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but I'm pretty bummed about the direction eTopps is headed.  This week eTopps posted the following update on their website:

Dear Valued eTopps users,
Due to rising costs of doing business and increased costs to our shipping partners, eTopps will be raising its shipping rates beginning early next year. This is the first price change for eTopps in several years. Also at this time, eTopps points will no longer be accepted for shipping.
If you would like to take advantage of today’s current shipping rates, please be sure to visit your card portfolio in eTopps.
Thank you for your continued business!
The Topps Company


Being in the business world, I understand that sometimes things like this have to happen for a business to stay profitable.  But using points for shipping cards was a huge deal to me.  With shipping costs now from eTopps being $6.95 for the first card and $.85 each additional card, I shudder to think what the new higher costs will look like.  I was able to tolerate these exorbitant charges because you also had the option of using points (1 point= $1 of shipping) to pay to ship cards.  And while I like having cards in my port, eTopps cards in hand are really nice and at the end of the day I want real cards, not virtual ones.

But what really bugs me about the timing of this is that 2011 MLB, MiLB and T206 cards were stated to be available to ship on Dec. 8th.  Dec 8th came and went and 2 weeks later these cards are still unavailable to ship. 

With the unavailability of 2011 cards and the recent vague announcement about shipping costs/terms, I was curious if the 2011 cards would remain unavailable to ship until the new costs/terms went into place.  That seems like a reasonable question and I sent eTopps a polite note asking just that:

Hello

I was wondering when the cards that were scheduled to be available for shipment a couple of weeks ago will be available?  I was planning on getting them in for Christmas, but it looks like that will not be possible.  How much longer do you anticipate the delay lasting on these? Will they be available before the new costs and shipping terms take place?

Thank you

Here was eTopps reply:

Thank you for taking the time to write with your question, and please accept our apologies for any difficulties you have encountered while attempting to use our service.

In order to determine possible causes, at your convenience, please contact our Customer Service team (toll free) at 1-800-489-9149. A Customer Service representative will be available between the hours of 8:30am-4:30pm (ET) Monday through Friday to help troubleshoot and resolve any problems you may be experiencing.

Thank you once again for taking the time to write. We look forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

etopps Customer Service team


Somehow, I don't think my message was actually read.  I simple "yes they will be available before the shipping changes take place," or "no they will remain unavailable until the shipping changes take place," or even "we had a problem with the printing of these cards and we are not sure when they will be available" would have been good.  I'd even settle for, "the cards are available but we just don't want to send them out unless we can get more money for it."

I'm not dicking around on the phone all day over this, so I'm not taking their suggestion and calling customer service. 

The response on the message boards has been intense.   There have been a ton of minor issues with eTopps this past year, and the attractiveness of the final product may be starting to lose its leverage.  Who knows how this shipping chage will impact the way the cards are purchased.  Points were a big deal in eTopps world, but they just lost a ton of their importance, and it will impact the value of cards going forward.  Case in point, here is my tracker for the week:

Aaron Rogers took a big hit (down $5), and I expect his card to continue to drop.  Once of the reasons for the demand of his card up to this point was the expectation he would pull in a ton of performance bonus points at the end of the year (MVP, Passing Leader etc.).  With points now having significantly less value, I'm not surprised the demand for his card is going down.  On a positive note, I was able to trade my Jake Locker on the upswing and get an Eric Hosmer baseball card. 

There were a couple of new cards this week, Tim Tebow and Victor Cruz.  I didn't buy either, and it doesn't look like I missed out on anything:

I'm not a doom and gloom guy by any stretch of the imagination, but it's getting really hard to keep promoting and celebrating  eTopps lately.

Doing Some Business W/ Sports Syzygy

I can't pronounce his blog name, but Mike from Sports Syzygy and I just completed a small trade to go along with a small purchase I made from him.  First the purchase:

Mike was selling team sets of 2011 Topps Chrome at super cheap prices.  I picked up this set of Royals for $2 shipped.  I bought it for the Hosmer, which is now my 3rd such card. 

And here was the trade.  The Elite Gwynn (numbered to 10,000) and the Chrome Lee (numbered to 99) I knew about.  He snuck in the other Gwynns.  I'd never seen the "This Day in History" Tradition card, but I really like it.

Thanks for another great transaction Mike!

Cardboard Catastrophes Keeps Making My Day

I can't seem to catch up to Jeff at Cardboard Catastrophes.  It seems like he always has something up his sleeve that I want and he sends it before I can even put together my side of the trade.  He was nice enough to do some finagling on the Diamond Topps giveaway site and came up with the only other Texas Ranger di cut card I needed (I'm passing on Vlad Guerrero and don't want to spend what I'd have to for the Nolan Ryan) for a close-enough-complete Rangers set.   His cards arrived in the mail yesterday.  I haven't even put his in the mail yet.  This same scenario plays out on all of our trades, which makes me wonder how he tolerates me. 

