COMC Black Friday Parade: Wooo Pig Sooie!!!

This year, in football at least, was rough disasterous for my Hogs this year.  But we at least finished with a valiant effort and near win against LSU.  So I wasn't too despondent regarding my Piggies when it was time to shop the COMC.com  Black Friday sale. 

I realize that 99% of you don't care about the Razorbacks, so I'm going skip the effort of commentary on these cards and just show the pretty pictures.  The important thing to remember is all of these guys below are Razorbacks.

 

One quick exception.  These D-Mac Inception cards are the boss.  I guess it's almost time to say it hasn't worked out for D-Mac in the NFL, despite periodic flashes of greatness.  He just can't stay healthy.  No matter, he's still probably my all time favorite Razorback football player.  If he would somehow find his way to the Cowboys, I would pass out from ecstasy much like I did when Cliff Lee became a Ranger for a half season.

 

Ok, this deserves a comment too.  Knile Davis is a bad MOFO, and I'm predicting greatness for him in the NFL.  I'm ecstatic about getting this auto for a couple of bucks.

Ok, another quick comment:  poor Tyler Wilson.  I remember draft experts saying (before the draft) he was the most NFL ready of all the QB prospects in last year's draft.  He was recently cut by the Raiders.  It doesn't work well when my Hogs go to the Raiders.

Virtual Trading On Listia

So the general consensus on Listia seems to be:  no consensus.  I myself can't decide if I like it or not, although my recent experiences have all be great.  Several of my first transactions had, shall we say, issues, and left a bad taste in my mouth.

But I've been feeling better about Listia lately.  I think with a little luck and some good strategy, you can make out well on Listia.

Case in point-  a few weeks ago I "sold" a Yasiel Puig 1971 mini card for 4,000+ points.  I was extremely please to get that much for it, and I think my timing for selling it was good.

I spent those 4,000+ points on a couple of cards that came in this week.  The first is a card I've wanted for a while:

This manu patch card of Razorback Legend Darren McFadden is mega cool, dude.  If I were just making trades, I would have gladly given up the Puig for it alone.  Instead, it cost me 2,600 points.  With my remaining points I was able to get a card of another 2013 hot rookie:

This is some kind of "Father's Day" promo card, but I don't know (or care) the story behind the promotion.  I'm just happy to get a numbered card of Myers..... WHO I'VE BEEN ON A BASEBALL FIELD WITH!!!!  I would have taken this card straight up for the Puig as well.
  

Spiegel Takes Home The Lifetime Acheivement Award..

For trades with me.

I know I've traded with him more than anyone, in fact I've lost count on how many we've done.  However many it's been, I hope they keep coming because they are always top shelf.

Spiegel's been a little AWOL from his blog though lately, so I hope once summer gets here life gives him a little breathing room and we can get back some of that laid back California-Spiegel vibe that is lacking amongst the card blogs right now.  We need you Spiegel, more than ever.


This was the card that started the trade:

I've written about Christian Colon several times.  He's at AAA now, but he made a lasting impression on the Doon family when he was here with the AA Naturals last year.  Anyway, I was glad to get this on card auto.  I'm hoping he gets a shot at the Royals soon.   I'm hoping Rob Neyer is wrong:

Having seen Christian Colon play about seven innings at shortstop, I think one CAN use the eye test. You know, when it's this obvious.
— robneyer (@robneyer) March 16, 2013

I didn't have warm and fuzzies about Neyer's implication, but since I'm dense I decided to ask him to clarify, a small part of me hoping that he would say something like, "Obvious that he belongs in the Show and he's going to be a star!"

@napkindoon Not good enough to play shortstop unless there's an emergency.
— robneyer (@robneyer) March 16, 2013

Yikes.  Well, nobody knows everything, so I'm still hoping Colon finds success in the bigs someday soon, and at a minimum at least be the next Derek Jeter.

