if you wanted to bust triple threads...

...here's your chance!

Kinda.



I am gauging interest on a group break. I want to do a Triple Threads theme break. With the couple of boxes I busted, the trades made at the local shop and the couple I picked up on eBay, I've gained a nice healthy amount of 2011 Threads. I know we can't all buy boxes of the stuff but I can try the next best thing.


Here's the details:

For 1/5th the price of a box of Triple Threads you can make your own from the cards I'll post. It'll work just like my older breaks, with a list of pickers going in order.

A fifth of the price of a full box means $40, and for that you'll get just like a box:

1 Unity single relic
1 Unity single auto/relic
1 Triple relic (single player or multiple)
1 Triple relic/auto (single player or multiple)


Other than those, I'm also including the following to pick from and everyone will get:

1 2011 Chrome auto
1 relic
2 autos


The one relic and one auto will be from different sets, being what ever I have in my box here. I will also add in the following base cards:

5 Triple Threads base (the reds, numbered to 1500), with one being a parallel
5 2011 Finest
10 2011 Chrome

Thats a total of 8 hits of your choice. Here is a sample of what will be included:

Interested? Let me know in the comments below. I will only have five spots open so act fast if you do want to participate. If interest is big, I can do another slot and if we do get 6 people, I will knock the $40 to $35.

Oh and everyone who participates will be entered into a random drawing to grab an autographed ball of a Hall of Famer. I won't say which player but if we get 5 to 6 people, thats a pretty good chance you have to grab that ball.


1- cheap card collecting
2- stealing home
3- wickedortega
4-
5-
(6)- kevin (if 6)

patterns and updates

Man, I really wish I could get this scanner/printer to work right. I'd really love to have pictures accompany my thoughts on 2011 Update. I haven't purchased much. A few racks, a $9.99 Target box and some loose packs. With $$$ being a bit tight I'm forced to cut back a little. It's entirely alright though and I'll explain why (I'll get to Update in a second).

This being the second year that I have come back into collecting, I have noticed a pattern with my buying habits. First off, I have cut out a lot of the impulse packs and such that I bought so much of early on in 2010. When I got back into collecting, I had nothing, so naturally buying up anything and well...everything, seemed right. To see what I had missed. It was certainly a good lesson in past years of sets and players and so on but it left me with a mountain of cards. Thankfully I found blogging and fellow collectors on here that were willing to trade for their favorite teams and players. Or maybe they just wanted to finish off a set and I was more than glad to help. Topps flagship is a different story though. I have noticed that in both 2010 and 2011 a pattern has definitely made itself apparent. What I do is buy up a TON of series 1. Probably because it is a new year and the lack of baseball has be frothing for some cardboard goodness. Then series 2 hits and I buy a bunch but it is always significantly less. I'd say about half of what I did for series 1. Maybe it is due to the glut of products Topps puts out in between that kills my wallet and I'm a little burnt on cards at the moment. Or in the case of this year, little work=little money. Then Update hits around now and I end up buying even less than series 2, roughly half of that I'd say. I finish off the sets but then in the case of series 1, I kept buying. I have no idea why but I did. I know that last year in the case of Update, I knew it was hitting in mid-October and I was getting married about a week later. Little time for cards. This year its the summer lack of cash hitting again. So is my pattern due to circumstance or is it just how things work? I would say a little of both. Circumstance certainly has more to do with it but by the time Update hits I'm burnt on collecting and just want to finish off the set and be done with it. Topps releases so much during the year and I try to sample it all (high end not withstanding) so it just kills my drive. I did buy less this year than last year, which is good. Less stuff I don't need and more of what I set out to collect, which is something I wanted to focus on in the 2011 collecting year.

Anyway, enough of my silliness, how about some Update?

Again, I would love to have pictures but I almost don't need them because its Update and we've all seen them. When the set hit eBay I scoured to see if they had added any more legends variations and found that they had. 25 more to the fray, bringing up the total to 74 for all three series. If you need the list, I added them to the checklist on baseballcardpedia. I would like to collect them all again, so If you come across any, I'll definitely trade for them. I did manage to pull one, Paul O'Neill. I will trade for any of them but I won't be actively chasing the parallel versions just the regular white border ones.

Speaking of parallels, Update is FILLED with them and I don't mind. The congnac parallels are pretty nice and the Target red border are really cool too. Wal-Mart has a blue border (of course) and the Hope Diamond blue I haven't seen in person yet but I'm sure they look nice too. Speaking of Wally and Target, did anyone buy an blaster from either place? Do they still have the throwback and all black parallels? I hope not. As cool as the throwbacks are I think the red/blue borders are much nicer and I hope that blasters replaced the old parallels with the new ones.

As far as inserts go it seems that there are only Topps 60, Kimball Champions, and Diamond Duos, which are numbered the same as series 2 and have NO distinction as to which set it comes from. No idea why Topps did this but if you get a DD-22 from series 2 and DD-22 from Update, they look identical save for the players, making set building that much harder...if anyone even bothered collecting them. Sure ToppsTown are there but no one cares and thankfully are a little harder pull. I will be collecting the Kimballs too and will have a list up soon on my wantlist page.

