Checklist Chipaway: Topps HD Relics

I get a sense of deja vu every time I show one of these jersey cards from Topps HD.  It seems like I'm always posting about these, and like I'm always writing about how it seems like I'm always posting about these. This Jeremy Burnitz is the 5th card I've picked up from the 8 card set. 

I don't have much to say about this other than it's a cool looking card and I am being summoned by my daughter to help take care of a baby monster that was left on our doorstep this morning. 

Checklist Chipaway: Topps HD Clearly Refined

Wow, I didn't realize until I started typing this post that other than a handful of relic cards, I'm now 100% done with my 2000-2001 Topps HD Master Set!  I'm not sure what to do now?  I guess I should do a big post showing at least a little of all the parts of this crispy, plasticy set.

The last set I needed was the "Clearly Refined" set, which focused on prospects.  Sure it would be easy in hindsight to make fun of the guys that went nowhere in this insert set, but that's not my M.O.  Instead, let's give the last three cards I picked up this week a moment in the spotlight:

Pat Burrell had some nice moments probably I guess.  In fact, maybe I shouldn't assume to use the past tense with him.  Is he still playing?  Someone let me know so I don't have to go to the effort of looking it up on my own.  I do remember him being a Met killer.

I did make an effort to look up Ryan Anderson on Google.  Oh brother get this- turns out Google says he is a current basketball player that was drafted in 2008 and doesn't look anything like the guy on the above card.  Either Topps or Google really screwed up. Get a fact checker people and you won't look stupid.

Peter Bergeron name is too difficult to remember so I didn't try to type it in Google.  I don't know anything about him.

But I know these are handsome cards and now I have them all!  Mwwwwahhahahahahahahah..... 

Checklist Chipaway: Topps HD Jersey

Even though checklist doesn't contain any big names, these relic cards from Topps HD have been relatively hard to come by.    At least cheaply.

This Vernon Wells is the third card I have from the 8 card set.  None of the remaining 5 names I need are big so maybe finishing it off won't be too difficult.

Here are the ones I still need:

• Grant Roberts
• Jeromy Burnitz
• Travis Dawkins
• Ramon Hernandez
• Jay Payton 

Pitiful Card Show Nets One Needed Card

Not that I should expect card shows in NW Arkansas to be anything special, but the monthly show this Saturday was just so measly I felt sorry for it.  There were two dealers, and one of them mostly was hocking beanie babies and DVDs.  I've picked over the other dealer's stuff at previous shows, and he didn't seem to have much new this time around.

However, I'm still glad I went 'cause I found a card for my Topps HD master set that has been eluding me for a long time:

I haven't been able to find this anywhere (cheaply) and came across it in a quarter box Saturday.

I picked up a few other crumbs for my sampler album:

Told you it was pitiful.

Checklist Chipaway: Topps HD Image Alex Rodriguez

I have now completed the HD Image insert set from Topps HD.  This was difficult because a)the cards are expensive and hard to find, and b) Topps numbered these as if there were supposed to be 20 cards in the set.  As far as I can tell, they only made 10.   This week I got the last card I needed- A-Rod:

 Here is the full set:

I have some 2001 Topps HD base cards in transit, and that will pretty much complete my “master” set of 2000 and 2001 Topps HD.  There is only one insert set I still need.  There were a couple of relic and auto insert sets, but those are either way too expensive, or flat out impossible to find.  Once I knock out the other insert set that I can actually handle, (“Clearly Refined” it’s called), HD will officially be off the books for me.  Yippee.

Checklist Chipaway: Topps HD Image

This set has not been easy to finish off, but I am now one measly card from doing so.  I finally sniped this Ken Griffey Jr card from the Topps HD Image insert set last week, and now only need the A-Rod card.  

Checklist Chipaway: 2001 Topps HD Image Mark McGwire

I have had a lot of trouble getting this card, at least for a price I'm comfortable with.  The last couple that I've watched on eBay have sold for double digits and I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for it.  This one slipped through the cracks and I got it for about $5 shipped.  I now only need A-Rod and Griffey to complete this set, and my HD Master set will be that much closer to completion. 

