Sampler Album Week: 2002 Topps

I'm not a big fan of this set.  This looks like it is more of a parallel set than the base flagship set.  I don't get the orange border.  The banners and logos are fine I guess. 

I'm happy with the players on this page though fer sure.  Jeter and Pujols carry the weight, but I've got some of my other favorites as well as some other notable players.

But I don't get the set.  I guess it's the orange.

Just Kidding On That Not Wanting Anymore Bowman Chrome Thing I Said

“It seems my hypocrisy knows no bounds.”  Doc Holliday-  Well, not really Doc Holliday, but Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone.  I don’t know if the real Doc Holliday ever actually said this, but the quote is apropos to my post.

I think I may have recently implied that 2012 Bowman Chrome was a rip off.  At least the blaster I got kind of was, even though it had an autograph and the base cards in each pack were 100% refractors.  Even with that, it was still a measly 24 cards for $20 and I wasn’t thrilled with it.

I vowed to not buy anymore.  However, later that night I watched Chris Olds open some rack packs online that contained the green retail parallels and thought, “you know, those green refractors are pretty cool.”

You know what?  The green parallels are pretty cool, and I have some to prove it as I completely flip flopped and bought a couple of rack packs:

I also got an auto:

Again, someone I am completely unfamiliar with, but I’ll take it.

In my defense, I won a $50 gift card at work last week and used that to pay for the cards.  AND I might add I gave the remainder of the card to the lovely wife.   When I gave it to her,  I was hoping she would say something like “No, my sweet handsome husband.  You keep it.  I want you to have it.  You can go back to Walmart and spend the rest right after our steak dinner with mushrooms and roasted asparagus and fresh chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  I’ll put the kids down by myself while you shop for cards, and when you get back we can watch the MLB network and then I’ll show you what I bought at Victoria’s Secret today.”

But that didn’t happen and she still has the gift card.

Going On Auto For A Week- Like Any Of You Care

We're heading to Disney World for a much anticipated family vacation this week, so I'm going to have a handful of posts at the ready.

Speaking of my family...My son has recently become proficient at the tactic I employed in the title: passive aggressive, yet unnecessary attempts to inflict guilt on others.  Here's an example:

Me:  Buddy, do you need to go to the bathroom?
Son: (Dancing around, holding his crotch)  No, but I'm hungry.
Me:  Just go to the bathroom before you explode.
Son:  (Sulking away)  You don't even care if I starve to death.

What do you say to that?  Anyway, we're all very excited about it, and it's going to be nice to get away from the office for a few days.

I guess I'll also show off a new pick up from Listia:

I needed this Albert Pujols for my 2012 Bowman set, and was happy to bid a few hundred points to get it. 

Cleve's Auction Night: Kick Starting a Few New Sets

First off, I wanted any of you who have enjoyed my Cleve's posts to know that Cleve has been in poor health lately.  Cleve, I know you read my blog when you can, so I wanted you to know my thoughts and prayers are with you and I hope you get to feeling better soon, as are all the folks out there that enjoy reading about your auctions!

I had a couple of write in wins at this week's auction, and as such, need to add a couple of sets to my master checklist:

I guess I'm going to go after this cool di cut set now that I have a few of them.  I won with a min $2 bid on this Pujols, which I thought was good bargain. 

I've also been working on a 2012 Gypsy Queen master set, but had intended to skip the minis.  However, I got a lot of 50+ cards from the auction and along with what I already own, I've got enough to warrant chasing the rest.  I'll add the mini's (and the Chrome di-cut) to my master checklist soon and hopefully I can keep building it through trades.

Here are most of the minis I won:

Yeah, these are pretty cool, and will look great in the Gypsy Queen binder.

Grades:

2012 Topps Chrome Di-Cut Pujols $2:  A-  Very cool card, and I'm not going to get it cheaper than that anywhere.

2012 Gypsy Queen Mini lot of 54  $5:  A+  I'll take minis at $.10 a piece any time, and this is a great way to jump start building the set.

Tomorrow, I'll give the preview of Tuesday's auction.

Breaking Jaybarker Fan's Junk Jinx: Part 4 Other Guys

I think I proved my point folks.  After three jinx breaking posts, the Rangers take 2 of three games on the road at San Francisco, with two of the games being shutouts.  I'm not sure what will happen from here on out, but at least I know that I, single-handedly, was responsible for them getting a series win.