Speaking of Jeter, Spiegel included a few Jeter's in our trade if I may be so bold as to awkwardly shift back to our trade:

 And last but not least, two of my All Time Favorite Hogs:

 That Prizm McFadden is perhaps the greatest football card of all time.

Thanks again for the great trade Spiegel!  Look forward to another one soon!

An Awesome 1-2 Punch In The Mail

How would you like to open a padded mailer and see this inside:

And then this:

Ok, so you sad non-Razorback fans might not appreciate this card as much as me, but I assure you it is ridiculously awesome!  The above cards come from Adam at the wonderful blog ARPSmith’s Sportscard Obsession. 

This is one of many trades I've done with Adam, and he always sends great stuff.  All I have to do is get rid of my stinky cards of that stinky team from San Francisco that ruined the World Series for me and the Rangers in stinky 2010.  Sorry, my son has been using "stinky" as his adjective du jour lately and it's rubbing off on me.

I was a bit surprised to see this is actually my first D-Mac relic card.  I could have sworn I had one.  Oh well, I have one now and it’s a hum-dinger!

The Griffey manupatch further convinces me to chase the Rookie Manupatch set from Topps this year.  I only have 3 right now, but it looks like the prices are getting more reasonable so I’m going to chase it.

Thanks for the great trade Adam!  

Congratulations Arkansas Razorbacks: 2012 Napkin Bowl Champions

Not sure if any of you caught the Napkin Bowl on ESPN 28 the other night, but my Razorbacks put on a show!  Here are some highlights:

 Clearly the Hogs game plan  was geared toward a steady stream of shiny Darren McFadden.  D-Mac left, D-Mac right and D-Mac up the middle. 

The second quarter saw Ryan Mallet light up the field with long bomb after long bomb.  The game became so lopsided that Mallett and McFadden decided helmets were unnecessary.

 And who was on the receiving end of those Mallett bombs?  Why Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs of course!

Black Friday COMC Spoils Part 4: Woo Pig Sooie!

I pretty well hit all of my hot collecting areas with the COMC.com Black Friday sale:  Sets on my master checklist, Rangers- and a bunch of Adrian Beltre.  Everything I bought had a place in my collection.  No shopping binge of mine would be complete without some Razorbacks, and I found some superb additions to my Razorbacks album at the sale, starting with this gem:

I don't know if Brett Eibner will ever make it to AA.  I hope so, since I would then be able to watch him in person here in NW Arkansas.  He's got some major tools, and Baseball America rated his as the best outfield arm KC's minor league system.  He's got lots of power too, but I guess he's having trouble being consistent and hasn't been able to get past A ball, which isn't a good sign for a college player going on his 3rd year in Pro Ball.

Nevertheless, this card is awesome to me- autographed (sticker but who cares) and showing Brett in his Razorback uni.  And it was only a buck.

Joe Adams is starting to make a little noise in the NFL.  This card was a little over a buck, which made me giddy.  We Hog fans will always remember Joe for the below play though- perhaps the greatest individual effort in Razorback football history:

 

Speaking of greatest and Razorback football.  Darren McFadden has to be the greatest football Hog ever.  I still haven't ponied up for a D-Mac auto, but this sweet Topps Inception card will do for now.

Finally, I added this mesmerizing Ryan Mallett card.  I hope this guy gets a chance to play someday.  I don't know why they keep giving that Brady character ahead of him the start each week.  What's he ever done?

I Need This D-Mac- And All The Variations

I'm not big into football cards other than picking up former Razorbacks when I can, but I saw this today and MUST have it:

This is a total knee jerk reaction post by me and possibly in a couple of days I'll decide it's not that great.  But it sure looks great right now and I need one!

I also would love to get all the other variations of this:  sepia, black, pink, purple, gold, refractor, xfractor, orange, base... all of it.

If you have one and are willing to trade, let me know!!!

Happy Labor Day, Woo Pig Sooie!, and I Love My Big Green Egg

There is not much better than a Monday off.  I hope you all have an enjoyable day.  I'm not sure what we will do today, but I know it will start with Krispy Kremes.

