Another TTM Success From Justin Masterson

Here are a few cards of Justin Masterson that I got out of my boxes and sent TTM.  I had gotten him on quite a few cards before.  The above 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom is a really nice card.  I busted a couple boxes of this back then but had very little extra to try for TTMs.  I've now got this one in the autograph album, so all good there.

Here are a 2014 Donruss, 2010 Bowman and 2008 Bowman Chrome that I also had pulled for Masterson.  I'm out of his cards now, and that's fine.

I mailed to Masterson on December 3 abd got the cards back on April 2 for a 120-day TAT.

TTM Success - David Hale

I held onto some David Hale cards in my TTM box for quite a while until I found enough to send out.  The above 2014 Donruss turned out really well.  The newer iterations of the Donruss brand have been some pretty nice cards.  They call back to older Donruss designs, which is kind of cool.

I also got a 2010 Topps Pro Debut and a 2014 Topps signed by Hale.

Hale (b. 1987) has played in the majors since 2013 (missing 2017) for the Braves, Rockies, Yankees and Phillies.  He has a record of 13-10 with 165 strike outs and a 4.23 ERA.

I mailed to Hale on November 3 and got the cards back on December 3, for a 30-day TAT.

Christmas Gift From Cameron

I got an amazing Christmas package in the mail recently from my good buddy, Cameron.  He really blew me away with what he sent.  He is such a good guy, and didn't have to get me what he got, but it was very appreciated.

The above Matt Wieters three color patch from Panini Donruss is such an amazing card.  Wieters doesn't have much as far as relics and stuff, so this one is a nice addition to my collection.  It really was a surprise.

Cameron included this blue 2014 Bowman Chrome auto of Oscar Taveras as a throwback to our first deal.  We met during a trade for a Topps Hi Tek Taveras auto.  Since then, we have been really good friends.  This is a nice Taveras and it is numbered 9/150.

He included a nice auto of Hunter Harvey from 2014 Bowman Sterling.  I really like this card and I'm glad Cameron included it.  It looks really awesome.

I got this 2015 Topps Chrome Christian Walker from Cameron as well.  I have a couple of these, but am happy to add another one.

Cameron also included a few refractors like this Machado blue.  This card is numbered 18/250.  I don't think I had one of these yet, so I was glad to get this one.

Also, here is a purple refractor of Chris Tillman.  This is numbered 89/150.  I didn't have this one either.

Thank you so much for the Christmas package, Cameron.  The cards were amazing and I love them!

In Person Care Package From Andrew

While I was at the National, I was able to save on shipping and distribute some cards to my friends Max and Andrew.  Andrew gave me a team bag full of cards that he had picked up in the months leading up to the National.  In the bag were cards that were just as nice, or better, than anything I found for my PCs at the show,

This 2011 Topps Chrome Atomic or Prism refractor of Zach Britton is numbered 10/225.  The scan really picked up on the prism effect, which looks really cool.  I thought the atomic refractors were numbered to 10 or 5, so this may have another name.  Still, the card is awesome.

I didn't have this 2014 Donruss Chris Davis relic in my collection yet, so it was really nice to pull it out of the team bag.  The scan did really well on this card, so that's cool.  Davis seems to be heating up again.  I'm hoping he can end the season with more than 40 homers and more than 100 RBI.  It is well within reach, so that would be cool.  It would be even better if the Orioles would come off of some money and sign the man.

I'm always a fan of Panini Immaculate, and this card is no exception.  Numbered 77/99, it looks really sharp.  I like the almost acetate feel to the face of the card, almost like it is layered.  It looks really great in person.

This 2/10 Immaculate of Davis is another really nice card that Andrew gave me.  This one is just as thick as the previous relic card, and looks really nice.  It doesn't have the same acetate feel, this is typical cardboard, but still a great card.  Panini really does do a good job on their products.

Andrew felt bad that I completed a trade with another guy on Instagram, only to receive a damaged card.  So, he took it upon himself to send me a better version, and here it is.  I can't explain it, but I really like Sonny Gray.  I would like him even more if Billy Beane would trade him to the Orioles.  He just might be the Ace that they need for a long time.  I doubt that happens, but you never know.  Still, Gray is a stud, and I have a pretty decent collection growing.

Adding to that is this awesome 2015 Finest Gray auto.  I have a few Gray autos now, but this Finest ranks near the top.  The auto is on-card, and looks really good.

Thanks so much for the cards, Andrew!

Some Surprise Mail From Andrew

I got a stack of cards in a familiar mailer in my mailbox the other day from my good friend, Andrew.  He and I pass the same bubble mailer back and forth when we send each other cards.  The poor thing has some mileage on it, for sure.

This time around, Andrew sent me this awesome Nick Markakis relic along with a bunch of other Orioles and random inserts.  I was sent this Markakis in another trade, but I'm glad I have them.

