I Have 2014 Topps People, Look At Me!!!!

I liked 2013 Topps, and I might like 2014 even more.  Or maybe I'm still tingly from my first purchase of product, since I didn't expect to find it today.

I found some blasters in Walmart today at lunch, and while I don't expect to spend much on retail wax this year (instead directing funds more towards vintage and finishing some sets) I couldn't help myself and partook.

I'll keep the comments brief since I suspect you mostly just want to see the cards.  Fair enough.  The first card out of the blaster was the bonus manu-patch card Topps puts in retail blasters.  And for me, it was a doozie:

These are very similar to last years rookie manu patches, which is a little lame.  However the makeup of the card is pretty cool:  the picture is a silky fabric, but the Rangers logo, name and graphic semi circle around them is part of the cardboard frame.  It gives it kind of a shadowbox effect and I like it.  There are two types of manu relics in blasters, the rookie reprints like the Darvish above, and some standard patch cards.  My other blaster gave me another rookie reprint, and it was another doozie:

You can tell pretty well in this picture that the Pirate logo is not part of the fabric part of the card.  I definitely like these!

As for the base cards, I didn't really score many that I felt were worth noting.  No favorite Rangers or other big names, but here are a few for examples sake:

The checklist card showing Rivera coming out of his last game is pretty sweet.  Glad Topps added that one.

I did have pretty good luck with the Walmart blue parallels though:

Of course there are several other parallels again this year:

I like the ruby red- that will make a great Ranger team set.  Camos are back too. 

The Power Players parallel intrigues me.  On the back is a code, similar to the Million Card giveaway and other online promotions Topps has done in the past.  I think it's smart to incorporate these codes on player cards instead of a throw away insert.  The site topps.com/powerplayers, is not live yet, but it looks like there will be real cards you can win this year, which is good news.

As for inserts, there are plenty, but I'll show the ones that I liked the best:

 

I wasn't all that jazzed about the 1989 minis at first, but they turned out pretty cool.  They're die cut and the color border makes a difference.

I also kind of like these "Future is Now" cards.  They seem to have a "gypsy-queen-ish" filter on the image, or maybe I'm imagining that.

Looks like it will be a fun set to build!

COMC Black Friday Parade: Rangers Rangers Rangers!

Man, I had a lot of fun with the Black Friday sale on COMC.com.  I got some really great stuff and it didn't set me back all that much.

I had all kinds of sweet spots in my collection, with some of my favorites being the various Rangers I picked up :

This was by far the most expensive card I bought, and it actually wasn't that bad.  It's an incredibly beautiful card, and if Profar lives up to his potential, the cost will be well worth it.  Even if he flops, it's still a great looking card.

Here are some other great looking cards:

 I think my only regret is that I didn't pick up more Darvish cards.

 I also had my last dalliance with Ian:

Oh Ian, I miss you already.

2013 Finest Cherry Picking

I wouldn't say I would NEVER buy a box of Topps Finest, but I don't see the point.  With a little patience, you can pick up the base cards very cheaply off sportlots.com, even some of the refractors.  I know the same can be said about pretty much all sets, but Finest seems to have a really pronounced  gap between retail price, and secondary market prices per card. 

I am a fan of Finest in general, but not sure if the 2013 set does it for me.  There are a couple of neat insert sets this year, and I may get the Rangers that are on those cards.  Otherwise, I find the base set a little boring.  It's just a scroll of dots across the card with FINEST at the top.  No logos or anything.  Maybe some will like the simplicity of the design, and maybe I will too after some time to pontificate on the matter.

Anyway, I ordered a handful of cheap base cards off sportlots.com and they arrived Saturday.  The Beltres above are all different- the one on the left is an x-fractor, the center is the base and the right is the standard refractor.  I may chase the red and green and other color versions of the Beltre card too, and make a cool rainbow page in my Rangers binder.  Below are the other cards I got, just because.

About That "Passing" On Bowman Platinum.... *puig*

Look, I believe in 2nd chances.  It's why I still agreed to marry the lovely wife after finding out she used to make a living stealing cards and instead of going to college, she spent her 20's travelling with the circus.

