News and Notes and Billy Goats?

Oh my, I hope there are no Billy Goats…

Anyway, I officially added Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo to my Want List.  I explained about Beltre in the last post, and as for Choo, have you seen him this year?!  Alexei Ramirez is under consideration to officially add as well.  Dunno if Fred Lewis will remain or not.

Should I add the guys I’m not actively collecting that I keep any cards I pull of (Hanley Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr., Chien-Ming Wang… yeah, seriously reconsidering that last one), to the want list?

Three people have shown interest in the potential box break.  Shane, Thomas, and Baseball Dad would like to play.  Now, we need at least another 9 people to commit (or enough spots to be taken to equal 12 or more) before we can proceed further, however.  Baseball Dad gave me an idea how to divvy up the teams, should it actually get that far, though.  More on that as it develops.

In non-related news I started experimenting with making my own sketch cards.  I don’t have the markers to color most of them though.  If you want a B&W sketch card sent along with your trade, tell me what or who you’d like and I’ll whip one up for ya.  Can be pretty much anything your lil’ heart desires.  Sky’s pretty much the limit.

I’d like to actually be able to make a few bucks off them someday, so uhh… Get ’em while they’re free.

I’m done shamelessly pimpin’ my wares now.  Thank you.

The reason I’ve yet to put up my remaining Yankee Stadium Legacys is because… I don’t know where they are.  I thought I just missed them in the empty SP Blaster Yankee box, but they aren’t there, or in any of the piles and piles of random cards I checked awhile ago.  So yeah… >_>

Next on the agenda is a question for Shane of Shoebox Legends.  Did my end of the trade make it to you yet?  And if so, was it acceptable?  I’m a little worried.

And then a question for Cliff of Capewood’s Collections.  Did you ever come to a conclusion on what, if any, of the Phillies you needed/wanted?  Please shoot me an e-mail and I’ll do my best to get them to you before I run out of moneys this month.

To the ladies of Dinged Corners, I’m still workin’ on the box.  I’m planning to do at least two sides as soon as I finish this post.  Also, I can only fit 176 cards in the box not the 200+ I intended.  Will send the other 30 or so as I normally send out my trades.  I think I’ve managed to get everything you asked for in there, with the possible exception of a couple of minis that are nowhere to be found.  However they’ve been more than replaced with other minis.

I wonder if they’ve ever even been to my blog…

I’m probably forgetting something, but I guess I’m done for now.

See you, Space Cowboy

The Great Cardening of 2009 #2: New York Yankees

Finally!  Mercifully!!  It’s time for the next team in The Great Cardening of 2009.  To be fair, I did start writing this on the long ago Friday afternoon in question.  Really, there is no excuse for not getting this done sooner, other than laziness.  I guess total lack of organizational skillz played a decent-sized role too.

Anyway, I’m still waiting to know what’s gonna happen on the Phillies, but it’s the Yanks time in the spotlight right here & now.  We’ll do it the same way as last time, though I’m not sure the Yankees have anyone that doesn’t qualify as a star on their team, having a bigger payroll than the GDP of several (dozen?) third world countries combined.  Yes yes, I know the Cubs are in the upper tier, but they at least got playoff returns on their investment last year.

Nothing touches the ridonkulous-ness of the Mariners payroll though and epic fail it got them though.  Ouch. XD

Oh btw, can you believe Adrian Beltre may be knocking on the door of 3000 hits, 500 home runs, and 1800 RBIs by the end of his career?  Guess there is something to be said for steady production and longevity, huh?  As of this day, I think I am officially an Adrian Beltre fan.  He has gotten no love at all, probably due to the huge expectations people had for him (that were only exceeded once, in his huge contract year), but he quietly produces solid season after solid season after solid season.  I may even have to add him to the players I collect list.

Now then, onto the Yankees cards.  For the sake of simplicity (in theory at least), all Roger Clemens, Reggie Jacksons and A-Rods go with the Yankees, while all Randy Johnsons go to the D-Backs and CC Sabathias stay with the Indians. If they be wearing a different team’s jersey, it will be noted. The few remaining Yankee Stadium Legacies will get their own space as well.

With everything tediously said, let’s get to the cards.

Roger Clemens

2002 Donruss Classics #22, 2003 Flair #24, 2003 Fleer Tradition #301, 2007 Topps Chrome #127, 2006 Topps Opening Day #84 (Astros), 2006 Ultra Strikeout Kings #SOK1 (Astros), 2005 Upper Deck All-Star Classics #40 (Astros), 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #123

Guess Shane got all my Red Sox Clemens’ if I even had any to begin with.