Other than that Update is filled with some great action shots from the summer, All-Stars and some new rookies and is pretty much what you expect from series three at this point. I would like to finish off a set and if you find yourself with some extra Update you don't mind donating over, I'll gladly take 'em.

2011 a&g relic set

Ok, some things accompany this post:

One, I know A&G has been out seemingly forever but I had an idea to finish up a "set".

Two, it's not a full set, as it is only one team,

and
Three, I know it's almost 'the thing to do' around here but hate on the Yankees is something I don't do. I'm a Jays fan first and a Yankee fan second.

Now, with all that out of the way, I'll get on to what I'm talking about. I admittedly picked up too much Ginter this year. I said I wouldn't but I did. I did finish off the set last week, all 350 cards. No extended minis for me. No insert cards either. Out of all the Ginter I did pick up, I managed to get four Yankee relics. Yes, horrific pulls for some (not you AJ or BA Benny) but not for me. I then decided to see how many Yankees there were in the set, saw that there were 12 and figured I could pretty easily get the rest. I pulled arguably the most pricey one (Jeter) along with three others I'll point out below. Oh and how much I paid for them too.

Burnett- pulled / Cano- $3 / Cervelli- pulled
Chamberlain- pulled / Gardner- $2 / Hughes- $1

Jeter- pulled / Martin- $1 / Posada- $2.30
Rodriguez- $3.25 / Swisher- $2.25 / Teixeira- $2.77

So as you can see, the most expensive one was Alex Rodriguez at a whopping three bucks and change. If you can finish off the Yankee portion of this set so cheap, every other team should be pure cake. I was also very thankful there wasn't a Mantle relic. I really didn't want to have to shell out for that. Some of these come in two variations, those being either a bat or jersey. I would prefer jerseys but I took bats where I did to get them on the cheap.

2011 topps lineage (update)

As I noted on the bottom of yesterday's post, 2011 Topps Lineage is in stores. Well, hobby stores anyway. I think everyone forgot about this set, or they just didn't care. Hot off the heels of Allen & Ginter and last weeks Bowman Platinum, Lineage seems like a fun set collector's set. Here are the base cards:

Personally, I think these look awesome. I believe they could have held this design for 2012 Topps and I would have been happy with that. A 200 card set, that has an excellent mix of stars new and old. Even some faces we haven't seen in a while make a return here (see Belle and O'Neill). As you notice in the bottom row...Rookie Cups! They took 10 guys who never got a rookie cup card and gave them one. They are the final 10 cards in the set (191-200) and the trophy on the front actually says their rookie year, which was a nice touch. Seeing Ripken with a rookie trophy is pretty cool. My one complaint about the set is the backs, which I'll get to later.

Here are the parallels of the set:

These follow suit for the 1975 mini issue. Same size and everything. The players do have the same picture on the mini and the regular card, which different pics from the base set would make this parallel set a 'must collect'.

These are modeled after refractors essentially. Super shiny goodness.

These are just like the series 1 and 2 shinys. Nothing wrong with that at all. These look good with this.

Here are the Topps Giants. These come one per box and have a relic parallel. There are 20 of these and seem like they are the same size as the originals.

Now, on to the inserts:

These are the 3D cards. Kind of hard to tell on here but they look pretty good in person. Kind of like the Topps 2020 inserts from last year. There are 25 of these and they are un-numbered.

Anyone collecting in the 80's surely remembers these. These look awesome with modern players on them and look pretty true to the originals. I think there are 20 of these as the back indicates but the checklist seems messed up and says 19. Topps QC strikes again.

These are Stand-Ups. Fold 'em and see your favorite players come to life!...or something. Kinda neat. 25 un-numbered cards to collect here. (did I mention I hate things that are un-numbered?)

The cloth stickers. May be hard to tell but these are kind of flimsy, as they are actually cloth. 50 of these suckers to collect and stick everywhere!

Now, here is the card back. Yes it is in Spanish, as these are the Venezuelan inserts. The fronts are the same as the base set but they are numbered TV## and have Spanish on the back. 25 cards here. See, the back is the only fault in this set. I would have preferred lifetime stats on the back (and even more preferred would be a vertical back with a tiny pic and vital info and stats but oh well) but the writing is at least interesting.

The hits:

Here are a sample of the hits. The McCutchen auto is a reprint auto, where Topps reprints a card and has them sign it, on-card. They range from 1952 Topps to 1990 Topps for Nolan Ryan (as used on the sell sheet) to Andrew's 2010 here. Nice idea, I say. The middle auto is from the 1952 autograph set and features current players in the (now kind of droll) 1952 design. Decent names too like Posey, Jimenez and Freeman. The final card is the relics. They come in the 1975 mini style. Not much more to say there. They also have a jumbo relic too but I haven't pulled one.

