Series 1 Topps is Now Live!

I just took delivery of my 3 jumbo boxes of Series 1 Topps.  I can't wait to bust them!  I hope I get some nice stuff and maybe a few Orioles!

I will build a set for myself, but I definitely will have enough left over for another set.  If anyone wants to hit me up about building them a set, please let me know!  Also, I have extra complete sets from 2010 and 2011 if anyone is interested.

Hall of Fame TTM Success -- Steve Carlton

I came home from work today and the first thing my son told me was "You've got a surprise Daddy, you got something in the mail!"  He made me close my eyes as I came in the house, when I opened them, there was one of my mailers on my desk.  Inside my mailer was a ball that I had sent off on November 28, 2011 to Hall of Famer Steve Carlton.

I was beginning to worry about my ball, as I had sent it along with a check.  The check was cashed on December 8, 2011, so I guess Carlton was holding the stuff and signing all of his requests at once.  No big deal, as I now have my 63rd Hall of Famer and my 45th TTM success!

Carlton signs baseballs for a fee of $35.00 made payable to 'The Grace Fund,' which is Carlton's charity.  So, the autograph fee goes to a worthy cause! 

Steve Carlton (b. 1944) pitched in the majors from 1965 to 1988 for the Cardinals, Phillies, Giants, White Sox, Indians and Twins.  He has a career record of 329-244, 4,136 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.22.  He won the Cy Young Award four times (1972, 1977, 1980 and 1982) and won the World Series in 1967 and 1980.  He was traded by the Indians to the eventual World Champion Twins in 1987 but was left off of their playoff roster.

Carlton was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994 (his first ballot) when he was named on 95.6% of the ballots cast.

Trade With Blog Reader Oliver

I got an email last week from a blog reader named Oliver asking if I would like to swing a trade for some Oriole 2011 Topps Cognac parallels.

I traded him a 2011 Topps Lineage Johnny Gomes Auto for ten Orioles.  Here are a couple:

 I am going to try to get as many of the Nolan Reimold parallels as I can.  I doubt I will be able to find the Canary Diamond as it is a 1/1, but I will definitely keep an eye out for it.  I have seen the diamond and Hope Diamond parallels going really chaep on Ebay, so I should be able to add those pretty soon.  I also want to get his base parallels, so I will be looking for the Target Red Exclusive, Gold and Black parallels, as well as anything else I'm missing.  If any of you have them, I'd love to trade!

Speaking of my PCs, I also want to do the same for my Brian Roberts PC.  Might ought to go ahead and do the same for Markakis as well, since I have his Hope Diamond.  I think these are really cool looking cards.  I hope 2012 has some nice parallels as well.

Thanks for the trade Oliver.  I would definitely love to trade again and I'll keep you in mind if I come across more Reds autos and relics.

Trade With Ryan From O No Another Oriole Blog

When we went to Orioles Fan Fest last weekend, Ryan was gracious enough to let us stay at his place so I wouldn't have to get a hotel.  I'm really glad he did.  I am always curious to see how others maintain their collections and set up their 'man caves', etc.  Ryan has a very nice house and a dog who is almost a carbon copy of the one we used to have.  After putting my son Christopher to bed Friday night, we both went through each others' Orioles boxes for trades.  Man, he has a lot of awesome stuff that I wish I could get.  A lot of newer inserts of Orioles, etc.  We both picked out the cards that we wanted and pulled off the deal.  Here are but a few of the highlights of the huge stack of cards he let me go home with:

A 1996 Pinnacle Aficionado Roberto Alomar.  Ok, out of the overproduction era, this has to be the most awesome looking set there is.  I really love it.  Sadly, I can't find a box of this ANYWHERE to bust.  If anyone knows where I can get a box of this stuff, please shoot me an email.  I would love to complete this set.

I picked this 1992 Classic Minor League card of Jason Alstead because he was the first ever player I remember meeting in person.  My mom would take us to Ernie Shore Field in Winston-Salem to see the Spirits play the Frederick Keys since she knew the Keys were an Orioles farm team.  I remember Alstead talking to us a couple times before each game.  He was a really nice guy.  I wonder what became of him?  According to Baseball-Reference.com, he made it all the way to AAA Rochester for the Orioles in 1993 at the age of 24.  After that, who knows.  He had career minor league numbers of 218 hits, 8 home runs and a .249 batting average.  I wonder if he got injured or something like that because he only played 4 seasons in the minors.  If anyone has any information, please let me know.

I picked up a LOT of Nick Markakis cards that I didn't have in my collection.  The first is the above Upper Deck X - Xponential.  It looks pretty sweet in person.  I remember being really underwhelmed by Upper Deck X, but this card looks really sharp.

 Here is a 2007 Topps Finest Markakis.  Finest always looks great and this one is no exception.

I picked up this sweet Upper Deck USA Baseball Manny Machado.  I've met Machado several times now, and he has always been nice to us.  He is the Orioles' top prospect now.  I hope he lives up to the hype and gets to the majors really soon.

 I had been watching this Bowman's Best Zach Britton for a long time and finally was able to pick it up.  I like the retro look to these cards.  I'm hoping for a big year from Zach.  The Oriole sure need it.

