Ambush Trade with Scott of Smed's Baseball Card Blog

Scott sent me an email about a week or two ago stating that he was going to be sending packages out and he had some cards that I might be interested in.  Of course I accepted the trade and waited.  Fast forward a bit and a package shows up at my doorstep.  Here's a few that I liked:

Obviously, this is a Dylan Bundy card from this years Draft Picks set.  Not so obviously, its a refractor.  I'm very pleased to get a surprise trade package with the Orioles top prospect refractor card in it.  I was looking at the back and it has his stats from his senior year in high school.  He pitched 71 innings, went 11-0, struck out 158 batters and had an ERA of 0.30.  Nintendo numbers.  It also states he hasn't eaten a hamburger in over 2 years.

Switching gears from a really good pitcher to a slightly worse than awful pitcher.  Readers of my blog know how much I despise kevin gregg.  Regardless, I still needed this card for the team set.  He was a no-show at FanFest because his house was flooded out.  It's too bad he wasn't able to sign autographs for all of the O's fans that "hadn't developed a taste for his style of pitching".  Ass Clown...

Scott also sent along some '74, '77, and '78 Topps cards for my long term collecting goal of completing all of the semi-vintage Topps sets.  That's 1974 through 1980 for those of you not familiar with the semi-vintage that I just made up 15 seconds ago.  Semi-vintage, hmmm...  kind of has a nice ring to it.  I see if I can get it to stick.

Thanks Scott for the nice package of cards!

"Had" to stop by Target on the way home

I stopped by Target on my way home from work today and, lo and behold, brand spanking new 2012 Topps was sitting on the shelf.  I looked Friday just in case they had snuck it on the shelves early but no luck.  Today was a different story.  I arrived in the card aisle at the same time as another collector also strolled up.

"You're looking for the same thing I am aren't you?" he said.  "Yup!"

This is the first time since the Target opened (in 2008) that I actually saw somebody else perusing the card displays at the same time I was.  We talked for a minute or two about cards and how we each did with the Diamond Giveaway.  He got 2 Diecuts, the same as I did.  I asked him what his thoughts were on packsearching and he made it clear he was definitely against it and he had never run across any at this Target.  So after exchanging pleasantries and forgetting to pimp my blog, I grabbed a hanger box and hurried towards the register with 1 person in line buying 3 bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide.

You're not here for shopping stories or missed opportunities to grow my blog, you're here for the breakdown:

Adam Jones makes a cameo appearance on this card.  This is a perfect opportunity to throw this idea out there.  I think I'm going to start a binder of cards that Orioles make a cameo appearance on.  O's in the background, breaking up double plays, sliding into bases, play at the plates.  If you are flipping through cards and see an Orioles cameo, let me know because I want it.

This is just too cool of a card not to post up.  I think its from Nolan's walk-off HR against the White Sox.  Or, he just flied out and Buck is giving him "the business."

 These look almost like the liquorfractors just a little more gold in coloring and smaller speckles

 The 87 minis are kinda neat.  I don't know if there are any Orioles in the set.

 Bleh, done before, twice.

 These look pretty cool but I think I've seen the design similar to it in a UD product.

 These look great with the gold foil stamp, but the 3000 hits is too light.

 Why didn't they gold stamp these like the card above.  It looks cheap without it.

 Too much empty space on this card.

 Too much empty space on this card.

 My 2 Target Red Bordered Exclusives are 2 former Oriole 3rd basemen.  Hopefully Bell will run with his next big league opportunity and he won't be "former" anymore and possibly more "future".

So my impressions of series 1.  I think the base cards are pretty nice looking.  Some of the inserts are just "OK".  It really looks like some of them are clearly designed for relic pieces or sticker autographs (too much empty space).  I can't wait to bust more when my hobby box comes on Wednesday.

AHHH... That New Card Smell

In my grubby little hands as we speak.

Trade with Ryan of The Great Orioles Autograph Project

I think this is my last Orioles FanFest related post, at least for this year.  In the weeks leading up to the big day, I had been in contact with Ryan of the Great Orioles Autograph Project about meeting up and swapping some cards.  He indicated that he didn't buy many 2011 cards and didn't have many Orioles from those products.  I happened to have a fair amount of doubles I was able to pass along to him and he gave me around 1500 Orioles and Oriole related cards.  I had great fun sorting through all of the minor league cards, oddball issues and cards of Orioles players in different uniforms.  I was able to use a fair amount of them for my various O's related projects and binders.  Here's just a few of my favorites that went into my PC binders from the lot:

I like this card for obvious reasons but it was Topps's first real insert card.  I always liked the Black Gold cards but never was able to get a Brady.