In conclusion, I think this is a really great idea and I think Topps has done a fine job capturing some of their oddball heritage that we may (or may not) fondly remember during our collecting in the days of yore. The base set has a slick design that I feel outshines many of their flagship releases with its simple yet modern approach. Again my only complaint is the backs but when the fronts look this good and the rest of the inserts and parallels are this fun I can't really say too much bad about it.

Gasp!! A different picture!!


***UPDATE***

After a little research, I have found that this set will come to retail stores too, like Target and WallyWorld. Blasters come 7 packs per box plus a guaranteed mini relic (for the assumed $20), which seems pretty good once you look at the relic checklist. Some duds but some big names on there too.

The 80's looking rookie subset is in fact, 19 cards. Apparently card 15 was skipped but there are all 19 players that are listed on the checklist. So cards 16-20 are really 15-19.

Also, some folk on the Blowout card forums are bitching about this not being a set to make your money off of. Clearly this is a true collectors set and not a Bowman product just to make money off of. I feel that Topps put some good effort into this release and it should appease real collectors (not those looking for profits) in a good way.

topps diamonds

I can't really say I had high hopes for the Topps Diamond Giveaway. After last years Million Card Giveaway and the lack of great things I pulled from that, I expected more of the same. More 1993, 1988 and 2007 Topps were on their way to my digital file. Well, I did end up with those but I also ended up with a few diamond die cuts. I managed to trade them away, plus pretty much all of my other cards (until I had all five I needed anyway) that I unlocked to trade for the Blue Jays team set:

I had mentioned before that the Hill came off of eBay, cheap. The other five I traded for on the site. I took delivery of these on Wednesday night and I received them today. An awesome turn around rate for Topps. Well actually I've always gotten things from the very quick. Probably helps that they are in New York and I'm here in Connecticut. Oh, I also unlocked this guy too:

I figured I would take him too. Why not right? I haven't decided if he is for traded, although I haven't run into any Twins fans either. All thats left in my account now is about 15 cards I want nothing to do with and 58 different rings (missing Mantle and Ruth, which is not rare btw but people refuse to trade it). I also took delivery of the anniversary set but they said it won't ship until August. Still no idea what it is.

2011 topps series 2- the crinkly take

First off, I still need a couple more emails from two more participants in the break.

-Greg
-Wicked (who is holding his own break not unlike mine, so go check him out if you missed out on mine, or just want to get in on more great pickin' action)

Remember in these emails, I just need your address and your favorite team. Title the email 'break address', just for my sanity's sake.

Now, onto business. Topps series 2 was released a few weeks ago but it is still fresh on the table. It also doesn't hurt that a few upcoming sets have been pushed back. Ginter was pushed about two weeks, Bowman Platinum a whole month. Anyway. Series 2 is the obvious continuation where series 1 left off. Honestly, this series was a big improvement over the last series. I'll explain on the way.

Base cards:

Yup, we all know these. 330 more cards here. Shane over at Off the Wall mentioned about the colors being a bit lighter than series 1 and I can see it. The colors don't seem as bold as in series 1 but it's not too much of a difference to make it terrible. Some of us have way too much of these base cards (like myself) but don't mind it. I know I don't but if there is anyone who needs any from series 1 or 2, let me know and I'm sure I have a bunch available.

The inserts:

Kimball Champions:

These are by far, my favorite insert set of this year, which I am collecting. Fifty more cards here and all are retired veterans and Hall of Famers. No current players in this mix which is fine by me, seeing as how series 1 was pretty much all current guys. It has been mentioned that they are a bit flimsy and I kind of agree, they could have been a bit thicker but then again they would have had to do this in series 1. Still a cool insert though.

60 Years of Topps:

Continuing their love of reprinting their own cards, this marks the fifth time in two years that they reprint one card of each year. See last year it didn't make much sense but this year, fitting in with the 60th anniversary theme does work. Fifty-nine more reprints to add to your ever growing Topps reprint collection are added here. Eventually Topps will run out of good cards to reprint and be forced to reprint meaningless commons. Goody, anyone for a 1976 Skip Jutze? If you'll notice, Topps still can't get their fonts right on their reprints, which still puzzles me.

Before there was Topps:

Never a company to toot their own horn too much, this is a small seven card set that focuses on the meager amount of cards that were released before Topps came into the game. Apparently there were only seven sets that were significant before 1952. Before series 2 was released they said this set would be 10 cards but it is in fact, only seven cards. At least they are informative though, which is a plus for me.

Diamond Duos:

At 30 cards big, this set is still kind of boring. Hey, at least they are numbered this time around instead of letter-numbered like in series 1. NOTHING should be letter-numbered unless it is a relic or auto. Well, thats what I think anyway.

Diamond Stars:

Here we go. Now this is an insert set. Arguably the best insert set to come out of 2011 so far (next to the Kimballs), I am definitely collecting these and at 25 cards it shouldn't be too difficult. Inserts should be fun and catchy and interesting, making you want to collect them. These cards just pop with the great diamond parallel tech they used on said Diamond parallels.