Checklist Chipaway: 2001 Topps HD Image

I've kind of hit a wall lately on the blog, and things may move a little slow over the next few weeks.  I continue to grind away at my master checklist though, and found a 2001 Topps HD Nomar Garciaparra Image insert that has been eluding me for some time now. 

This takes me to 70% complete on this set, with only McGwire, A-Rod and Griffey to go. These remainders will be expensive, so further patience will be needed on my end. 

Man, I am struggling for material....

Those Are Nacho Cards!

They're my cards!  I'm sure Chris from Nachos Grande just loves that gag and has never heard it before.  I try to be as original as possible with my posts you see.
I did a small little trade with the famous Nachos Grande blog and received my cards this week.

The big one for me is the Jeter Sticky Fingers set from Gypsy Queen.  That card has been a thorn in my side for a while now.  I guess it's Karma for me giving a copy I had away in a Big Fun Game  long before I fell in love with Gypsy Queen and decided to build a set.

Chris is also one of the only other folks I know that collects the Topps HD sets from the early 2000s.  I think they are fabulous cards, and am always glad to peck away at my set.

Thanks for the trade Chris!

Black Friday Haul From COMC Thanks To CCC

Lest anyone say we are all just a bunch of goobers showing each other our baseball cards, ponies, chippy notes from Hall of Famers,  and mustaches, I'm grateful to say that because I read other blogs, I was alerted to the Black Friday sale at Checkoutmycards.com on, well, Black Friday.  Cheap Card Collecting was diligently posting the Black Friday deals as they went live, and because of this, I was able to get some good stuff at at good prices.  I love Checkoutmycards.com, but shipping can add up quickly since there is a $.25 per card processing fee.  On Black Friday, they ran a special for $4.95 for the first 20 cards shipped, plus $.11 each additional card.  It still was kind of expensive shipping, but if you found a card that was already heavily discounted, the shipping wasn't such a big deal.
I jumped on and was able to chip away at several sets, and picked up a few cards outside my master checklist.  Of course I grabbed some Gypsy Queen:

I was very pleased to get the Ruth Home Run Heroes, and am now only 2 cards shy of knocking out this insert set.  I was even more please to get the last 2 Future Stars I needed, completing that set.

I am also now only 3 away from finishing the Bowman's Best prospect set. One of those 3 is NOT Bryce Harper, so it won't be too difficult to finish.

As for older-ish sets on my list, I edged a little closer to finishing my 2002 Stadium Club Master set.  "Capture the Action" is now complete, and the lovely "Diamond Pearls" set is 65% done.

I also dinged my 2005 Topps Gallery Artist Proof set and Topps HD master set with a couple of onesies.
Finally, I picked up a couple of single cards of sets I'm not building, but really liked:

This Bob Feller Sterling card was only $1 so I jumped.  I much prefer 2009 Sterling over this 2010 design, but it's nice nonetheless.

 I hadn't yet seen any of the 2011 Topps Tribute in real life yet, so I grabbed this Tony Gwynn priced under $1.  These are super nice cards.  I may have to get a few more.

Finally, this Topps T205  Honus Wagner was under $1 too, and it is a beautiful card in hand. It's glossy and shiny and thick.  I'll definitely try to get more from this set.

All in all, I was very happy with my Black Friday purchase, and again thanks to CCC for the good work on the alerts!

Checklist Chipaway- Topps HD Clear Relics

I am trying to complete a master set of Topps HD from the 2 years it was issued (2000-2001), and recently was able to snag a couple of these relics at good prices.  It’s too bad the checklist for this insert set isn’t better (Vernon Wells is the best card in the set), because these are some ridiculously nice looking cards. You can't tell by the scan, but they are made of clear plastic.  There are only 8 cards in the set, so I am now 25% there.

I also reached another “milestone” on my master checklist this week.  I am now down to 40sets.  And according to my Napkin Doon2.0 Sanity Rules, 40 sets is now my ceiling.  If I had left my list at 41, I would have had room to maneuver, with 50 sets being the ceiling.   But I decided to cut out a couple of sets that did not have an adequate “cost/enjoyment” ratio.   

