OH NO!!!'s Poor Vintage Collection #2

The cards that are featured in this recurring theme were found by my father strewn about the floor of an abandoned farm building near my childhood home. There were approximately 1000 cards that laid undisturbed from the late 60's to early 90's when he discovered them. Most are in poor condition because exposure to the elements. He recently gave them to me and I will feature them here on my blog.

1958 Topps #187 Sandy Koufax. Overall, this card is not in as bad a shape as some of the others in my collection. This card has some surface wear and a crease extending from his chin to the right side of the card. It's a little off-center, well a lot off center from right to left. I really like this card because of the yellow background because in 1958 Sandy was a bright, up-and-coming star in the game.

Adventures in Retail #2

Just a quick post today. I ran into Target on Black Friday to get my 2 year old nephew a Christmas present. I got him the Rumblin' Chuck toy that's made by Tonka. Wow, their toys have changed a lot since I was a kid. Anyways, I had to stop by the card display on the way out and picked up a value pack of 2010 Topps Chrome. Here's the damage:

The base cards were nothing special save for the Mike Leake Rookie card. The x-fractors are nice but not really my cup of tea. The Markakis Orange Refractor wasn't a total surprise but it did influence my purchase a little bit. My fiancee actually saw the telltale O in the logo thru the front of the outer plastic sleeve and said I should get it. Good eye, babe! If you have picked up one of these value packs you know how they are situated in the outer plastic sleeve. I guess it wasn't a total win though because it's off-center and it has a blemish in the finish above his left hand.

This Daniel McCutchen Autograph was quite a surprise since they fall about 1 in 171 packs. I am really killing the odds with these value packs. I might get a few more for my birthday coming up in a few days.

Quick Post...

I just popped in to say I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend and to post a couple Brian Matusz cards that I have recently acquired:

I won the autograph redemption for 10 dollars and it showed up in my mailbox the other day. The Bowman Chrome refractor and the Topps Chrome Refractor came in trades and the Topps Update Rookie Refractor was won on eBay. Enjoy O's Fans!

Box Break: 2010 Bowman Chrome

I had been waiting for hobby boxes of Bowman Chrome to drop for while. I was able to get one delivered for less than 50 dollars (I learned my lesson with reordering!). I had never opened any of the product and I have always been a Bowman fan. I know there are two camps in the Bowman world, people who love it and people who hate it. I love seeing all the young prospects on their first cards, hanging onto them for a few year and digging them out when they make it to the Major Leagues. So you get 18 packs of 4 cards and one promised autograph card. I like that Topps changed the photos from the regular Bowman set. Nice touch, Topps! Let see what I got.

The regular refractors are really nice looking. I'm actively seeking the Orioles Team set. The Josh Johnson is my favorite because I like horizontal action shots.

My one insert was Topps 100 Prospects Jard Mitchell. The Kung Fu Panda Blue Refractor was a nice surprise, numbered 23/150. Blue Refractors fall 1 in 48 hobby packs.

The Team USA cards look nice with the white borders. I'm a little disappointed in the fact that they are miscut.

And here is my autograph card:

What's the matter? Don't see it? Neither did I. I did not get one in my box! I've already sent in the wrappers, UPC code, copy of my receipt, a letter bitching about how I was shorted an autograph card and why after 15 years of printing chrome cards that they still can't figure out how to cut the cards correctly.

I have a theory on why my box was shorted the autograph card. On the back of the packs the odds of pulling an autograph card are 1 in 24 packs. There are only 18 packs in the box! So either Topps had originally intended to make the boxes 24 packs or they ain't being no good at maths. Part of the evidence supporting my hypothesis is the 2 extra sheets of thick cardboard in the bottom of the box. Why would Topps "give" me two sheets of cardboard these days with many companies slashing productions costs? It just doesn't make sense to me. Anyways, I will keep the blog-o-sphere up to date on the status of my missing autograph card I was shorted.