Topps 60:

50 more stat related cards here. Not much to say about them really except that this is what the relics and autos look like, just like Peak Performance did last year.

Topps Town:

This, believe it or not, is probably the best improvement over series 1 and only because these are now seeded 1 in 6 packs. Thats the best news short of making these disappear all together. Oh, and they are flat as opposed to kinda curvy like series 1 (anyone else notice that?)

Legends Variations:

25 more legends join up with the 24 from series 1. I am definitely seeking these out and will trade big for any of them. Currently I am up to 11 of the 25 (and finished off series 1), with 2 more on the way from eBay. Still no word on what the odds are on these but I have pulled about 5 of them myself.

Legends Variation Diamond Parallels:

Also new to this series is the inclusion of all 49 legends done up in diamond form. I am casually collecting these and if I finish, I finish. I'll still trade for them though because they do look cool.

Twink gimmicks:

These return and 60 more of 'em too. I've pulled two so far, Howard above and Tim Lincecum. I am indifferent towards these but remember to check your codes!

So series 2. How 'bout that? Improvements in small but needed areas (Diamond Duo numbering, Topps Town insertion ratios) and more of the same (Topps 60, 60 Years of Topps) with a little new (Diamond Stars, Before there was Topps), making this a solid release. Topps' flagship set usually is thankfully, otherwise what good are they? Again though, really, if anyone needs base cards, let me know. Or let me know if you have legends variations for trade too. I want 'em.

well...who was it?

Yep, not eight minutes after my post went up yesterday, was the signature guessed. Wickedortega guessed quick and correct (the man knows his stuff), and has won an yet-to-be-determined prize. It'll be cool though. I am holding in the picture above a bat signed by Willie himself. Personally, I feel the two best living players to sign a bat would be Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. I'm counting it strictly on home runs though. No, Barry does not (and will not ever) count in my book. Hank is the true Home Run King. Then the Babe, then Willie. Griffey would be a fantastic bat to have signed too. Hmm... So yeah, a new piece of memorabilia for the very small collection. Nothing else but those signed baseballs and that Vernon Wells mini helmet. It's a start though.

Also on my mind as I write this, is that the 2011 Topps Update sell sheets are live (see bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog for more details) and I am kinda excited for it. Yes, more of the same but the new parallels look cool, although I won't be chasing them, they would be nice to get. The best part? The Hank Aaron veteran short print that was shown! Finally Hank joins the fray. I know they do it based on who they have the license for but its about time. Who else can we hope for in series two and Update?

Lets run down the list:

Hopefuls:

Roberto Clemente
Mark Fidrych
Duke Snider
Cal Ripken Jr.
Ryne Sandberg
Gary Carter
Al Kaline
Don Mattingly
Barry Larkin
Roberto Alomar (now that he's in the HoF, and an SP as a Jay would rule!)
Mike Piazza (hey, they had Frank Thomas in series 1)


Probables:

Sandy Koufax
Pee Wee Reese
Robin Roberts
Mickey Mantle (they did it with series 2 in 2010...)

Well, we'll just have to wait a week for series 2 and until October for Update to see who they add in there. I know the series 2 sell sheet showed Nolan Ryan (awesome) and another Babe Ruth (huh?). Personally, I'd love to see all these guys in there but Topps may think otherwise. I am going based on who had autos in series 1 (well, not all these guys had autos), and those who I'd really like to see.

OH...and the best part. If you noticed on the Update sell sheet about the two new parallels (the hope diamond and cognac) they speak of the rest of the 709 cards in series 1 and 2 will be available in those colors too. 709 total minus the 660 regular cards equals 49. These 49 are for the short print legend variations from series 1 and 2. Meaning I finally got my answer, that there are only 24 short prints in series 1 and the 25 will be series 2. Weird way to get my answer but there it is.

2011 bowman- the crinkly take

While at Target this afternoon, I decided to check the card isle (what else?) and noticed they did in fact have some 2011 Bowman for sale. Only a gravity feed though. No racks, no blasters, no anything else, so I grabbed some packs (seven packs to be exact, about a blaster minus the free one). While I don't buy heavy into Bowman, there isn't a Topps baseball product that I don't buy zero of. With the exception Triple Threads last year, I bought at least a few packs of each set released last year. That includes Tribute and that second Bowman set, Draft Picks and Prospects and even Pro Debut (just for ha-has). This year is no different, I even picked up an Attax rack pack but stayed away from Tribute this year. So Bowman. What's the deal? Lets take a look:

The base cards:

The base cards have a fairly simple design this year. I really like the bottom foil team logo, player name and position. I think it works very well. The red portions under the picture are a little weird but I guess they couldn't surround the picture with a red border again like last year. The gold parallels look decent too, with the gold foil in place of the silver. Overall I'd have to place this design right after 2010 as my second favorite Bowman base design from the past five years. (my order of favorites goes: 2010, 2011, 2008, 2009, 2007)

The prospect set:

This design seems a little more cluttered than the past few years offerings. The picture seems a bit small with the huge autograph area and large borders surrounding the picture itself. I like the team logo being on the fronts though, that is a big plus. The chrome versions look exactly the same but shiny. I kinda prefer it as I really like shiny. As for where I would place this within the past five years, it wouldn't rank as high as the base cards do. My favorites in order for the prospect cards are: 2010, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2007. It seems like I'm not really a fan of 2007 Bowman eh?