Derek Jeter

2008 Allen & Ginter Mini #120, 2002 Donruss #3 (corner dingage), 2003 Donruss Diamond King (Regular) #2, 2006 Fleer #390, 2002 Fleer Genuine Names of the Game #NG 10 if 30, 2004 Fleer Legacy #??, Topps Updates and Highlights League Leaders (w/ Joe Mauer & Robinson Cano) #203, and Classic Duos (w/ Robinson Cano) #321, 2007 Topps #40 (yes, THAT one), 2008 Topps Chrome 50th Anniversary All-Star Rookie Team #ARC6, 2006 Ultra Midsummer Classic Kings #MCK3, 2007 Upper Deck #163, and #844, 2008 Upper Deck Team Checklist #780, 2008 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee #DJ9, 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Black Retail Parallel #144(x2), and Triple (w/ A-Rod and Cano) #188, and Black Retail Parallel Triple (w/ A-Rod and Cano) #188, 2008 Upper Deck Goudey B&W #258, 2005 Upper Deck MVP #23, 2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Player Highlights #PH-24

Hideki Matsui

2003 Donruss Studio Masterstrokes #MS-9 #’ed 0805/1000, 2007 Topps Chrome #96, 2005 Upper Deck All-Star Classics #18, 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes # 118(x2), 2006, 2008 Upper Deck Goudey #124, 2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Run Producers #RP-13, 2008 Upper Deck X #67

Mariano Rivera

2008 SP Authentic #64, 2007 Topps Turkey Red #349, 2008 Upper Deck #586, 2009 Upper Deck #273, 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #111, and Charcoal (WTF~?!) parallel #111, 2008 UD Masterpieces #61

Alex Rodriguez

2005 Bowman Chrome Rookie Reprint #94-AR, 2005 eTopps Promo #AR3 (corner ding-age), 2006 Flair Showcase Hot Numbers #HN-2, 2008 Topps Heritage Baseball Thrills 500th HR #366, 2008 Topps Opening Day Puzzle #11 of 28, 2009 Upper Deck StarQuest Blue Uncommon #SQ-2, 2009 Upper Deck Superstar Scrapbook #SS-2, 2007 Upper Deck Future Stars #64, 2008 Upper Deck Goudey #122, 2008 Upper Deck Heroes #115, 2008 Upper Deck X XPonential4 #X4-AR

I think the eTopps Promo came from a Tuff Stuff Magazine, but I’m not 100% sure.

Legends/Merely Solid Players that Get Undue Legend Cards Because they Played for the Yankees

Reggie Jackson- 1988 Score #500 (A’s), and #503 (Angels), 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #190 Triple (w/ Winfield & Mattingly), and Charcoal (Pfft) parallel #122

Don Mattingly- 1988 Topps (’87 Record Breaker) #2, 1989 Topps (All-Star) #397, 1986 Topps Major League Leaders #28(x2), 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #125(x3)

Mickey Mantle- 2006 Topps Mickey Mantle Home Run History #MHR1(x3), #MHR168, #MHR17, 2007 #MHR228, #MHR337, #MHR361, and 2007 Topps Chrome #MHR230, 2007 Topps Chrome Mickey Mantle Story #MMS16, and 2008 #MMSC55, 2008 Topps Chrome Trading Card History #TCHC6

Dave Winfield- 1988 Topps #510, 1986 Topps Major League Leaders #29(x2), 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #126, 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Redback Mini #219

Everyone Else- Yogi Berra Charcoal (B*tch please) parallel #121(x2), 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Bucky Dent #128, 2003 Flair Greats Bill Dickey #71, Topps Joe DiMaggio The Streak JD26, and JD48, Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Joe D Quad #197 (w/ Yogi, Reggie, & Jeter), 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Don Larsen #132(x2), 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Graig Nettles #130

Yankee Stadium Legacy

(EDIT!!) Oops, forgot the remaining YSLs.  I’ll get to it in the morning, eh.

