Random card that isn't that random...

Well, it was random a few months ago. At the national I wanted to get my mitts on a 2011 Topps Heritage Dustin Ackley NSCC exclusive RC. As it turns out, I ended up with a Michael Pineda RC which disappointed me then and now I don't know how I feel about it.

When I got the card, I admit I didn't care much for it and really didn't give Pineda a second thought. I actually had planned on selling it on eBay, however like most cards I don't want and plan on selling it ended up in a box next to my desk.

The fact that the Yankees traded Jesus Montero for Pineda is a little bittersweet for Yankees fans. Many of us have been waiting and waiting to see this kid come up and get a look at what he can do. He was up for a short time when rosters expanded this season and showed that he isn't afraid of the New York pressure and can hit. So much for that. While it is very clear that the Yankees desperately need pitching with A.J. Burnett constantly needing therapy for his head and his arm, I think we will all wonder how he would have fit into the Yankees lineup. Luckily, with a team of aging veterans there will be plenty of people to fill the DH slot.

There are plenty of pissed off prospectors out there who were sitting on a boatload of Montero autographs and now will likely take a huge profit hit because he's no longer a Yankee. (My condolences, Wes.)

I don't plan on collecting Pineda other than if I pull a card of his, it will end up in my binder. I would still be willing to trade this one for someone I do collect. So if you have something I want, feel free to give me a shout.

If you want to have a little fun, take a look at current Pineda listings vs. completed ones on eBay.

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.

I finished a set!

I am rather proud to announce that I have now completed the 2010 Bowman Prospects set of 110 cards. It is an enormous feat simply because I usually either lose interest or motivation every time I try building some sort of set.

The last few cards I needed were sent over to me by Cardboard Icons in part of a large trade we managed to figure out. Part of that trade also included another card I have wanted since it is on the lower spectrum of Strasburg cards. I am very pleased to add the Topps 100 Strasburg to my collection. If you haven't been over to his blog yet, I highly suggest you check it out. He's a cool guy but cheers for the wrong team. Hey, everyone has flaws.

I was debating on putting together the Bowman 92 Throwbacks set because I really like that one, but the problem is that I don't really intend to buy more Bowman and I know too many people doing the same thing. That ship might have set sail for me, so there may be another trade with Ben in the near future.

I am still working on finishing 2009 OPC, which seems like a lost cause. By working on, I mean if some people sent me the last of the cards I need. Did anyone finish that set?

I robbed one of our readers

The other day at the card shop my friend Dan brought his Adam Lind collection with him for me to check out. I'll admit it was almost like flipping through my own with the exception of 10 or so cards. What can I say, we have good taste.

Dan had doubles of 3 cards that I needed, and he let me take them for cards to be named later. Hooray! It made my trip even more fun. Oh.... what's that? You want to see what I looted from Dan's PC? Ok, ok settle down folks.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

I have been trying to get my mitts on one of these cards for-ev-er. Yay!

This was fun because the card looks like it has a watch on the side, at least to me it does.

Welcome home, Adam(s). You'll be very happy here with many just like you floating around.

Thanks for the loan, Woodpecker. Dan collects some Mets (not all, he hates some of them as much as I do), Jay Bruce, David Wright, Adam Lind, Scott Rolen, and Sox prospect Anthony Rizzo (there may be more but I don't remember). If you have anything you want to flip of those guys, please let me know (specifically 2010 Heritage Jay Bruce auto).

Trade Bait

OK, I am going to try and be productive tonight and scan some cards that I want to try and trade. I am only trading for Pujols, Cano, Lind (maybe Cervelli or Hughes) no one else. If no one is interested I may throw them on eBay for a laugh.

Here goes........





This is an Ichiro Dice Back that my scanner hated.... it's mint like everything else, but the white background was not agreeing with scanner.
If anyone has a Yankee Stadium seat card to trade that would be sweet, too.

There might be a sequel to this blog.

Night Owl-Inspired Post on Kouz

Last night, Kevin Kouzmanoff was traded to the Oakland A's with some other players (ones I don't collect, therefore do not acknowledge) for Scott Hairston. The deal isn't official yet because of the whole pending physical things.

However, this is the first time I've had to think about a player I enjoyed collecting getting traded.

Some of you may think, well, what about Andy Pettitte's time in Houston? When Pettitte signed with the Astros, I was very (baseball) sad about his leaving. However, at the time, I didn't really focus much of my collection on Pettitte, so there weren't any baseball card factors involved.

When it comes to Kouz, the good thing is that he's not on a team I have interest in either way. He also is not going to a team I have any interest in. I'm indifferent toward Oakland. From a card-collecting stand point, I don't think this changes much in that regard.

