I SCAMBed Him

Scott over at Sports Cards Ate My Brain (SCAMB) had expressed an interest in trading for some of the large stack of duplicate 1969 Deckle Edge cards I had acquired at a mini show last month.  I scanned his extensive trade bait list and founds some things that interested me.

Not one, but two Heritage short prints!  One each from 2001 and 2002. It has been a coon's age since I last made any progress on those two sets. I am getting very close to completing 2011 and have continued to make slow progress on 2012 (until yesterday when Heritage Minor League came out and set me back, so to speak).  But, progress on those first two has basically halted for about a year now.  My main priority on Heritage at the moment is to complete 2011 (9 more cards to complete MLB and 19 to complete MiLB).  After that, I am not sure what I am going to do. But, I probably should make an effort to complete those first two sets.  So, I am grateful to get these two cards. Not only because I need them, but because they are a well needed kick in the keister to start thinking about those two sets again.

I had never seen this card, or heard of the set it came from, until I saw it at Scott's.  It is a 2010 Topps Legends Platinum Chrome Wal Mart Cereal card.  

A&G isn't a set that I get excited about, but I just have to love relic cards of two of my teams stars.

CC hasn't been CC-like this season. Two stints on the DL and even when pitching he has only been intermittently dominating.  In past seasons, he usually goes through a multiple start stretch where he is unhittable. Not this year. He is still very good, but not like he was in the past. I just hope that we don't come to regret the big contract he got last off season, much like we do now with Alex Rodriguez's.

Robbie has been solid again this year. Started off slow, but is batting over .300 again. And, best of all, he hasn't spent any time on the DL.  Which makes him a rare player on the Yankees this year.

So, overall, a great trade for me. I hope Scott likes those Deckles (Sorry about the Staub!)

Cards from The Junkie, Part 2

So, my job interview is over. It seemed to go okay, although I am not particularly optimistic about my chances. My friend on the inside, who was part of the interview team, mentioned afterward that some of the other candidates had industry experience, which I don't. He said they those candidates had their own weaknesses, and indicated that I am still in the running. So, now I have a two week wait to actually hear the outcome. As I said, I am not optimistic, so it is back to the long, slow, humiliating grind of looking for jobs. I have to remind myself that I made a deliberate choice not to look for another job with my previous employer, and in the long run, I am better off leaving a company that is slowly dying, but it is small consolation.

What has been big consolation, though, has been the pack of cards I got in the mail the other day from dayf over at Cardboard Junkie (and another surprise package I got yesterday from Night Owl. But more on that later.) I am breaking my Junkie package into three posts, in order better milk what limited posting material I have available. Previously, I showed the sweet sketch card he sent me. Today, I am going to show the cards he sent that I needed for sets I am building. He was under no obligation to send me any cards, so I am quite appreciative that he took the time to scour through my want lists.

For my 2001 Topps Heritage set:


For me 2002 Topps Heritage set:



For my 1976 Topps set:







There was actually a number of other 1976 cards he sent, but I have put them in the binder already, and I forgot to get a count. Suffice it to say that these above were the stars of the show. Cards of star players that are in great condition. While Randy Jones isn't a huge name anymore, he did have two outstanding years with the Padres in 1975 and 1976, winning 20 and 22 games respectively and finishing second and first in the NL Cy Young race (also respectively.) That this card came between those two stellar seasons makes it extra special, even if Beckett doesn't agree. I don't give a rat's ass what Beckett says. I love this card. And, by the way, that isn't a crease up at the top, the right of Randy. That is a dog hair. I really need to clean around here.

These cards were awesome and would have made me very happy all by themselves. But, dayf wasn't done. More tomorrow.

Touched by an Angel

Okay, that sounds a little suspect. I will grant that. But, I am not feeling particularly creative today and that was the best I could come up with for a post title where I talk about a trade with Tom over at The Angels, In Order.

As trades go, it wasn't huge. But, it was certainly appreciated. The last few weeks have been somewhat frustrating. When I last reported in on my job search, I had completed a good interview and had been invited to an informal lunch meeting with the manager of a client organization. That seemed to go well and the hiring manager, an old co-worker of mine in a previous time, indicated to me that he was going to work with HR to prepare an job offer for me. Once they had approval on the offer from their executive leadership, they would be back in touch. That was three weeks ago. I touched base, via email, last week and was told, for a number of perfectly understandable reasons, they had not yet had the opportunity to get the offer approval and they would let me know when they did. But, I have heard nothing since. I am not sure why this is taking so long, but I have gone ahead and restarted my job search.

