Showing off the PC #2

I haven't done one of these since Moby Dick was a minnow so now is as good as any to show off another card it would be tough for me to part with.  

Back when I was re-entering the hobby for  the 4th time in early 2010, I was playing catch-up with sets I had missed out on.  I bought a hobby box of 2008 Topps series 1, 2, and Update.  I'm not sure which box the above redemption card came out of but luckily I was just within the redemption expiry date.  I was still getting my bearings back when it comes to baseball card knowledge and beginning to explore some blogs.  So I typed in the redemption code and I unlocked this card:

 Pretty sweet, huh?  It's on card and it's one of today's rising stars of the game.  Even though he is overshadowed by Joey Votto, he's still a bonafide star.  I'm very happy to have this card in my collection!

Trade with David of "e rayhahn, rayhahn"

Wow, it's been a week since my last post.  I've been playing a lot of Xbox lately since Mass Effect 3 came out.  That doesn't mean I've been completely ignoring my card collection though.  Things have been slow this early spring since series 1 came out. There have been 4 new products come out since then (Opening Day, Heritage, Stickers, and Tribute), and I haven't even bought a pack of either one.  Neither of these sets has really inspired me to go out and buy any.  I'm interested in the Orioles from the sets but that's about it.  I haven't bought any packs since the beginning of February.  That's probably a new record since I returned to the hobby (for the 4th time) in late 2009.  Another reason things have been slow around here is because my Spring Training TTM's have just been a big disappointment.  I sent to some longshots but also to a bunch of safer bets.  I've only gotten 2 back this spring.  I might be seriously reconsidering if Spring Training TTMing is worth the time and effort next year.  I'm still holding out hope that a couple more will come back with the exhibition schedule wrapping up next week..

Luckily for me though, to break me out of my cardboard doldrums David from "e rayhahn, rayhahn" contacted me about a week ago about some Twins relics I had on my trade list.  Of course, I was happy to trade with David again since the first one was awesome.  Here's what he sent me in return:

My scanner hates this card but it really looks pretty cool in person.  I was wondering what had happened to Mr. Rodriguez until Kevin from Orioles Card "O" the Day made a post just yesterday about him.  Not all players who make the majors particularly belong there.

This is a nice relic card from 2007 Topps Heritage.   All of the Clubhouse Collection cards I've seen from Topps Heritage releases look pretty classy with a nice vintage touch.
On a side note Mr. Tejada reportedly still wants to play ball this year but only with a contending team.  At this point in his career, and as bad as he played for the Giants last year, beggars can't be choosers.

Here's a nice jersey card of Brian Roberts from 2007 Upper Deck.  This relic design is probably my favorite of Upper Deck's flagship sets.  This one goes great with my Melvin Mora and Erik Bedard cards from the same set.  It looks like I got a bit of a seam on this swatch too so that's a bonus!  

I'll close with this awesome Boog Powell card.  I don't have too many of his cards (heck, there aren't that many anyways) but this is one of my favorites.  The 70's were a great time for the Orioles franchise.  One of these days we'll have a team that can play to a .500 record or better.

Thanks David for the awesome cards!

Trade with Ryan of Ryan's Pitch

I recently made a trade with the blogger that was voted most likely non-blogger to start blogging for the year 2011 (totally unofficial and made up by me).  Yes I'm talking about Ryan LaMonica from his new blog Ryan's Pitch.  He contacted me about some 2012 Topps inserts he was interested in adding to his collection.  I obliged and even sent him some 1991 Fleer cards he needed for his set.  Anyways,  I can't wait to show you the highlights of the cards he sent in return:

Melvin Mora's autograph has eluded me for some time now.  I wasn't able to catch him in person, TTM, card shows, or even pack pulls.  Curious.  Now I can say that I do have Melvin's autograph and a piece of his jersey.  The card looks 18.678 times better in person as plastic doesn't seem to scan very well.  Yeah the card is made mostly of plastic!

This is a great addition to my collection.  It's an Oriole, and autograph, and on-card!  Sweet!  I've gotten Spoone's autograph in person before at the Flying Skunks Squirrels game when the Bowie Baysox came to visit.  This is the rare black bordered version #'49/52 as opposed to the white bordered un-numbered version.

This card was quite a surprise.  It fits nicely into my new "One Card for Every Oriole" project.  I don't own many 1973 Topps other than Orioles cards.  BTW, Doyle was the 274th Oriole to suit up and play in a game for them.  On an aside, i remember ripping 1990 Topps and getting his card and looking at the back and thinking "This guy has been around for ever!"

Thanks Ryan for the nice trade.  I can't wait for our next swap! 

Trade with Ted of Crinkly Wrappers

Everybody that has traded with Ted from Crinkly Wrappers knows that he is one of the most generous bloggers around.  We just completed our umpteenth trade and he sent over some fantastic new cards for my collection.  Lets have a look:

It's not everyday you get a 1953 Topps card in the mail.  This card of Clint Courtney is going into my "One Card of Every Oriole" book.  I know this isn't an Orioles card.  Here's one of my rules for my binder: If the player played for both the Browns and Orioles, and had a card for both teams, I went with the Browns card.  I did this in an effort to collect some of the awesome pre-1954 cards like early '50s Bowmans.  This card is a great step in that direction!

I'm also collecting rookie cards of Orioles players even if they aren't wearing the Black and Orange jersey.  When Tony Muser was the manager of the Royals, I had no idea that he had once played for the Orioles back in the 70's.  My, how my baseball knowledge has increased.

