Pack War Trade

At the end of 2014 I sent out close to 1.5 lbs of cards to Pack War.  I’d been desperate to move some of that stuff for ages, and fortunately it seemed to have found its mark quite well.  So now, I present the return.

Valor & Triple Threads..

Valor looks great.  I dunno about Marshall & courage going together, but that parallel is #’ed /399.  I like the way the Triple Threads kind of pop out of an actual background.

Chrome RCs, crazy shiny TD, ’98 StarQuest..

For real though, even with the protector, you can see your own reflection in the silver parts of that wonderful Terrell Davis insert.  Unless you’re a vampire, in which case… *runs away*

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…

…

*cautiously returns* Is… Is the vampire dude gone?  Okay… *deep breath*  Where was I?  Oh yeah.

I’m happy to have some of the year’s best rookies in Watkins, Bortles, & Beckham Jr.  I don’t chase RCs from any other sport near as hard as baseball, but I do like getting them when I can. 😉

Then we have these StarQuest.  But they are no ordinary StarQuest, oh no!  For when you flip them over, you reveal…

Tadaaaaahhhh!

…They are also RookQuest!  Two of the finest to ever lace ’em up at that.  Such connections they have.  Can you imagine if they had put Ryan Leaf and Yatil Green on the back of Elway & Rice?  That would’ve been embarrassing.  And now Peyton and his giant forehead of doom is playing for ol’ horseface.  Even better.  I’m not high I swear.  MOVING ON.

‘Nique Jamfest Artist Proof..

Here’s the lone basketball card in the package, and the obligatory “doesn’t scan well/looks way better in person” card, a Pinnacle Jamfest Artist Proof of Dominique Wilkins.

Baseball Rookies!

Like I said, I’m always down for RCs of baseball stars, even when I have more than one, ala Mr. Posey here.  I have three of him now: Flagship Topps, Bowman Platinum, and this here A&G.  Or, and speaking of being high, in Ricky Williams’ case, baseball RCs of football stars.  Alleged egotistical weirdo Alex Rodriguez and 2005 World Series MVP Jermaine Dye round out the rookie card scan.

Ichiros, Big Hurts, & Rynos (oh my)..

Coming down the home stretch, starting with a pair of low numbered (but not really) black parallels of Ichiro Suzuki from the infamous disaster that was Topps Moments & Milestones.  I like to think of it as the Showgirls of card sets, because I imagine its existence had to have ruined a few careers.  Next up a pair each of north and south side’s most recently retired Hall of Famers, including a nifty Jiffy Pop disk that’s just sliiiightly too big for its own good.

You’d think his lack of depth perception would cause problems playing baseball, and you’d be right!

And that’s all for this trade.  Thanks, Shawn!  Hope we can do it again sometime.  And *points at screen and winks cheekily* thank YOU for stopping by.

It was fun.  Oh my…

What the Future Holds…

I guess I better get to the 2015 round of resolutions I cannot possibly keep while we’re still in the afterglow of a new year’s dawning.

Collection Goals

15 trades- I think I got close enough to my goal of a dozen last year not be entirely disappointed in myself, so let’s up the ante.  I already have two that are slowly coming together, one with longtime frequent trading partner Shot Not Taken and another with Baseball Card Breakdown.  I’ve also pulled out some odds & ends for a few other bloggers, and I’ll start sending out emails to the lucky(?) perspective trading partners soon.  I also reserve the right to add the two I got in just under the gun in 2014 if they get me over the hump at the end of the year, since their actual arrivals did and/or will take place in 2015. 😛

Finish the following Single Page Sensations- I am over halfway done on almost all of the following, so I’d like to finish as many as possible.

Cubs: Albert Almora (5/9), Javier Baez (8/9), Kris Bryant (7/9), Tyler Colvin (6/9), Ron Santo (6/9)

Other Baseball: Dick Allen (6/9), Roberto Alomar (7/9), Albert Bell (7/9), Carlos Santana (6/9)

Bears: Charles Tillman (6/9)

Basketball: Luol Deng (7/9)

Wrestling: Victoria/Tara (7/9)

BenchWarmer: BenchWarmer model (none over 3/9)

Baseball Sets: 2011 Topps Legend Variations (6/9), 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary Legend Variations (8/9), 2012 Topps Museum Collection “Canvas Collection” Baseball (8/9), 2014 Topps Museum Collection “Canvas Collection” Baseball (6/9 if I keep Strasburg)

Football Sets: 2013 Topps Museum Collection “Canvas Collection” Football (8/9)

Add 2 new licensed and 5 new personal Raven sketch cards- The former are crazy expensive for a B-list team character and there just aren’t a whole lot of either to go around.  I think these are pretty reasonable numbers to strive for though.