Worst of all, it has really cramped my hobby activities. I have basically very little hobby related in 2 1/2 months. This weekend is the big semi-monthly show in Oklahoma City. I had intended to go and work on my 1971 and 1976 sets, but without an written job offer in hand, I'll have to skip it and hope to be employed by the next one in April.

Actually, today is a good day because I got a trade pack today from the aforementioned Tom. I sent him a smattering of cards off his want list and I got 4 cards back towards my Heritage sets.


This is a high number short print from 2001.



Two inserts from 2011.


Yeah, I include checklists as part of the sets I build.

I feel a little guilty getting a short print and two inserts (which are short prints themselves) in exchange for a handful of commons. But, I am happy to be able to actually put some cards in a binder again. Thank you, Tom.

A Day in the Sun

My temporary retirement from collecting was tough this weekend. I just had an urge to go to a card shop (or show) and paw through some boxes. But, I fought off those feelings. I did, however, spend some time with 1200 lbs of muscle supporting a brain the size of a walnut.



Ha Ha. Just kidding.

Trade with Napkin Doon - Plus an Outtake

I just completed a trade with the oddly named Napkin Doon (you never can tell about them Arkansans. But, at least he only has one first name and isn't known as Napkin Ray Bob Doon or some such nonsense.) Anyhoo, as I have mentioned earlier I didn't have any luck turning a Topps Diamond Die Cut Tom Seaver into anything I actually wanted, so I ended up trading it for a die-cut Adrian Beltre that Nap needed. In exchange, I got a dozen 2001 Heritage cards I needed. I am pretty stoked about getting another good size chunk of that set knocked off.

Most of the cards were of guys who didn't have any noteworthy MLB experience like this guy:


Aah, the joys of set collecting! But there were some good players mixed in, too.



Although he was forgettable in the off-season, Lohse pitched solidly in 2011 for the World Champion Cardinals.




I'm glad the Yankees resigned Freddy for 2012. He, along with Bartolo Colon, really filled in the rotation beyond expectations with Phil Hughes being on the disabled list and A.J. Burnett being very inconsistent.

I want to stop for a moment and let another piece of my life intrude here. As some of you may know, I enjoy doing some amateur photography. I'll never make my living at it, but I have taken some pictures I am proud of. One of the things I like is looking at other people's photographs and trying to understand both their vision and technique. This has given me the chance to meet other photographers that I might never come across in my life. One guy was actually did some work for the Anaheim Angels once upon a time. I had the great experience of seeing some of the outtakes from the studio sessions. In an amazing coinky-dink one of those "lost photos" was of a player who's card was among those Nap sent me. Check it out:

Trade with Napkin Doon

Both my family and my wife's family live back east. Because of the distances involved we haven't gone back for Thanksgiving in many years. Generally, in the past, a former work colleague of my wife, who is now retired, invites us to his place down in Paul's Valley to have dinner with his, and his wife's family. The last few years, they decamped for Waco at Thanksgiving since his mother-in-law was in poor health and couldn't make the trip up. So, we had held Thanksgiving dinner at our place and invited our friends who were solo for the holiday (we affectionately called them The Orphans) over. But, this year we are heading back down to Paul's Valley. Luckily, The Orphans were able to get together with another set of friends for dinner.

So, I only have time for a quick post, as I need to get into the kitchen and make a Cowboy Caviar appetizer and spicy cornbread sticks to take with us today.

Recently, in my quest to clear a lot of the cards I don't want out of here, I made a trade with Napkin Doon. In exchange for some random Rangers, he sent me 12 cards I needed for my 2001 Heritage set, including two of the Classic Renditions short print inserts.