Since the Rangers are off today, I thought I would show the other stars that Wes included in the big box of cards he sent:

The Halladay and Pujols cards are Topps Chrome, and I really, really like them.  I think these are the first I've seen from the 2008 Topps Chrome set, and I'm tempted to tack this set onto my master checklist.

I'm not sending jinx vibes, anti or otherwise, through the air on these Torii Hunter cards.  It's a weird thing having one of my favorite players play for the enemy, but I just can bring myself to root against Torii. 

Even though the Rangers look to be getting back on track and are starting a home stand tomorrow, I'll get back to some more jinx busting posts tomorrow and try to ensure they stay on course.

Value Boxes Called Me Back

I mentioned last week that Value Boxes were back in stores, and while I liked them ok, I was likely not going to buy anymore.  That vow didn't last long.  Here is what I got in the second value box I bought.

This Griffey chrome card was by far the coolest thing in the box.  I only got one code card, and once again, I just came away with a stupid virtual coin.

The two Heritage hobby packs gave me a couple of cards I liked, but nothing huge.

Same for the 5 Topps flagship packs.

Everything is for trade, but that Griffey will be hard to part with even though I'm sure I could pick it up cheap off eBay.

A Trade With Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle

Man, I got nothing tonight as far as clever post titles are concerned.  But I did just complete a sweet trade with Greg of the high end, sophisticated, professional looking Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle, and I am excited to show you the loot he sent.  The only thing I didn't like about Greg is that looking at his blog reminds me how amateurish mine is.  Geez, what a nice blog he has...  It must be nice to have brains and talent.

I recently picked up a really nice auto/relic of Clayton Kershaw at one of Cleve's auctions.  Greg must have really wanted it because he offered up a huge lot of nice cards for it.  It was a tough card to lose, but his package offer was too hard to turn down.   If you can get over me ending that sentence with a preposition, allow me show you what he sent.  First, we have a couple of Tony Gwynn relics:

I don't have either of these, and they are both really cool.  Love the pinstripe on the one on the left.  Next, we have some Pudge:

Ivan Rodriguez is one of those guys I've always followed and liked but haven't aggressively sought to collect. But when I come across his cards, I wonder why I don't collect him and intend to make it a point to beef up my collection.  He is one of the greatest catchers of all time, and should be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  These are a great boost to my small I-Rod collection.  The SPX card is a beaut!

Finally, Greg added in some nice cards of star players I collect, and an interesting low numbered card of former Hog, Ryan Mallett.  The back of the Mallett card describes it as a "make ready" card:  "A make ready is one of the first printed sheets.  It is used to adjust colors and registration.  4-color cards are a combination of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.  Once all of those colors are combined, you have the color combination seen on printed cards."    My first "Make Ready" card!

Thank you for a great blog and a great trade, Greg.  Look forward to another one down the road!

Wax Wednesday- 2011 Topps Chrome

Does anyone use the term “Boy Howdy” anymore?  It’s a term that I heard and used a lot in growing up in West Texas.  I didn’t think anything of using it until I moved out of state to go to college.  I remember one of the first days my freshman year, all of the guys from my dorm room floor got together for a meet and greet and when someone asked me if I was a Razorback fan, I said without embarrassment “Boy Howdy, am I!”  It was months until I heard the end of the mockery that ensued.   I think when we all started taking ourselves so seriously in the 90s as a backlash to the ridiculous 80s, terms like “Boy Howdy” were almost ridiculed into extinction.  That’s my pop-sociologist diagnosis.  

Please humor me for a moment while I dust off the term“Boy Howdy” for this post.

Boy Howdy, I like Topps Chrome!

I picked up a couple of rack packs today and am thinking seriously about building this set.  I’ll wait until the newness wears off and take another look, but these are sweet, sweet cards.  And I will echo what I have heard from others in saying that the curling issues seem to be solved. At $8.99 a pack they are expensive though, and I suppose I could build a base set off the secondary market much more cheaply later this fall.   Enough from me, here is what I got:

 While they didn't curl much, these slippery little suckers are still difficult to scan.  Lining these up on my scanner was like playing air hockey.