Hits/#’ed

2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Mike Mussina #315 Purple Parallel #’ed 008/150, and Kyle Farnsworth #720 Green Parallel #’ed 14/99

Inserts/Parallels

2004 Donruss Studio Steve Schirripa Fans of the Game #219FG-4

2006 Flair Showcase Robinson Cano Wave of the Future #WF-26, and Bernie Williams World Baseball Classic Moments #CM-40, 2006 Ultra Robinson Cano Ultra Rising Stars #URS6

2008 Bowman David Robertson RC #BDP48, and Braedyn Pruitt #BP72, 2008 Upper Deck Ian Kennedy Diamond Collection #DC-9, 2008 Upper Deck X Ian Kennedy RC Die-Cut Parallel #66, and Robinson Cano Die-Cut Parallel #71

Base

1983 Topps John Mayberry #45, Andre Robertson #281, Dave LaRoche (Super Veteran) #334, Rudy May #408, Shane Rawley #592, and Butch Hobson #652

1986 Topps Billy Martin #651

1988 Score Tim Stoddard #258, and Bill Gullickson #585, Topps [whatever it is…] Willie Randolph #59(x2)… What are the name of these minis?  They got the “Talkin’ Baseball” thing on the back with definitions of baseball terminology.

1989 Topps Wayne Tolleson #716

1991 Donruss Mike Blowers #63, and Matt Nokes #170

1993 Donruss Rich Monteleone #445, and Scott Kamieniecki #681

2002 Donruss Mike Mussina Classics #45

2003 Topps Opening Day Jason Giambi (Season Highlights) #163

2005 Bowman’s Best Steven White First Year #77, 2005 Bowman Heritage J. Brent Cox First Year #345, 2005 Topps C.J. Henry First Year #UH324

2006 Bowman Heritage Bobby Abreu #120, 2006 Fleer Tradition Wil Nieves #195, 2006 Topps Carl Pavano #427, and Joe Torre #587, 2006 Ultra Johnny Damon #136, 2006 Upper Deck Ovation Bobby Abreu #55, 2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Kyle Farnsworth #720

2007 Bowman Dellin Betances 1st #BP5 (corner ding-age), 2007 Bowman Chrome Johnny Damon #180, 2007 Topps Johnny Damon #196, 2007 Topps Chrome Andy Pettite #16, 2007 Topps ’52 Rookies Chris Basak RC #28, and Tyler Clippard RC #33

2008 Allen & Ginter Ross Ohlendorf #157(x2), Jorge Posada #164, Melky Cabrera #168, Phil Hughes SP #335(x2), 2008 Bowman Joba Chamberlain #151, Bowman Chrome Anthony Claggett 1st #BCP12, SP Authentic Joba Chamberlain #12(x2), 2008 Topps Ross Ohlendorf RC #102, Robinson Cano #136, Jasom Giambi #409, Joe Girardi #631, and Billy Traber #UH114, 2008 Upper Deck Joba Chamberlain #294, Brian Bruney #295, Jorge Posada #296, Kei Igawa #585, Shelley Duncan #592, Kyle Farnsworth #594(x2), 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Phil Hughes #113, and Jorge Posada #117, Upper Deck Goudey Chien-Ming Wang #123, and Ian Kennedy RC #131, 2008  UD Masterpieces Ian Kennedy RC #58

2009 Upper Deck Jason Giambi #263

Gahahhhhh, finally freaking done!  Mercy me.  Get ’em while they’re hot.  That’s… a wrap.

A Favor for a Great Friend

A very VERY good friend of mine has gotten in touch with her artistic side in the past few days, in the hopes of making a little money on the ‘Bay.  I’m sure I can’t help her actually get any bids, but I’d do anything for my friends, so here is a link to her cool homemade earrings for your approval.  Click on the picture to see all her stuff.

K-Mart Cards

My brain woke up shortly after I posted earlier, so I actually got around and went out today, making it to K-Mart before closing time.

There wasn’t much baseball to choose from unfortunately.  No Goudey or Heroes anymore, though there was a fresh supply of ’08 Masterpieces.  The only other thing was regular Upper Deck Series 2 and the USA version of Series 2.

They had Hot Prospects basketball and Icons football, and enough Hockey to choke a moose, if anybody wanted to get other sports involved.  They probably had regular Upper Deck basketball and football too, but I forgot my list, so I can’t say for sure.

If the choices are lacking, it’s possible I can check back at Shopko sometime. Never know how long the random Hobby boxes and unopened retail boxes will hold out, but the boxes they had when I got mine would have been the same price as ten blasters for two of them.  It was all 2006 stuff, but it was some of the nicest that year had to offer in Flair Showcase and Ovation (and something else on their smexy looking upper-low end level that I can’t remember).  They’d have less cards than ten blasters even if it’s heavy on the Masterpieces, but unless the Masterpieces hold some hits (I’m 0 for probably 12 or so in K-Marts non-guaranteed hit discount blasters since they were marked down late last fall, so I’m not hopeful…), those boxes would would give up more hits, one or two being autographs.

