The Rookie Collector Strikes Again!

Well now folks...I have been back in this hobby for about 30 days now, starting to get that collectors swagger, knowing what to look for in pack, knowing the lingo, feeling really sharp (this entire statement is bogus, but I gotta give myself a boost from time to time. Well, my rookieness showed up again this evening...I mean, I would actually WEAR green horns if they made em!

Let me explain. From previous posts I have explained that I have veered a bit off course in my goal of sticking to finishing off a few sets before moving to other brands. WELL, since I am only three cards short of a set (56, 136, 212....starting to feel like the magic numbers on LOST), I decided that I would do try a different route and buy a target blaster set. Those of you more experienced already know the flaw in my thinking!

So the first thing I notice is how faded the backing is, then the texture of the card, then the logo on the front....whoops! Looks like no progress towards my set tonight!

That being said, I still had an outside chance to pick up some Turkey Red, and this blaster did not disappoint, as I received:

Two more down off of my list, so thats okay, plus I got a dup of Bengie Molina if anybody needs him!

I received two more gold cards, #297 Bud Black and #651 Jake Westbrook

This is interesting, took me a few moments looking around on Beckett to figure these out: This Cy Young image was borrowed from Topher at Crackin Wax, I promise to purchase a scanner soon!

So these are Target specific Legends of the game. Okay...not what I need, but okay.

The bonus patch was actually the most unexpected joy of the box: This patch is from the 1961 All-Star Game in Candlestick Park. I really think this card is beautifully made and the coloring is fantastic. I would say this rivals any relic that I have pulled so far. Very happy.

So here is the deal. I remember back when I was a kid and I could only afford to purchase a pack or two at a time. While these Target common cards don't fit my collecting needs, I would love the opportunity to send to to somebody who would appreciate them. If you are that person or know of somebody, please let me know and they will be in the mail pronto!

What Have I Done???

Clarity

–noun
1. clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.
2. The state or quality of being clear or transparent to the eye; pellucidity: the clarity of pure water.
3. Realizing that I am WAY over head and becoming knee deep in baseball cards.


Let me first state that despite the above, I am having a blast with this hobby. I have met some nice people, and have even made a couple trades...not bad for a couple weeks work. I am here to confess, however, that I have broken a major rule that I have read about. Don't try to collect everything!

In the beginning I had total clarity (see above) on what I wanted to achieve. I wanted to complete one set of Topps 2009 for keeps (3 cards short) and one for trade. I would then tackle the subsets.

Cards opened up, log em in, put em in a sleeve, file, sort, presto!

Well, along the way I decided to test drive a few other products to see what my next goal would be. Against blog poll opinion I got a few packs of upper deck 2009..not that they are bad cards, but no way I am able to collect over 1000 of the suckers. Plus Great Moments in History are not exactly my cup o tea.

I got a great deal on a case of 2004 upper deck for 30 bucks. I figured at the very least I would get a couple pieces of memorabilia and some Red Sox. I did...and thats....about....it. Included in the box was a 50 card "vintage" booster set that was absolute pie hole. Highlights...

#303 - Johnny Damon....CAPTAIN CAAAAVVEMAN! Also got me an Ortiz, Schilling, and "I dropped off of the face of the earth" Keith Foulke.

Memorabilia - Vernon Wells game used Jersey, Todd Williams Team USA game used jersey. Wow, my collection is now complete

I tried out some Topps 2009 Heritage (even the gum..ugg), and out of five packs was surprised to pull a few decent cards



Numbered 391/1960. Not too shabby.
Ugg. A short print though. I understand the value of a good catcher. Good ol George Posada.

The of course I pull a SP Man-Ram delight. Not my problem anymore!
Phantom HTML Spacing later, I bring you Evan Almighty.

The cool thing about this series is that I read somewhere that these are easier to sign because they are not so glossy. I tend to agree, but don't really see myself commiting to this series, so if you are looking for some missing commons or some of the above caught you eye, just let me know we can easily work something out.

Long story short, I need to start picking my battles, lest I end up with a melting pot of EVERYTHING. Please let me know if you are looking for any 2004 UD, 2009 Topps Heritage, 2007 Topps, or 2008 Topps. I have commons and not so commons at your disposal...before they hit mine!

Have You Seen This Monster?

Little Jacoby (your humble and drooling blog host) is seems has taken quite a shining to Wally the Big Green Monster. We have a build-a-bear wally that was sent to us from Boston, and whenever Jacoby gets crabby and starts to cry, I break out ol Wally and he just smiles and laughs and wants to touch his cheeks and nose (he is NOT allowed to chew on Wally though...bad Karma). Anyways, I figured since this collection is being built for him (I get to have all the fun until he is old enough).