It's the reason I still consider The Lost Collector to be a friend after finding out that he used to... oh I can't even bring myself to writing the words.  Trust me,  it was bad. 

Yes, I believe in 2nd chances, so I decided to buy some more Bowman Platinum, even though I did put in writing that I didn't like it and wouldn't buy anymore.

I guess having a great big forgiving heart worked out for me *puig*.  Here was what was in the first value pack:

Boom.  I collect Wil Myers cards because I was on the same field as Wil Myers once during a minor league game.  That's all the reason I need dammit.

 

 

Cool.  Not only did I get the purple refractor, I got the plain old base card too.  Did I mention I was once on the field at the same time as Wil Myers?



 

 

Yes!  All you need to know about Joey Gallo is that he hit 40 homers in the minors this year.  And he's 19 years old.

And the pack also yielded a couple of other nice cards of Tavares and Profar.  So that was a great pack and put Platinum back in my favor. 

But the next pack was even better *puig*.

 

Who knows if Lewis Brinson will make it to the Show, but apparently, he's a 5 tool prospect and had a good year this year in the Rangers minor league system.  I was happy to get this.

 

 



In my previous post about Platinum, I mentioned my dissappointment with these "ice" parallels.  They still aren't great looking, but I'll take whatever Yu Darvish cards I can get.

Yes!  Another cool Joey Gallo card!  Remember- 40 HRS/ 19 Years Old.

I'm a big fan of this sapphire blue rookie reprint set, so this was welcome too. 

So if this had been all I got from the 2nd value pack,  I would have been satisfied.  As I started opening the last pack, my only "complaint" was that I had opened 5 of these value packs and hadn't hit a Puig card yet.  I haven't hit a Puig in anything I've opened yet, and that kind of sucks.  I want to partake in Puig-mania too!

But, I kid you not, on the last pack I opened this beauty fell out:

Thank you cardboard gods!

I know the smart thing to do would be to sell this while Puig-mania is still going strong.  But knowing my luck, as more Puig cards hit the market, this one would tank in value right as my sale of it ended on eBay.  Plus, I figure the most I would likely get would be $40 or $50.  So I'm pretty sure I'll just hang on to it and hope he continues to be a star. 

Shining It Up With Brad's Blog

My Rangers Album just got a little brighter, thanks to a nice lot of shiny cards from Brad's Blog.   I had some old Phillies cards that I didn't need and he gladly took them off my hands and sent back these beauties:

These two numbered refractors were the cards I knew I was getting, and they are fantastic.   I definitely need to build a team set of the sepia cards.

However, that wasn't all that was in the padded mailer from Brad, much to my surprise.  He also sent a big stack of other cool Rangers:

I love these "ice" cards from Bowman, and am really stoked to get the card of Luis Sardinas.  He's a SS in the lower levels of the farm system and the Rangers are pretty high on him I hear. 

 Brad also sent a few great base chrome cards.  I don't have many cards of Leonys Martin, but he's quietly turning into a star, so I'm very excited to get this one.

I'm hearing lots of noise about Mike Olt being part of a trade package for Matt Garza of the Cubs.  I like Olt a lot, but I'd be all for that trade, considering the volume of the Rangers starting pitchers that are on the DL. 

There were several other cards in the package, but this by far was my favorite "bonus" card.  I love getting Darvish rookies!

Thanks for the great trade Brad, and I hope you enjoy the vintage Phillies!

Return From Vacation Mailbox Goodies Posts: The Unexpexted Deliveries

My little family and I just returned from a wonderful Alabama beach vacation.  I won’t bore you with the trip details but I would like to mention one particularly fun highlight, and that was Lambert’s Café.  I’d heard of Lambert’s before and I guess it’s a relatively famous restaurant.  There are two Lambert’s north of us in Missouri, and the lovely wife and I have often mentioned making a trip to check one out.   To our pleasant surprise, there is a third Lambert’s on the Alabama shore, and it was a short drive from our hotel.

