Trade with Thorzul

A few weeks ago when I was sending out a few trades, I remembered trading some 09 UD X cards with Thorzul and that I had recently made an impulse purchase of a blaster of the same product at Wal-Mart. I decided to send him a "surprise package" filled with some of the cards he needs to complete his set. Here are some of the highlights of the return package:

2009 Topps Gold Luke Scott. My fiancee loves Luke because she says he has "the nicest ass in all of MLB". I like Luke Scott because he is one of the few true power threats in the Orioles lineup. I showed her this card and with her sense of humor, she said "this card shows off his best assets". I like the card because I've always liked the Gold parallels that Topps has inserted in their packs.

2009 Topps Finest Adam Jones. I picked this card because Adam has really rebounded in the latter part of the season. He really had a rough start to the season thinking he could hit anything pitched remotely close to the plate and looking just plain silly in the outfield. I was really starting to sour on him but he has turned it around and could set career highs in many of his offensive categories.

2009 Upper Deck Vladimir Guerrero. Besides Vlad having a great comeback year, I'm still building this set. Please help! I would love to put this one to bed. I've build all of the Upper Deck sets from 1989 thru 2008 and need just a few more cards to complete the entire run of licensed Upper Deck sets.

Thanks to Bill for sending a great return package. I truly enjoyed the cards!

Trade with Sharpe since 92

I can't remember which of us solicited this trade, but I do know it helped both of us immensely. I helped him out with his 09 Topps and 09 Topps Updates and Highlights sets and he sent me 1 card off of my 10 Most Wanted Orioles card list. I got this 1983 Topps Jim Palmer:

"Kakes" completes my 1983 Topps team set! I'm pretty happy that my Most Wanted Orioles Card list is actually paying off. I've actually done 2 trades (and 1 more in the works) just by having the list up for about a month.

Jim also sent over some 2009 Topps 206 mini Piedmonts that I need for my set:

Thanks Jim for the trade and if anybody has some things off my wantlist, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Recent eBay Pickup #3

I have been cruising the 'bay looking for some cards of Cal Ripken lately and I stumbled upon this auction. The seller was offering a partial set of the 1995 Flair Enduring set featuring the Iron Man. It was only missing cards 9 and 10 of the 15 card set. So I won the cards and looked for the missing 2 cards else where. I found two other auctions featuring the missing cards ending just a day later. I also won those and ended up getting the entire 15 card set for under 30 dollars! I think I did pretty well! Here are a few of my favorites from the set:

Its hard to believe that I had not added any of this set to my collection before now. I am glad I did because the cards are just beautifully done. I'm a sucker for full bleed photography and thick card stock.

On a side note, I am also building several other Cal Ripken sets like Ultra Iron Man from 2007 "Fleer Ultra" and Cal to Greatness from 2000 Fleer Gamers. If anyone would like to trade some of them to me, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Trade with thesewingmachineguy

This was a smaller trade in regards to how many cards changed hands but in the satisfaction department, I could not be happier. I sent Larry over at thesewingmachineguy on cards a trade offer of some minis for his Frankensets or whatever the kids are calling them these days. Here is the return I got:

I got 5 cards in return and 4 of them are serial numbered. Can you guess which one isn't numbered? I know serial numbering isn't as big of a deal as it was in the 90's but seeing those foil stamped numbers still makes me feel like I've gotten something special.

I think I am going to give this trade package a theme name: "Orioles Stars for All Generations" Gus Triandos was in my opinion the Orioles first big name star from the little I know about him. The Robinson Boys were the 1-2 punch during the Orioles glory years in the 60's and early 70's, who bridged the gap to Steady Eddie in the 80's. While Ripken dominated the 90's Brian Roberts pretty much picked up the title of Baltimore's favorite son in the early 2000's.

Thanks to Larry who sent over these great cards!

Cal Ripken Cardboard Appreciation #5

2010 Topps Wal-Mart Exclusive Refractor #WME-2

I know this is a Ripken card that everybody has seen already but I just had to post it. I really do appreciate this card because I basically paid 15 bucks for it. I broke down and made an impulse purchase while at Wally-World. I bought the 40% more Value box that Topps has been pimping lately. Well I got about 40% more disappointment. I was shorted the mini card that was supposed to be in the Allen & Ginter pack, and got jack-diddly-squat in the 6 Topps series 2 packs. The two Million Card Giveaways (1 pack pulled) were 2 cards from the 70s that I will try to flip for some Orioles needs.