Check out my Check Out My Cards Bounty

I think this is an appropriate Thanksgiving Post. Today we give thanks for the bountiful lives we live here in the good ole USA. As we get over our tryptophan induced haze and pumpkin pie tummy aches, feast your eyes on the bounty of cards I got from CheckOutMyCards.com . I was able to get a free processing coupon at their table at the National back in August. I sent in a bunch of cards I didn't want and turned some of the profits into cards I wanted:

First and Foremost I was able to buy 90, yes 90 new Cal Ripken cards I didn't have before. Here are just a few. Many will get their own chance to shine in their own posts sometime in the future.

A few mid-70's cards of Orioles HOF'ers I was able to get on the cheap. These cards are in great shape and I got them for basically a song!

This Nick Markakis card is one of a Rainbow I am working on. This particular rainbow is particularly frustrating because I am having a heck of a time tracking down a a Black Version #'d to 59 and the Target Throwback editions of the card. I can't find them anywhere on the Webernet.

This Steady Eddie may as well serve as my capstone card on my 2008 UD Masterpieces set. What more can be said about this set other than it looks great in a binder!

Why Andrew McCutchen? I think he is a dynamite player and I am still plugging along on my 09 Topps 206 set. I still need a few more Shortprints and a good bunch of the Piedmont minis. Any help on these sets would be much appreciated.

So that is just a little sampling of the great cards that I was able to purchase with store credit at COMC.com . I highly recommend this site for anybody interested in selling cards or just looking for cards of their favorite player. If anybody would like to look at what I have for sale, search for seller ryanhughes12.

Adventures in Retail

I had the retail itch the other day and stopped by Target on the way home. I admit I get retail fever from time to time. I am glad I was running a pack busting fever on this particular day. I picked up a 3 packs of 2010 Topps Update. Here are the highlights of those packs:

Yes I got 3 Strasburgers in 3 packs. Since he's on like 20 different cards in Update series, the odds are stacked in the collector's favor. I know a lot of collector's are stressing over the #661 thing. I put it at the end of my base set. It's #'d 661 for reason. The Gold and the More Tales of the game kind of annoy me for some reason. I don't think I will be buying any more Update Series because I'm a few cards short of the set.

I also bought 2 of the value packs of Topps Chrome. Refractor's galore! I think this is the first time I have ever opened a pack of Topps Chrome. I was pretty lucky I think because I ended up with some sort of refractor in each pack! The Strasburg and Stanton Orange came from the same clear cellophane pack. The Arrieta came in the other. Jake brings me one step closer to the Orioles Orange Refractor Team set. The Manny card is my best refractor/x-fractor pull of the bunch. To my astonishment, the Escobar Gold Refractor is a 1 in 775 packs! I am seriously thinking about busting a Hobby box of this stuff because I've had such good luck. My birthday is coming up so maybe I should treat myself or maybe I should quit while I'm ahead. What do you think?

Not pictured are : Orange Refractors: Yadier Molina, Roy Oswalt, Jered Weaver. Refractors of Torii Hunter, Johnny Cueto. X-Fractors of Carlos Zambrano, Erick Aybar

So this time I beat the odds at retail. I guess every collector has his day some times.

Group Break Recap: Cardboard Collections

I ponied up the cash for Colbey's November Group Break and got some great cards! I really like Colbey's Breaks because they don't break the bank and he always adds in some extra cards of the team you pick! It's a nice touch on his part. Here are the goods:

These are the 3 Cal Ripkens he pulled and they are all new to my collection. I can't say I've ever seen a Stars and Steel card in person and they are made of real steel! The Starstruck Ripken is nice because it has a rainbow sheen to it. I like the Embossed card to. I ended up with the golden version in one of my recent eBay wins.

Here are some of the extras he threw in. I'm digging the 1991 Topps Cracker Jack cards. I know I said I need more mini Orioles but these seem to be about half the size of A&G minis. Also a nice Brian Roberts insert I didn't have and the Melvin Mora Goudey card completes my base team set!

