Mail Day - Zoo Edition!

Uff! I am completely exhausted today after taking little Jacoby to the zoo for the first time today. Really, its not like he is going to remember any of it anyways because he is only eight months old, but he likes to chill in the carriage and people watch, so he had a good time. Our zoo here is Portland is built into a bunch of hills, so there are lots of ups and downs on the paths, and it got pretty tough negotiating a stroller through the Saturday crowds. The weather was mostly overcast and low 70's though, so all in all it was not so bad. Here is a rundown of what we saw: Bald Eagle, Turtle, River Otter, Brown Bear, Sunshine Bear, Polar Bear, Sea Lion, Starfish, Sea Otters, Tiger, Alligator, Zebra, Giraffe, Monkey, more monkeys, even more monkeys, Elephant. Done. 95% of these animals were....sleeping. Yay. I would pay good money to hang out at that zoo in the middle of the night. I bet you see some crazy action at night.

Anyways, I came home this afternoon to my first package of donated Heritage cards for my big project. I am really excited that this project is coming together, and I want to thank all of you for helping me out and for keeping the gum. The cards still smell like gum though. I noticed that the box that I am collating these into is getting stronger each day!

Todays package comes from Justin. Justin was kind enough to help kick start this project and donated 20 some odd cards PLUS took care of one of my few remaining Ginter needs. Justin is a Rays fan and if I am not mistaken, I have a Kazmir Swatch headed your direction! Thanks a lot for the help, just let me know if you ever need anything else from me! Here are a few of my faves...

Mat Gamel. It has been a long time since I have heard anything about this guy, but with the farm system that Milwaukee has put in place, I have no doubt that he is going to be a star. I am really starting to enjoy the backs of these cards, and threw Garko in because he led the AL in HBP last season. I am sure he still has a ways to go to catch Biggio though...just lean into it Garko! Chipper Jones and the Tulo are both short prints, so these are definitely much appreciated.

I am going to be posting dups soon. Inevitably these start to build up and I am getting the itch for another blaster tomorrow, so stay tuned for those of you seeking Heritage cards!

Mail Day! Sharpe Since 92

I wanted to extend a hearty "thank you" to Jim at Sharp Since 92 for his package of four A&G base cards as I slowly crawl to the Ginter finish line. I now have less than 20 to go, but even that seems crazy considering all the boxes and Ginter cards that have been flowing in and out of this joint. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you all to visit Jim's site and help him finish up his 2009 Goudey set. He has very few needs left, but that's normally when you hit the fan. Jim, I have the few cards you asked for coming your way as well as a host of mini's for your Heritage donation coming up. Thanks again!

Thursday Morning Admin...

Well, this morning represented the first of the cards to hit the chopping block. Today is recycling day and a bunch of 2006 updates and 2006 series ones met their maker. Enclosed in a used A&G Box it all happened in slow motion as the box slowly twirled out of my hands and into the bottom of the recycle bin. Sorry 2006, just wasn't your year!

This my all seem like card cruelty, but really, in the last several days I have had the ability to wittle away at the cards that I need to keep and file away, and the cards that are going to go in binders. With the excess material all over the place, it made it very difficult to find anything that I was looking for.

I want to get your opinion on the next cards that I will collate...2004 upper deck series 1 (or is it 2). I had a full hobby box that I bought at a discount. I filed away a ton of these cards into respective teams, so I will need to go back through them and pull them out for collating...is this worth my time, or should I just huck em? Let me know if you need any 2004 UD!

2009 Icons are looking like they are going to go on deathwatch. I have had no particular interest shown in the numbers I posted yesterday. Jump in to that post and let me know if you would like any of them.

Goudey found a home! Saved in the 11th hour by the mysterious WickedOrtega, whom I often get posts of interests from, but never any follow up! Need an address when you have a chance!

Lets see, what else? I have three boxes of Chrome arriving next week that I am excited to crack open. We'll see where I stand after the boxes, but I may decide to chase this set. Is anybody else doing the chrome this year?

Also, I have a very wittled down A&G need list. Almost done, if any of you might be able to help me finish that set up.

The Heritage project is in full swing! I bought three more packs last night and also pulled some out of my team box that helped me out with 4 SP's! If you have any Heritage looking for a new home, please let me know!