Finish both the licensed and PSC DC Comics miscellaneous Single Page Sensations- I am starting the year at 4/9 licensed and 3/9 PSC.

Complete any other sketch card Single Page Sensation- Lots to choose from, but I’m over halfway done on but a very few.

Blog Goals

Write 80 new posts- Again, we’ll up the ante a juuuust a smidge from 2014.  I did a good job of posting with a fair degree of regularity when I was actually here and posting in the year gone by, so I think I can average a little better than 1.5 posts per week in the year to come.  I’m not going to make any requirements on the number of non #collect-focused things this time though.  I feel that was a small contributor in falling off the map so early last year.  I’m stupid (not true, but I am very, very lazy), so I’m going to keep it simple.

Art Goals

Complete 50 new sketch cards- I managed 38/50 last year (1 side of that weird Marvel two card puzzle was completed).  That was close enough to not feel too much shame, especially in light of how much I managed to draw in total.  Still, this isn’t close enough to up the ante, so I will give the same number a good go again in 2015.  Paul Molitor (repurposed) and Boromir of Gondor (artist tile) are the first two in the queue.

100 total new works- I’m pretty sure I coasted past this number last year, and if you consider the multiple pictures on single pages as individual works, then I did even better.  Everything was unofficial, however.

Finish 30 old sketch cards- I barely finished any old cards in 2014, and I don’t feel like I did a very good job on what I did do, so I’m making this a point of emphasis in the new year.  I’m off to a good start, having already finished seven oldies on January 2nd (also colored most of two others).  I’m also happy to report my coloring seems to be back to nearly as strong as it was at the height of my powers a couple years ago.

You can keep track of my 2015 art progress HERE.

Writing Goals

Finish a first draft of any novel idea- I barely got anywhere on anything last year, and while I’d like to say a more stable computer situation would have helped, I’m not so sure…  There can be no excuses this year though.  I just bought the one I’m currently writing from a month ago, and I hope to have a laptop, and the additional mobility that entails, to go with it by spring.

Here is your reward for sticking around to the bitter end: Please enjoy my best pull of 2014, a Meryl Davis autograph! ♥

Aaaand that’s all for this post I guess.  There are plenty of other things I’d like to accomplish in 2015, but these are the most pressing and/or well-defined.  A bit simpler than last year, and I’m sure I’ve probably broken a couple resolutions already, but thanks for stopping by!

Until our next…

Cubs and Bears COMC Keepers

Heyo, Loneycakes (yeah, that better not stick) back with the Cubs and Bears portion of the latest COMC order.

Bears!

The Gale Sayers scanned rather nicely, but still doesn’t do the card the justice it deserves.  Easily amongst the 10 best I picked up this time around.

The Pog card is kind of a mess.  Think I might pop ’em out.

Can’t get enough Hester cards.  That’s a collection I’d love to expand dramatically.  Incidentally, and to unintentionally totally rip Fuji off with related question audience participation, do you consider Devin Hester a Hall of Famer, or at least well on his way to becoming one?

Orton, man… can’t let ol’ neckbeard go.  Wrecking the Pack’s perfect season plans was most enjoyable.

Forte is a parallel with a super subtle rainbow shine and is #’ed /250 I think.  It reminded me a lot of the shine on the lesser American Pie parallels, where you can’t even tell unless the light hits it right.

Finally, A-Train!  What a great looking card with a great looking autograph.  It’s on (or in I guess) card too.  All I need is a swatch to complete his trifecta, and they are cheap and fairly plentiful.

Cubs!

Corey Patterson… what could have been?  He was fading a bit when he got hurt that year, but would he have become legit if it never happened?

Welington looks like an embedded window ala the A-Train, but it isn’t.  It is on-card though.  I do believe this completes my trifecta for him.

Brett Jackson.  Please pan out, please pan out, please pan out…  Josh Vitters too.

The Ryno back..

Honestly, I don’t even remember buying this one.  But it’s pretty cool.  And I totally did forget something in the non-Cubs post, but it’ll have to wait.  They really should have a post of their own.  So stay tuned for that, along with one other keeper post.  Then we go to the trade bait end of things.