The insert sets:

Bowman having inserts seems a little weird. It started last year (I think) and continued this season. I don't seem to remember getting inserts in Bowman in any of the years except last year. The Bowman's Best look cool and just like the original 1994 design. Damn, It's really weird to think that 1994 is considered retro now. The only insert I didn't get one card of was the Bowman's Brightest. The Topps 100 looks better this year over last years with a smaller emphasis on the number '100' on the front. I like the Finest Futures design and the Topps of the Class design is ok but nothing special.

All in all, this years Bowman is a solid set design-wise, through and through. While I may not prefer this year over last year, it is certainly close to the top. Hopefully the rookie crop this year proves to be as good as last years. Bryce Harper, Brandon Belt and Michael Pineda lead the way as the hot prospects (well, based on what I've read) of this year so far. I'm sure many more will prove themselves as great first year players like last years Buster Posey, Starlin Castro, Jason Heyward, Mike Stanton, Carlos Santana, Brennan Boesch and the list goes on. I would have counted Strasburg but he didn't finish the season out. We'll see who gets the call-ups later on this season.

trade bait...

...the 'how to' edition. For those that have any desire to make a deal with me, please read the following post.

There isn't any trade bait in this post. This post is intended to state how I am going to go about this process. I know some of you guys who post up trade bait make it easy on yourselves and put up some random cards. That is probably the best way to do it but since I have to go and make things difficult this is how I am going to go about it.

At first I stated I would be going by division. Once I found a bunch of cards for each team (some much more than others), I realized that I would have way too much to post up here. So, the new way I am going to go about it is two random teams. Two teams that I pick out of the box of stuff I have picked out to post up without looking. I'll pull the two teams and post up the cards I have for trade for each of those teams. What I have pulled from my collection is essentially anything that isn't a base card. Inserts, parallels (not ALL but anything sort of significant, no Wal-Mart black cards for example but I will offer them to you if I have any from a team you pick), relics and autos. You can tell which teams I have never traded stuff from because there is a lot of pulled cards from teams I haven't traded away.

What I am looking for:

2011 Topps manu-patches:

These are the only five I have. If you have ANY that are not these and you want to trade them, I want them. These are not up for trade though.

2011 Gypsy Queen framed paper parallels:

I have very few of these too but there are only 100 so it shouldn't be too hard to finish up.

I would also like to finish up 2011 Heritage soon too. Base cards are down to maybe six but the short prints are still quite a few. That list is still on the right and is always up to date.

These are the priorities. If you have a trade bait section of your own and want cards I have but don't have anything I stated above, we can work from that too. The first actual trade bait post will come some time this week. Be sure to check each time because I may have a relic/auto/parallel from a set you are currently collecting. I have some good surprises in my collection so you never know what will pop up. Stay tuned and I can't wait to make some deals!

it started with tickets...

My local card shop has a Facebook page. The owner announced on this page that he had free New Britain Rock Cats tickets for those who wanted them. I jumped at this, of course, as I've been dying to get to a game as of late. The game is this Sunday and they'll be playing the Harrisburg Senators. Should be a good time.

Well, it wouldn't be much of a post if I stopped there, would it?

I sent him a message asking if he had gotten in his Gypsy Queen yet. He said that it should be there any minute. I proceeded to ask him how much boxes were going for. His reply was "about $150ish". Ouch. That's about what they are now averaging online, scary, no? Well, yes it is but if the Christy Mathewson deal taught me anything, it is that bartering is good. Very good. So I checked out my stuff, rounded up some trade and headed on over to the shop. With the trade stuff, I managed to get the cost of the box and six packs down to a flat $100. That folks, I can work with. I had to get some of the set, my collecting itch doesn't go away when it gets itchy, so I had to think of something. Packs are selling for about $9 right now over there and boxes are $159. Here is what I ended up with:

Boy, the cardboard Gods must have been smiling upon me. My box contained the Youkilis and Ripken relics and the Freeman auto redemption. It also had the Pelfrey (leather parallel numbered 1/10 but its not really leather) and the Halladay sepia numbered 99/99 (this card is spoken for). Seems I was missing that second auto, so My UPC will be sent in for my second no name auto. The Freeman is on eBay right now due to them selling for a decent amount of money.

The packs had the Frank Robinson mini relic, the Markakis auto, and in the same pack was the Fukudome relic and Ruben Tejada mini cyan plate. This is only the second plate I've ever pulled and BOTH have been Mets (the first was a Jose Reyes from National Chicle).

I really like the set but due to cost I won't be finishing it up. I really don't think he will let me trade up for another box so it looks like this is it for boxes. He also informed me of a potential reason as to why this set is doing what it is.