There’s a lot of ways we can go with this, assuming it there is enough interest to actually make it happen.  We can always mix and match and replace a couple or four discount ones with more desirable regular price blasters like ’08 Allen & Ginter or this year’s Heritage or Spectrum (ha!) from elsewhere.

It’s getting a little convoluted, but I’m still down if the interest is there.  If you like the idea, leave a comment or send an e-mail.  And if you have an idea on how to make it all work, by all means, let me know.  I’d love to have the chance to be master of ceremonies for a group break for y’all, however we may decide to do it.

Thanks again for your consideration.  Did you all have a funderful day?

.::~Outtro~::.

Under Consideration

I’m thinking about doing something.  They’ve got a whole mess of discount blasters at K-Mart still.  It seems a shame to let them all go to waste, but I after my hobby box from Shopko, I’m pretty much done with buying cards of my own for the forseeable future.  I’m wondering though, does anybody want to do a group blaster break?

I’d like to get a at the very least 12 people, but preferably 14 (I’ll play too unless the turnout is good enough that 15 people wish to buy in), who would be interested.  So if you should come across this and like the idea, spread the word, because if you’ve noticed my hit counter, very few people actually read this blog. 😛

As for specifics, I’d like to get 10 blasters.  Does $9.00 per person for two teams sound good?  That should cover all the blasters and some, if not most, of the shipping, provided we get a full turnout of 14 or 15.  Even still, 12 will cover the blasters.  And I’ll of course cover you with stuff from my own collection if you get the shaft.  Heck, I’ll probably do it a little regardless (unless you completely pwn the break).  I’m cool like that.

I’ll be out tomorrow, barring something going wrong, so I can check out exactly what all they’ve got and pass it along.  The selection isn’t the greatest, but stuff apparently continues to trickle in, so there may be a new thing or two there, or maybe not.  We’ll see.  I can put the final decision of what and how many up to vote, if we actually get that far.

Thanks for your consideration, and have a funderful day.

.::~Outtro~::.

No Number?

Victor Dayf-go

I was going through the cards I got at Shopko, of which I’ll make a post of the Hobby Box soon (in theory anyway), but this is about something I noticed today (three days later).  There was something interesting in one of my Allen & Ginter packs that I didn’t notice when I first opened it.  I got a Victor Hugo (who shall henceforth be known as Victor Dayf-go for the remainder of this post) mini in said pack.  Well, the first thing I failed to realize that it was an SP mini.  Ironically, thanks to an old post of Dayf’s, I found out that SP minis fall 1:13 packs.  Dunno if the odds change in retail or not in them since I haven’t my blaster boxes or any packs still around.  But it gets better, oh yes.

So I turn the card over to see that there is no number.  Confused, I set out on the internet with the mission of finding out just what I have here.  Eventually I stumbled upon the previously mentioned Dayf post to find out that they fall 1:151 packs in Hobby Boxes.  Again, not sure if it changes in retail or not, or what, if anything being an SP does to those odds, but that is pretty fantastic regardless.

I wonder… if the odds hold true does that mean that the print run of the not numbered ones is roughly 50, #’d to 25 Bazooka Backs are roughly twice as hard to get at 1:301?  My inner stat geek is so curious I’d like to find out from Topps themselves.  And if it isn’t right I’d like to try and figure how it could be off.  Oohoohoohoo, so exciting.  I think I peed myself a little.

Not really, but statistical nincompoopery does make me a little tingly inside.  Weather phenoma has been known to get me that way too.  And history.  Heh.

Oh, anyway, here’s what the back looks like:

I knew there was a reason the A&G packs felt good...

As you can see, there is no number under his profession.  Pretty cool huh?  It does beg the question though… What do I do with all the cards of non-sport people I’ve accumulated from packs of baseball cards?  Should I do a Great Cardening post for them as well?

Thanks for reading.  I swear, one of these days I will get a proper post up thanking Shane and Marie great cards I’ve received.

Oh btw, I finally got your cards sent out Shane.  I hope they are up to snuff.  I am kinda worried honestly.  I don’t know how I could ever hope to match such an epic bunch of cards as what you sent.