Thanks to Colbey for holding the group break. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

TTM Success!

Some long time readers of my blog might remember this post: http://anotheroriolesblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-first-rainbow.html

Now I have another unique card to add to my Caleb Joseph rainbow! I missed out on getting Caleb's Autograph this year when I saw him play live here in Richmond versus the Flying Skunks, errr, Flying Squirrels. I sent him a TTM request to his Arizona Fall League team about 3 weeks ago and this came in the mail:

I'm pretty stoked about the autograph. It looks like it has changed a little bit since he signed his rookie contract with Topps but it is still recognizable. I wish the surface of the card was a little more accepting of the sharpie he used but that's my fault. I have heard different ways of prepping glossy cards for autographs. What does everybody else do? If some of you more experienced autograph seekers have any pointers I'd love to hear it! I'd really like to get some feedback on this so I can send out some TTMs during spring training this year.

Impending Orioles Free Agents

Now that the 2010 season is a distant memory and the postseason hardware is being handed out, I want to highlight the Orioles's Free Agents I want to give my take on their 201o season and how I feel about their prospects of returning next season.

Kevin Millwood. I was initially excited when the Oriole traded reliever Chris Ray for him last offseason and he came out of the gate really strong. Though he pitched very well, the anemic Orioles offense gave him virtually no run support and he didn't win his first game as an Oriole until mid June. He had a total gas can act in July and August but closed out the season on a good note.

I wouldn't be sad if Millwood left, but I think that he could actually be an asset to the Orioles if he resigned. Rumor has it that the Orioles are looking for a veteran starter to "mentor" the young bird arms, I don't think the odds are good he returns. I think his 2010 season was marred by bad luck and maybe just an aberration.

Koji Uehara. Baltimore's delicate flower. When he is healthy, he is a great pitcher. When he is injured he is a huge waste of money. When used properly like Buck Showalter did late in the season he looked absolutely brilliant. Heck, he didn't even walk a batter the last 2 and a half months of the season!

I think Koji needs to be resigned for the closer role. He is a shut down reliever that the Yankees and Red Sox are very interested in signing. Baltimore should not let him go!

Ty Wigginton. Ty filled in for Brian Roberts while he was injured for most of the season. His versatility was the reason that the Orioles weren't worse than they were as he carried the team for the first 2 months of the season. He made the All-Star team as the Orioles lone representative.

I think resigning Ty should be a #1 priority. He's tough, and won't terribly embarrass himself defensively. His bat is useful whether he's playing the field or DH'ing. He is rumored to be looking for a full time job, but I don't think he is going to find what he wants and will ultimately re-up with the O's.

Cesar Izturis. You know the story: all glove, no bat. He had a normal Cesar season not outdoing himself offensively or defensively.

The Orioles clearly need an upgrade at SS because Manny Machado is at least 2 or three years away. Unless the Orioles make a splash and sign Japanese SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka or trade for Stephen Drew or Jason Bartlett, Cesar ends up back in Baltimore for at least 1 more season.

Corey Patterson. His first go around in Baltimore was lackluster to say the least. This time around, I think he really understood his role. He was a sparkplug for the Orioles for a good part of the season after being recalled from the minor leagues in May.

I personally wouldn't mind seeing Corey stick around as a 4th outfielder next year. Good speed of the bench and he could play all 3 outfield spots to give the regulars the day off.

Mark Hendrickson and Julio Lugo. Both sucked this season. Hendrickson pitched lousy out of the pen and Lugo complained about being traded here late in Spring Training.

Hendrickson won't be retained and Lugo shouldn't.

I hope you've enjoyed my recaps and outlooks on these players!

Trade with Colbey from Cardboard Collections

I have been doing a lot of trading, wheeling and dealing lately. I was able to send Colbey some cards he needed for his sets he's building and he sent me back a great package of Orioles. Feast your eyes on some of my favorites:

2010 Topps Chrome Orange Refractor Brian Roberts. As I said earlier in another post, I really, really like these Orange Refractors. I haven't bought a single pack of Topps Chrome ever but I might pick up some of these value packs to try my luck at filling out the Orioles Orange Refractor team set. Or, I could rely on my friends here in the Blog-0-sphere to keep me in mind when the pull one. (this one isn't mis-cut, it just has a bad case of Topps Chrome-itis in that the curl made it sit weird on the scanner. Plus I'm to lazy to rescan it!)

2010 Topps 206 Bronze Border Brian Roberts. You are getting sleepy, very sleepy. I think this is Brian been tired of being on the disabled list in 2010.

2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Felix Pie. Another clunker of a photo. This time it's a rare miss by Upper Deck. Next time, lets try to get a shot of his face at least. Pie is a Hot Button Topic among O's fans right now. One camp says keep him and hope he fills his potential. The other camp says trade him while he has value and sign Carl Crawford to take his place in left field and hit in the number 2 hole behind....

2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic Nick Markakis. How many RBIs would this guy have if Brian Roberts returns to form and potentially hits behind Carl Crawford and in front of Derrek Lee. Come on, an O's fan can dream can't he?

Thanks for the great cards, Colbey!

Trade with the Daily Dimwit pt.2: Game Used Edition

Samuel and I have traded twice in the past month. He is the first trader on the blogs that I have been able to dump some Astros cards on. If you look back on my last few box breaks you can see why this is a good thing for Sam because it seems like I have some major Astros-jo going on. Anyways, on to the spoils:

2008 Upper Deck X Materials Jeremy Guthrie. This is my favorite (also only) Jeremy Guthrie Game used card I own. "Guts" as he has been nicknamed has been a lone constant in the Orioles rotation for the last 4 seasons now. The Elder Statesman if you will. I'm glad he had a bounce back season. He does a lot of charity work in Baltimore and he even signed a card TTM for me earlier this year!

2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History Box Score Memories Materials Melvin Mora. I can't say that I was a giant fan of Melvin while he was in Baltimore but he was a solid player for the O's for a long time and will by my estimation be enshrined in the Orioles Hall of Fame some day.

2006 Upper Deck Game Materials Corey Patterson. This is a really disfunctional Card if I ever saw one. We have an Orange and Black color scheme to the card, Corey wearing Cubs pinstripes, a blue pinstripe jersey swatch and the Orioles listed as his team. They can't all be winners but this is my first Patterson relic card.

Thanks again Sam, if I continue on my Astros hot streak I'll be sure to let you know!

Trade with Larry from Emerald City Diamond Gems

I solicited Larry a couple weeks ago about trading. I knew I could knock come cards off of his "Super Set". He has already featured some of the cards that I sent him. All of the cards that Larry sent me were great in their own way and I wish I could feature every single one of them but I was able to narrow it down to 5 cards that really standout to me.

1959 Topps Jerry Walker. I know nothing about Jerry except what is on the back of this particular card. It looks like he put up a great season in the "Sally" League in 1958 but had a rough go of it when he got the call to the big club.

1967 Topps "Dave" Johnson. It's kinda funny how Topps will lengthen and shorten names on a whim. Everybody knows this guy as Davey Johnson. He had a good career with the Orioles as a player and as a manager. It's hard to believe that he was at the helm of the team when the Orioles last had a winning record or were in the playoffs. Seems so long ago

1984 Donruss Diamond King Eddie Murray. This is one of the few cards that I have seen Eddie smiling in. Since this is a painting, I am not surprised he was painted this way. For some odd reason 1984 Donruss had eluded me until now. Larry was able to almost finish off my team set. the only card I am missing is Rick Dempsey.

Larry also included some surprise cards in the package that I definitely will enjoy:

1989 Hagerstown Suns Brian Ebel. While he isn't a player, it does show that trainers work their way up the organizational ladder too! When this card was printed he had already been in the Oriole Organization for 4 years (3 years at Bluefield, and 1 year at Erie). Brian is currently the Assistant Trainer for the Orioles. He also has a lot less hair!

1997 Pacific something card: While I am not a fan of Pacific cards, this is an indicative card of the 90s: tons of gawdy foil stamping, a gimmick (his mugshot is printed on a clear plastic window) and a great shot Brady Anderson doing something (the card back shows him sliding into second).

Thanks Larry for the trade and the great cards!

Recent eBay Pickup #5

This is going to be a combined post of some of the great cards I was able to grab on eBay recently. I sold some things I didn't want any more and turned them into some great things that I do collect. Without further ado:

2003 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Nick Markakis Rookie Autograph. I have been looking for this cornerstone Nick Markakis card for quite awhile at the right price and I was finally able to get it. I was able to snatch this one up for $25 Delivered. My Nick the Stick personal Collection has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few months!

1966 Topps Jim Palmer Rookie. I was able to grab this card up for about $35 dollars delivered. I have also been looking for this card for a while. The particular card is not in Mint condition but it's more like EX-Mint. Either way, I picked up a rookie card of a Hall of Famer from my favorite team. Out of all the Oriole HOF'ers I am only missing Brooks Robinson's Rookie card.... One of these days, One of these days!

Like I have alluded to in previous posts, I have been actively adding to my Cal Ripken Jr. collection. I was able to scarf up a lot of 15 "Premium" inserts for the low, low price of $15. I haven't added up the book value on them but in my estimation, it would probably be in excess of 150 bucks. More importantly I was able to get some of the tougher inserts that have escaped my collection until now.

That's all I have for now, I'm back to eBay searching for my next big steal

Trade with Sam from The Daily Dimwit pt. 1

I solicited this trade with Sam because he was asking for 2009 Upper Deck 25th Anniversary cards. I was happy to oblige because personally I had no use for them. If you have any to trade I would send them to Sam because what I got in return was awesome.

This Jake Arrieta card features on of Baltimore's finer prospects. He pitched in the Olympics 2 years ago and worked his way up to the majors this season. I hope we see more of the Jake that shut the Stankees down in his major league debut than the Jake that got torched in a 2 inning outing in San Diego.

MINIS. I really like the Orioles in mini form. I guess they just remind me of opening Cracker Jacks as a kid and getting baseball cards out of them, not the educational crap they put in them now. MMM Cracker Jacks.....

3 Cals I need for my Ultra Iron Man set. I have over half of them now. If you have any you would like to trade me, please contact me.

2 Nice Nick Markakis cards that I need. The Piece of History Card is one of my Top 10 Most Wanted Orioles list that will now need to be replaced.

I look forward to trading again with you soon Sam!

Group Breaks Galore!

I thought I would give everybody a little heads up to some of the great Group Breaks that are taking sign ups right now.

1. Colbey over at Cardboard Collections is hosting his monthly break. Here is a link to the sign up page: http://cardboardcollections.blogspot.com/2010/10/november-group-break-sign-ups.html

Here is what he is breaking this month:
- 1993 Bowman x4 jumbo packs (22 cards per pack)
- 1995 Topps Embossed Hobby (24 packs, 6 cards per pack)
- 1999 Topps Stars 'N Steel Hobby (12 packs, 3 cards per pack)
- 2000 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory (24 packs, 5 cards per pack)

He still has some great teams open and none of them are more than $9.00 a piece.

2. Joe at The Sandlot is hosting a smaller break but what he lacks in volume he is making up for it in quality. Here's the Link: http://thesandlotcards.blogspot.com/2010/11/team-sign-ups.html .

He is opening up 2 boxes of 2009 Topps Unique.

He just opened up sign ups last night so there are many teams available!

