eBay Mail Call

It's that time again, folks. MAIL TIME! Hooray. This week we have some real goodies. Thanks to this huge stack of Archives and a pending trade, I am just three cards short of completing the regular set. Also added that awesome Roger McDowell SP.

Next, I picked up a really nice lot of more Chrome Purple. Goldschmidt, Utley, Mauer, Hellickson, and Middlebrooks RC. Sweet, right. Freeman was also included but went straight to the PC. I have another bigger lot coming of the Purple. Once they arrive, they'll be posted. Trust me, my friends. Once they do, I'll put up my needs for trading purposes. Until then hit me up with a trade on any player from the set, especially Freeman, Uggla, and Mauer. (Gotta keep the girlfriend happy with the Mauer. Apparently he's a "hottie." Stupid Head & Shoulders commercial.)

Topps Chrome Quandary

Check this out. I went to me local Walmart and purchased a blaster box of the 2012 Chrome. Nothing abnormal about that, right. Well, you'd be correct until you watched me bust the packs open. Out of the 32 cards I received, 28 were the purple refractors/parallels including the pack meant to be just purples. Two refractors and two X-fractors. I'd never opened a box of chrome before, so I had my girlfriend pick me up another box just to check. The only purples I received were in the bonus pack. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else or just a freak accident. It works for me seeing as I am a Rox fan. Coincidentally, I had decided to try to get complete the purple set first instead of the refractor set. I'll be putting my wants up as soon as I figure them out. Gonna be a lot of fun.

A Whole Article I Actually Read

While at work on a boring Friday, I was perusing around espn.com looking for something that caught my eye. I came across an article on Dock Ellis. Being a child of the '80s, I was not aware of the story of Ellis and his LSD No-no. And as the title states, I did read it all. Yay for me. If you get time, this is an awesome read. There is apparently a book out there telling the whole story of Ellis. Sounds interesting. The former Pirate great is now on my watch list and my make an appearance in my player collections some time soon.

Speaking of player collections, I have added to my list of two. The newbie is Braves' first baseman Freddie Freeman. <Applause> Thank you, thank you. Although the collection is small for now, living in East Tennessee should cure that. Check out the highlights of Doulbe F thus far.

Angels, In Order Trade

I found a good use for some of the Angels extras I had laying around...send them to Tom over at Angels, In Order. In exchange for a sweet 2011 Bowman Platinum Emerald Dan Haren, 2012 Gypsy Queen Vernon Wells and a few set cards, I scored some harder to find than you think 2007 Fleer and some inserts in need. The Ron Gant even finished my 1989 Kmart set. Great stuff. Thanks be to Tom for a great trade.

Scott Crawford on Target

A few days ago, I received a package from Scott Crawford on Cards. Or should I say a freight load. Scott hooked me up with by far the biggest trade I've pulled off since starting my blog. Approximately 1,000 cards traded between the both of us.

That's just a tad bigger than the 1994 12-player trade between the Padres and the Astros. Remember...

Anyway, thanks to Scott for helping me complete a few sets and put a huge dent in a bunch more.

eBay Mail Call

Got a couple interesting packages from my eBay orders yesterday. Most notably, my first ever Allen & Ginter rip card. Before I bought this Dan Uggla, I had never seen a rip card in person. Now to own one is kinda surreal. It's a beautiful card numbers out of 25. Plus the seller sent some bonus Heritage cards with it. I'm not a big Heritage guy unless it comes to my player collections, but free is free. Definitely not going to complain.

My next package contained six 2012 A&G Relics all purchased from the same seller for a sweet price. Cuervo, Zambrano, Peavy, McGehee, Buchholz, and Beckham. Pretty good if I do say so myself.

Coming Through in the Clutch

About a week ago, I dropped a line to my friend, Mark, over at This Way to the Clubhouse after a visit to the flea market. Within three days, a deal was struck. Now...well, now it's time to boast those sweet cards!

For the first time since starting my blog, a trader has hit my soft spot for this years NL West cellar-dwellers. Mark hit me up with the original Blake Street Bomber, Dante Bichette and the current Mile Hogh Hero Troy Tulowitzki. Bichette is a career .299 hitter and a four-time All Star. All with the Rox . Sure, Dante was a product of hitting in Coors, but you won't hear Rockies fans complaining. Tulo is a Colorado favorite and is currently on the DL. Other notable Rockies Received: EY, Girardi, Ellis Burks, and of course Jayhawk Owen.