I am seeking out a Wally the Big Green Monster baseball card. I know it was in a team set recently, and saw the card on the web at one time, but cannot seem to find it anywhere! Do you know of the card? Let me know!

Turkey Shoot 2009!

In jumping into the baseball card collecting world, I tackled two hobby boxes from each set in the hopes of completing a full set (almost there) and get close to completing another. As I went through these packs I took an absolute shining to the 2009 Turkey Red series and decided that I would make it my quest to collect them all.Unfortunately, went inventoried, I realized that I am WAY short of this quest! I reach out to you, the card collecting community, to help me in locating these cards. In taking a page from BDJ I have created a sidebar list to give you an updated status on my progress. Please look into my available for trade list to see if there is some trades we can work out! Thanks!

Thar Be Gold! (parallels)

As promised, here are the gold parallels up for trade:


4 CHIPPER JONES/ALBERT PUJOLS/MATT HOLLIDAY
72 DAVID DELLUCCI
78 TIM LINCECUM
103 KYLE KENDRICK
136 TIM HUDSON
151 CARL PAVANO
231 XAVIER NADY
234 JOHN RUSSELL
310 JOHAN SANTANA
371 Jeff Francis
393 Alex Cintron
409 Jesse Chavez (RC)
415 Josh Beckett
430 Francisco Rodriguez
438 Mark Loretta
448 Jeff Clement
477 Josh Willingham
496 Charlie Manuel
508 Kenji Johjima
519 Dioner Navarro
525 Jimmy Rollins
539 Miguel Olivo
563 Francisco Cordero
572 Michael Bourn
578 Adam Kennedy
588 Jorge De La Rosa
607 Jarrod Washburn

Interesting Set Available...

Hey all, this whole adventure began with a bag of loose cards my wife brought home from the office from a coworker cleaning out her daughters room. During my search through those cards I found a rather interesting set of upper deck seattle mariner cards. I could not find these anywhere online, but was told by a card store owner that they are a Pepsi collection set from 1996. Going through the bad I BELIEVE that I have them all, and they are in pretty good condition considering they had not been sleeved. Here is what is in the set:

P1 - Joey Cora
P2 - Ken Griffey Jr
P3 - Jay Buhner
P4 - Alex Rodriguez
P5 - Norm Charlton
P6 - Edgar Martinez
P7 - Paul Sorrento
P8 - Randy Johnson
P9 - Rich Amaral
P10 - Russ Davis
P11 - Greg McCarthy
P12 - Jamie Moyer
P13 - Jeff Fassero
P14 - Scott Sanders
P15 - Dan Wilson
P16 - Mike Blowers
P17 - Bobby Ayala
P18 - Brent Gates
P19 - John Marzano
P20 - Sweet Lou Piniella

Just verified on Beckett that this is called the 1997 mariner pepsi game set. There is some nice names here and some value, but mostly for Mariner fans, so I thought I would put this up on the trade block if anybody is interested? Just let me know!

Finally on the board...

My first auto...

Not exactly a big name (though maybe some day) or a Red Sox, but at least I can say that I finally have an official autograph card. Still rippin here, so more later...

Well, I have completed opening up my second hobby box of Topps 2009 Series 1, and it is both exciting and depressing in that this will be my last hobby box, but also it tells me now exactly what I have and what I need to complete not only the base set (#56, #136, #212), but also where I stand with the subsets. I will be posting more inserts and commons available (have already added several inserts into the available list), and also I intend to create a post for gold cards and all of the commons that I have available for both series.

Lets get trading!

Worth the wait...

Well, another late night is coming to an end, I am about 14 packs into my Topps 2009 Series one box and I could tell this was a special box when the first pack gave me

Smug son of a gun...and then the second pack gave...
This ebay shot is not great (plus mine is number 34/50), but this is a silk print. Unsure if this is the relic of the pack, or a seperate insert. Time will tell.

Too tired to do more HTML, so let me just give you the rundown of the other inserts, which were plentiful...

Gold Parallel: Tim Lincicum Cy Young Award, Johan Santana, Xavier Nady, John Russell

Turkey Red: A-Rod, Miguel Cabrera, Bengie Molina

Legends: Nolan Ryan

4 gold toppstown cards

All this in the first 14 packs. I am thinking big on this one...stay tuned.

Oh, FYI, I also got two WBC redemption cards...I have already registered one of these so I have two of these available for anybody who gives me a shout!

Another FYI, I have added Garrett Atkins TR to available for trade...

A clearer picture....

Just a quick update for you: Tonight I should finally receive my second series 1 hobby box. This means that within a couple of days I will have a complete picture of where I stand with each subset and then direction I want to head with collecting this series. I will most likely be willing to jettison cards from a certain series if it means completing another series. I also am looking to finish off base set 1-660 as well as get as close as possible to completing base set #2 (which I would be willing to trade if anybody is interested.