He went from one West Coast team to another. Although, I would have been sad if I was told to move from San Diego.

There were other teams looking at him during the offseason such as Baltimore and Minnesota and, I feel, both would have made collecting his cards more difficult. Baltimore and Minnesota have very strong followings. I would have had to fight with guys like Beardy or Topher (I think he collects the Twins) to get his cards.

Now, hopefully, the one other Kouz collector on eBay who I've been in bidding wars with won't want his cards. I'm praying he or she is a Padres fan and just doesn't want his card anymores. Although, I bet there are a few Oakland fans I am going to fight with.

The trade has done nothing for me. Although, I could change my mind during the season.

And, like Night Owl does after his posts, here is a Kouz card that I received in a trade from - what are the chances? - Night Owl himself.

2009 SP Authentic auto. I definitely needed this card. When I saw this on the blog it was the first time I saw this card. A few days later, the second one popped up on eBay. But I enjoy getting the card this way more.

He threw in this Derek Jeter card. The guy has good taste. 

2000 Upper Deck Gold Reserve. I had two inserts from this set, but not the base card.

Thanks for the trade!

Trip to the card shop

Since I seem to have trouble sleeping lately I was able to be at the gym bright and early yesterday, leaving me the day to do with what I wish. Well I wished to take a ride to the Baseball Card shop, and little B a.k.a. my car, granted my wish and took me there.

I walked in and Dave offered me gum, and then pulled out some piles of cards so I could entertain myself. We chatted for a bit about my issue with Topps and the Bowman card that never was. Dave knows the guy I bought the Bowman from and said he is a good guy, etc. etc. I also picked up a box of fun that one of our readers dropped off for me. There were a ton of cards in the box, Pujols, Cano, Russ, Jeter, some Yankees prospects, Hughes, and a bunch of Kouz cards for Sooz. (I am too lazy to scan all of them, but believe me there were a ton.)

I'm putting together something for you in return Dan. Thanks again for all the cards, they were a ton of fun to flip through and there were many that I don't have.

I found a nice pile of cards I wanted, along with a couple of random packs for funsies and a storage box. I happened to have been in the shop around the time school lets out and all the kids stop by to see Dave on their way home for a piece of gum. Some just stayed for gum, others used their lunch money to buy candy. If this store was on my way home from school, I'd have been the thinnest person in school because all my lunch money would have been spent on cards not lunch or candy.

Here is the pile of cards I picked, sadly there were no Pujols cards in the bunch.




Secretly I want to collect more Jeter cards, but need to focus on Pujols. It is too much to collect two of the most expensive players, on top of every other player I like. I have a decent size collection of Jeter, but want to build that up as well. I usually give Sooz my Jeter cards since I get her Pujols and when there are doubles of Jeter... I snarf them. As long as I can eventually have more Jeter cards than A-Rod, I will be a happy person.

I also noticed a Pujols RC in the case at the store that I was interested in, however it was a little out of my price range. The card belonged to a friend of Dave's so I asked Dave to let me know if he could give me a break on the card and I just got an e-mail with a nice price. I will probably go pick that up next week, so I am excited about that. I lost 3 times on eBay this week trying to win this card so now this saves me aggravation of losing a card by a freakin dollar again.

Trading Old School style

John at Old School Breaks recently busted a box of 2001 Fleer Genuine and he pulled a Jeter insert that he was kind enough to trade to me.


In return I sent him a bunch of 2007 Masterpieces cards and killed a lot of the cards on his want list.

John was also nice enough to throw in this Jeter I did not have.

Looking at the cards he pulled, enticed me to get my own hobby box of something a little older, but still from 00's (I have no clue how I am supposed to write that).

Look for that box break in a post some time soon.

Mail Day: Trade with Behind These Hazel Eyes

Todays trip to the post office went much better than yesterdays mangled, destroyed mail. I received a trade package from Behind These Hazel Eyes a.k.a. Lonestarr, a.k.a. @TwitchySensei. The package contained a bunch of Cano, Pujols, Russ Martin, and a Lind or two. I scanned some of the cards from that bunch in this picture.


The next card is super sweet because it is from the Ticket to Stardom set, and serial numbered 065/110. This is my first and only Pujols ticket stub from this set, and it came all the way from baseball heaven, at least that's what the ticket says.


The last two cards I'm going to show were totally unexpected, and probably my favorite. They aren't even baseball cards. They are WWE cards of John Cena. I like these cards for several reasons, one of which is that Lonestarr actually pays attention to things I sputter on Twitter. Most women think men never listen to a word they say, however this disproves that theory. Another reason I like them is because I haven't owned a wrestling card since somewhere around 1989 or 1988 when the "WWF" cards looked like little tv screens and George the Animal Steele was on them. Last reason I like them: John Cena is hot.