And to finish...just a little editorial on the Yankees-Red Sox Series. People (well, media) stop FREAKIN OUT about every little game. This morning on ESPN it was all doom and gloom and how the red sox have no pitching and will struggle to even make the playoffs. First of all, they are playing in the trampoline that is the new Yankee Stadium. Secondly, Smoltz was a risk, but the Sox are far from struggling for pitchers. Buchholtz has one bad game, and Penny has one bad game and suddenly the wheels have fallen off? Breathe! I absolutely guarantee you that if the Sox win tonight, then tomorrow the headlines will all be about how the Yankees will struggle in the playoffs because they cannot seem to find a way to beat the Red Sox. Thats the media for you!

Isn't it Iconic (Don't You Think)?

In keeping with today's theme of Topps and it's new world supremacy, I am finally getting around to posting my availables for the UD Icons that I purchased from my blaster a couple of weeks ago. These are not the worst UD cards I have seen, in fact they are not that bad at all. Still just players pasted against a fake backdrop, but at least I saw quite a few phenoms and Red Sox in the blaster to make it worth my time, and the cards I am peddling here are...well...icons, so it is a good lot



Available: 1,6,7,9,10,12,15,18,20,27,33,36,37,43,45,51,53,54,56,60,63,65,69,73,74,78,81,83,87,89,90,

92,96,98,99



Really I have to say that with such a small base (160) cards, these would make a good start if you would like the whole lot. Maybe arrange for a Heritage exchange? Let me know!

As for my other specials:

On Deathwatch: 2006 Topps Updates and Highlights...NO requests from this large group, recycling is imminent

On Vapor: 2006 Topps Series 1, had one request and shipped out many of these, I will give another day or so.

Dead Cards Walking: My 40 or so 2009 Goudey have had no other interested parties. Last chance!

Since these posts have skirted off the main page, email me instead of leaving a comment if you are interested in any of these orphaned cards!

Blog-a-versy! Topps Exclusive Licence

Even being a greenhorn to collecting cards, I know what a monopoly means.

For many years out here in Oregon, Comcast ruled the roost. They were the only gig in town, and if you wanted to see cable or HD television, then you were pretty much subjected to a standard 6-month rate increase, and there was nothing you could do about it.

Then along came Verizon, and that saved the day. Now not only do I have a little wiggle room with Comcast, they are actually scared to lose customers so much, that they will pretty much offer you the keys to the city if you casually mention wanting to check out Verizon. You always get the "hold please" and then they come back with some great six-month offer. In six months, I call back again, say "my bill is too high" and wash and repeat.

Since this is my first year collecting, I have tried out a very wide variety of product trying to find my niche as to what products I would like to collect in the future. I have spent way too much on conducting this "research", but now that I am learning the ropes, I have a better strategy for next years offerings.

Now, while I definitely don't consider myself a Topps "Homer", I did find myself for the most part disappointed with Upper Decks "mail it in" product line. I made no secret my disappointments, starting with the commemorative Red Sox set and continuing through this years UD flagship offering. 1000+ cards? Insane. I also don't dig the cut out figures placed on various computer generated backgrounds...especially when you are expected to pay 5-10 bucks a pack for said product.

That being said, I did like SOME of UD's offerings. I fell in love with the SP legendary cuts. The cards are unique, and the hits were pretty classy too, but I have made a critical error in attempting to collect SP's 101-200. I have about half, but probably will never see the other half. The price of the product is just ridiculous too. I have seen them at nearly 120 a box! Cool cards, but I learned a lesson here.

Masterpieces was brilliant, WAY better than the sketches offered in this years A&G. Goudey is a fun set because of the artistic quality to it. But for the most part I would say any live-photo product was lacking any originality and thus my anti-sentiment towards UD.

BUT, any business needs competition, and it concerns me a bit when Michael Eisner says that he wants to return the hobby back to the kids. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that we are going to return back to an 80's and 90's massive overproduction of cheap cards? I am like everybody else, I am looking for sets, but also enjoy finding little valuable surprises in the packs.

Will Topps rest on their laurels like the Madden football and 2K sports franchises have an put out sub-par product? I am far too new at this hobby to raise much concern just yet, but I am definitely curious as to the fallout of this deal.