Each and every card has received a white glove treatment. Just handled long enough to put in a sleeve and then to sort into order in a box. Yes that means EVERY card, even the Eric Gagne's of the world.

Long story short, Very soon I will have a ton more in my trading post, both wants and tradeables. I REALLY would like to complete a Turkey Red series as well as Career Best Legends, so please let me know what I can send your way to make that happen.

Hopefully this box kicks me my first Auto card or maybe another SP. Wish me luck!

Rippin it 2007 style

As I drove home this evening, my fingers began to twitch. It was that feeling that I gotta open some packs and I gotta open them soon! I have been having trouble obtaining my Topps 2009 Series 1 hobby box from Canada (will actually get here tomorrow!) and I needed something to open, so I drove to the hobby store to take a look.


I went to a new shop and was absolutely appauled that they were asking $5.95 for a pack of Upper Deck. No thanks, I will save the political inserts for another day. My eyes scanned the room and wound up on these...

$1.50 a pack. I saw an opportunity to maybe snag a nice rookie, a rare insert, or at least a few Red Sox. Man was I mistaken. This is the only series I know where you actually are looking for short prints WITHOUT a signature. What?? Also, did not pull a single Red Sox, but did pull a couple of Yankees (know just who to send these to), and also a...wait for it...Brandon Morrow rookie card....wa wa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!


Well at least I save some penny sleaves. Some "Highlights"

For what its worth...and that ain't much, this was the best card..I also have a Sheffield and a Delgado if somebody would like them.

Kansas City Royals Stadium on gameday!

"Do you know us? We're a Major League Baseball Team"!

ummmm......m'kay.

Topps 2009 Series cards on the way! Stay tuned.

Another Exciting Evening

Well, it is getting pretty late out here, but I thought I would give you a quick update on finishing opening my Series 2 hobby pack. First and foremost I was able to complete my goal of capturing all base cards 331-660. It remains to be seen how my last box of series 1 will do when it gets here, but I feel that I will at least be able to complete one set, plus be a few scraps away from completing a second set. Here are some highlights (but no photos tonight) of the evening rake...

• Cant even locate a picture of this one, but my eyes widened when I saw a number 29/58 for a hobby black series Ben Francisco. I did not even know that black series was in this set. Can't seem to find it anywhere online.


• A #9 rookie redemption...yet another card to arrive in the middle of January!


• Career Best Legends Cy Young and Honus Wagner...love this set


• Legends Chipper Jones and Reggie Jackson


• ROH Jacoby Ellsbury (nice) and Garrett Anderson (eh)


• TR Adam Jones and Grady Sizemore.


• Some WBC dude (can you tell how much I like these?

So now I wait for series 1 hobby box. I like the relics, but am desperately seeking my first auto card, or another SP would be nice...how bout one of those sketches...you just never know what you will find.

As promised, I have posted my inserts trade list, please click here to view...

Also, in my wants I have added all the commons that I need to complete the back end of set#2, please take a look and let me know if you might be willing to kick some of these down.

Chasin' the Set

Just thought that I would give an update with where I stand on the hobby box rippin. I am about 3/4 of the way through the series 2 box and I still have one more series 1 one the way. My goal is to complete a base set (or at least within a few cards) and then post what I need to finish up. As for the inserts, I know for sure I want to gather all of the Turkey Reds and Career Legends, but am unsure about the Ring of Honor because I have been pretty lucky about not getting dups and so far that set is filling itself out nicely. I have a good collection of gold cards as well, and really have no need to keep a smattering of random players, so I plan on pretty much putting these on the trade block.

By tonight I will load up my trade block with some Turkey Reds, Career Legends, Ring of Honor, as well as the gold cards for you to look over. Also I will post what I have for WBC if that is your bag. Common cards will be coming soon, but I want to get through all the hobby boxes first so I can post them all at once. So check back soon for the inserts! Just some highlights of what I have pulled the last few days...
Sweet. the best part about finding these is that you just don't see it coming. They can be anywhere in the pack, not just a middle insert. So my jaw dropped. This was early in the box too.

There should be an image here for the WBC Topps Redemption card, which I logged into www.topps.com/redemptions, but apparenty the ungodly bright yellow image was protected, so you will just have to image my joy upon seeing this. I guess we will see what comes, but dont be surprised if this ends up on the block...

I also received 2 more relic cards, one jersey and one bat...the names of which escape me at the moment, so I will post later. I am still seeking an autograph card, but chances are running out...

OH, I almost forgot. I basically consider ToppsTown to be the thick card in the middle to stablize the pack, and these are being round-filed at a rapid pace...I am just hanging on to the gold versions that I find. IF you are interested in any particular player and want me to save these, LET ME KNOW NOW, because I am ripping open many packs and basically chucking these out with the wrappers.