The Razorbacks started their season Saturday.  I guess most other college teams did too, but they don't much matter do they?  I'll spare you guys weekly recaps on the Razorbacks, since I'm assuming the vast majority of you don't care about the Razorbacks, although you should.  I will say that we are excited about the Hogs around these here parts, and the week after a Razorback win seems to always be so pleasant.

Speaking of Razorbacks, I won a pretty cool Darren McFadden graded rookie card on eBay recently and it came in the mail the other day:

I don't know how else to entertain you today, other than to show you some pictures of the magnificent steaks I grilled Sunday on my Big Green Egg.   I wish Allen and Ginter would do a card of a Big Green Egg, if they are going to stubbornly refuse to issue one of George Will.  I mean, tell me this isn't card worthy:

Then add these pieces of cow:

And after a few minutes at a balmy 650 degrees:

I forgot to take a picture of them on the plated, but trust me, it was culinary art.  Pair them up with a bottle of red and some delicious sides courtesy the lovely wife, and a Rangers victory earlier in the day (with a Jurickson Profar Home Run in his first ML AB), and you've got a perfect Sunday.

Breaking the Seal On Listia With Darren McFadden

I've seen a few folks around here dabble with Listia, and since I'm making a half ass effort to curb my spending, at least this month, it seemed like something I should check into.  Basically, Listia is ebay, but with no money exchaning hands, just points.  You get points for selling stuff, and you use points for buying stuff.  In essence, it's a big trading post.

I'm a horrible person and didn't sign up as a reference from another of the bloggers out there with an account, which would have given them extra points, as well as myself.  I was just checking out the sight one day and got impatient and signed up.  Sorry to those that could have used the points!

Anyway, my first "purchase" came in the other day:

A very cool "tall boy" mini from Topps 2012 of Darren McFadden, former Razorback stud.  I've since sold a few cards and bought a few and it's jolly good fun.

Cleve’s Auction Night: This Isn’t Going To Stop Is It, Napkin? Part 2

Before I begin, I'm desperately trying to get a sneak peak of 2012 Topps cards.  Has anyone seen pictures or heard anything about these yet? 

BOOYAH, rim shot baby, I'll be here all week!

Anyway, yesterday I showed off the vintage portion of my pickups from Cleve's Tuesday night auction.  Let's jump into the rest shall we?

I picked up this lot of Topps Supreme Football (and one low numbered Yates Bowman Sterling) for $3, mostly for the Darren McFadden.  But they came in a nice little black box that I assume was the original box they sell in?  I'll give a few of the football cards to my boy, and the box to my girl for her to store her cards.  Of course if anyone wants to trade for anything other than the McFadden, please let me know.

I was super excited to get an autograph of Adrian Beltre, who is fast becoming one of my favorite players.  $3 for this beauty.
I picked up another pair of autos, each for $2:

These are for trade if anyone is interested.

For another $2 I couldn't pass up this Jorge Posada bat card.  I'm pretty happy with it, but it is for trade as well.

Grades for the modern card portion of the auction:

Topps Supreme Lot $3  A:  I'm happy with the D-Mac, and my kids will be happy with the rest of it.  Win-win.

Adrian Beltre Auto $3  A+:  I'm more excited about this by the minute.  This was a great buy in my opinion.

Sizemore and Pena autos $2 each  B+:  I didn't really need these, but they might bring something good in trade, and at a minimum will beef up my auto collection.

Allen and Ginter Posada relic $2  A:  Another good trade bait card.

Overall, I'm giving my self an A for this auction.  I spent only $22 and got a nice versatile slew of cards.

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! 

On the 6th Day of Brycemas

My Harper Gave to Me:

6 Darren McFaddens (x3)

I got about 18 cards of D-Mac, and this was the best way to cram it into the song. 

 That Topps Magic Mini Card is beyond awesome!

I was actually at the game when McFadden tied the SEC single game rushing record.  I acted a total fool when he did this: