Bubble mailer week...

Well, it was also PWE day because some sellers on eBay are just lazy.  I love getting a bargain so sometimes I will stray from solely buying autographs or only buying my guys.  That's where this nice Kreider auto came from.  I like it alot and it was way cheaper than it should be.  Then again hockey autographed cards are no where near as expensive to collect as baseball autographs.  Maybe it's just me.

Here are the new McDonagh cards I can cross off my want list today:

2014-15 UD MVP Super Scripts /25

2010-11 ITG Heroes and Prospects auto

 2014-15 Upper Deck Tundra Trios (USA)

These were $1.69 for both, and I didn't have one so I figured why not.  The price is right.

2014-15 SP Six Authentic (I won't lie I don't like the card as much as I would if the Flyers were the "back of the card".)

I did also add some Cano cards to my collection as well.  Both are from 2105 Topps Series 1.

Blogging about my eBay pick ups makes me remember why I should stay away from packs.  I do occasionally grab boxes of hockey and baseball but focusing on my collection has helped it to grow and has stopped the amount of cardboard in my house from increasing 100 fold a year.

2 Reasons I'm Over Parallels

I posted a blog a couple of days ago about not bothering with inserts and parallels until I'm at a show or I already found a way to get all the better/harder to find later cards. I thought I would share a couple of my mail days to show you why I stopped bothering.

Mail Day #1

2011 Topps Finest Robinson Cano Finest Moments Auto /274


Mail Day #2

2011 Topps Finest Robinson Cano Finest Moments Auto /20


While writing this I realized something ironic. While I may be done chasing base card parallels it seems as though they still have me sucked in. I'm still buying parallels, they are just autographed now. Yay. The difference to me is that when I get an autograph it thrills me to no end but when I win a refractor version of something the only thing I'm thinking when it arrives is, "oh good I can fill one more pocket on the page of these exact same cards in my binder." Then I'm over it. I am more likely to flip through all my plastic snap cases of autographs then I am to flip pages in my binder unless I am putting the cards away.

Eventually I will try and find the Finest parallels and inserts, or maybe one of you guys have some to trade. In the meantime if anyone has the purple refractor auto of Cano /5 to trade, let me know. One was already sold on eBay and there is one currently for sale in this auction. I want this card pretty badly to complete the Finest set of them, but unless one of you guys feel like buying me a birthday present it may be out of my price range for the time being considering the other one on eBay ended around $108.

I'm going on an eBay break until after Christmas because any money I have from now til then will be saved for shopping. I have one more mail day to show you guys, and one more I've been waiting about 10 days for it to arrive. I don't want you guys to think I lied.

P.S. Please keep me in mind for any 2011 Finest, 2011 Bowman Chrome, and 2011 Topps Chrome cards of my guys you come across. I am definitely interested in trading and have plenty of cards to flip.

A First for my Cano Collection

Lately I haven't been making many trades, mostly because it seems like many of us are buying less packs and boxes and more singles. I have been doing that, well... with the exception of the great Bowman Binge of 2011as I will now call it. That product sucks the life out of me every year, not just the last two, I always end up in way too deep to end up with 2 complete sets.... Anyway, that's not the point of the post.

I got an e-mail about a month or two ago from a reader who claimed to have a Robbie Cano card I would want. Boy was he right! I had told him to give me a little time because with the end of the semester and finals coming up I couldn't really devote the time to turning my room upside down for a trade. Being a nice guy, he put the card in a safe spot and held onto it for safekeeping just for me.

We completed the trade last week, him getting almost my entire David Wright collection (including a RC /100 that he looked amazingly cute in, you know, for a Mets player). Believe me, I didn't shed a tear to send them off. In return, I got a bunch of Pujols cards with some of them being serial numbered (which I wasn't expecting, or at least forgot about so it was a fun surprise) and a Cano card that kind of completes my set in a way. This is the card I got:

2008 Sweet Spot Sweet Swatch dual patch card Robbie Cano/Brian Roberts /25


I am in no way a fan of the Orioles, but I like Brian Roberts. Yes, I will admit it partially because he's cute but the rest is because he's gritty (when he's not on the DL). This card marks the first patch card in my Cano collection. When I search for cards I usually go straight for autographs, and game used stuff is secondary because I feel like the game used cards will be easier to get later. So, I have a dirty Cano card and now a patch.

I freaking love this card.

B2B Connection

So now that you made it to the blog I bet you are wondering what the hell is a B2B connection. Well, I am getting bored with the term 'mail day' or whatever, so I came up with this. I shall dub this 'Blogger 2 Blogger' because it sounds different. I can also say that I will probably forget about it by the next time someone sends something, so I will enjoy my (un) clever name for now.