Checklist Chipaway and Blogger Aggravates Me

Slowly but surely, my master set from the two year run of Topps HD is nearing completion.  Last week, I picked up a couple of inserts online.  The problem with HD is that I don't think they made every card that was scheduled to go in each insert set. For example, the Image insert set that this Albert Belle goes to should be 20 cards, but I can only find names for 10 of the 20 cards leading me to think not all 20 exist.  So who knows, I may be closer to finishing than I think.



And once again Blogger seems to have it in for me.  My most recent post has not shown up on my dashboard or google reader 24 hours after posting (Saturday morning).    So it doesn't look like I've posted anything in a few days.    I checked blogger help and found other bloggers have had this problem.  But I couldn't find a solution unfortunately.   

On The 7th Day of Brycemas

My Harper gave to me:

(7)  Random, Yet Important, Cards:

My freaking scanner!!!

1999 Flair Warren Morris- This was one of the first cards I bought when I cashed in on the Harper Auto.  I’ve had no luck finding this card cheap for years now, and couldn’t bring myself to pay over a buck for it, plus shipping.  But since I had nice card fund, I decided to put this set out of its misery and add the last remaining card.  For the first time since my blog started, this card is off the Most Wanted list. 

Along the same lines, I was able to knock out my final 2 Diamond King Base Cards from 2003.  Hard to believe I didn’t have the Tony Gwynn already, but I didn’t.

With these two Reel Time Cards, my 2002 Stadium Club Set is now 100% complete.  There are some relic card inserts for this set, but I’m going to pretend they don’t exist and call this set done.  Also shown is a Topps HD Game Defined Mark McGwire.  I was actually a little miffed that this was an aluminum parallel card, even though it is a rarer card than the standard Game Defined Card.  I bought it on Sportlots and the listing did not have an image.  I probably would have got it anyway had I seen it was a parallel.  This is not my first loose interpretation of a complete set with HD.  Man, HD was nice.  I wish it would be re-issued.

Another SPX 2003 beauty.  This. Card. Is. Awesome.  Greg Maddux is a guy who I appreciate more and more with time.    Craig Biggio is the other one.  I really should have more good cards of them both.

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. 

Checklist Chipaway: Topps HD Images of Excellence/ Ball Park Figures

I am realllly getting close to wrapping up Topps HD.  This brand was only issued for 2 years, so getting all of the cards is a pretty manageable task.  I’ll probably have to pass on the auto cards though.  Too pricey for your pal Napkin.

I’ve already completed the Cutting Edge and 20/20 sets, and was only 1 card away each on the Images of Excellence and Ballpark Figures Sets.  It took a while to get these last two at prices I wanted, but I happened to get them both within a 24 hour period.  They both came in the mail this week.

Images Of Excellence- Willie Mays being the final piece:

 Ballpark Figures- Mike Piazza being the final piece:

Let’s see what the Super Checklist has to say about these two:

Well done Napkin!

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 #6

With Spastik Mooss stealing the Davis jersey card, Matt chooses door #1:

2001 Topps HD Cutting Edge Alex Rodriguez (a personal favorite insert of mine)

Also,  I am headed out to a Naturals game, so I won't be able to update anything until around 11 pm tonight.

BA Benny is up and can steal anything but the Davis jersey card, which belongs to SpastikMooss after 2 steals,or can choose from doors 3,4,6 or 9.

SpastikMooss, you can email me your address and I'll get the card in the mail to you.

Will a package going from someone named Napkin Doon to someone named SpastikMooss raise any red flags?

Wax Wednesday Topps HD 20/20

No wax openings this week, since I am sort of trying to hold off for lent.  I don't know why I bother though since I have been buying stuff at a cool local weekly auction, as well as online.  I was able to knock off one more set from my monster checklist:

This is from the 2001 Topps HD Set, and is a 10 card dicut set.  Actually, a few of these are the aluminum parallels, but sometimes they come cheaper than the base, so I don't care.  Does this mean that I technically don't have a complete set?  Well, excuse me, but my super checklist says otherwise:

Trade Post: 1st Trade!

I was thrilled to execute my first trade as a blogger last week.  Big thanks to Nachos Grande for helping out with a big missing piece to my Topps HD 2001 set:

I love the HD set, and I wish Topps would reprise the offering.   I look forward to many more trades!