2009 Heritage Need List

Alright, this is pretty overloaded at the moment. I will highlight pending trades in Red. Thanks for all of your help!

Need: 28,
,444,452,454,456,457,463,464,469,475,477,482,484,488,489,498

Almost home! Thank you everybody for helping me achieve this great set!

Heritage Project, Blaster Kickoff!

In following up on a previous blog today, I have made the decision to pursue 2009 Topps Heritage as my experimental "lets see if we can do this through trades and blasters only" challenge. Things look promising as I have already had several offers towards this quest, so I thought I would drop into Target and grab a blaster to kick things off. Unfortunately there were no blasters, but instead a retail box, which is cool since I am basically looking for base cards anyways. they had the price listed at 1.99 which got me stoked so I grabbed about 14 packs..only to learn at the register that they were marked wrong and should have been 2.99. This reduced my load to 8 packs :) So I thought I would do an ol fashioned rip and highlights for you (plus gum chewing). Pack #1


John Danks

Ben Sheets

Ryan Braun SP (nice start)

Phillies Celebration card

Cameron Maybin

Adam Lind

Lou "who?" Marson RC

Joakim "would lead the free world in saves if I was not a Royal" Soria


1 stick gum, ugggggg.

Pack #2

Brad Lidge

Juan Miranda RC (bad as the gum)

Cameron Maybin (sweet, a dup already)

Daisuke Matsuzaka SP

Johan Santana

Brandon Jones

Greg Golson RC

Shields and Rodriguez

Pack #3 ( I have already given up on the gum...just couldn't hack it)

Ted Lilly

Mike Cameron

Scott Baker

Ryan Freel

Aaron Cook

Hanley Ramirez MAYO. Have no idea what this means yet, but looks different and still smells like gum.

Chone Figgins

Manny Acta Pack #4

Ronnie Paulino

Dustin Pedroia (sweet)

Russell Martin

Andrew Carpenter RC

Darin Erstad

Clayton Kershaw (Matt Damon)

Justin Upton

Joe Nathan

Pack #5

Greg Smith

Brian Giles

Edgar Renteria

Tom Glavine

Chris Young

Billy Butler

Derek Jeter (blech)

Marco Scutaro

Pack #6

John Lackey

Ted Lilly Dup

George Cantu

Ryan Freel Dup

Asdrubal Cabrera

Alex Rios

Anibal Sanchez

Many Acta Dup!

Pack #7

Brandon Lyon

Chad Tracy

Chris Perez

Rios MAYO! Makes me hungry

Bruce Bochy

Felipe Lopez

San Francisco Giants Team

Orlando Hudson

Pack #8

Chris Lambert RC

Lyle Overbay

Matt Kemp

Conor Jackson

Phil Hughes CHROME!

Jack Cust

Brian Busher

Willy Taveras

So there you have it. Eight packs (only one piece of gum consumed...I will leave the rest on my wife's nightstand from the anti-tooth fairy), 2 mayos and 1 chrome Yankee. Not really too shabby for eight retail packs. I have a good start on my base and will post a massive needs list on the right bar column. Thank you for all of your help on making this set come together. Please visit my daily specials to see if you can use any of my extras!

On a side note, I am sorry to be a late adopter of this product. Upon second glance, it is really pretty cool stuff, and the attention to detail is why I am becoming more and more a Topps guy. I will definitely put this one on my list for next season.

My First TTM!

I know that I have a couple "Mystery" TTM's on the way from Joe from a couple of trades we made. He did not tell me who, but dropped hints of former Red Sox currently on other teams. With my luck it is my buddy Julian Tavarez and the Scapegoat Johnny Damon (though he gets a pass)!



But alas neither of the mystery TTM's arrived today? So who did I get?



Well, you might remember this little something about the "Odd Man Out", AKA Mr Pat Neshek. Pat is a blogger himself here. His site is a deep bright red and he has a massive security force blocking you from leaving comments on his forum (I have been under review for acceptance for almost three weeks now), but he does leave an address for autographs, and it came back to me in just over a week, so very impressed! Here it is!