This JJ Hardy card was a pleasant surprise.  I'm getting close to finishing the entire gold parallels team set from last year.  I only need a few more from Update Series.

I'm kind of torn between last year's wrapper redemption cards and this years.  Even though the '52 design has been overused, it still looks classy.  I might give the edge to this year's Gold Rush since it is a fresh design versus one that's been around for 60 years.

I'll close this trade post out with a Kimball mini of Luis Aparicio.  The Kimball Minis really grew on me last year.  I only need a few more Orioles to complete the team set of these too.

A big thanks to Ted for sending another awesome trade package.  You never disappoint, my friend!

Trade with blog reader Brendan

This is my second trade with Brendan.  This time he needed a bunch of 2011 Topps inserts and promised to send me a ton of semi-vintage cards from his Diamond Giveaway portfolio.  I'm slowly acquiring cards from 74 thru 80 in hopes of building these sets in the near future.

This card of Joe Kerrigan will not be making it into the 1979 set that I will build.  This card is going in my new "One Card for Every Oriole" binder.  I've been working with fellow Orioles collector Ryan from the Great Orioles Autograph Project with getting the debut dates straight.  I'm now using that list to try and collect a card of every one of the 910 players to wear the O's uniform in a regular season game.  I haven't gotten the wantlist up yet, but look for it soon!

I don't know why I like this card so much but I just do.  Maybe its the batting cage.  Maybe its Sal squinting from the bright sun in his eyes reminding me of summer.  I don't know.

I like this shot of Fred because of the Padres vintage uni.  Why the heck is he sitting out in the middle of a pasture?  Why the heck aren't there any cows in the background?

1980 Topps is one of my all-time favorite designs.  Something about the simple design I guess.  I had never heard of Ted Martinez before this card showed up in my mailbox.  I wonder how he kept his hat on during windy days?

Thanks Brendan for the cards and raising my curiosities about them!

Group Break Loot from the Daily Dimwit

I love group breaks.  I try to get into as many as I can as long as it fits into my card budget.  The Daily Dimwit has been running a bunch of breaks lately and the most recent one had some intriguing products I missed out on in the past.

I'll consider this break a success since I didn't have the Cal Ripken from the set.    I really like the texture of the cards from this set since they actually feel like real paintings.  I can say the artist did a great job capturing Cal's likeness unless Playoff used some sort of photoshop filter.  Way better than some of those National Chicle abominations from a couple years ago.

Upper Deck Diamond Collection Pro Sigs is another set  I wasn't very familiar with until it showed up in Sam's break.  I'm pretty happy with these 2 Orioles since it encompasses the entire team set!  I'm sure there are variations of the foil signatures if I know Upper Deck cards. (see '90s Collectors Choice sets)

I only got one Oriole from the Standing O box but that's ok.  2003 was kind of a skunky year for the Orioles being featured on cardboard.  It's still a nice looking set regardless.  Hopefully I can track down Rodrigo Lopez and Daniel Cabrera to complete the team set.

So I didn't hit anything big time but I'm still happy with my spot.  I addition to the Orioles I also had the Blue Jays as my second random team.  I'm not going to show them here to keep the cards shrouded in mystery until they get to one of my trading buddies.

Trade with blog reader Zach

I feel like I've been a pretty lame-ass blogger lately because of my lack of posting.  With Spring training in full swing, new cards being released, and the weather warming up outside, you would think I'd be bursting with great ideas for posts.  First off, my spring training TTMs are trickling in a little slower than I expected.  I sent to some safe bets and have seen returns that were even sent after mine. Maybe mine just got shuffled to the bottom of the stack. Secondly, there are new cards being released but neither of the 3 sets that have come out (Opening Day, Tribute, and Heritage) really grab my attention the way series 1 did.  I'm choosing to spend my card budget differently this year (read: more responsibly!), due to being a newlywed, searching for a new house, and just not wanting piles and piles of cards creating clutter on my desk.  

Anyways, I'm always up for trading and one of my anonymous blog readers and fellow O's fan Zach recently swapped some cards. He is just getting back into the hobby after a long layoff so I happily was able to reduce card clutter and send him a gaggle of Orioles cards that he was interested in.  He sent me a bunch of the blue Wal-Mart parallels from series 1.  kevin gregg was also included in this lot. Zach sent 2 blue parallels and a gold parallel along with the ones below. He was left out of the scan because he sucks at his job and whines about it to the media. He blew a ton of saves last season and doesn't understand why Showalter is going with Jim Johnson as the closer this season. Get a clue! Any mention of gregg on this blog will be in lower case until he learns how to do his job better.

Sorry to get on my soapbox about the Orioles entitled ex-closer but I had to get it off my chest.  I feel much better now.

Thanks Zach for the trade.  I hope we can do it again sometime!

2012 Spring Training TTM #2

I finally got another one of my Spring Training TTMs back yesterday.  Check it out:

This is likely going to be Kyle Hudson's only Orioles card since he's now with Texas.  I really like that Kyle took the time to sign the card in blue sharpie and return it to me.  Thanks a bunch Mr. Hudson!

2012 Spring Training TTM #1

I've been impatiently waiting for my first TTM to come back from Spring Training for about a week now and I finally got it.  Ironically this was the last one I sent on the 27th of February.  1 week turnaround!  Thanks Zach!

The only thing that would make this card a little better would be if he signed it in blue and a little lower on his legs so the auto doesn't blend with the black jersey.