No major pulls, although I’m happy about the Orange Pujols and Stanton.   I guess I actually did pretty poorly on these packs, as I didn’t get any numbered cards or hits.  But the quality of these cards alone made them worth the purchase. 

GWAG12!! 

Trade at the Plate

I’ve been a fan of the blog Play at the Plate for a while now.  Brian, who runs the blog, has an entertaining blog, and is a fellow Rangers fan to boot!  We never had traded before, but I recently was fortunate enough to get (2) Michael Young autos from a fun UD Ovation case break from the Daily Dimwit.    That was the seed of our trade.  I sent the Young auto and another low numbered Michael Young card to Brian.  He was going to send back several Gypsy Queen inserts that I needed.  I received his shipment today, and found the Gypsy Queens, plus a whole lot more:

I like the Gypsy Queen set okay, but I LOVE the inserts.  This nice group really put a dent in my Gypsy Queen checklist.

The Sticky Fingers set is my favorite from GQ, so I was happy to get this card.  Brian also sent some cards of my favorite players.  The Hunter Chrome card is #d to 599.

Finally, he included some very nice Barry Bonds cards.  The 02 Diamond King is really sweet, with the paper border.

Thank you so much Brian, I owe you! 

Blog World Top 5 Players

This week I ran a sort of informal poll as to who are the top 5 current players to collect from a long term "value" standpoint.  Here are the results according to the responses I received:

1 Tie:  Albert Pujols
1 Tie:  Ichiro
3: Roy Halladay
4: Derek Jeter
5: Jason Heyward

That looks like a pretty solid list to me. 

There were 9 commenters who listed both Pujols and Ichiro, and after a quick spin through the randomizer, the winner of some cards arbitrarily picked by me is.....

Captain Canuck!

Thanks for playing Captain.  I don't think I have your address from any previous contests, so please email me when you get a chance.  Here is what I will send you:

I'll find another Ichiro to round out the prize to 6 cards.  I know, it's nothing huge, but not a bad payoff for giving a quick comment on my blog right? 

Hey Napkin You're So Fine..

You're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap Clap...

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap...

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap
                                                

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin!

.
In other words, I bought a bunch of cheap Topps Finest from Sportlots.com recently and they just arrived in the mail.

Wax Wednesday - COMC Haul

I don't know why I insist on calling this feature "Wax Wednesday."  I think I've actually shown pack breaks maybe twice since I've started blogging.  Of course, my ridiculous decision to not-buy-cards-for-lent-except-for-when-I-really-really-want-them has a little to do with it.  It's kept me from buying wax, but I still can't help myself when I see a good eBay auction or something on Sportlots.com or Checkoutmycards.com.  And recently I found some cards on COMC that for my super duper checklist that I couldn't pass up:

The Pujols was the best deal, coming in at a sweet $1.25 per card, so I grabbed 2.  These are part of 2002 Stadium Club set , and I am now 85% complete of this insert set, with only cards 9 (Piazza), 10 (McGwire), and 13 (Thome) to go.  If anyone has those three that are willing to part with them in trade, please drop a note.  I've already completed the base and Stadium Shots insert sets.  One of these days I will get my act together and set up a page of what I have for trade.

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.

Wax Wednesday... late again

Yet another business trip interferes with my favorite thing to do in life: opening baseball cards….. I MEAN HANGING OUT WITH MY FAMILY!   Even a short overnight trip leaves me homesick for the Mrs. and the babies.   I think I’m done with travel for a short while now thankfully.     

Recently, before my stupid decision to give up buying cards for Lent, I opened two rack packs of 2011 Heritage, and 1 of the $10 special boxes of Topps 2011 from Wal-Mart.  I don’t know what they are called, but they have 72 cards and a special “Blue Sapphire” insert.  Here are the highlights:

No hits on the Heritage, but I’m happy with the Strasburg, Hellickson, Posey and Pujols.  I’m leaning toward not building this set and using these as trade bait.    Of course, by now I have about 1/3 of the set, so maybe I’ll trudge through it.  I’m sure everyone is dying to know what I’ll do.

Nice box on the 2011 Topps:   Matt Holiday bat card, Heyward Sapphire insert and Pujols, Stanton and Chapman base cards.    Plus a card of Cliff Lee (Razorbacks) in Rangers uniform.