Outside my CR stack, Mark sent me some cards to get me even closer to complete sets. 1990 Fleer, 2012 Archive, 1990 Topps, and 1991 Topps just to name a few. All in all, exactly what I've come to expect from a trade with Mark. Excellence!

The Death of the 2012 Baseball Season

Yesterday was a sad day for the over-the-top baseball fans. A light day in the MLB was taken advantage of by the ever-powerful NFL and its first wave of preseason games. Lost in the shuffle of Peyton's first start as a Bronco and after major neck surgery and RG3's first NFL snaps was R.A. Dickey winning his NL-leading and major league-tying 15th win on the season. Even before the networks could get to the preseason games, they were reporting on the Dwight Howard soap opera. So baseball fans, hope you enjoyed the season, and unless you have MLB TV, you will not see or hear more than three baseball highlights per day. Have fun with your 11 months of sports domination football fans. I'll just be here watching the National Pastime!

Opening Up the Baseball Card Locker

Anthony over at Baseball Card Locker got in touch with me sometime last week with a trade proposal. Well, the deal is done and the package received. Looks like Anthony was hiding some awesome cards me in said Locker.

This Jay Bruce from Archive is great! I love that Topps brought back the '84 design for this set. I've loved the look of it since I was a young one. Definitely my favorite design of the set.



Anthony totally knocked out a huge chunk of my '11 Attax set. This Turner Field card does the park no justice. Not the best park I've been to, but it is the one I've been to the most. Living in East Tennessee, you're taught to be a Braves fan. Love the Braves and Turner Field.


Had to throw Dinger in there because...well, you know. I'm a Rockies fan.


David Price is just one of the many great player cards thrown in the trade. Others you ask? Hamilton, Molina, Cano, Felix, Rivera, Votto, Haren, CarGo, and Chapman. Awesome, right?



Finally, believe it or not, I did not have the Todd Helton card for the set. Of course, I did have it for my player collection. PC first, set last. All in all, a great trade. I couldn't be happier with the haul!

Archive SP...HELP!!!

Alright guys. I really hurting on my Archive SP's. I have a total of...wait for it...ONE. Jack Clark from 1988. I know they are hard to get see as how they are "short prints," but somebody has some extras or only a few they would like to trade. I don't want to sound like I'm begging, but I pretty much am. Please help me!!! I'm desperate to at least get a few more. Hit me up my, friends. Please...

2012 Gypsy Queen

My friends, I've always been a fan of Gypsy Queen sets, even though the are pretty much a rip off of the Allen & Ginter. I have never tried completing one of the set, though. I've found something in the 2012 set that intrigues me. Two things actually. One, the Future Stars insert set. Two, the Gold Frame parallels. I only have two as you can see, both coming from my local flea market. First, Albert Belle followed by Buster Posey today. If you have any old these you are willing to part with, please hit me up. A lot of people are trying to get parallel complete sets of the Diamonds or Golds, but this one I think would be quite unique. I'm ready to wheel-and-deal!!!

Another Trip to the Flea Market

As you can read in the title, I went by the flea market today to help strengthen 2012 sets. As you can see, I scored big time on Allen & Ginter minis. Kemp, Koufax, Upton, Ortiz, and the prize of the whole collection Harper rookie. Take a look. Really stoked about my haul. 2011 Straily Bowman Chrome, 2011 Howard Lineage Cloth Sticker, 4 Allen & Ginter Relics, Cespedes A&G and Bowman Platinum rookies, and a couple Jose Bautista inserts. $40 for about 50 cards of my choosing. Can't beat that with a stick. So next time you are in the Knoxville/Sevierville area, hit me up. We will go visit my main squeeze, Mark, for great cards at a great deal.

BA Benny Coming Through Big

In the mail today, I had a package waiting on me from Mike at BA Benny. Six 2012 Topps Archives and a bunch of 2012 Topps Stickers to add to the book. The Archives help bolster my set, while the much need stickers bring me closer to a full book. Just like I'm a kid again. Hooray!!! So thanks, Mike, for the generous trade.

This Way to a Great Trade

Well, thanks to an email from my friend, Mark, over at This Way to the Clubhouse, a trade commenced. The cards Mark sent are so very helpful to my set collection. I know, I know. Earlier 90s stuff to most collectors is trash, but it is most definitely my treasure. Being some of the first sets I collected, I want to finish them. Mark has totally hooked me up. 1990-92 Topps, 2006-07 Topps, 2011 Stickers, and 2012 Archive. Not to mention some additions to my player collections. So, thank you, Mark. Your trade is appreciated, sir. Check out Mark's blog, This Way to the Clubhouse, right here!