Mrs Tooth got the ball rolling on the auto by sending it to me along with a "Border Guard" of security A&G cards such as Jay Bruce and John Smoltz. The auto itself is fantastic, he does a great signature, and he made the effort to personalize the card for a great keepsake. I gotta say though, the "thanks for cracking the code" comment is a little funny. Probably a more appropriate comment would be "you sunnuva #$@$@!!" but cool nonetheless. So my first TTM also becomes my greatest card collecting memory (so far). :) Thank you for taking the time to sign the odd man out card Pat! Get back out on that field soon!

The Daily Special! 2009 Topps Series 1 throwback!

Or as the guy who posted the Pujols Card says on Ebay "Vintage". Gotta love Ebay.

Isn't this fun? Lotta cards flying of the the JD factory for your set building pleasure.

This next one is a pretty ridiculous story. I had gone to Target to grab a blaster of Series 1 cards to complete my Flagship set. Little did I know that Mr UPC Code had a little surprise in store for me and I proceeded to open 10 packs of old-school cardboard. These are still a pretty sweet product, since I love the look of this set, but I have no need for the 60 or so beauties. Big swooping "T", thick smelly cardboard...Can you give them a good home?
Available: 2,5,10,11,18,28,29,33,39,52,55,57,60,68,72,75,83,98,106,124,140,142,151,156,166
167,173,189,190,191,194,198,199,205,209,218,224,233,236,241,243,249,255,2,277,285,294,295
301,306,313,316,324

Once again, as these are claimed I will highlight them in red....Cardinals red.

Heritage Project!

As I continue to dump inventory on my daily specials, I had mentioned yesterday that I was tossing around the idea of trying to collect an entire set through trades and blasters only. After much deliberation, I think that I would like to give the 2009 Topps Heritage a go.

I pulled a few packs of these a couple months ago and initially was not that excited in them, I actually like the 2008 design better, but since this is a 500 card set, I figured that there are probably a ton of these in circulation right now, and I can still purchase a blaster or two at Target and maybe even get a hit out of one of them. Are you all able to help me get this collection going? Do any of you have duplicates that you would like to send to Oregon? Please let me know and we can work out some trades!

In regards to daily specials. stay tuned for the Topps 2009 Target Throwback edition this afternoon and then 2009 UD Icons this evening (ooooh). Any unclaimed cards head for the empty A&G "Purgatory" box, where after a week they will meet their maker, so give them a good home!

The Daily Special: Topps 2006 Series 2/Updates and Highlights!

See how this works? We are already up to bi-daily! Tonight my wonderful wife Stacy learned about the beauty of collating. She was laying on the sofa, bored as the Red Sox game continues to drag on and on and on, and I suggested she help collate a huge stack of Series 2 and Updates and Highlights! She seemed skeptical, but before you know it, there she was, head down in furrowed concentration and she dealt the cards into individual piles and then before I know it, I have one huge stack of collated Highlights. She quickly grabbed for the regular 2006 Series 2 and chugged away at those also. I am thinking about making her the product manager for the summer sweep sale of Topps!

Below is a list for Topps 2006 Series 2 available just for you!

333,338,343,348,361,364,365,369,372,383,386,391,394,400,402,403,404,417,419,420,
423,424,427,428,434,446,447,448,450,453,455,457,460,466,468,477,481,482,483,486,487
488,494,495,497,499,501,505,506,510,511,518,521.527,529,542,545,546,547,549,550,551,560,
574,575,582,583,584,590,592,593,596,601,608,610,611,612,649,651,658,659,660

AND Topps Updates and Highlights 2006:

2,3,4,5,6,11,14,16,19,20,23,26,28,31,32,39,49,50,61,62,69,70,77,78,82,83,84,85,86,87,91,93,94
95,96,98,99,100,105,106,107,108,111,112,113,114,115,119,121,122,123,129,130,131,171,172,173,
177,179,181,182,185,190,191,192,193,200,203,204,205,205,207,209,209,210,212,214,214,215
215,216,281,219,220,222,223,227,232,233,235,238,239,240,242,243,244,249,250,253,254,257
260,261,262,265,267,269,269,275,276,276,278,282,285,288,289,293,293,294,295,296,297,300,301,
302,303,304,305,305,309,309,310,311,314,319,324,325,329.