One day I might actually get around to finishing The Great Cardening of 2009 Yankees post, too.  Someday…

‘Til the Crossroads…

Something More…

Messing with finishing typing up the rest of the Yankees for The Great Cardening of 2009 isn’t in the cards today, as it were.  As of right now I have been up over 29 1/2 hours straight (ended up being over 35 hours total), so although I am still pretty awake and coherent, messing with the ridiculous amount of Yankee cards I need to write down still is probably not the best of ideas.  I do have something that might be worth posting though.

As you probably don’t know, I have a LOOOOOOOONG overdue lot of cards needing to be sent to the beloved sports card blog royalty and all-around great ladies of Dinged Corners.  Now then, having finally decided what all to be sent, and getting the box to send the more than 200 cards in, I still felt like I needed to do something more.  So I have postponed the sending of the wonderful stack of cardboard happiness yet a little longer still.

Now I’m going to explain, and then show you, why.  You see, I have a problem.  I am a total f***-up.  It is what it is, and I hate myself for it.  So even sending an over-the-top lot like I am, it still doesn’t feel like enough.  Perhaps I am just overcompensating for my own self-loathing, but I like to go the extra mile when I can even when I’m not hating on myself.  So I decided I must do something unique to add to the awesome, perhaps giving myself a boost of positive energy in the process.

But what can I do to make 200+ cards even more awesome?  I only have two natural skills in my arsenal, three counting being less biased and more willing to listen and consider reason than your average human being.  But that one doesn’t really help me here, potentially handy as it may be from time to time.  My other two skills are more marketable, though I haven’t found it within myself to try and make money off of them yet.

The skills of which I… err, type, are of course, writing and drawing, as anyone who has given my blog the time of day might have noticed.  I don’t truly think I’m all that good at either, to be honest.  My dad and brother are both tremendously talented artists I feel I’ll always be reaching up towards, the effort to even match their respective talents being an impossible goal, to speak nothing of surpassing them.

As well, the closest person I can count as a best friend, though we have never met in person, is a brilliant writer, far beyond the wisdom and sophistication of her years.  Again, she is someone close to me who’s talent dwarfs my own supposedly formidable skills in one of the only things I have ever shown anything resembling a “gift” for.

But that is neither here nor there in this case, merely a glimpse Behind These Hazel Eyes, as this blog of mine’s title goes.  All of the above mentioned, and many others I’ve come to know and even care for, encourage the s*** out of me, for lack of a better term.  They are in fact the ones who consider my talent in both art and writing formidable, and hope (and in the case of said best friend, threaten violence :P) that one day I’ll get my head right and man up, that I’ll make good on my gifts one day, suspect as I find them to be.

That, somewhere between brutally honest and tediously, all said, we come to back to the task at hand.  Something truly unique and interesting to make my end of a sickeningly long overdue trade even better.  I decided, since while I can turn a pretty decent phrase now and again, I’m not very good at speaking directly to an individual person, or in this case two, let alone in a way that can adequately describe anything involving my feelings or of thanks in any substantial way.

So right here and now, from the very depths of my soul, I will simply say *thank you* to Patricia and Lucy, for putting up with my laziness, short attention span, immaturity, lack of focus, repeated inability to do stuff in a timely manner, and anything else I might have missed… And I hope that the number of hours and amount of effort I put into turning a plain white, 39¢ storage box into a legitimate work of art, in some small way, helps to make your dealings with me, somehow, worth the time.

Here is part one (of six) of your custom storage box:

Once I’ve completed all four sides, the top and the flap, I will send it, crammed to the gills with as many cards as I can possibly fit.

.::~Outtro~::.

Claire #1

I missed posting a sketch for my one year anniversary of busting out my sketchbook for the first time by a long shot.  It’s already been a good 10 days or so.  But I suppose that is neither here nor there.  Art doesn’t need a reason, so here you go.

This is my friend Claire, the first of four sketches I’ve done of her so far.

I did this one exclusively in 3B instead of my usual much harder lead.  It was the first time I tried to use a softer lead after I started drawing again.  I’d like to be able say it was only like three months after I started, but I didn’t, and still don’t, draw nearly as frequently as I should.  So no, it was almost nine months later that I got around to expanding my horizons.  As Michael Cole would say, “VINTAGE Lonestarr~!”.  Yeah, I kinda fail sometimes.

Okay, I’ll shut up now.  Enjoy.

This is Lonestarr, signing off…