Tag Archives: Topps

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A Trade Post?!

Ryno!

Ryno!

Yes indeed… Having successfully fished for artistic complements, now we’re going to do an actual, honest-to-goodness trade post.  I’m no good at getting these up even when I trade regularly, but here goes.

These come to us from Brad’s Blog.  Let’s have a look!

Old timey baseball mans..

Old timey-ish Cubby baseball mans..

New...timier...Cubby baseball...mans?

Mostly…new…timier…Cubby…baseball…mans?

The big fellas..

The big fellas..

Love dat Ichiro, although I’m unsure where exactly they pulled the black swatch from (the undershirt?).  But anyway, this is only my second relic of him even though I’ve collected him basically since I started blogging in back in the long long ago of 2008.  The manupatch is one Topps’ better efforts since they started doing them, in my never humble opinion.  The ® being on the patch itself also greatly amuses me for some reason.  And the Chris Sale is #’ed /50 and is a fantastic addition to my newly reinstated Single Page dedicated to him.

Seeing as this will basically be the first time I have managed to get out during daylight hours since it dipped below zero for three days straight a couple weeks ago, my end of this deal finally going to go out today.  It was supposed be out immediately before that stretch of frozen hellscapedness, but I didn’t make it out until like 8pm that Sunday, and my sleep cycle has been super broken ever since.  I am still a wreck of a human being, in case you were wondering.  But I did throw something extra I remembered I had that will hopefully make the wait a little more worthwhile.

That’s all I got for now.  A few other trades are being prepped for February, & I might be able slip one more small one into this month.  Who knows what happens next?

The Shadow knows…

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I Have No Idea What This Post Will Be About…

… Until I start writing it.  I’m barely mentally coherent and can’t quite think of anything specific to say (I for one blame this ridiculous heat and dis brokeass recliner hurting my back for my total lack of posting energy), but I feel the need to say SOMETHING.  So, here goes whatever.

Nothing has happened as yet with my Black Diamond Die-Cut on the topps Diamond Giveaway site.  Haven’t even gotten many offers on it.  I’ve picked up three regulars via trading though.

I had to let my ’75 Bill Madlock go earlier today when someone offered a Yovani Gallardo for it.  Just couldn’t refuse that.  I also scored a Ricky Romero a few days ago from haphazardly offering up my ’67 Dick Schofield, ’74 Walt Williams, and ’91 Luis Rivera for just about any Diamond Die-Cut I had even marginal interest in and/or could easily trade once I have it in-hand if I can’t get one of my needs on the site.  I sent out a mess of only slightly more focused trade offers for each when the sun was going down.

Before that, doing the same incoherent-but-effective trade offering with a ’73 Johnny Briggs and ’69 Chuck Cottier landed me a Billy Butler which over the course of a single day became a Carlos Santana which finally turned into my first definite keeper in Vlad Guerrero.  Very nice.  I’d like to land another Santana for myself at some point, but I’m not counting on it.

(EDIT: Just checked.  I’ve landed another Carlos Santana.  Got it for Gallardo.  Lulz.)

Aside from that, I’ve picked up four packs of this year’s A&G.  The first two (from Walmart) were weak.  No inserts, plain ol’ regular back minis (one was a Cub, but I’ve never been a fan of Dempster), and a shortprint of stinkin’ Cardinal.  Only saving grace was Cheryl Burke hawtness.

The second two (from Target) were outstanding, however.  A code version of an SP, a Jason Heyward mini SP, a Most Mysterious Man in the Iron Mask, and an Ascent of Man, which I can confirm are as awesome as advertised.  Plus more cool random people base cards in Kristi Yamaguchi and  Stan freakin’ Lee!  I’ll be keeping Kristi, Stan, and maybe the Ascent of Man (for now at least), but the others are available.  I’m interested in Minds that Made the Future, Highlight Sketches, and Portraits in Penultimacy in return.

I also picked up a few things the on COMC the other day, much of it trade bait.  Flying Spaghetti Monster only knows when I’ll have money to get any of it out though, especially if the government turds out.  Seriously, fuck the GOP.  Right in the ear.  Because God forbid the rich and big businesses start paying their fair share of taxes, amirite?

Anyway, if you like BJ Upton, Jose Reyes (2B?), Victor Martinez, Garrett Atkins, or… Joseph Addai (eh, why not?), or the teams they play/played for, you might be in luck.  Also Carlos Lee and Andy Pettitte.

Also slowly gathering specific things for specific people.  Got at least one thing I owe Ray now.  I’ll set about getting ahold of the rest pending government bullshittery.

Finally, for the love of Tommy Oliver, my email is on my blogger profile which is linked on my sidebar!  Ahem… Sorry, but it’s there.

In the meantime, here’s a picture of a thing (via my first trade with Cards on Cards that I never posted because I don’t know what became of most of the scans :():

The original Shawon-O-Meter?

Seriously though, I have no idea what this is and have been too lazy and/or unfocused to look it up as of yet.  It’s kinda cool though.

