Pie Face Funded: 2009 Topps Sterling

4 down, 8 to go.

I'm in single digits in my 2009 Topps Sterling needs and I'm giddy as a schoolgirl!

I used my "Pie Face" funds to help make progress on this set, and happened to find 4 cards that had been proving difficult to purchase:

The Maris and Price cards helped complete one of the pages in the binder:

This is such a wonderful set.  I wish Topps would issue it again, although I suppose Museum is relatively similar. 

Checklist Chipaway: 2009 Topps Sterling

I don't know if I can finish this set off in 2013, but it will be close.  I'm down to only needing 12 more of the 130 card set with this David Ortiz addition:

Here are the last cards needed:

David Price

Roger Maris

Rick Porcello

Whitey Ford

Frank Thomas

Roger Clemens

Hank Greenberg

Al Kaline

Colby Rasmus

Chase Utley

Mark Teixeira

Wade Boggs

Some jackleg outbid me by a quarter on an Utley card last week, and I bailed out on a Greenberg card that was on the wrong side of the border of my price range.   I imagine that when I get down to the final 10, I'll start spending a little more coin on them. 

Checklist Chipaway: 2009 Topps Sterling

We have major momentum on 2009 Topps Sterling now boys and girls, and need only a baker's dozen to complete the set.

Four more cards came my way this week:

I'm now 90% done with the set, and feel great about my chances of wrapping it up this year.   

Checklist Chipaway: Two Big Sterling Adds

I'm on a total roll toward finishing my 2009 Topps Sterling set.  I had absolutely no progress over the past 6 months, but picked up 4 cards on the COMC Black Friday sale, and just before that had won the Stan Musial card from this set at a great price on eBay.   For the most part, the cards I needed were likely to be affordable, with two exceptions: Cal Ripken Jr. and Nolan Ryan (Rangers uni).   The auctions I'd seen these cards up to now had ended with prices higher than I wanted to go.

However, there is a seller on eBay, peterm3968 who previously listed 09 Sterling cards at great BIN prices.  I keep him on my favorite seller search and periodically check his listings.  It had been a while since he'd sold any 09 Sterling, but just last week he listed some new Sterling cards- and they happened to be Ripken and Ryan.  And he had them at super low prices.   You would have thought I was trying to deactivate a nuclear reactor when I saw them and started scrambling to log in and buy them before someone else did.  Thankfully my cat like reflexes came through and I got them in time:

These were only $5 and $6 respectively, which is WAY below what I've been finding them for previously.  I know there are a few minor flaws with these cards, but I don't care.

Speaking of noting flaws, that brings me to another thing I appreciate about this seller.  Not only are his BIN prices great, his shipping prices are beyond fair, and every card he has ever shipped to me has come in a snap case, and usually the magnetic-type ones, and wrapped neatly in packing paper.  But I also appreciate how detailed his item descriptions are for every card he lists.   Take the description of the above Ryan card for example:

2009 Topps Sterling Nolan Ryan (Rangers) card. Card number 58. Print 95 of 250. From lot 3401.
Condition: Excellent-
Reason for Grade: The card is off-centered to the top and left. The left edge has spots of wear. There is a line on the top right of the picture that one can see when holding the card at an angle. The back reveals slight rounding on the top right corner and a slight bend on the bottom left corner.

I'm sure it's weird, but I enjoy going to his eBay store and reading the item descriptions of his cards. 

So, I'm now 86% done with this set and only need 17 more cards to finish.  And the expensive cards are all in my rear view mirror.

Black Friday COMC Spoils Part 1: 2009 Topps Sterling

By including “Part 1” in the title, I indeed am indicating there will be multiple posts discussing my recent Black Friday binge on COMC.com.   Yes, I know a lot of other bloggers are doing this same thing, but I don't care.  

I had a LOT of fun shopping for these cards, and made major headway and even completed many of the sets on my master checklist(now updated).   I’m thinking we’re looking at about a dozen posts to wrap up my purchases.  It’s not that I bought THAT many cards, but the purchases fall into about a dozen small sub-groups that each deserve their own post.   

We’ll start with one of my favorite sub-groups, 2009 Topps Sterling.  This is one of my favorite sets ever; it felt great to make a dent in this checklist.  I now only have 19 cards left to go, and am 85% complete. Here are the four I bought:
 

The Campanella and Murray cards completed a page, which I will show to you now:

Checklist Chipaway: 2009 Topps Sterling

I hope everyone is enjoying the last remnants of the Thanksgiving break.  Ours was quite enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to one last day of rest before returning to work Monday. 

Not sure how many of you took advantage of the COMC.com Black Friday sale, but I for one spent a good chunk of my Friday morning there, piling up a ton of goodies that I'll be showing off once they come in.  I made large dents in many of my set needs.  One of the sets I made good headway in was 2009 Topps Sterling, perhaps my favorite set ever, but one that has been slow going lately.  I picked up a few needed cards on Friday, but also had one important part of the set waiting for me in the mail when we returned home Saturday:

I managed to pick this up under $5 shipped on eBay- a great value and much less $ than I'd seen it go for in previous auctions.

Checklist Chipaway: 2009 Topps Sterling

Slowly but surely I’m finishing this wonderful set.  I recently added two more cards and am now over 80% done.  