He spoke with two different distributers and they both gave the same reason. Seems that when this set was solicited in December, orders and interest were low. So Topps printed less just to be cautious. Makes sense as to why they cut the set down by 100 cards last minute. So maybe I have been a bit harsh on Topps if this is the truth. Most dealers and collectors must have passed this off as 'just another retro set', and saw that might be hot last minute so now everyone is scrambling for product. Also if this is the case, this set will seemingly be always tough to find and expensive (card shop guy expected boxes to be around $200 next month), due to not much of it being out there. We will just have to see.

oh boy...

...I knew it was going to come to this. When the sell sheets for 2011 Heritage first appeared, I glanced them over and took a look at all the cool stuff awaiting our grubby collecting hands. Hey relics are always fun and an autograph of Ernie Banks or Hank Aaron would be frikkin' sweet too. There was, however, one "relic" (uhh...no) that I wanted to avoid, this:

The coin card. Man, how I didn't ever want to pull one of these in a box I bought. I'm glad I didn't. Well, until today. Although I didn't buy a box of Heritage, I did pick up a Wally-Mart $15 box. You know the one with the two hobby Heritage, two code cards (more on that in a second), and five packs of 2011 series 1. Oh the refractor too. I got Ruth, very nice (not sarcasm). The series 1 packs didn't yield anything of note but the Heritage had this. I got a little excited because I kinda felt that the pack was a tad thicker and I felt the sides (is that how those dirty pack searchers do it?) and noticed that there was an extremely thick card inside. How disappointed I was. I was certainly glad that I hadn't paid full price for a box and gotten this nonsense as a hit. Sure its 1:263, but who cares? When I say thick, I mean THICK. It is equal to six Heritage cards, which are thicker already and is equal to nine, yes NINE series 1 cards. Coin cards....Why? I have coins from the 1950s in my coin cup just waiting to be spent on morning coffee. Why do this to us? I mean sure, it's a novelty and isn't that what baseball cards are in general? But for this to take the place of a regular hit, man, I'd be the flippin' out type of mad. Maybe if they left these to just players from that era only and left these events cards alone (that already have a subset, mind you), then maybe it would be alright. Well, I certainly don't want it, so it will make it's way to the 'non-baseball player' section of my trade bait. That's a fun section, wait until you see some of those.

Oops...I posted this without realizing that I forgot to mention the NOTHING I got out of the code cards. 1988 Kirby Puckett is the highlight. I'm a fan of Kirby so it is hard to be mad but 1988 is not what I'm looking for. Me=done with Diamond Giveaway. I've gotten nothing but crapola so I'm throwing in the towel.

caught up!

I am officially all caught up over here. As you well know, my place in the hobby has slowed considerably. For the past month or so, I have all but completely neglected my miscellaneous stacks of cards here (with the sole exception of stuff I sold on eBay) and it got, well...a bit out of hand. Cards everywhere, for different purposes, reasons and whatever else. I took yesterday as a 'catch up' day and sort through everything. I had stuff like doubles (which some turned out not to be doubles), cards for people who I contacted but got no response from (I tend to pull cards before I contact someone about their wantlists), and cards in boxes that I thought I wanted to do nothing with. Like I said, a bit of everything. I sorted, checked, condensed, put away...all very good things.

Now, with all that said, is there anyone else that needs 2011 Topps and 2011 Heritage? I would really like to clear out some of this excess before my next project, which I'll talk about in a minute. So please, if you have a want list for anything 2011, let me know and I'll see what I have. That includes all base cards and inserts from 2011 series 1, and a good stack of Heritage. I didn't chase any of the inserts from series 1, so they are all up for grabs (and I have many). In return I am really looking to finish up my Heritage set but if you don't have any that I need or to spare, I'll definitely think of something but I would really like to clear some space over here.

Next- the project. I have seen many of you post up trade bait and I am going to do the same...with a twist though, and some input from you guys. First, how it will be done is by division. I believe I will post up the division on either Sunday or Monday (which ever I get time to do), try and work deals out in the week and have the cards shipped on Saturday. Much easier for me to ship on Saturdays. Now, what I need from you. What do I include in these posts? At first I thought just relics and autographed cards but then while sorting yesterday, I noticed I had some good stuff that didn't have writing or a jersey on it. Stuff that's numbered, refractors, shiny (from a non-shiny set), short-prints, etc. YOU tell me. Tell me what you want to see in a trade bait post and I'll do my best to see what I have available. Then, once the deals I am talking to some of you about and any future ones about the 2011 stuff are done, I'll start posting the trade bait after hearing your feedback and putting the cards together.

So, if you are interested in either trading or getting some more 2011s to finish up a set, let me know and we'll make a deal!

down but not out

Well almost a week without a post has to be some kind of bad record for me. I've never gone that long without posting but there has been literally nothing going on over here. Work has been slow still and we anticipate the month of April being this way the whole way through. No packs or single have been bought. No eBay. Nothin'. Well, nothing but a few trades. That's the best kind of mail, trade mail! I have made a few trades with some peeps helping me finish up the Heritage set. A package of them came today from Steve over at The Card Chop. We did a 'stack for stack' kind of deal and it worked out well for the both of us. I haven't gotten to sending out the cards yet but they'll go out on Saturday. A few more deals are in the works and if you have any Heritage I need, let me know. I'll trade for 'em. The list is fully current as to what I need. I also received something really cool in the mail the other day but I'm saving it for a future post so I have something to write about.

heritage; check your codes!