Guess that’s all for this post.  Needs more pictures, but it turned out better than the post I had originally planned.  Baseball cards are much more enjoyable than b*tching about government incompetence, DC Comics incompetence, and… “Unicorns”.  It would’ve been… weird.

It’s too hot for pants…

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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…

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2009 Bowman Blaster Break Fail

You’ll see why.  Opened as they are listed.  Will do scans when I feel like it.

Pack 1

93 Brad Hawpe

161 James Loney

BW20 Fu-Te Ni WBC

BW11 Justin Erasmus WBC

BP7 Matthew Moore Rays 1st Yr Gold

BCW15 Juan Carlos Sulbaran WBC Chrome

BCP16 Ehire Adrianza Giants 1st Yr Chrome

188 Kevin Youkilis

128 Ronnie Belliard

35 Jorge Posada

Pack 2

173 AJ Pierzynski

10 Ichiro

126 Javier Vasquez

BW15 Juan Carlos Sulbaran WBC

BP16 Ehire Adrianza Giants 1st Yr- Noticing a theme yet?

106 Yovani Gallardo Gold

BCP64 Jack Cawley Cards 1st Yr Chrome

BCP70 Justin Greene White Sox 1st Yr Chrome

67 Carlos Beltran

120 Rafael Furcal

Checklist 2 of 3

Pack 3

210 Jonathan Niese Mets RC

106 Yovani Gallardo

14 Ryan Howard

BP64 Jack Cawley Cards 1st Yr- How about now?

BP70 Justin Greene White Sox 1st Yr

14 Ryan Howard Gold- Cuz I’m apparently not getting Bipped hard enough by this blaster.

BCP43 Joshua Collmenter D-Backs 1st Yr Chrome

BCP15 Adam Reifer Cards 1st Yr Chrome- Someone was definitely smoking something when they decided to collate this so stupidly.

36 Placido Polanco

55 Garrett Atkins

Pack 4

66 Daniel Murphy

122 Alexi Casilla

BP43 Joshua Collmenter D-Backs 1st Yr

BP15 Adam Reifer Cards 1st Yr- Someone was definitely smoking something…

BP73 Miguel Flores Cards 1st Yr Gold

BCP60 Kyle Farrell Braves 1st Yr Chrome

BCP44 Adam Mills Red Sox 1st Yr Chrome

220 Josh Outman A’s RC

147 Blake DeWitt

47 Mike Jacobs

Pack 5

50 Felix Hernandez

30 Torii Hunter

BP60 Kyle Farrell Braves 1st Yr

BP44 Adam Mills Red Sox 1st Yr

66 Daniel Murphy Gold

BCP37 Ben Lasater Marlins 1st Yr Chrome

BCP20 Neil Ramirez Rangers 1st Yr Chrome

159 Shane Victorino

143 Lance Berkman

116 Aaron Cook

Pack 6

53 Jay Bruce

177 Adrian Gonzalez

BP37 Ben Lasater Marlins 1st Yr

BP20 Neil Ramirez Rangers 1st Yr- *Facepalm*

151 Howie Kendrick Gold

BCP27 Sawyer Carroll Padres 1st Yr Chrome

BCP1 Neftali Feliz Rangers 1st Yr Chrome

180 Brandon Webb

63 Raul Ibanez

211 Bobby Parnell Mets RC

Checklist 3 of 3

Pack 7

38 Dustin Pedroia

77 Barry Zito

2 Albert Pujols

BP27 Sawyer Carroll Padres 1st Yr

BP1 Neftali Feliz Rangers 1st Yr

BP53 Edilio Colina Mariners 1st Yr Gold

BCP36 Miguel Fermin Marlins 1st Yr Chrome

BCP19 Angel Morales Twins 1st Yr Chrome

16 Jose Reyes

132 Chris Davis

Pack 8

70 Cole Hamels

145 AJ Burnett

178 George Sherrill

BP36 Miguel Fermin Marlins 1st Yr- Wow…

BP19 Angel Morales Twins 1st Yr- Just wow…

122 Alexi Casilla Gold

BCP85 Zach Moore Marlins 1st Yr Chrome

BCP6 Stolmy Pimentel Red Sox 1st Yr Chrome

79 Jeff Francoeur

199 Dexter Fowler Rockies RC

There ya go, the same two chrome prospects/WBCs showed up in the next packs as base cards.  Man Topps, couldn’t even kick in a refractor to make my butt hurt a little less?  Wasn’t expecting greatness, but apparently my expectations were too high since I didn’t expect stupidity.

I was very heavily considering a hobby box of this in the near future, because for once, I actually liked Bowman a lot this year… but I’m never going to buy so much as another pack of it ever again without a damn good explanation.  And this combined with the f***ed up patch from my Series 1 Topps blaster awhile back, I don’t think I’ll be getting any more Topps blasters of any kind for a helluva long time either.  And knowing Topps pulled this sort of crap with the National Prides, Baseball Highlights Sketches, and possibly the Hoodwinks in Allen & Ginter, I’m not even feeling buying anymore of THAT anytime soon, and A&G is my favorite set of the year.