Go check out his blog and see the ridiculous card he pulled from a retail pack.

Winter Meetings -Yanks, Tigers, DBacks

Busy week for baseball executives means plenty of people sweating about where their team's free agents will end up. Latest reports from Yankees beat writers seem to indicate that the three-way deal between the Tigers, Diamondbacks, and Yankees is just about complete with a definite answer by 2pm. Yankees would get Curtis Granderson; Tigers would get Scherzer, Schlereth, Austin Jackson, and Phil Coke; DBacks get Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson.

I'll let you all know what I think about this when and if it happens later in the day. Just wanted to update those of you that are fans of those teams in case you aren't on Twitter and are at work.

1:51 Update

DBacks said Yankees are not under a 2pm deadline.

At least the Yankees did something right by shipping off Brian Bruney yesterday. Peace out Bruney.

2:08 Update

Deal may not be official until tomorrow so that teams can review all medical records.

2:39 Update

According to Twitter and beatwriters the deal is done. Thanks to Bryan Hoch for reporting it before anyone else.

Delivery Time: Trade with Nachos Grande (mmmm... nachos)

Nachos Grande (fanofreds.blogspot.com) had his own clunkers deal. He got rid of a few cards he had no need for while I did the same with cardboard that was just sitting in a box.

Card for Clunkers was a great deal.

I sent him two cards he was missing from the 2009 Topps Heritage set.

In turn, I received a Joba Chamberlain gold 2009 Topps /2009.

A Phil Hughes 2008 Topps Chrome xfractor

and other assorted Yankees

Have I mentioned how much I love nachos?

Local card shop findings

The past few days I have been MIA from the blogosphere because I went down to stay at Suzy's house for a few days. We had a good time, played some Wii, golfed, his a card shop, and a Target. We can't possibly hang out together for days without going to a Target or a card shop, or both.

The local shop that we went to is more of a store that sells local team merchandise, autographs, and team knick knacks. They have a couple of hobby boxes behind the counter, a few game used cards and autos in a case, and some binders/boxes with cards. Nothing great in the case, so we flipped through a binder and we picked out some cards, well I picked out a bunch- even some for a couple of fellow bloggers in case they needed them. There were no Jeter cards, and very few Pujols in the mix. Not a single Cano either now that I think about it. Long story short, all the cards in the scan cost me $4.25. I think I did ok even if I don't need those M&M Pujols, I couldn't pass them up for 50 cents.


I got a whole ton of trades and things in the mail today. Not going to the post office for a few days definitely paid off for some boredom now that I have no one to play Wii with. (sad face here) I got a bunch of Pujols cards from one of our readers, McCann Can Triple. There was also a random package from Waxaholic which made me happy, as well as a box of OPC goodness from Stale Gum and a sweet package of posters from the National from Dan over at Saints of the Cheap Seats.

While I don't know how I got so lucky to find a great group to trade with and talk to on a somewhat daily basis, but it is awesome and I am grateful for it.

No trade deadlines around here

With the passing of the trade deadline recently I have been inspired to scan a bunch of game used cards with the hopes of trading them for some guys I like. The Brian Roberts one is actually pending a trade but I scanned it prior to that.

Here is what is up for grabs, and if you have something that I might want (Pujols, Cano, Lind, Martin, etc.), let me know.



I also have a TON of 2009 O-Pee-Chee doubles for trade, please see my want list (I need to update the cards that are incoming). I have about 25 black parallel doubles that I would be willing to trade for cards that I need out of that set (yes, I am going to see how far I can get on the black parallel set). I figured if I put together the black OPC set, then I would put those in a binder (maybe).

The coolest envelope ever

Yesterday I went to the post office and was supposedly mailing things (which were home on my scanner and went out today- VOTC & topher) when I discovered the "yellow card" in my P.O. box. I love yellow cards because as you might know, that is what you get when something is too large for the box (insert jokes here). The mailman hands me two packages, one from The Mojo Hand and one from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius. Matt from HBC is a frequent trading partner of mine and a great guy, and Jay from the Mojo Hand will definitely be on my list of great trading partners (though for now he gets an IOU 'til I have something 'mojo-esque' for him).

I want to start with Mojo Hand simply because this was by far the coolest way to send baseball cards I have seen yet. Not to say I need anything fancy like this ever, but what a great idea. Perhaps if my bills came in the mail like this they would be more tolerable.