Gold Parallels: UH86, 110, 185,244,280

Mickey Mantle HR cards: 11,19,57,98,105,117,132,173

Barry Bonds HR History #733

There there are folks, a lot to choose from for sure. Almost enough to keep and go for the set, but these cards just don't speak to me much, so away they go. Give them a good home. Give my Wife some management work!

The Original "Ueck"!!!!

I am reaching out to the blogging community for help on obtaining a Christmas gift for my brother. Over the week at the beach we talked about card collecting a little bit. He used to collect way back in the day and his only claim to fame is the 1984 Topps series. Anyways, he briefly mentioned how he always wanted a Bob Uecker baseball card. I then had the idea of seeing if I could first locate a card, and then send it to Mr Uecker himself to see if he might be willing to do a TTM. I thought this would be a great gift idea and I am looking for your help.

Firstly, I have no idea what a Bob Uecker card runs. I know he played back in the 60's, so it is no doubt an older card to find. My introduction to Bob was watching him on "Mr. Belvedere" as a kid!! Please let me know if you can help me find this card!

Thanks!

The Daily Special: 2009 Goudey

JD's Wild Cardz (a link to myself! That oughta increase traffic!) is opening a new segment today called the Daily Special. Is it really daily? Well, probably not, it might end up being bi-daily or tri-daily, or multi-times daily depending on my motivation...but the purpose is to advertise to you the products that I collating for you so you may help in completing your collection!



For trades, here is what I am hoping for:



1. I would like to finish off my 2009 A&G set and have a few needs left if you could please check out my list. I also still have plenty of duplicates for those needing some Ginter love.



2. I would LOVE to complete my SP Legendary Cuts short prints and am over the halfway point. I would trade 100 cards for 1 if need be, because every little bit counts. I just really want to finish this set up and set away for Jacoby.



3. I thought of kinda a fun challenge to try. I would like to try to collect a set entirely through trades, no purchases...minus maybe a blaster or two... I need your help in deciding which set is most likely to help make this a success (something not too big, something that tons of people have, like Ginter). I am sorta leaning towards Heritage, but I know that it is 500 cards or so. But who knows, maybe one of you has a ton of doubles looking for a new home. Either way I am looking for your feedback on which direction to go, so please leave your comments below!



Okay, now on to the show! I bring you Goudey 2009 availables!

Availables: 6, 18 ,36 ,59, 62, 72, 74, 75, 79, 87, 93, 106, 113, 116, 137, 143, 154, 160, 166, 167, 172, 197.

4-in-1's :McCann,Hudson, Johnson, Jones, Dice-K- Wang Chung, Ichiro, Fukodome

As these become spoken for, I will highlight them in red, indicating no longer available.

Happy shopping! Up next I plan to post availables for 2006 Topps Highlights and Updates, and Topps 2009 Target Throwbacks.

Beardy's Bounty!

Great Merlin's beard! I came home this evening to a great sized envelope from Greg over at Beardy's Baseball Blog. Receiving a package from Beardy is great for many reasons:



1. His name is Beardy

2. He officially has the most beard man Ginter prints, which is cool

3. He rides his bicycle for something called "exercise"

4. He is a Orioles fan, which makes us Red Sox fans real happy!

5. He kicks down great stacks of cards!



This was primarily a massive ginter exchange from East Coast to West Coast. I sent over a good number of base prints and a dragon, and Greg sent a massive number of base prints that took a good chunk out of my Ginter base needs. I still can believe I am over 15 cards away from completing the base, seems I should be much closer at this point. If everybody can please dip their heads in and take a look at what I have left in the needs...thanks!



Greg also kicked down a nice portion of the ever-sequential clumps of National Pride. I had the front and tail edge and he sent me a good portion of the middle. I only need about nine more of these babies to complete the set.



Here is the best part of this package though, as I have looked high and low for this card:
Scanners never do refractors any justice whatsoever, but this card is a beauty. Yovani is without a doubt my favorite phenom, so it is especially nice to get a rookie turkey red refractor. The hunt still continues for the "True" rookie card, so if anybody happens to know what that card is, please let me know.

Thanks Greg, the ol Ginter binder is almost filled up and ready to be closed out thanks to your kind donation.

Back in Business!