First things first: I have posted my 2011 Heritage want list on the right side bar there. I do need a gross amount of short prints but I think it'll be achievable.

Secondly; just in case you haven't noticed yet, there is a way to tell if you have short prints hidden in your base cards. Topps, as of late 2009, started to put a small code on the back of each card, see here:

This is the back of two 2011 Heritage cards with the codes enlarged for easier reading. Yes, the print is incredibly small but it gives you the key to finding cards that aren't part of the base set. Check those codes above; the base card is on top (#9911101) and a black bordered Target parallel is on the bottom (#9911112). The chrome cards (even if green, refractors, black or Target black) are numbered with the same code. Basically any card that has the 'C' before the number (in the shown card's case, C65 Ty Wiggington) has this same code. The code #9911101 is used for each base card in the set, including the high number short prints (426-500) but will tell you if you have one of the variants like the green tints in the 110-196 card spots. The only different codes that are used in the base set are the Ruth specials (cards 135-144) and will vary from codes #9911101 through #9911104. Anything higher in the final digit will be a variation. I noticed this difference when I pulled a Target red Ruth variant that had the code #9911109. I had two of the base card so this one stuck out.

I first noticed the codes and their differences once I pulled the Carlos Gonzalez sparkle variant from 2011 series 1. The base cards from series 1 have the code #3621101, #3621102 and #3621103. The sparkle used code #3621126 and the short print legends use #3621125, although those are easy to pick out with the dirty ball on the front plus well, they're legends. Hard to mistake. This made it tremendously easier to find out if I had any sparkle variants hidden in my base cards.

Small print and it is kind of confusing, I know. If anyone has any questions on Topps and their codes, definitely feel free to email me. I'll answer any questions I know how to.

topps series 1 wrapper redemptions

Topps can be pretty quick about things on occasion. Case in point; I mailed out my Series 1 wrappers on Saturday, and received my four redemption packs today. According to Baseballcardpedia, you need to send the jumbo and regular packs separate. Not true. I stuffed all the wrappers into one envelope (10 jumbo, and three bundles of 36 regular hobby packs) and they accepted them. Here is what I got:

These were the best of the bunch. I got 20 cards total, with there being 60 in the set. I am going to hold on to these, they are really really nice and the scan doesn't even come close to doing them justice. As you can see, I managed to get one of the 34 autographed 1952 players, Ned Garver. He is numbered 27/60 and admittedly, I know nothing about him. I do have this though:

His 1954 Topps card.

A quick trip to Wikipedia lets me know that his rookie season was 1948 with the St. Louis Browns. He also played for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics and was part of the first Los Angeles Angels team in 1961, his final year of play. Is he a Hall of Famer? No, but a fine player and a good addition to my collection.

quick pick-ups

I picked up some more '54s for the set on the cheap, from the 'Bay:

Two Yanks and a Phillie. Total cost including shipping: under $10.

I also picked up a hobby box of Heritage at the local shop today. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that I was missing my 'Real One' auto or my relic but it did have this instead:

I have never, ever seen one of these in person. Part of the "Happy 60th" continuity spread across all Topps products this year, there are five different players per set, each numbered to 60. In Heritage, these run at an odds of 1:7,500, hobby. This is certainly the rarest card I've ever pulled odds-wise. Totally makes up for the missing auto or relic worth about $3.00. Or maybe this is my hit... Eh, either way I am extremely pleased with the outcome. This also marks my second Ernie auto. I will be piecing together the set, 1-500 and the four insert sets (both flashback sets, then and now, and new age performers) so if you have some dupes, look for my want list on the right soon.

heritage is now!

Yes, unbelievably, 2011 Heritage is available here in town. I picked up a blaster last night and one today on my way home from work. The local Wallymart had them. CRAZY. They never have stuff the day after release. I always have to wait about a week until the retail stores here get it. The 1962 design is a classic for sure and I feel it works with the modern players of today. I don't know why but something about that photo looking like its being peeled up looks great to me. As if to reveal the information about the player that lies underneath. Here are some of my favorites, picture-wise:

The Hamilton and Markakis sporting the classic 'hold a bat for a picture' poses. Aaron Hill with the bat on the shoulder pose and the Walker with the giant rookie cup (trophy?). Morrow is a short-print and is using the 'I'll just stand here for a photo' pose. The floating heads on the batting leaders are great too. Very 60's Topps.

Oh, and there are these:

Soooooooooooooooo glad to see these return! I loves me some full team photo cards. I know Heritage usually has them but I always kinda forget until it hits me in the face jumping out of a pack.