 Finally, I got this really cool acetate card of Brian Roberts.  Topps Hot Button Baseball.  It looks like a precursor to Topps Attax.  I hope Brian makes it back this year, but concussions are tricky things.  I hope he is doing well.

Thanks again Ryan for the trade and your hospitality.  I definitely want to get together again!

Trade With Eutaw Street Cardboard

I completed a trade with Kirk over at Eutaw Street Cardboard when I tried to help him knock an Oriole off of his needs list of autographs.  I traded him a card that, originally, I really liked, but over time, I couldn't bear to look at it anymore.  I'm talking about my Sweet Spot Classic Luis Aparicio Autograph.  Upper Deck really crapped the bed with those, issuing cards that would ultimate fade and become unbearable to look at.  I have a Wade Boggs/Cal Ripken dual auto from that set that is fading just the same and it really makes me mad because that was an amazing card, when I got it...

I sent Kirk a scan of the card and told him I didn't want to fleece him over it, but he agreed to send me this card in exchange for it:

A 2009 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor Nolan Reimold Autograph.  I really appreciated this card!  I have two of Nolan's base autos from 2009 Topps Chrome, but I didn't have this one.  I will definitely have to get more of his parallels from this set.  My Nolan Reimold PC is really taking shape.  I'm going to concentrate on him more seriously this year since Roberts is likely to be out this season.

Thanks for the trade Kirk.  I really appreciate you doing the deal and I hope to trade with you again in the future.

Speaking of trades, I have added a bunch of stuff to my for trade page.  I really want to flip a lot of stuff for new Orioles cards and inserts.  If you see anything on there, please feel free to email me!

Orioles Fan Fest - Final Thoughts and Free Stuff

I am just about ready to wrap up my Orioles Fan Fest posts and thought I would now take the time to talk about another signed ball I picked up, that of former Negro Leaguer - Jim Bland.

 I have been unable to dig up much information on Mr. Bland.  The Indianapolis Clowns continued to barnstorm long after the final Negro League season of 1951.  They later became known as more of a novelty or comedy act, kind of like Baseball's version of the Harlem Globetrotters.  The Clowns were the team that Hank Aaron played for before he was picked up by the Braves.

One of the really cool features of Fan Fest was the Giveaways room.  You can go through a line there and pick up some leftover promotional items from past seasons.  When we got through the line, they were giving away Brian Matusz bobbleheads.  Chris, Ryan and I each picked up one.  My bobblehead collection has really grown over the last 2 weeks.  Good thing I have a nice place to put them!

Well, that just about wraps her up.  I had a really great time at Fan Fest and it was something nice that my son and I could do together.  I hope to make it an annual tradition with him... that is until he discovers girls and then his dad will become less cool... Until then, I think we are going to try to get back there each year!

Thanks for reading all of my posts.  I will start catching up on mail and trades tomorrow!

Orioles Fan Fest - Final Autograph Station

We immediately went from our previous autograph station to our next one, the 4:40 meeting with Robert Andino, Nick Markakis and Brady Anderson after hitting the restroom and meeting up with Ryan, of course.  Ryan was in this line with us, so it made the wait so much more enjoyable having someone to chat with.

 The first player in line was Robert Andino.  I have gained so much respect for Andino following this season, firstly because he was always so awesome whenever I met him (this was the third time I have met him in person) and he is always really nice to my son.  He signed the above baseball for me and the below post card for Chris.

Chris slapped five with Andino, knocking his hand onto the table.  Ryan and I both told Chris "Don't HURT him!"  Andino laughed and signed our stuff.

 After Andino was a current Oriole whose autograph I have been coveting for a long time, Nick Markakis.  I got Markakis to sign an OMLB ball (Selig) on the sweet spot.  I have several of the Orioles' First Round Draft Picks: Roberts (supplemental round), Markakis, Brandon Snyder, Billy Rowell (should have been Tim Lincecum), Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz, Matt Hobgood and Manny Machado.

Nick was really quiet, but he did say hello to Chris.  He had abdominal surgery a couple weeks ago, so I'm sure he is still recovering from that.

 As much as I would love to say that Markakis was the highlight of this session, the reason I paid $40 for the voucher (they were all sold out, so I had to buy one off of Ebay) was so I could meet one of my childhood favorites, Brady Anderson.  I had Brady sign another OMLB (Selig) ball that I picked up before the show.

Brady also signed this post card for Chris.  Brady is remembered for his improbable run in the 1996 season where he hit 50 home runs.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on how Brady achieved that number, especially since he didn't get close to 50 before or after that season.  Your opinion is fine, but in my mind, I point to Roger Maris (39 homers in 1960, 61 homers in 1961 and 33 homers in 1962) and Davey Johnson (43 homers in 1973 and didn't hit more than 18 in any other season) among others...  Sometimes players have a great season.  Let me enjoy it.

This autograph session was definitely worth the $40.00.  I'm really glad I got all of these guys' autographs, for sure.

Stay tuned for my final Fan Fest Post on the miscellaneous stuff we got including a Negro Leaguer's signature and a Brian Matusz Bobblehead...