Hey everybody! Back from a few days at the beach with the family. It was definitely much cooler, but it would be a bit of an overstatement to say that it was relaxing. Nevertheless, here I am back at the steering wheel of JD's Wild Cardz, refreshed, and ready to...collate..apparently!

First things first. Its always nice to come home and see some mail in the ol mailbox. Good mail though, like the brown envelope kind! While I am not going to scan every card received, I would love to hit on some of the highlights and spread some thanks around!

The first two envelopes are easy. My two Johnny Cueto cards arrived! I now have three Johnny autos and the sit side-by-side-by-side so you can compare the different signature styles. His rookie chrome model is obviously his first attempt at signing cards, and his next two cards clearly follow a much nicer (consistent) signature, and his most recent includes his jersey number. Maybe next year he will add a little happy face to his signature. Stay tuned.

The third package comes from no other than my partner in Ginter crime, Nick Jacoby. Nick is kickin' it at his blog over at Cardboard Overload, but I have noticed no posts in the last several days, so I hope he has not been taken ransom for his half of Ginter booty. Nick has dived deep into the Ginter cards, and has been busily assembling his set. Nick sent me a few cards towards my base, but the main draw of this package was several Ginter highlights sketch cards. This is the one subset of this series that I am really drawn to, and thanks to Nick, I am now several cards closer. Here is the one that really made me pause...

Any Red Sox fan will sadly recognize the scene depicted in this card as the moment where Aaron Boone put the finishing touches on the Yankee comeback against the Red Sox in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. I can still see that Wakefield beachball flying off of Boone's bat into deep left. I have no idea if Aaron Boone even has a job today, but at the very least the damage was repaired the next season.

Nick also sent me a nice little surprise card: This is a nice little addition for my Blazer fandom. I have never seen a card quite like this and it has the big man...well, doing the last thing I expect to see him do...dribble. All reports are that Greg is working hard this summer and going to come back mean in the fall. Here is hoping to a fantastic Miller to Oden connection!

One more quick mention to Nick. I highly recommend you check out his site and check into some of his projects. He has a great idea with the code cards, and is seeking to collect all 100 and send out TTM to each of the athletes. This is a fantastic idea, and very ambitious, and I wish him luck!

My next package came from Tunguska, somewhere in Canada (sorry man, been awhile since we made the initial trade so I cannot remember your blog). The coolest highlight from Tunguska was this: This Lou Gehrig beauty represents the last of the 15 cards needed to complete my Career Best Legends set. he now sits proudly next to the 14 other legends and I can close a book on that collection. Thank you Topps for not extending this set into the Highlights and Updates edition coming out in a few months.

Tunguska also kicked down several gold parallel Sox cards, my favorite of which is the Jon Lester Landscape shot. There were also a few A&G base cards and an unopened N43 boxloader of Dice-K. Thanks man, and I am also happy to help you out with your extra request, but we will get to that...

Another reader by the name of Frederick was kind enough to tackle several of my Allen and Ginter base cards, and at this point my base needs are really starting to slim out. Thanks Frederick!

Now on to the weekly administrative duties...

• Before I left on vacation, I set up a poll regarding what I should do with the 99% of the cards of which have no value to me or anybody else in the world. Not surpisingly, by landslide the people have spoken and have decided that I need to collate all of my randoms and report back to you all what I have (sigh). This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it will help keep me busy while I wait for the Topps Chrome to ship out next week. I will choose a product and search through my piles and report back to you. I just hope that there are those of you that are able to suck these up for me, or else they will become collated garbage!
• My search continues for SP Legendary Cuts short prints. If you look over on the right bar, you will see the cards which I am still looking for. These are a bit tricky to find, so if you have any of these or know of anybody that has any, can you please help me achieve this set? This is a top-priority for me at the moment. Thanks!!
• A couple of people have sent me their Ginter Code cards and have asked for my signature. While I feel pretty awkward about this, I think it is cool if you are excited to get a signed card and I am more than happy to do so for you if you would like. I just have to go buy a blue sharpie and practice first because these cards are slippery! If you might be willing to include a self-addressed stamped or a trade idea as well, that would be cool! Also, don't forget to hit up Nick as well for these requests...after all it was a team effort!

I think that is about it for now. I look forward to getting back into the swing of things!