Also, he sent along a couple cards out of a lot he won at Cleve's Auction Night. For those of you who don't know, Cleve's is a LCS in NW Arkansas and hold weekly auctions. I have participated in the past, phoning bids prior to the auctions start, and have picked up some nice 1956 cards. Due to a variety of reasons, I haven't participated in the auctions in a couple months, but after the holidays are over, I intend to start again. Nap had won a lot of 1954 Red Man tobacco cards and found out that the lot included not one, but three Johnny Antonelli cards. Since I had, oddly enough, just started a Johnny Antonelli player collection, he was gracious enough to send me two of them.

They are really nice, but are pretty large and I don't have an Ultra-Pro that they fit in at the moment. I'm going to have to be extra careful with them, as they are in fantastic shape, as you can see from the scan below. I'd say it is clearly Near Mint.


So, thanks Nap and Happy Thanksgiving to you all (and a happy belated Thanksgiving to any Canadian readers). Allow me to be serious for a moment more. If any of you are planning to deep fry a turkey, please watch this PSA from State Farm about the proper use of your turkey fryer.

Stretching Myself Thin

When I started collecting almost a year ago, and decided I was a set collector, I felt a methodical approach was the best. Work one set at a time, start to finish, then move on to the next.

But then I started the whole new collector routine and started buying stuff willy nilly to see what was out there and to see what I like. Somewhere along the line, things got out of control. I now have 7 sets in the works:

1. 1971 Topps - I was fortunate enough to run across a good deal on a starter set and decided to jump at it, even though I wasn't planning on starting this one for a few years.


2. 1977 Topps - I am still sitting at 7 cards needed to complete this set. It has been my goal in both September and October to finish it, but I never did. COMC has all the cards I need to finish, I just need to focus long enough to actually pull the trigger.


3. Topps Star Wars - the cards from the 1970s when the movie came out, not any of the modern sets. This is actually for my wife. I've not done anything about this one yet, but I really do need to work on it for her.


4. 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game - I've got the 145 card base set done. I just need to finish the various inserts. This will probably be a long term project as I don't see many of the inserts for sale out there


5. 2011 Topps Heritage - Probably another long term project. The short prints still seem to be pricey. There is no way I am going to pay $4 or more for a short print right now, so I'll just need to do some trades and wait for prices to come down. Probably after 2012 Heritage comes out


6. 2011 Topps Lineage - Yes, I am ambivalent about this set. Yes, I am only 5 cards away from finishing. Yes, I am going to finish.


7. 2011 Topps Update - Yeah. I said I was going to skip it. But, then I wasn't. I bought a few 72 card boxes and, all of a sudden, I have over 2/3 of the set. How did that happen? I don't know, but now I need to finish.

So, given this mess, what is the logical thing to do? Surely not start another set. Yeah, I am starting another set.

8. 2001 Topps Heritage!

My goals for next year are not to bother with any other modern set, except Heritage. (Let's see how well that works out.) And with all of the time and money I don't spend chasing a bunch of sets I am generally ambivalent about, I figure I can go back and work on the older Heritage sets. With that in mind, I saw a lot of nearly 200 2001 Heritage on EBay and decided to bid on it. I ended up winning with a bid of $35. This was more than I intended to pay, but I got all excited like Jo Jo, the Indian Circus Boy with a pretty new pet (Tommy Boy reference) and upped my bid. So, it arrived earlier this week and yesterday I started a binder for it.





Here we have a trio of pickups off the scrap heap for the 2011 Yankees. Though he faded at the end of the year, Bartolo Colon was bad-ass in the first half of the season and, along with Freddy Garcia, shored up what was expected to be a highly suspect rotation. Jones and Chavez were good role players this year. Jones as a sure handed backup outfielder and platoon DH. Chavez as a backup infielder, who played well enough during A-Rod's time on the DL to keep the Yankees in contention.


A late season pickup for the Yankees in 2010. He was stinking up the joint in Cleveland, but came in and was a spectacular 8th inning guy through the remainder of the season.


Interestingly, Hamilton was still 6 years away from his major league debut when this card first appeared.


I read yesterday that Dempster exercised his $14M contract option for 2012 with the Cubs. Given his rather pedestrian performance this year, that has to be one of the least surprising news items this off-season.


This was included in the box, a Heritage Chrome Randy Johnson. The Baseball Card God (hallowed be thy name!) has chosen to smile on me. One of these just sold on EBay for $20. And that is exactly where this one is going. So, even though I overpaid for the lot of cards, I'll end up cutting my cost down significantly.