I did manage to find this guy too:

Ahh, Vernon. With your airbrushed Angels cap. I really hate to say it but this 'Vernon to the Angels' thing has really made me lose interest in seeking out his stuff. So much so that I recently put all my Wells cards into the big Jays box (they had their own box before) and have kinda all but stopped looking for cards on eBay of his too. I know that when you collect a player you should follow him to which ever team he plays for but for now I think he is on hold. Griffey is still holding strong though and I'm always looking for his stuff.

Enough about those two though, we're here to talk Heritage!

Heritage is usually the one set few collectors complain about. With good reason too. The Heritage line usually captures the spirit of the original set it is based on. The card count may be different but chances are if the original had it, the Heritage version will too. Case in point; the 1962 issue has a ten card subset for Babe Ruth, which is also included in this year. The 1962 issue also featured one series that had a green tint to the cards, that are replicated here too (but hopefully not the whole 500 card set). There are also number variations (see below) that Topps did in '62 that they mimic here also. I assume, like the original, it will be cards 1-109 for the smaller number and the rest of the set with the larger.

Overall, I think Topps did a bang-up job this year, paying close attention to the details of the 1962 issue and replicating them here very well. Will I collect the set? I may but that remains to be seen within the coming weeks and months.

2011 opening day...

So 2011 Topps Opening Day is live in my area. Funny that the sell sheet states that it will be available March 19th. Then they changed it to the 7th. The Target in my area here is usually slow at getting cards and yesterday was the first time I had seen some OD's there. So I picked up a blaster. Ten bucks, ten (plus one!) packs. Here are some highlights:

Now, also weirdly enough, the sell sheet states that there will be hobby exclusive inserts. Those inserts being the Presidential First Pitches. I had no idea Target was now a hobby shop. Maybe they just changed their minds. Also we see a Under the Lights Heyward and A-Rod 3D dealie. The Reyes is the blue bordered parallel. Wait though, lets check that out closer shall we:

What. The. Eff. They can use the gold stamping on a product like Opening Day but for the base 2010 and 2011 (and 2010 Opening Day for that matter), we get that cheap crummy black printed serial numbers? That screams crappy to me. Nothing like cheapening your base product there. Especially when the fronts have ZERO foil at all. This is the cheap set, not your flagship set Topps! Besides those above cards, I did get two Jays (Romero and Wells), three mascots, another blue border card (Austin Jackson, which is in the rookie cup personal collection), two 'Spot the Errors' and a buncha base cards. I am not chasing this set this year. This set is supposed to be 'fun and easy to build' and 'intended for kids' but I had nothing but grief trying to assemble the 2010 set. I bought WAY too much and ended up with one set. One set I had to finish by buying the remaining 5 or so cards off eBay. Total crap collation on this product and I'm sure 2011 is the same exact way. This may actually be the only time I do buy Opening Day this year, this one lonely blaster...

finally...

...an autograph worth getting out a Topps base product. Never, have I seen an auto from a pack of basic Topps that was worth really anything. I've pulled a few decent autos but nothing overly fantastic. This guy is the clear winner for best auto I've pulled:

Certainly a quality auto right here. Pulled from a hobby jumbo, from of all places, a Newbury Comics store. For those who don't live in the Massachusetts area, Newbury Comics is an awesome store that carries comics, movies and music. I noticed the last time I was there a few months back they carried baseball cards. Last night I went with a buddy of mine and picked out 4 packs and one jumbo. All hobby. No idea why they have hobby packs but that's all they had. No problem there. The pack luck continues. When I buy packs, I get good stuff. When I buy boxes, I usually get the shaft or missing hits. Want more proof? See the Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent relics and the Yaz and Ortiz dual relic? I pulled those three from four packs of 2009 SP Legendary Cuts. Last time I went to Wal-Mart, which was on Thursday? I picked up a couple packs of 2011 Topps and pull the Ruth legend variant (card 271). I'll save that picture for a future post. Packs net me my best stuff, maybe I should just give up boxes all together...

recent additions

I've busted a lot of 2011 Topps. Probably too much in fact. I can't help it though, it's a great set, plus it's the new kid on the block. Ernie here came from a hobby box I busted recently.

Now, I've seen some of these online, but has anyone else seen them in person yet?

Foil-less base cards. I got these today in one of those $9.99 Wal-Mart packs. They look really weird without the foil.

I also pick this up really cheap off of eBay:

A 1947-66 Exhibits card. I hadn't seen these in person until it came the other day. I found a site that has the distinctions on when these were made. Tom comes from the 1951 series. Here is a comparison with a modern sized card:

They are quite big. It does, however, look really nice displayed.

I did receive two packages in the mail today, one from Derek at Tomahawk Chopping - Cardboard & More!, full of Blue Jays goodness and the other from dayf over at Cardboard Junkie, with some 54 Topps we had discussed. It actually completed a few pages for me, so it was obviously a gigantic help. I am quite thankful for both packages and fit my collecting needs equally but differently. Thanks for the cards guys! Both these guys are Braves fans too...weird.