Thanks for the package, Andrew, I really appreciate it.

Today's Card Shop Hits

These are slow times over here, as far as cards are concerned.  I haven't bought anything for myself off of Ebay recently.  The only things I HAVE bought are cards for other people,  If I didn't want most of them to be surprises, I would probably start blogging those, but no, I want to stick to my stuff.

This kind of happens, though, you kind of get complacent and don't do a lot of deals all at once, or you do them, and it takes forever for folks to send.  This is my real problem at the moment.  People are slow to send.  I bought a few cards off of some people recently, and I'm still waiting with anticipation by my mailbox, yet nothing comes.  Might start asking for refunds soon.

Anyway, one thing that never fails me is my local card shop.  Although, today's trip to the shop had me buying loose cards for friends, and none for myself.  I also bought some packs for Chris.  I did, however, get myself a few packs, and they didn't disappoint.

I picked up two packs of 2014 Donruss Series 2 and pulled a nice relic card, the above Hanley Ramirez.  It isn't a patch like Chris's card, but it is still nice.

I also got a pack of 2014 Panini Prizm and pulled this nice Matt Wieters card.  What's with the powder stuff that they put in the packs of these?  Kind of odd.

Anyway, I probably will be hitting sportlots and Ebay soon, that should pull me out of this card slump pretty quickly.

In the meantime, if I bought something from you, SHIP IT!!!  (With tracking, please!)

Tons of Mail From Alex

I got a couple huge packages from my buddy Alex from the blog "Chavez Ravining" which contained a ton of Orioles.  Inside were scores of cards I needed for various PCs.  One of which I really wanted to highlight was the above 2014 Donruss Diamond Kings Chris Davis.  The card looks awesome.  It is numbered 388/400.  I think it looks awesome, especially with the metallic finish and the red, white and blue.

I had hoped the hologram on this one would have scanned a little better, but oh well, it's still cool.  I'm not sure whether I had this Denny's Cal Ripken hologram yet, but I'll find out sooner or later when I go to organize my Cal cards.  It's on my bucket list, you know, organize my Cal cards before I die.  We'll see if I ever accomplish that goal.

Anyway, thanks for the cards, Alex.  You've fast become quite a good trade partner for me and I really appreciate it.  Keep up the awesome work on your blog and let's keep the trades coming!

Some More From The Dana Package

I wanted to show off a bit more of the cards I got from Dana before I top load them and add them to my PCs.  The first card is this 2013 Select Wei-yin Chen auto.  I really like Select, but there was no way I was going to buy a pack of those at their SRP ($50, I think).

Another version of a pack of cards being well out of my reach is Topps Triple Threads.  I learned a long time ago that it is a lot easier buying the card I want off of Ebay or another site than it is for me to buy it by the pack and pull a Mark Prior relic.  Uggh.  So, I was very happy when Dana hooked me up with the Chen up above and the Brooks Robinson purple parallel.  Triple Threads is always a solid offering, but it is routinely out of my budget.

Finally, Dana can join the club of folks who recently have hooked me up with Cal Ripken cards that I didn't already have.  The Triple Threads is really nice, again.  I'm glad she hooked me up with both Brooks and Cal.

Finally, Dana sent me a ton of Orioles 2014 Donruss cards.  I'm a big fan of these, even though they don't have logos.  I know I said it before, but I feel like Panini is making a solid effort in the baseball card genre and their having a license along with Topps would be nothing but a good thing.

So, that will wrap up my posts from the package from Dana.  Thanks so much for the cards.  I really appreciate it and I hope we can trade again (after I replenish my wiped out Braves trade stack).

More From Dana - Hakuna Machado

Dana sent me a bunch of different Orioles cards, all of which I needed, but none more so than the 7 Manny Machados that she sent along.  I've learned very quickly that any and every kid under the age of 14 has a Manny Machado PC and they are driving up the price of his cards everywhere.  So, it's really tough to get my hands on any of them, unless I pull them from a pack myself.  Thanks to Dana, I don't have to worry about a few of them, now that I have these.

I do have to saw WOW for the 2014 Panini Donruss.  They hit this one out of the park, in my opinion.  The design is fresh, but it also reaches back to Donruss of old and really makes you feel like they never left the market.  Well played, Panini!

Sticking with Donruss, here is a numbered Machado from the Elite Series subset.  Very sharp!  This one is nombered 320/999 and looks amazing.  I love it!

Finally, I wanted to show the X-fractor that she sent from Manny's 2013 Topps Chrome.  I didn't have this one either and she was gracious enough to send it along.

I appreciate the package so much, Dana.  Thanks so much.  I'm going to continue with probably 3 or 4 more posts from it, so you all stay tuned!