I finally got the card I wanted but at what cost. I should have just bought one on Ebay for a dollar and saved myself some dough. Oh well, Topp$ wins again.....

Group Break Highlights from A Cardboard Problem

Since I enjoyed 2009 Topps 206 so much (still working on the set), when the ladies at A Cardboard Problem decided to do a case break, I signed up for the Orioles. I am really glad I did! While I am not a fan of the regular set because of the no-hat photography, there are some interesting Orioles "hits" in this particular product. I think I did pretty well to get the a Cal Ripken GU bat card, and an Adam Jones autograph. Definitely sweet cards. While I was watching the break the day after, my jaw hit the floor when the Ripken popped out of the pack! These cards are both firsts in my collection. My first Ripken bat and first Jones autograph! I also like the regular set Ripken that I also scanned above. It's my favorite out of the whole set since its the only card I have seen that makes sense without a hat on his head. It's just bizarre seeing so many players not wearing hats. Baseball players wear HATS. ANYWAYS, I am trying to chase down some of the Ripken Mini Parallels and the Bronze parallel too (I keep getting outbid on Ebay!). If anybody gets any of them I will gladly trade in your favor.

Box Break: 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces

This is the last of my National Sports Collector's Convention take. I bought this box for $30 at the show in August and put it on the shelf until I could get my 2009 Topps 206 set wantlist to a manageable size and binder-ized. Here are the "hits" of the box:

Yeah, I got a Ripken Black Bordered Parallel. Its not that often you get a great card of your All-Time Favorite player in a box break! Add in a shortprint of my favorite team and the other hits, I can say the $30 I spent was well worth it even though I was shorted an autograph. (It's a good thing I went ahead and broke this box now because on the off chance I pulled an autograph redemption card, they expire on September 15th!). I also got a few other SP's: Reggie Jackson, Nolan Ryan, Joe Carter, and Al Kaline. In addition, I also got 3 more Black bordered cards Chin-lung Hu #43, Jimmy Rollins #70, and Lance Berkman #38. I faintly rememember somebody here on the blog-o-sphere was building the black bordered set. If anybody knows who it was let me know in the comments.

I was a little disturbed by the amount of doubles I got in the box. I know its a small set and the odds of not getting doubles is a lot lower. I think this would have been more of a gripe of mine hadn't I pulled the Ripken Black Border card. I also got 5 Yankee Stadium Legacy cards. What a waste of cardboard. I really don't care that the Yankees beat the A's 3-2 on August 9th, 1935. I'm glad that Upper Deck didn't short cards of the actual packs you are opening to include them.

I love this set and it will also will be binder-ized here in the near future. I might buy another box before it post a wantlist but I haven't made up my mind yet.

Cal Ripken Cardboard Appreciation #4

1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice You Crash the Game #CG4

This is another card I received recently from Cameron from the Reds and More Blog. As I was cataloging this card, I decided to take a closer look at the card and started to appreciate it a bit more. This scan really doesn't do the card justice. The background is quite shiny and has a "holo-foil" look to it that sparkles as you turn it different ways in the light.

According to the card back it was a mail in. It says "If the player on the front of the card hits a homerun on either of these dates listed, send it to Upper Deck and we'll send you a Super Premium card of your player." So I paraphrased a little bit, sue me.

Anyways, I know I've built the tension to the limit now. Everybody wants to know if Cal went yard on either of these days. Well, According to BaseballReference.com, on September 2nd 1996, Cal did not hit a homer, he "only" had a single and a walk enroute to a 12-8 win against the California Angels. September 3rd Cal also did not hit a dinger. He went 1 for 3 in a losing effort. September 4th the Orioles won 4-2 to take the series from the Angels on a 4 run outburst in the 6th inning. Cal did not homer in this game either. I guess that is why this card was never redeemed and ended up in my hands. Oh well a win for me!!!

Wow!

