Hey, Who Dropped Me?

I was down to 83 followers on Friday, after cruising comfortably for several months at 84 followers.   If  my math is correct, that means I lost exactly 1 follower.   Thankfully, I just recently added another follower (welcome gcrl) to get me back up to 84, but I'm still despondent that someone else dropped me.   I should be at 85 followers, which I think we can all agree is a more than 84 followers.

Whoever the misguided soul was that abandoned me,  we need to talk.  Once you are part of the Napkin Doon family, you don’t leave.  Ever. 

I simply request that whoever dropped me, kindly re-follow my blog, read this heartfelt post and then you can re-drop me so that you can then re-re-follow and return to the family. 



Here are some cards I got this weekend:

These are 3 of the 2005 Gallery Artists Proof I needed for the 2005 Gallery Artist Proof set I'm working on going on 12 years now.  I bet my mystery dropper wishes he or she could have seen this.

Checklist Chipaway: 2005 Topps Gallery Artists Proof and Turkey Red 2010 Inserts

Quick post today-

A got in a handful of cards from 2 of my favorite sets off sportlots.com yesterday.  Three 2005 Topps Gallery Artists Proof:

Seven 2010 Topps Turkey Red:

I'm now 65% done on Gallery Artist Proofs and 42 % done on Turkey Red, although I have a feeling Turkey Red is going to be easier (and cheaper) to complete.

Checklist Chipaway: 2005 Topps Gallery Artists Proof

I apologize for 4 days of posts about my checklist progress.  I actually have bought some 2012 Topps, but didn't hit anything interesting and don't have much to say about them that hasn't already been said.  So think of me as a boring oasis of pictures of cards of which you have no interest.

Or perhaps you are interested?  I know I was certainly interested in this big lot of 2005 Topps Gallery Artist Proofs that I got this week off of sportlots.com.    Just when I think I've picked through everything on sportlots.com, a new batch of stuff will show up that I have to have.  That was the case here, as I got a nice chunk of 15 artist proof cards, taking my set to 63%.  The scans don't nearly convey the slickness of these cards:

A Nightmare on Eutaw Street..

Actually, it wasn't a nightmare at all, but a nice pleasant dream.  But I went for the more catchy post title.  Kirk from Eutaw Street Cardboard and I just completed a pretty good sized trade.  It started a few months ago when he responded to a post I wrote about some SPX cards I liked and said he had one I still needed.   This eventually grew to a larger trade.  I sent him some vintage Orioles, an auto and some other misc Oriole cards and he sent me a whole mess of cards I needed for multiple sets I am building.  Most of this mess included the 1999 SPX set, and 2005 Topps Gallery, both of which are really slick sets in my humble opinion.  Here was what he sent:

This gets my SPX set almost to 50% done in one shot!

Another big chunk, this time from 2005 Topps Gallery, one of my favorite sets ever! The top 3 cards are all artist proofs.  Very, very nice cards.

And finally, some misc needs for some other sets I'm working on.  I'm really close to completion on several of these now.

Thanks again for the trade Kirk, and I look forward to doing it again!

On The Third Day of Brycemas..

My Harper Gave To Me:

3 Chunks of Set Fillers

My Super Duper Checklist was shriveling up quite nicely.  That is, until I added the components of Bowman 2011 and Gypsy Queen I want to it.  So I'm back to near 100 sets.  Happily, I was able to deliver some healthy shots to 3 sets I have been working on for a while:  2001 Topps HD, 2005 Gallery Artist Proof, and 1999 EX Century.  These are 3 of my favorite sets, and I have some new found momentum on them thanks to my Harper sale.

I am 8 cards away on EX Century, and 27 away on HD, (only 7 if you discount the final 20 SPs, which I don't).  I still need about 74 more Gallery, but I am content to take my sweet time on it. 

GO RANGERS!!!!!

First pitch for Rangers and Red Sox is just moments away.  Got it set up in the DVR so I will be avoiding looking at scores for the rest of the day at work.  It is so nice to buzz through commercials, pitching changes and mound visits.  How did I ever live without a DVR?  The combination of DVRs and HD television has completely spoiled me.      Here is the ideal scene for me:

Me+ HD Television + Rangers + couch + 2-3 Coronas + 2-3 Johnsonville Stadium Brats + 2011 Baseball Prospectus (which I have not picked up yet-shame on me!)  + cards to sort= Napkin Doon Bliss

Here’s what will happen:

Me  + urgent work emails + incessant attention request pleas from 5 year old boy  + incessant attention request screams from the 1 year old girl + no problems from my elegant, lovely wife (she does read this blog and I am not stupid) + dinner out=  Napkin Doon catching the highlights later in the evening

 Come to think of it, I’d rather go with the latter anyways….

Speaking of Napkin Doon Bliss, here are some nice looking 2005 Topps Gallery Artist Proofs I picked up on EBay last week.  I’m about 35% through with the 05 Gallery Artist Proof set,  which is fast becoming one of my favorites:

Cyber Monday

Mondays will be my day to post about purchases I have made and received via cyberspace (ebay, sportsbuy.com, sportlots.com and COMC) and whatever the new etopps offering is for the week.  Etopps is off this week, so I'll pick up with them next week and dedicate a little time to that wonderful little website.

Not sure what I was thinking, but I let my mouth get away from me tonight and told my wife that I would give up purchasing cards for lent.  I think I have enough in the mail queue coming to hold me over for a couple of weeks and allow me to keep up a Cyber Monday regular posting.  I've also got enough wax to open over the next month or so to cover Wax Wednesday.  We'll see how disciplined I can be...

Who am I kidding?  I'll fail in this endeavor by Wednesday, if not tomorrow.  Especially after getting my hands on the sweet sh%&! I got in the mail this week:

 I've heard some moans about the 2011 manu-leather patch cards, but I gotta say they are cool to me.  I got these Nelson Cruz "glove" cards pretty cheap, and they will make nice additions to my Rangers/Cruz collection.  I also picked up a cheap 2005 Marcus Giles Gallery jersey, and UD Game Face Gear jersey of Jorge Posada.  The price was great on both, and they both help whittle away at my monster checklist.  The Damian Williams Auto/Gear card is out of my collecting range, except I'm a big Arkansas Razorback fan (and alum) and he was at the U of A for one year before transferring to USC.  And the scan does not do this card justice.  Very, very shiny.  Finally, I got a nice Nelson Cruz 2011 silk card #d to 50.  Is it cool to like silk cards?... 'cause I do, baby!