Way to go Topps, another satisfied customer.

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY JOKING???

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Cards From Walmart

Sunday night I bought a pack of 2008 Upper Deck Timeline, 2008-09 Topps Treasury, and an 8 for $10 repack box that boasts an $18 value, at Walmart.  Uhh, hell NO!  A box with packs of cards from 1989 not named Upper Deck (Donruss and Topps specifically), 1994 Fleer Ultra, a 99 cent 6 card pack of 2007 Topps, three $1.99 packs (the dinky 5-6 card packs ’07 Upper Deck and Fleer Ultra, and regular-sized Topps), and only one $2.99 pack (Bowman Chrome) do not an $18 value make.

Well… maybe if your math works like Scott Steiner’s.

The sad thing is, even though you could hear the steam shooting out of my ears when I saw the old packs, I got better cards from those three than the five new ones.  First though, a break of Timeline and Treasury packs…

2008 Upper Deck Timeline (6 cards per pack; look for two inserts in each pack, on average!)

46 Torii Hunter

10 Chase Utley

36 Jim Thome- The Pride of Peoria, dontcha know.

9 Mark Teixiera

123 Max Scherzer Rookie- On a forgettable old school UD design…

301 Rick Ankiel- I guess this would be a subset of some kind.  Zero on the insert count though, unless they are trying to pass off the subsets as such.  If they are a bit harder to get, that would mean shortprint, not insert, so WTF Upper Deck?  There better be a 4 insert pack out there somewhere…

I mentioned in the shoutouts from my most recent post, these cards are FUGLY.  What an incredibly boring design.  At least Upper Deck X’s design fit it’s theme.  This is just so… blah.  As for the backs, they only have career stats and a little blurb, because of a second, different picture taking up half the back.  This giant picture on the back may be a dig at the 2008 Topps base set design, as this picture is nearly as large as the ones on their fronts.

That was observational comedy, my friends.  Onward to Topps Treasury!

2008-09 Topps Treasury (5 cards per pack; why isn’t Larry Bird on money?)

27 Zach Randolph- A big scoring presence that gets rebounds, but is still fairly soft nonetheless.  Still, a fair few teams are lacking the good things he brings.

60 Rip Hamilton

59 Jeff Green- My first Thunder card!  w00t!

83 Brandon Roy

120 Kosta Koufos Rookie Refractor #’ed to /2008- I assume this is a bronze.  This guy is a rookie Center for the Jazz it doth seem.  Here’s hoping for something better than Ostertagian for the ginormously tall youngin’.

The base design is simplistic, but it FITS THE THEME.  Lack of easily fingerprinted up gloss is nice too.  And the refractor version, much like what 2008 Topps Chrome baseball to the regular set, just makes it POP.

Now then, back to the recrap box.  We’ve established that the packs in it are even more garbage than usual.  Now for the contents of said packs.  I stated earlier that I got better cards from the 1989 Donruss and Topps, and 1994 Fleer Ultra, than the five packs from 2007 (6 and 12 card packs of Topps series 2, 5 card packs of Upper Deck series two and Fleer Ultra, and a 3 card pack of Bowman Chrome.

So here are the best of what I got from each.  You can judge for yourself.

Old Junk-

1989 Topps- Barry Bonds, Fred McGriff, Dwight Evans

1989 Donruss- Ken Griffey Jr. “Rated Rookie”, Lee Smith

1994 Fleer Ultra- Mike Piazza Award Winners insert, Roger Clemens, Kevin Roberson (<3) Rookie

New Junk-

2007 Topps- Joe DiMaggio “The Streak” 26 and 48, David Ortiz, Dan Haren Gold #’ed /2007, Brandon Morrow Rookie

2007 Upper Deck- Mark DeRosa?  The rest of the pack consisted of David DeJesus, Carlos Silva, Alex Rios, and Olmedo Saenz, so… there are no winners here.

2007 Fleer Ultra- Hideki Okajima Rookie

2007 Bowman Chrome- Either Chien-Ming Wang or 29 year old “Prospect” Jonathan Van Every.  Hmm… prospects are grim, methinks.

So whatcha think?

Griffey RC, Bonds, Pizza insert, Clemens, Lee Smith, the Crime Dog, and Dwight Evans

vs.

Two Joe D inserts that are cool but worthless, Okajima RC, Papi, Gold #’ed Haren, Chien-Ming Wang, and a pushing-30 prospect…

I didn’t even get any other good base cards in the 2007 packs.  They were remarkably similar to the old school packs in that regard.  A couple couple nice players, and then a whole lotta nothin’.  Only difference being there are a whole lot less cards in the new packs.

Overall, the Griffey rookie makes it worthwhile, but it still won’t make me tilt my thumb upward.  The Griffey is wonderful, but it’s the principle.  The packs in this thing were garbage enough that I actually mean it when I say “never again” to Walmart repacks, and maybe ALL repacks in general.  It’s just horrid to charge more than $6 for this CRAP.

Peace.