I just recently started collecting Koji more closely since we both have Japanese heritage (him more than me!)  The 1960 Topps design is one of my favorites of all time and when Topps Chromed them, I think they just look fantastic.

Here's a diecut Mike Mussina from Pacific's Crown Royale.  I still haven't figured out why its called "Crown Royale. LOL.  It really is a neat card though with the holographic foil in between the crown's "limbs".

Here is a card that I have been searching for for about 19 years now.  This card used the be the shiznit and I dreamed about owning one when I was a 10 year old little chap.  I think it used to book for about 100 dollars at that point so it was no way I could afford it.  I remember getting the factory set of Collector's Choice for Christmas or my Birthday in 1994 and it came with 3 gold signature cards.  I ripped off the factory seal and was quickly disappointed by 3 gold signatures of scrubs.  So I guess I'm thrilled to end a 19 year search for one of my dream cards. Thanks Ryan for making a dream come true!  Also, thanks for all of the other cards you gave to me.

Trade with William of foul bunt

By now I'm sure most of you know William from the foul bunt blog and his son Chris stayed at my house on Friday night before FanFest last Saturday.  I asked him to bring his box of Orioles cards for trade and that he could look through my traders too.  After we had dinner and got Chris in bed, we started digging through the boxes and here's a few of note that I found that I needed:

I'm happy to hear that Alan Mills is back in the Orioles organization.  He's going to be the pitching coach for the Aberdeen Ironbirds this season.  They are the short season New York-Penn league affiliate of the Orioles.  I always liked Mills and he had a bulldog attitude out of the 'pen.  I always wondered why he wore #75 though.  Barry Zito is the only other player I know of that has worn it.  BTW, this Mills card completes my 1994 Donruss team set.  '94 Donruss is probably my second favorite Donruss set behind the 1993 version.

It scares me to look at this card and seethe 4 players shown.  More scary is that they were the team leaders.  

Surprisingly this is my first Fleer Update card from 1988.  Since it's from the "over-production" era, I would have thought I'd run across a few more of the Orioles.  If anybody has any of these or 89 Fleer Updates, let me know!

I've noticed that the emotions from most of these 1995 Fleer Emotion cards aren't really emotions.  I've never seen the "Reaching" emotion.  What an odd set, but there were some pretty good photographs.

I'll close with this shot of Mike Mussina shagging fly balls during batting practice.  It's just an interesting card to me since most of Mike's cards show him on the mound.

Thanks Again to William for the nice trade and for attending FanFest with me.

Trade with Brian of Play at the Plate

I was contacted by Brain from PATP a few weeks ago asking for my address and saying that he had a nice stack of Orioles ready to send me.  Of course I sent my address along and started to wonder what he might be sending.  I had been saving a stack of Rangers for him so I dropped those in the mail as soon as I could.  A few days went by and these awesome cards ended up at my house.

I can't complain with 2 Oriole HOFers, especially high-end parallels.  Marquee is out of my price range but I have picked up a bunch of O's from trades and shows for bargain bin prices.  I can honestly say I've never busted a pack that is more expensive than 5 bucks other than Jumbo packs of Topps flagship.

I think Brian mentioned he had the Orioles in a group break randomly assigned to him.  I think that's where the Sepia Markakis and the Heritage Chrome Jones came from.  Lucky pulls for him me!

The Orange parallel Britton and the Orange Jones above came out of the retail Chrome value packs.  I almost pulled the trigger on buying both on COMC but I'm glad I didn't since I was able to trade for them.  Now all I need is Derrek Lee and Nick Markakis to finish up the team set.  I also scanned the regular Chrome version of Britton just cuz I think it's his best looking rookie card of the year.  For some reason, the horizontal picture just does it for me!

Thanks Brian for the great cards!  I've already started a new Rangers stack with your name on it for our next trade.

In Honor of 2012 Topps Imminent Release...

I am just posting up my entire list of my 2011 Topps series 1, 2, and Update tradebait.  Lots of nice stuff here.  I really need to clear some of these out.  Check out the rest of my trade list while you're at it and definitely check out my wantlists

Without further ado:


Series 1:

Platinum Diamond Parallel: 69 Gardner
Target Throwback: 86, 99, 248, 262, 271, 315, 329
Gold Bordered to 2011: 149 Aardsma, 197 Hill, 220 Helton, 232 Moyer
60 Years of Topps Reprints: 13, 40, 42, 49, 58
60 Years of Topps "The Lost Cards": 1, 2, 6(2)
Reproduction Cards: 1, 7, 14, 20
Topps 60: 8, 10, 11, 16, 29, 31, 35, 36, 45
Diamond Duos: BY, BW, TR, GT, HF, HH, HHO, HM, JC, KL, PG, RS, SC(2), VG, UR
History of Topps: 10
Kimball Champions Mini: 10, 13, 37, 41, 44, 46
Ticket to ToppsTown: 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16, 19(2), 20(3), 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 30, 31(2), 34, 35, 36(2), 39(3), 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48

Series 2:
Topps Gold Bordered: 337 Walden, 407 Broxton, 527 Ka'aihue, 569 Maybin, 576 Lowrie, 651 Morales, 656 Ibanez

Diamond Anniversary Parallels: 354 Baker, 388 Jansen, 390 Valencia, 428 Myers, 451 Hernandez, 453 Saunders, 490 Holliday, 535 Harden, 567 Braden, 568 Royals, 583 Spilborghs (2), 588 Davis, 596 Sanchez, 608 McGehee, 656 Ibanez

60 Years of Topps Reprints: 62 Robinson, 67 Ashburn, 69 Musial, 70 Cepeda, 72 Yastremski, 74 Maris, 80 Ryan, 88 Guidry (2), 90 Garvey, 94 Mattingly, 97 Molitor, 99 Walker, 102 Ramirez, 104 Jeter (2), 106 Rivera, 107 Halladay(2), 109 Ortiz, 112 Jeter, 113 Butler

Before There Was Topps: BTT1 American Tobacco 1909, BTT3 American Tobacco 1911, 7 Bowman '48-55

Diamond Stars: DS-3 Mauer, 8 Wright, 9 Ramirez, 10 Pujols, 11 Halladay, 12 A-Roid, 14 Cabrera, 15 Lee, 23 Johnson(2), 24 Braun, 25 Gonzalez (2)

Toppstown: TT2-1 Lincecum, 2 Reynolds, 4 Morrison, 7 Gonzalez, 8 Ludwick, 11 Morales, 19 Martinez, 20 Kershaw, 30 Crawford, 31 Lester, 33 Jackson, 43 Carpenter, 50 Hughes (2)

Topps 60: T60 51 Johnson, 54 Zimmermam, 61 Seaver, 62 Stanton, 63, Longoria, 64 Posada, 68 Votto, 70 Carpenter, 71 Stargell (2), 77 Winfield(2), 80 Munson(2), 82 Victorino, 89 Weaver(2), 91 Ortiz, 95 Lester(2)

Diamond Duos: DD-2 Utley/Cano, 5 Uggla/ Heyward, 8 Greinke/Gallardo, 12 Tulowitzki/Ramirez (2), 15 Lincecum/Wilson, 16 Hamilton/Votto(2), 17 Posey/Feliz, 19 Cabrera/Martinez, 20 Kershaw/Bumgarner, 21 Price/Lester, 23 Lee/Sabathia, 24 McCutcheon/Alvarez, 25 Teixeira/Gonzalez(2), 26 A-Roid, Longoria, 27 Johnson/Verlander, 29 Aaron/Heyward

2011 Topps Update Series:

Hope Diamond Parallel: US11 Jason Pridie

Legends Shortprints US238 Darryl Strawberry

Cognac Legends: 516 Tom Seaver, 630 Joe Morgan

Cognac Parallels: 5 Votto, 16 Ramirez, 39 Kennedy, 40 J. Upton, 43 Ryan, 53 Diamondbacks, 72 Jurrjens, 74 Clippard, 90 Y. Molina, 119 Bay, 127 Volstad, 166 J. Johnson, 171 G Jones, 186 Pavano, 203 Gee, 220 Helton, 226 J. Guillen, 227 McLouth, 234 Montero, 245 Walker, 273 D. Lee, 277 Hoffman, 287 Cousins, 297 Jaramillo, 301 S. Smith, 304 Thome, 312 G Sanchez, 328 Price, 403 F. Hernandez, 445 Talbot, 455 Morrison, 477 Gutierrez, 612 Tigers, 651 K. Morales, US4 McCann, US6 Fielder, US31 Granderson, US58 Lincecum, US128 M. Rivera, US131 Keppinger, US146 Walden, US211 Moseley, US229 A.Cabrera, US238 C. Beltran, US302 Torres, US306 Phillips, US309 Konerko, US319 Patterson

Diamond Anniversary: US15 Heilman, US43 Quentin, US49 Weeks, US61 Masset, US72 Rasmus, US86 Furcal, US101 Downs, US146 Walden, 176 Nady, US230 M. Cabrera, 281 Melancon, US302 Torres

Gold Borders #d to 2011: US3 Beavan, US23 Ruffin, US59 Kemp, US88 O. Cabrera, US95 Overbay, US108 U. Jimenez, US114 Lynn, US130 Robertson, US134 Bourn, US143 Kimbrel, US145 Colon, US154 C. Lee, US183 Peguero, US195 Votto, US204 B. Wilson, US263 Qualls, US268 Y. Molina, US275 Cuddyer, US292 Adams, US294 Jackson, US297 d'Arnaud

Red Bordered: US39 Sanchez, US126 A. Gonzalez
Blue Bordered: US94 Vogelsong, US128 M. Rivera

Diamond Duos: DD1 Hernandez/Pineda, DD-6 Anderson/Cahill, DD-11 Dunn/Konerko, DD-20 Aaron/Bautista, DD-21 Price/Shields, DD-28 Phillips/Kendrick

Topps 60: 104 A-Rod, 105 Hornsby, 110 Fisk, 112 Jackson, 113 McCovey, 118 Morgan, 121 Reese, 122 Alomar, 124 Henderson, 125 Molitor, 127 Snider, 128 Thomas, 130 Gehrig, 136 Blyleven(2), 137 Garvey, 138 Maris, 139 Uggla, 150 Koufax

ToppsTown: TTU-16 Stubbs, 23 Rollins(2), 37 Scherzer, 46 Beltre, 49 Cain(2)

2012 Orioles Fanfest: Signed 8x10s

Alright here's my last post about the autographs I got at FanFest this year.  Both of these will proudly join my other 8x10s that I have hanging on the wall in my office/mancave.  Without further ado:

Adam Jones in a nice classic batting stance ready to swing.  I've gotten Adam's autograph TTM and even in one of the group breaks here on the blogs but never in person.  My thinking is that I better get his autograph while I can since he's been linked in trade talks to any team looking for good young ballplayers.  On a side note, I was reading an interview he did during the event that said he is open to a contract extension and staying in Baltimore for a long time.  Apparently he loves playing in Baltimore and wants to be part of the future here.  This is contrary to what has been "the popular opinion" in the media that he covets playing for a team closer to his home in California.  I personally would like to see him stick around for a long time as long as he continues to produce on the field.

From the present center fielder to a past center fielder. BRADY ANDERSON!  Obviously this is my favorite item of the show.  I've been a Brady fan since him and Cal were fixtures in the Orioles lineup.  It was a thrill to meet him and get his autograph in person.  Until recently, he hadn't been around the team much since his retirement so getting his autograph has been a little tougher than usual.  I'm very happy that he is back in the organization and is working out with the younger orioles players and teaching them about the game.  Brady is still in great shape and it looks like he could still get out there and play at a high level.  I don't think there is anybody better qualified to show these guys the ropes like Brady can!

So, that concludes my FanFest experience for this year.  I'm already looking forward to next year when Mike Mussina makes an appearance!  I can dream!

2012 Orioles Fanfest: The Signed Baseballs

Let's continue with my new memorabilia that I got at FanFest.  Up next are the baseballs I had signed.

I didn't originally plan on getting Oliver Drake to sign a ball for me.  Heck, I didn't even have an autograph ticket for his station.  William was good enough to trade me this ball for the Joe Mahoney one that I had signed at one of my 2 sessions.  I already got Mahoney on a card last summer since they are a little more my thing.  Back to Oliver though.  He's one of the top pitching prospects in the O's system right now.  He cruised through High-A Frederick last year and was promoted to Double-A Bowie where he had a couple bumps in the road.  Hopefully he makes the adjustments and continues his ascension up the minor league chain.

This brings me to my second favorite item of the whole show.  Nick was a pleasant bonus at the 4:40 station that I had a voucher for.  Yeah, I know as big of a fan as I am of Nick, he was playing second fiddle to another player at the table!  I'm happy to add Nick's signature on this ball though.  Ir really looks great on a brand new pearl ROMLB.  It will now sit proudly between my signed Mark Reynolds #136 HR ball and my signed Cal Ripken retirement logo ball.

Next Up: 8x10's

2012 Orioles Fanfest: Signed cards

Another FanFest has come and gone.  Everybody says that this one wasn't as good as last years but its probably all in who you ask.  There weren't quite as many people there as the last 2 years, but at least it was a little easier to get around the convention center without bumping into somebody every step you took.  

I had a blast and I'm pretty sure everybody there had a pretty good time.  Willam from foul bunt drove up from North Carolina the night before and stayed in my spare bedroom.  He brought along his 6 year old son Chris who seemed to have a good time there too.  It's been my experience with my nephew and various other small kids I know that its hard to keep them entertained and focused on anything for more than 5 minutes.  Chris was very well behaved and didn't complain one bit.  He just has a bladder the size of a dime!  I had a great time hanging around with William all day and it made the time go by faster since we both had some of the same autograph vouchers.

So, I'm going to start showing off my Fanfest acquisitions with the smaller items I got signed.

Here's my Brian Matusz 2011 Bowman Gold parallel with a nice blue signature on it.  Unfortunately, the signature bubbled up a little bit because I didn't bother prepping it since I'm using Staedler markers.  Apparently they dry instantly and arent supposed to smudge.  I'm wondering if its just the closeness of the letters in Brian's autograph that caused the bubbling.

Mike Bordick was at the same station as Matusz.  He was nice enough to sign two cards for me.  If he hadn't signed both I wouldn't have been upset.  I just had them mounted side by side in my notebook.  I got him to use the same pen as Brian and neither of these signatures messed up.  Mike's signature isn't as compact as Brian's either so there might be something to my theory.  Obviously the 1998 Topps, 2000 Upper Deck, and 2011 Bowman cards have similar gloss on them so I might have to test my theory on some common cards.

Here's one of the newest Orioles, Dana Eveland.  His career numbers leave a little to be desired but apparently Dan Duquette sees something in him that would make him send a minor leaguer to the Dodgers for him.  I read an interview with him and he says that "he learned how to pitch" last summer and I guess it showed when los Doyers called him up for a look see in September.  His numbers at the tail end of the season were pretty decent, so there's that.  I'm a little apprehensive about him so I hope he makes a believer out of me this season.  BTW, Chris got this one for me since he was allowed to go through the kids only line.

Here's another one that Chris was able to get for me.  Pedro was basically shipped from Texas to Baltimore for Mike Gonzalez.  During the last month of the year he was pitching lights out.  He threw a lot of strikes and didn't look like he was afraid of any of the batters that he faced which is a breath of fresh air from some of the other pitchers I've become accustomed to watching.  I'm looking forward to seeing how he does this coming season.

Next up: Some signed baseballs.

A Quick 4 Trade Wrap-up

I don't have a whole lot of time today to scan and write a long post but there are a few traders that I would like to thank for their packages I have gotten recently.

First, I want to thank Sam from the Daily Dimwit for sending me a nice stack of '78 Topps for the set I will be building in the near future.

Second, Trey from Rants, Raves, and Fandom.  He sent over a nice little pile of Bowman Chromes I needed for my sets I'm working on.  Check out his blog, it's a good read!

Third, Jeff from Cardboard Catastrophes.  He answered my call for help in one of my last few posts about needing some Chromes and O-Pee-Chees and saw the footnote about the semi-vintage sets I'm going to start working on this year.  Thanks for the great cards

Fourth, Nickie from New Jersey.  I don't think she has a blog and she is a new trader on the block.  She contacted me out of the blue and offered up some cards I needed.  She sent me a few Bowman Chromes and I gladly ridded my self of some Yankees cards I didn't need.  Keep an eye on your email boxes gents, she could be popping up in there any day.

Thanks for the trades guys and gal.  I appreciate the generosity.

Also, a quick note, I now have 100 followers to my quaint, little, slightly mediocre blog!    I can't believe that so many good people want to read what I write.  Thanks a bunch my followers.

And check out my wantlists above while you're here, I still need tons of cards for my collections.  I look forward to hearing from you soon!

SOPA / PIPA

Go here for all the information you can digest about this issue that affects all of us bloggers and the common internet user just as well:

http://americancensorship.org

As cliche as it sounds, together we can all make a difference.

Another Trade with Ted of Crinkly Wrappers

Ted and I just recently pulled off another awesome trade.  The two of us have been blogging for about the same amount of time.  We've traded with each other a number of times that I have lost count.  He always sends great stuff and if you have traded with him, you know I'm not kidding.  Lets take a look at a few of my favorites from the package:

Here's a sparkly JJ Hardy from this years update.  This is actually the only Hardy that I know of that shows him acutally in an O's uniform.  His Heritage and Gypsy Queen cards are photoshopped from Brewers or Twins duds.  This JJ's card is notable to me because he becomes my wife's favorite Oriole now that Luke Scott is now a Tampa Bay Ray.

Here's a pretty sweet card from 2007 Topps Finest.  Obviously, by reading the card you can see that Nick hit 3 homeruns in a game during his rookie season. The date that he accomplished this feat was August 22nd 2006.  It's notable to me because I remember what I was doing that evening.  I was sitting in a bar celebrating a 21st birthday with a chick that I was totally infatuated with at the time.  I even drove her drunk ass home that night and helped her stumble across the parking lot to her apartment.  Nothing happened that night or ever with her just in case you were wondering (or care!).  So yeah, Nick the Stick, 3 HRs, 21st Birthday, no Nookie!

Here's a card that took me by surprise when I was opening up the package.  I was able to find most of the Orioles from this years TTT at a show back in October at bargain basement prices with one exception: Cal Ripken.  Now thanks to Ted's goodwill, I have it for my Cal binder(s).  I'm not in love with this  last year's design, but it's still a really nice card.

Thanks again Ted, you always raise the bar when it comes to our trades.  I try my best to return the favor!

Time Flies When You're Stuck in a Bathroom

Wow, time flies.  I haven't posted in about 2 weeks and I actually have a good excuse for the absence.  I've been renovating my bathroom since the 27th of December and I'm still not done.  This seemingly modest project has turned into roughly 10 to 12 trips to Lowes, late nights and many, many headaches.  So, long story short, most of my free time has been spent painting, caulking, cutting, plumbing, wiring, and sanding and not on baseball cards.

Also, the reason for the renovations is trying to get the house ready to sell or rent in the near future.  The wife and I have checked out a couple of new houses with the real estate agent and have a pending offer on one that we really like.  Fingers crossed.

With the hoopla of the holidays and all of the other things going on, when I do have free time, I just don't feel like looking at cards or writing about them.  There haven't been many card related things that I'm interested in to write about either.  I'm just waiting for series 1 to drop in the beginning of February.

I don't really have any real collecting goals for this year like most bloggers have posted in the last couple of weeks.  I might be the only one with no goals for the year!  I'm just going to roll with the punches for right now but I do want to attend the National Convention in Baltimore this August.

Speaking of Baltimore, I will be going to Orioles FanFest on the 21st, so I'm really looking forward to that.

So since it's January, the quietest baseball card month of the year, who wants to trade?  I'd really like to knock down some of  my set needs like any Bowman Chromes from 2011 and 2010 and 2009 O-Pee-Chees that some of yall might be hanging onto.  Of course I'm interested in trading for my Orioles needs too.  Check out my wantlists! Check out my tradelist!

I've traded with a ton of bloggers in the past and I'm very thankful for that.  I've met some very nice and generous people and I'd love to hear from some of yall again.  I'd especially love to trade with some new people and increase my reach beyond the great traders I've swapped cards with in the past.

I want to hear from you!