I would have been happy with just the envelope, however the cards inside were indeed worthy of the title we have all grown to love/hate and make fun of "mojo". Take a look at what Jay sent me:

2008 Topps Stadium Club Beam Team autograph Robinson Cano (Holy schnikeys!)

2007 UD Elements Troy Tulowitzki RC, 2008 UD Baseball Heroes Joba Chamberlain /249 (sweet because I have no serial numbered or SP's of Joba), and 2009 Topps Heritage Robinson Cano SP

Variety of Yankee Greats to add to my Yankee Stadium Legacy collection

Jay, you and I are going to get along famously- if I don't find anything for you perhaps a $12 bleacher ticket will make-up for it in the future. Thanks a million!!!

Now, onto Matt's package from HBC... Matt is always on the look-out for Pujols cards and Yankee Stadium Legacy for me, and often just sends things along (like this), for cards to be named later. I shall search for those cards this weekend. Matt found 2 Pujols inserts from 2005 that I don't have and now am giddy about. Here is what Matt sent me:

2005 Topps Total Albert Pujols, Total Topps and Total Production

Yahoo!!! What a day for mail, and I didn't get a single bill in the mail which made this even more fun. Thanks so much Matt, I will see what I can send you from you want list.

I will be attempting to put together a small break blog later tonight or tomorrow depending on how late I make it. I have been asleep before the 11 o'clock news almost every night this week. Sad.

Trade with Cardboard Junkie

As many of you know a trip to K-Mart a while back landed me a '34 Goudey buyback of Baxter Jordan. dayf from Cardboard Junkie e-mailed me about trading it to him and I was willing to entertain trading it since it really didn't do much for me, other than look cool and end up a trophy pull from a blaster.

I was offered a boatload, and by boatload I mean over 40 YSL cards PLUS a Pujols GU jersey card for the '34 Jordan, some cards to help him complete a set and some Braves that he was interested in (at least I think that's how this went down). dayf was also kind enough to throw in some free Pujols cards that are making new friends here on my desk for now.





Thanks dayf this trade got me a few centimeters closer to that far, far away finish line on the YSL set.

P.S. I opened the 2009 Topps Series 2 packs and they were uneventful, which was more or less expected after the luck on the Goudey. Stay tuned.

Mail day: I made a new friend

Today turned out to be errand day for me. It wasn't supposed to take up my whole day but it did for the most part. In an attempt to stop my brain from turning to mush I have decided to go back to school. For now it is just one summer class to see how this goes since it is a completely different area than what I got my bachelors in. I had to go to the school to pay for the class and get some books. I tried to register for another class later in the summer but needed a transcript, which I don't keep in my wallet and needed to go get from the college I graduated from. All of which meant driving 15 minutes back to another school, asking for a transcript-I was the only person I saw in the whole school- and being told that they couldn't do it today, but I could pick it up Thursday. Apparently it takes 2 days to punch in a SS # and it CTRL P. I managed to convince them to let me pick it up tomorrow.

I got my books... I am not kidding when I say the textbook weighs at least 8-10 pounds, and the workbook isn't flimsy. Textbook has 1,000+ pages and if I'm supposed to know this book in 4 weeks, I may never leave my room. If the blogging is a little slow on my end in June, I apologize up front and at least you will know why.


Anyway, to get back on track (and fast forward 3 hours worth of errands and shopping) I had a hell of a day at the post office. I went to mail out some cards I had promised people and got the yellow card in my mailbox indicating there was more that didn't fit. Yes! That is the best thing that can happen at the post office.


Yes, there is a white envelope in there but that is an eBay item that I paid $1 shipping so I am not going to complain about that one.

The reason for the blog title is that the first piece I am going to feature in all this mail is from "the Drizz" over at Totally Cecil, the Cecil Fielder blog. He is new to the blog scene and is just starting out. If he is trying to make a friend in this blogosphere, he now has one here. Dave had e-mailed me telling me he got 2009 Topps Series 2 packs earlier than the release and was going to send me some Yankees he got if I wanted them. I thought that was very nice and gladly accepted. I later saw that he pulled a Cano GU bat card and politely asked what might it take to snag that, or if he could hold onto it for me. He said I'll send it to you because it would just take up space... HOORAY!! Fun for me.




I had not noticed that the Cano card was serial numbered /99, which made me even more happy when I opened it. Given that he seems to collect Tigers cards I am going to have to start rummaging to find some cards that he needs. I don't always have cards on hand that people want or need, but I always remember to send things later on. (Moral: send me stuff, I'll send you stuff. Promise.)

If you get a chance, stop by his blog and look around. Make a new friend too since he's a nice guy.

I have some other mail as well as some eBay auctions that I got today which I will post later tonight or tomorrow.

Yankee game is on a delay still...