3. Thorzul is also having his normal monthly break with a new slotting system. The first 15 teams can be chosen by you and after they are filled, the remaining 15 will be randomed off to the people that paid for the first 15. 2 teams for 17.50. Not a bad deal if you ask me!
Link: http://thorzul.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-group-break-is-open.html

He is opening 1 box of 2009 Topps Finest and 1 box of 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams. I hope we get a case hit when the box is broken because that 6x relic he has in his PC is sweet.


Head on over to these blogs and get some cards of your favorite teams!

Trade with Kevin from Orioles Card "O" the Day

I traded with Kevin once before I threw my hat into the ring and became a blogger myself. Kevin's blog was one of the reasons I was drawn back to the hobby late last year. I read every single one of his posts last December and started really getting a good idea about where my collection was headed. I can say that my Orioles collection has increased by leaps and bounds and I see no end to my fascination with guys wearing Orange and Black on little cardboard rectangles in the near future.

This trade started with me finding a few of his Top 11 coveted cluster cards and the trade just grew to a full blown team trade! He sent me a great package of new Orioles cards to sink my teeth into.

This Sam Bowens card was the first card staring me in the face when I ripped open the bubble mailer. I admittedly don't know much about Sam but I have a sneaking suspicion that some other blogger sent this card to Kevin for his other blog about 1965 Topps. I have learned a lot more about the Orioles and 1965 Topps over the past year just by reading Kevin's blogs.

What are you swinging at Jeffrey?

I just wanted to feature a card of Charles Johnson. My memories of him is that he was a defensive wizard but had trouble standing a few feet away in the batters box holding a bat.

This Rodrigo Lopez card is just awkward. In one of Kevin's latest blog posts he talks about how Rodrigo brought a gas can to work every 5th day this past summer to Chase Field in Phoenix. He wasn't fooling anybody this past summer and I guess he is trying to fool batters with his invisible pitch in this photo.

There is some confusion to which card is Billy Ripken's real rookie card is. This is his XRC (Extended Rookie Card) from 1987 Donruss Rookies. His real rookie cards are from 1988 products. I think many people think that his famous F**K Face card from 1989 is his rookie card. Now that I have this cleared up....

Jay Gibbons with a big head. Some bloggers talk about how awkward the 90's were in terms of goofiness in cards. Get a load of this Upper Deck Offering from 2004.

It was fairly difficult to figure out which cards to post from this package. I could seriously ramble on and on about nearly all of them.

Thanks Kevin for an AWESOME trade. Keep up the great work on your blogs, I'm always learning something new from you!

OH NO!!!'s Poor Vintage Collection #1

The cards that are featured in this recurring theme were found by my father strewn about the floor of an abandoned farm building near my childhood home. There were approximately 1000 cards that laid undisturbed from the late 60's to early 90's when he discovered them. Most are in poor condition because exposure to the elements. He recently gave them to me and I will feature them here on my blog.

1962 Topps #394 Hank Aaron Sporting News All Star

Welcome to the first post of my new feature OH No!!!'s Poor Vintage Collection. I am really, really excited to show some of the cards that I am going to show off in this recurring theme. I chose the name as an indication on the condition of the cards.

This card is especially funny because the front is so badly faded but the back isn't faded nearly at all. Hammerin' Hank must have been sitting in directly in the sun face up for the duration of its stay in the old farm building. It really does make me sad to see the condition of this card, because it doesn't show the classic Braves uniform in all it's glory. It almost reminds me of even older cards that were black and white photos.

Cal Ripken Cardboard Appreciation #9

1998 Score Complete Players #4A

Why was Cal Ripken a Complete Player? Cal Excelled at all facets of the game. I think the only thing that he didn't do well is run. As the card says, Approach is one of the reasons he was able to play as long as he did. An astute student of the game, he knew where to stand in the field when each player came up to bat. He is at the top of most Orioles offensive and defensive categories. BTW, Cal had 36 stolen bases in his career and no more than on in a season after 1992.