The Hamilton card eluded me for a long time.  I actually had an easier time finding the lower numbered parallels (#d to 50 and #d to 10) than I did the base.  Now I have a nice mini rainbow of this card:

 

Checklist Chipaway: 2009 Sterling

Last year, I was on fire with this set.  But this is the first card I’ve added to this set in 2012!  They are getting hard to find, at least hard to find cheap.  Here is my latest add: Ryan Howard.

 

I am now 80% done with the set, with 26 cards to go.

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 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!

On The 4th Day of Brycemas

My Harper Gave to Me

4 Awesome Rangers:

Yes, the 12 Days of Brycemas is back on track after a painstaking wait for an order of cards from a seller on Sportlots.com.  But everything is in now, so I can finish this convoluted string. 

My Brycemas sale helped beef up my Rangers collection for sure:

I didn't have any Nelson Cruz autographs.  Now I have 2.

I can't find a 2009 Sterling Base of Josh Hamilton to save my life.  I had no trouble finding the white and burgundy parallels though.

My Elvis Andrus collection was pretty small.  This doubled it:

And I didn't have as much Cliff Lee as I would like.  Yes, I know he was only a half season rental last year, but he is officially a Razorback/Ranger double whopper, so he will forever be in my top 5 favorite players of all time.

2009 Topps Sterling Page 1

Depending on when I am thinking about it and what mood I'm in, this set is my top priority for completion.  The Super Checklist shows me 30 cards away, and I am going to shoot for a January 2012 completion.  What were Sterling boxes going for, $200 or so?  And you received 3 base cards along with the hits?  If my math is correct, this page is worth $600.  I would be willing to sell it for $300 to  a fellow collector, but I will expect a personal favor redeemable by me at a time of my choosing in addition to the cash. 



Yes, I am kidding.  I would never sell for less than total fictional retail value.  The page does have Ruth and Mantle for crying out loud.

Denny’s 1996

I am total sucker for gimmick cards.  I love motion and hologram cards, and anything that looks like some effort went into it.   That’s why I’m a fan of the Denny’s card sets from the 90’s.  I just bought the 1996 set on eBay, and I think it’s a nice little set.  You have to angle the cards just right to get the full effect though, and I’m sure my lovely wife thought there was something wrong with me as I contorted my arms and head trying to watch the action unfold on the cards. 

The scan won’t show it obviously, but every hologram is actually a little “video” of a significant play or moment for each of the 28 players.  There is a write up on the back notating the event.  I especially like the Ozzie Smith opening day back flip, and the home run from Cal Ripken’s 2,131st consecutive game.  By my count, there are a dozen current or future Hall of Famers in this set.

From a Historical/Americana standpoint, I even like the Denny’s logo being on the cards.  The 1997 set is even nicer, as Baseball Cards Come To Life points out in this post.    Denny’s put out sets almost every year in the 90s.  A collector could put together a pretty interesting master set of Denny’s cards without spending too much money. 

Big Fun Game Final Pick #10

hiflew takes a chance and picks the last door, #4

Etopps in hand 2008 Peyton Manning.  If you've never had an etopps card in hand, I think you will be pleased with how this looks.

Please be sure to email me your addresses, and I will get the packages out early next week.

Here are the final results:

1) Mariner1- Topps 2009 Sterling Lot
1) Mariner1- Topps 2009 Sterling Lot
2) Steve D-  Andy Ashby Auto
3) Ryan G- 2010 Triple Threads #d lot
4) Matt Pederson- Topps HD Rodriguez Cutting Edge Di Cut Card
5) Lost Collector- Topps Debut 2010 #d Lot
6) SpastikMooss - Terrell Davis Jersey Card- Frozen w/ SpastikMooss after 2 steals
7) BA Benny- Octavio Dotel Auto
8) Dimwit- Justin Upton Lot
9) dawgbones- 2011 Topps Young Stars Lot
10) hiflew- Etopps Peyton Manning in hand card


Thanks for playing and I hope everyone had fun!  I will definately do this again, so please let me know if you have any suggestions for the next time.

Big Fun Game Pick #7

Mariner1 chooses door #3:

Topps 2009 Sterling lot #d to 250 - Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver

The Dimwit is up and can steal anything but the Terrell Davis card, or can pick from doors 4,6,9

Cyber Monday: E-Shopping Arrivals

Even though I gave up purchasing cards for lent, thankfully, I had ordered enough product online before this ridiculous promise went into place.  I would like to pat myself on the back for being so disciplined so far.    I did put in a couple of low-ball bids for some items on eBay that I don’t expect to get, but if I do, I will have to fess up about breaking my vow.  Placing a bid doesn’t count does it?  Here are some of the goodies I got last week:

I don’t know how I managed to get that Pujols SPX card, #’d to 50 by the way!  No way did I think I would win that auction, but I am thrilled I did.  I am very slowly trying to complete this wonderful set, and that one was one I assumed I would have trouble getting.  I’m also thrilled with the 2 Sterling Base cards, as I am now about 75% through building this set.  I’ve listed the cards I am still lacking at the top of my blog.  I will post the few doubles I have for trade if anyone is interested in trading.

This was a small lot from http://www.sportsbuy.com/  It knocked out a little from my monster checklist, including a nice 2003 DK auto of Joe Borchard.  I picked up a couple of cheapies of two of my favorite Rangers as well.