Here is the Beltre.  I love these cards, and I've become a huge fan of Beltre this year.  I'm very excited to get this.

He also sent a few extra cards.  The Ryan Fleer Greats card is a handsome card that looks like it belongs in a leather bound album in a luxurious home office that smells of pipe tobacco. 

Thanks for being a great trading partner Jeff, and I'll get some good stuff out to you soon!

If I Could Have Moment Of Your Time..

To show you what I won at Cleve's Christmas Auction:















There.


Didley squat.

Even with all my preparation,  I came away empty handed for the first time ever at a Cleve auction.  The stuff was just too rich for my blood, and the fact of the matter is that I am a small timer with this stuff.   There were guys there Tuesday night dropping several thousands of dollars.  I just can't do that.   But, I still enjoyed myself and got to see some really cool pieces.  The Turkey Red vintage cards were simply awesome.   The Michael Jordan litho was incredible.  And the vintage Cracker Jack cards were super cool.  It was just all out of my range.  There was a Triple Threads 2011 6 PC relic book of HOF pitchers that I made a feeble attempt to buy, but once it got past $30 I chickened out. 

Cleve was kind enough to give everyone who attended a nice pack of baseball or football cards.  I got a free pack of Allen and Ginter, but didn't hit anything.

So I'm sorry I don't have a more compelling story to tell.  I'm hoping to get back on the small-time saddle next week when the standard auctions resume.

Prepping For Cleve’s

I’m sure you people think all it takes to participate in an auction at Cleve’s is just showing up and bidding on what you want.    I wish I could type the sound of me scoffing at that notion.  These auctions are attended by some of the most cut throat mercenaries known to man, especially the junior high kids.    Preparation is important, nay, essential for success.

I have to start getting ready at least a week in advance, and the day of the auction, my preparation is especially intense, starting a good 12 hours before the auction starts.  Since I am taking that day off from work, my preparation schedule is a little different than usual.  I thought I would share my plan with you, just so you can see what all goes into this thing:

6:30 AM-  Offer moral support to the lovely wife as she gets out of bed to take care of the 2 year old who just woke up.  Then, go back to sleep.  This is not as easy as I make it look.

9:00 AM- Wake up and see what the lovely wife has made me for breakfast.  Once “Nothing” has been confirmed, make a cup of coffee and check Words with Friends.    Request rematches with the Lost Collector and The Daily Dimwit after verifying yet more beatings from them.

9:30 AM-   Check Gmail for comments on my blog.  That takes 5 seconds.  Then I read any other new blog posts that show up in Google Reader.

10:00 AM- Actually, I don’t do a whole lot from here until around 1.   I’ll probably eat some lunch or something.  But don’t get me wrong.  This period of relaxation is crucial toward my preparation.

1:00 PM-  Right arm stretching.  My right arm is my preference for raising my hand to acknowledge I want to bid on something.    I usually have my phone in my left hand at the auction, and am able to play Angry Birds while bidding.  I try to do 3 sets of 10 reps of right arm raises.  I might get tired after one set though, and I try not to push it too hard.

1:30 PM- Recovery from right arm stretching.  While I’m recovering, I am able to think about baseball cards at the same time since I’m pretty adept at multi tasking.

2:00  PM-  Ice cream usually sounds good about this time.  Again, I think about baseball cards while I’m eating.

2:30 PM-  Recovery from eating ice cream.

3:00 PM-  Neck stretches.  Once you’ve been outbid on something and no longer wish to continue bidding, it is good form to slowly shake your head “no” when Cleve looks in your direction to ascertain if you will continue to bid.  Severe neck cricks are a legitimate threat if your neck is not adequately  loose.  

3:30 PM-  Recovery from neck stretches.

4:00 PM-  Crunch time approaches.  Time to look at my favorite baseball cards to get myself psyched up.

4:30 PM-  Request make-out session from the lovely wife to get my confidence to peak levels.  

4:31 PM- Try to figure out another way to get my confidence to peak levels after rejection from lovely wife.

4:45 PM Recovery from not being able to come up with anything else.  As I’m recovering, my trainer (my 5 year old boy) will help tape my ankles and fingers.  Taped ankles help me keep from twisting my ankle as I climb the 3 steps up to Cleve’s.  The taped fingers don’t help with anything, but they look cool.  I had thought about wearing some eye-black or a mouth guard, but realized that would be absurd.

5:00 PM Time to go over auction checklist with surgical precision and make sure I have all the necessary tools:

a)      Wallet

b)      Phone

5:30 PM Once I verify I have both of those things, I get in my truck and drive to Cleve’s.

6:00 PM Verify seating location of my nemesis.  Shoot dirty looks in his direction.  Make sure he sees my taped fingers.

6:30 Auction begins.