I got a package in the mail today from Field Level View, which included all kinds of good things. Jason had been making a nice pile of cards for me, some of which I was aware of, others came as a total shock. I think I may have forgotten about some and honestly that made opening this bubble mailer way more fun.

Take a look at my newly acquired loot and feel free to tell me which was your favorite.

Some sweet Yankees from the 2010 Bowman Platinum including Gary Sanchez, Jesus Montero,
Slade Heathcott, and Austin Romine. All of which I would love to collect but can't afford any new endeavors. So if anyone pulls any cards of these guys, feel free to send them my way or we can work out a trade.


Pujols Diamond Anniversary

Pujols, Dunn, Votto gold card

Some Yankee prospects from 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition


2010 Donruss EEE Gary Sanchez This kid may be the one that I would most like to collect if I hit the lotto. His cards are pretty damn pricey and so far with good reason. Let's hope he keeps hitting the ball as well as he has been as he moves up in the minors.


Nice cards, right? They sure are, but there were WAY cooler mojo cards in the envelope. I suppose you will want to see what they were, yes? OK, I won't keep you in suspense any longer.

2010 Donruss Elite Ben Gamel auto /50 He was born in 1992, that is enough to make me feel ancient. I will have to put on my reading glasses and do some research on this little tyke. I do like that the auto is a die-cut. Not too often we see them anymore.


2010 Donruss Elite Ron Blomberg auto /299 Love it! I am a big fan of any Yankees autos, especially of the old timers. He could probably be Gamel's grandfather...


2010 Bowman Sterling Albert Pujols/Ichiro dual game used jersey card /199

Well, I think it is safe to say that I absolutely love the dual relic card. I'd like to think of it as a quad relic. The other cool thing is that Albert's side is not white or gray. I am sick of only having white or gray swatches of anyone, unless they are dirty white or gray swatches then I will love them as much as a patch.

Long Fly Ball to my Mailbox

There is only one person who knows how long it has taken me to post this mail day, and that guy is my friend David over at Long Fly Ball to Because. I would be embarrassed to admit how long it has taken me, so I won't. But I will post some of the cool cards I got in the mail.

There were a bunch of cards for both Sooz and myself in the giant bubble mailer. I swear we loved them all. Part of the fun of the bubble mailer was the sweet giant index card with the Yankees logo and a note from David. I don't have cool stuff like that, I sometimes don't even think to put a note in a trade. If I do, it's either on a midget sized post-it note, or a piece of paper laying around on my desk.

Anywho.... Here are the sweet cards that will get added to my collection and the pile of cards awaiting entry into my spreadsheets. You can stay tuned to find out what is going on with my backlog of work here.

Drumroll..................

2009 T-206 Robinson Cano Old Mill GU


2006 Bowman Heritage Robinson GU

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Albert Pujols All Star Game jersey

2009 T-206 Robinson Cano Polar Bear mini
2009 T-206 Albert Pujols Polar Bear mini

These cards will definitely fill in some of the holes in cards from recent years that I need. The mini cards have been pretty hard for me to grab, but the serial numbered Cycle card of Cano I have. Sometimes it's just so odd when you can find a steal of a deal on eBay on a serial numbered card but then the SP gives you such a hard time.

If you guys haven't read Long Fly Ball to Because, I suggest you do so. NOW! =) Oh and follow him on Twitter, he's a good guy and a big baseball fan.

Shiny mail day

Every time the mail comes and brings me things like this bubble mailer, it reminds me why as much as I love to open packs I need to stick to singles. There is nothing better than getting an envelope full of stuff you want.

I am still trying to hunt down the last of the 2010 National Chicle cards and 206 Chrome/refractors for my collection of both Cano and Pujols. So if you have any please let me know.

Here are the shiny mojo-ey cards I got in the mail. I love cardboard.


2010 National Chicle Robinson CanoRefractor /499



2010 National Chicle Albert Pujols Refractor /499 (Leave it to me to end up with the SP version before the base version)


2010 206 Albert Pujols /999


2002 Donruss Studio Stars Albert Pujols (I know this one seems random, but I needed it.)



David over at Long Fly Ball to Because was kind enough to send me this card to fill in a missing link from 2011 Topps Series 1.


2011 Topps Robinson Cano game used jersey
There seem to be 3 versions of this card, one with a road jersey, one with a stripe, and one with some random red jersey.

Overall this mail day was a win. If you have any Chicle or 206 cards of Cano and Pujols (refractors only) please let me know.