If you are not familiar with Lambert’s, it’s a kind of down home foods restaurant featuring fare those of us in the South love so much:  Chicken Fried Steak, Grits, Fried Okra, all that kind of healthy stuff.   Lambert’s is also known as the “only home of throwed rolls.”    Yep, the servers come out with big plates of rolls and throw them to you across the restaurant.  It was especially amusing seeing our son’s expression when a roll was thrown to him.  He thought it was the coolest thing ever.  I thought the endless supply of fried okra was the coolest thing ever.    Have any of you Yankees or that read this had the pleasure of fried okra? 

Another highlight was returning to several PWEs and bubble mailers with my name on them.  Two of them were from other bloggers, and both were unexpected.  And both were awesome.

First, my man the Lost Collector sent me a nice trio of “Dutch Oven” cards.  “Dutch Oven” is Derek Holland’s nickname BTW:

The silver ice cards are very cool.  Almost as cool as Holland’s porn star mustache. 

 
LC also sent this very shiny Hank Blalock refractor numbered to 399.  Finally, I managed to score a certified "Lost Collector" autograph:

I never realized AJ and I looked so much alike.

 I also had an unexpected card from The Diamond King.  We sent some cards back and forth recently, and I guess he was feeling pretty generous.  Or maybe he feels bad for calling me Doonie.  Don't feel bad.  Napkin Doon is a made up name, so take all the liberties you want.  I probably wouldn't like "doon-bag" though.  Anyway, check this puppy out:

 
Love me some Yu Darvish patch cards!  Let's see if me posting this today ruins Darvish's start against the Yankees tonight.

 
Thanks guys for the cool stuff, and be looking for something from me soon!

Cleve's Auction Night: $2 For The Skinflint

Apparently I have a reputation at Cleve's for being on the cheap side.   A few weeks ago, the lovely wife went birthday shopping for me and knew that a gift certificate at Cleve's would be a hit.   While she was at his shop (I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that meeting of the minds) she asked if $150 would be a good amount for me.

Ever the smart aleck, Cleve sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin and acted like he was doing some quick math in his head.  "Well, for the way your husband spends, I'd say $150 will probably last him about 6 months."  All the regulars that were in that day started rolling with laughter.

"So what you're telling me is that my husband is cheap?" my wife replied.

Cleve and the regulars replied with more laughter.  I'd get defensive about it, except that they're right.

So now I've got a gift certificate to Cleve's, courtesy the lovely wife, that will last me until the Holiday Season.  Actually, if my last auction "haul" is an indication, $150 will last a lot longer than that.  I walked out this week with only a $2 purchase, which is the minimum bid one can place on an auction item.   But, it was a great $2:

The lot was for 2 cards from 2012 Bowman Platinum, and both cards were of interest to me.  Wil Myers is a top prospect for the Rays, and I was able to watch him play several times in person while he was with the Royals AA affiliate here in Northwest Arkansas.   It's a pretty card, and numbered to #399.  I would have paid $2 for it by itself.

But it came with a second card, which I was happy to get as well:

I'm always happy to get Darvish rookies, so this was a perfect bonus card for me.

Grade

2012 Bowman Platinum Myers/Darvish Lot  $2   A+:  I may be cheap, but I still get good cards. 

Ranger Hits... And No Misses

Someone put together a Napkin Doon dream lot on eBay a few weeks ago, and thank god for us all, I won it.

It included a nice big handful of Ranger hits, including my first ever Yu Darvish relic:

Yeah, it's an all star game jersey, but so what?  My first Darvish relic!

The lot also included a pair of Heritage relics, including my main man Adrian Beltre.  I look at these and can't decide if they are boring or not. 

Two more of my favorites- Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler.  The Kinsler card is really sharp, and I love the blue swatch.

The lot also included one auto- David Murphy.

Finally, there were a few nice regular cards in the lot, including a gold parallel Elvis Andrus rookie, and some minor league cards of Jurickson Profar and Ian Kinsler.

My kind of lot!