Until our next…

Flea Market Finds #4: Third Binder Page

Hello all.  Tis I… back once again with the third of a dozen binder pages full of goodies (and other things) I picked up from the card guy at the flea market over the past weekend.

2008 topps U&H Josh Hamilton, 2003 Josh Hamilton/Carl Crawford, 2010 topps Cole Hamels, 2007 topps Roy Halladay and Travis Hafner Own the Game, 1994 Post Tony Gwynn, 1979 topps '78 Bears Team Leaders x2, 2003 Bowman Franklin Gutierrez prospect

Why Purchased: The beat up Bears Team Leaders, Future Stars Hamilton/Crawford.

Keepers: At least one of the Bears Team Leaders.

Notes: The Hamilton/Crawford is the actual card, not the Yo Momma version, which I also have in original back form.

Also, the reprint is somehow apparently worth more?  Lolwut?

I like the design on the Post Tony Gwynn a lot.  Who says a promotional product tie-in cards can’t look nice?

Mind-Blowing Statistics: The reprint is worth more… Oh wait, I can do better than that.

James Scott’s 759 receiving yards in 1978 is the third highest single season total posted by a Bear in the 1970s.  Only his previous season’s 809, and Dick Gordon’s 1026 in 1970 are better.  On a related note, I’d like to nominate Bobby Douglass as the worst QB in the HISTORY of the NFL.  Ho.  Lee.  CRAP!  How can you be THAT bad and get significant playing time off & on for an entire decade?!  Yeesh… Andre Ware and Ryan Leaf, eat your hearts out.

(stats via Pro-Football-Reference)

Until we tweet again…

Sweetness…

It's a Walter Payton rookie card. Nothing else needs to be said. Just enjoy it.

Until our next…

Trading Day Pt. 2: The Search for Curly’s Gold

Here is the other package I received (last) Monday.  These are from Too Many Grandersons hisself.  Behold!

Suh-weet Walter Payton reprints, Gold Hester, base blue Manning parallel /500, Urlacher (foil and thus poorly scanned) insert from rookie year, and more Urlachers (have at that code)! How much better does that blue parallel look than the boring black borders that they've trotted out most of the last 10 or so years?? A set that looks that good I might actually consider collecting, as I once did the the '02 Gridiron Kings (even picked up about half the Legend SPs in a lot once upon a midnight's dreary).

More Bears! Greg Olsen, Bernard Barrien black parallel from one of the single greatest set designs in the history of cards, Cutler, some rookies, and my personal favorite, my first and Julius Peppers as a Bear.

Last of the Bears... The more I think about, the more I think Rex' dad was right about the Bears mismanagement of QBs, especially in the Super Bowl. Fortunately, in getting Martz, they seemed to have wised up to some degree. Not sure I like the total abandonment of the running game though. Somehow Bronko was the only card I already had amongst the Bears.

Moving on to baseball now…

Vladdy! I may have the Own the Game & one of ToppsTownies, but the rest are new to me, three I've never even seen before. The Diamond King is the gold parallel version #'ed to /2500.

Ichiro! Don't get a lot of him in trades. The '04 Own the Game in the middle just insane. And a rookie of the BEST catcher in baseball. Well, he's in that elite group with Mauer, McCann, and Victor Martinez (and maybe Posey in a year or two) at the very top anyway.

And a few of my favorite Cubs to finish it off. I really hope Big Z sticks around if it's between keeping him or Dempster. In fact, I think I'd just rather Dempster leave regardless. Something bothers me about him.

Thanks for the great cards!  I’ll get together something worthwhile to send in return… eventually. *sigh*

.::~Outtro~::.

Trading Day Pt. 1

Two trade packages arrived (last) Monday.  They were good too, scratching a few wantlist items that rarely get itched.  Or something.  Um, anyway, here is the first, from the BA Benny hisself.  And believe it or not, I actually sent my end of this one out first, and in a timely manner.  What?  I’m not lying!  It’s true, I swear!  Oh, hey, is that Bigfoot making out with the Loch Ness Monster? 😛

Less talk, mo’ card pretty!:

Random Player/Team Collections..

Several 2009 Chrome WBCs, including one familiar face..

2009 U&H Propaganda Posters, Randy Moss that didn't fit on the player/team scan, and the Bird Hit Parade of Champions that started the whole thing..

Great stuff, it’s good to focus on set needs and rarely touched upon collections sometimes.

.::~Outtro~::.