As in WOW! I can't believe I used a stamp to get these cards. I went to the mailbox and recieved these two cards from Topp$'s NPN Program. I have no use for the Chicle back Carrasco card nor the Adam Jones Bowman Throwback since I already have it. Does anybody else do the NPN things anymore besides me? I'd love to hear some stories...

Group Break Swag from Cardboard Collections

Colbey over at Cardboard Collections recently had a group break. The idea he came up with was to make it very affordable and to get as many cards as possible out of the packs for each participant. Naturally I took the Orioles. So without further ado, here is some of the swag I got.

1996 Topps Laser Mike Mussina. I had never seen Topps Laser before and I have been missing out. At first I thought this was a die-cut but all of the base cards are like this. All of the white specks in the flame are holes in the card not just printed! I also got a Palmeiro, Anderson, and Ripken like this. All of the cards have different Die-cutting on them which makes them very unique.

2002 Topps Total Matt Riley. Next up in the break was 2002 Topps Total. I was all about Matt Riley back in the day. He was a can't miss prospect for the Orioles. That was until a poor attitude and a few shoulder surgeries derailed his career. I heard he's playing independent league ball now.

1994 Donruss Triple Play. The next box busted was 1994 Triple Play. It was a substitution box because the box supplier was out of 1993 Upper Deck Fun Pack. I remember Triple Play when I was a kid. I bought a lot of the 93 product just not much of 94. This card above shows Brady showing off for the cameras again just like he always does.

Colbey also threw in some "bonus cards" to even out the goods for everybody. Here are a few"

1999 Stadium Club Mike Bordick. Mike was a steady performer for the O's during his playing days. He is currently working as a roving Minor League fielding coach for the Orioles. He had rave reviews for the Orioles #1 pick Manny Machado in the short period of time he has had to work with him. Listen to him Manny, he knows what he is doing! (Now, if he could just spend some time under Eddie Murray's wing learning about hitting!)

1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond Rafael Palmeiro. This was the first year Upper Deck had parallels inserted in their packs. Though I don't have all of the parallels listed for every year yet, doesn't mean I'm not interested in them. I am slowly working on my wantlists adding inserts and parallels to what is already there.

Thanks to Colbey for the Group Break. I hope he does another one very soon!

Cal Ripken Cardboard Appreciation #3

I made reference to these Topps Laser cards from 1996 that I got from the Group Break that Cardboard Collections had. This Ripken card is just too cool not to share with my readers. While the scan doesn't look as good the card looks fantastic in person. Enjoy!

Reds and More... Giveaway Swag

Recently Cameron over at Reds and more... decided he was ready to part with some cards from the other 29 teams in MLB. He is giving them away in return for stuff he collects. I decided to take him up on his offer and this is what he sent me. To say the least, I am very happy he is "giving" these cards away!

2004 Topps Luis Matos. This card may not excite anybody but me. What can I say, when it comes to cardboard, I am easy to please. This particular Matos card helps me complete my 2005 Topps Orioles Team Set!

2003 Stadium Club Jay Gibbons. At one point in his career he was my favorite player to watch. Heck, on some of the Oriole teams of the early 2000's he was the only player to watch. I loved the rags to riches story of how he was one of the few Rule 5 Drafted players to have sustained sucess. He threw all of that away by hanging out with David Segui and taking steroids. After that he begged all of the teams to give him another shot. I even heard he's playing for the Dodgers now.

2005 Sweet Spot Classic Eddie Murray. Seriously, I don't think I can have a proper post without featuring a Steady Eddie card. I really like the black and white photo and the pennant styled logo.

2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Sweet Swatch Nick Markakis. I really like the fact that Cameron is incorporating relic cards in his trade away. I've had my eye on getting this exact card on eBay for a while now but haven't pulled the trigger. I guess a higher power knew I would get this card eventually.

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces Cal Ripken Jr. I think it is only fitting that I show this card this weekend. Monday will be the 15th anniversary of him breaking the record for most consecutive games played. This beautifully done card shows the celebration during the game when the "2131" number was unveiled on the warehouse at Camden Yards.

Cameron is still running his trade away, trade up event. Go over and check him out if you are interested in getting in on the action. Trust me, you will be pleased with what you recieve.

Thanks again to Cameron for the cards. I will be sending your return package very soon!