Huge Care Package From Max

I haven't had a chance to talk to my good friend, Max, recently since he has been really busy with school and sports and I have just been busy.  I got a nice package in from him a couple weeks ago that was full of awesome stuff.  I needed this Adam Jones relic from 2014 Panini Classic.  It has a nice orange piece of jersey and is numbered 12/99.

I had send Max some cards for him to get signed at a game, and he surprised me with two of them.  These are 2015 Bowman and Bowman Chrome cards signed IP by Trace Loehr and Skye Bolt.  Bolt was a former UNC standout, so getting his auto is really nice.

This card might be one of the highlights, though.  It is a striking 2012 Bowman Sterling Dylan Bundy refractor numbered 103/199.  I don't recall ever seeing any of these, so this is a really cool addition to the collection.

Max also hooked me up with this emerald parallel of Brooks Robinson from 2013 Museum Collection.  I don't believe I had one of these.  This one is numbered 123/250.

Here is a Topps Finest refractor of Nolan Reimold numbered 175/199.  This is my second Reimold Finest refractor from that year.

Finally, among a ton of other cards, most of which will be used for TTM requests were a few playing cards like this Dave Parker.  Parker is an underrated player that I like a lot, so I was happy to add this to the collection.

Thanks so much for the care package, Max!  I really appreciate it, and am looking forward to being able to talk a lot more this summer!

Christmas Gift From Drew

Wow.  Take a look at the above card.  Yeah, Drew gave this to me for Christmas.  A card that he has had in his collection for a few years now.  A card that he once told me that would end up in my collection, once he felt the time was right.  I guess the time was right, because this 2005 Donruss INKCrdible Cal/Bill Ripken dual auto was in the Christmas package from him that arrived yesterday.

This card is amazing.  I actually had no Bill Ripken autos in my collection, one that I have been building since 1990.  No Bill Ripken autos at all.  I still don't have him on a ball.  I'm not sure why, except for maybe that he doesn't sign a lot; he doesn't seem to have too many certified autos in any products either.  Getting this card into my collection is a huge deal for me.

This card was also in the package, and while it seemed like I kind of overlooked it with my excitement over the Ripken dual auto, this triple relic from 2014 Panini Classics is a really nice card as well.  Numbered 3/99, it is really cool.  This is going right into the Chris Davis PC and spreadsheet.

Drew has been the longest tenured friend that I have made since I started this blog and joined the online card community.  I have seen him grow up from a 12-year old kid to a college student about to embark on a huge journey in his life.  His blog has undergone huge changes recently, including a change in URL.  I recommend that you check it out.  The link can be found here.  I have also updated it on my sidebar.

Thank you so much for the awesome Christmas gifts, Drew!  Good luck on your journey, and I will be here in a completely different time zone waiting to hear from you!

Christmas gift from Dylan

I got a package in the mail from my friend Dylan for Christmas and was really happy with what he included.  He also had something in there for my son, Chris, which was really nice of him to do.  In the package was a nice page-long note and two baseball cards.

The above 2014 Panini Classics triple relic of Frank, Brooks and Boog was one I didn't have in my collection, yet.  It is numbered 8/99 and looks really cool.  I knew it was coming, because Dylan was afraid that if he got me something, I would already have it.  I have heard that issue before, but I don't know why someone would think that.............

Dylan also included this Ruth/Foxx card, which I needed for my Foxx PC.  Not bad.  He doesn't have a whole lot out there, so it was nice to be able to add it.

Thanks so much for the gift, Dylan.  Chris also loved his gift.  I appreciate you thinking of us!

Instagram Trade With Pinstripe_Pride

I completed a trade last week with a guy on Instagram who goes by the screen name of Pinstripe_Pride.  I sent him the Nolan Ryan coin card that I pulled from 2015 Topps Update and he sent me this Jonathan Schoop relic/auto.  It is numbered 159/299 and is from 2014 Panini Classics.

He didn't stop there.  He sent a Willie Mays insert for Chris, an Eddie Murray from 2015 Topps Tribute and also this signed business card from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

It was really awesome that he sent this extra stuff.  I really appreciated it, and it was totally unexpected.

Thanks for the deal, pinstripe_pride!

Chris Davis Pickups From The National

It is going to be a tough offseason, coming up.  Chris Davis becomes a free agent, along with several other longtime Orioles, and it looks like an extreme long shot for the Orioles to re-sign him.  He's been my favorite Oriole for the past few years.  He has been pretty hot lately, and I'm hoping he can keep it up so the Orioles can stay in contention.

I ended up with quite a few Davis cards from the National.  My good friend, Max, helped me find several that I needed for my PC.  The above card was in a cheap relic/auto box, and Max handed it to me as we were sorting through.  This is a 2014 Panini Classics Baseball relic numbered 98/99.

Max actually gave me this 2014 Panini Classics Baseball relic of Chris Davis, which was really nice of him.  This one is numbered 78/99.

Finally, Max found me this manufactured patch from 2014 Topps.  I had the plain O's logo, but didn't have the 60th anniversary one pictured here.  I'm glad I have it now.

I'm slowly making my way through the cards that I got, but there are still a ton to go.  I also stil have some signed baseballs to get to.  In the meantime, some packages have come in, so I will have plenty to blog about for a good while.  I'm happy about that.

Holiday Package From Scott F.

I received a holiday package recently from my friend from Facebook and Instagram (and Skype and Kik), Scott F.  He sent me a nice stack of Orioles cards, a lot of which I needed.  One of them was the above 2014 Panini Classics Chris Davis.  I like the design of this set and I actually hadn't even heard about it until I opened Scott's package.

So, since I hadn't even heard about this set, Scott pulled off the rare feat of sending me a Cal Ripken card that I didn't already have in my PC.  Thanks for this also, Scott!

So, thanks for the holiday package, Scott!  I really appreciate the cards, I hope you liked yours as well!