TTM Success - Trevor May

I got some nice cards back TTM from Twins pitcher, Trevor May.  The above 2015 Topps Chrome turned out really well.  I like how the 2015 chromes look, especially when signed.

I also got a 2015 Panini Diamond King and a 2019 Topps Gary Vee's Top Entrepreneurs signed by May.

May (b. 1989) played in the majors from 2014 to 2016 and 2018 to 2020 for the Twins.  He has a career record of 23-21 with 367 strike outs and a 4.44 ERA.

I mailed to May on January 6, 2020, and got the cards back on November 5, 2020, for a 304-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jorge Soler

During the pandemic, I sent off to some current players at their home addresses with the hope that some of my cards would come back signed.  I had seen some players were signing, and I didn't really have much to lose, except for some cards and stamps.

I sent off to Jorge Soler after seeing that he had been signing, and came away with some really nicely signed cards.  The above 2016 Topps Chrome Future Stars really turned out well. 

Soler also signed a 2014 Panini Prizm and 2015 Panini Diamond Kings.  Both look really nice, and I am glad I was able to find these in my boxes and send them out.

Soler (b. 1992) has played in the majors since 2014 for the Cubs and Royals.  He has 424 hits, 91 home runs and a .265 batting average.  Last season (2019) he hit 48 home runs, leading the AL.  He finished 21st in the AL MVP voting last season as well.  He won the World Series with the Cubs in 2016.

I mailed to Soler on May 18 and got the cards back on June 4, for a 17-day TAT.

Awesome Trade With Jared

My friend Tim from the blog "I Love The Smell of Cardboard in the Morning" emailed me recently about a package he intended to ship to me.  In his closing remarks in the email, he mentioned that a fellow blogger had pulled an amazing Manny Machado dual relic/auto and was looking to unload it.  I took a look at the card and was amazed by it, but shot myself down pretty quickly.  My thoughts were "this card is awesome, but there is no way I will be able to afford to pry it away from him..."  Fast forward a couple weeks and I get a surprise follow on Instagram and then an email from the proprietor of the owner of the card, fellow blogger Jared from the blog Catching Up With Collecting.

Jared had heard that I was an Orioles fan and would be interested in the card, so I asked him what it would take to pry it away.  Then, I remembered that I was going to be heading to the antique shop in Columbia and could possibly find some cards that were on his top ten want list.

So, after my trip, I had a couple cards I thought Jared would like, and we instantly matched up on a deal.  You can read about what he got in the trade here.

This Machado card is really awesome, and I am happy that I was able to pull off a trade to get it.  It is numbered 8/10 and will go in a magnetic case, once I go to the card show in the middle of this month.

Thank you for the deal, Jared!  I hope you are as happy with your end of the deal as I am with mine!

Birthday Gift From Ryu - 2015 Panini Diamond Kings Chris Davis Dual Relic

I got a nice surprise package in the mail yesterday.  It turned out, it was a birthday gift from my good friend, Ryu.  I wasn't expecting it at all, but that's how he operates.  He has dropped some really nice care packages on me, and I appreciate every one of them.

This time around, Ryu hooked me up with a stack of recent Orioles cards and this beauty.  This is a 2015 Panini Diamond Kings Chris Davis dual relic.  The card is numbered 16/25.  I had seen a few of these on Ebay and Instagram, but never pulled the trigger on getting one of them.

Ryu also included a nice letter in the package, which is something I always look forward to.  We all know that the letters are usually my favorite part of a care package.

Thanks so much for thinking of me, Ryu!  I love the package!

A Trade At The Card Shop

Last Saturday, Chris and I were bored and went to the card shop like usual.  Wendell, the shop owner, has a new guy working there named Jacob (who is in his late 20s).  Jacob seems like a pretty cool dude, albeit a Red Sox fan.  Already, Jacob has a following.  One of the other shop owners in the shopping center sends her son into the shop on Saturdays, and he helps out where needed.  This Saturday, he was folding boxes.  Immediately, he and Chris got to talking, since it appeared that they were about the same age.  It turns out, the kid is named Matt, and is 11 years old.  So, he and Chris chatted for a bit and played some darts in the back room while I chatted with Wendell and Jacob.  I purchased a few packs, and allowed Chris to grab a few as well.

Matt wanted to see what Chris pulled, so Chris opened the two packs I got him (a jumbo pack of 2015 Topps, and a pack of 2015 Panini Diamond Kings).  Matt really liked the Diamond Kings, so he showed me his box of cards he was carrying around the store.  It looked like he had opened a few packs, and had some decent base cards.  I noticed really quickly that Matt liked Hall of Famers.  He had made a point of telling Chris that there were Babe Ruth cards in the Diamond Kings packs, but he had yet to pull one.  He also made mention that he really wanted a Ty Cobb card.

So, I opened my pack of Diamond Kings to see if I could pull the Ruth that he was after.  I didn't, but I pulled a couple Hall of Famers that Matt liked.  I had noticed a card that he had in his little box that I asked him about.  Would he be interested in trading me the Jimmie Foxx, if I gave him a good Hall of Famer. He said he would, so I handed him a Roberto Clemente that I had just gotten out of my pack.  He loved the Clemente and quickly handed me the Foxx (shown above).  He also handed me a nice David Ortiz, saying "Here, you can have this, too."  I thought it was really sweet that this little guy was willing to make trades, and was so happy to have folks to talk cards with, that he gave a free card.

I gathered Chris up, thanked Matt for the deal, and the extra card, then said my goodbyes to Jacob and Wendell.  I made the quick drive home, put up my cards, then looked through a stack that I had on my card desk; some Hall of Famers that my good friend, Max, had sent me.  In it were a few cards I could spare, so I put some in a team bag, along with an Orioles rally towel, then drove BACK to the card shop to surprise Matt.

When we got back, I told Matt that I had some stuff for him, so he came from the back room and gratefully accepted the rally towel and the cards.  However, he didn't open the team bag.  He turned around, and went back to work, since he was helping Jacob assemble storage boxes.  It wasn't until he had completed his task, that he went back and opened the team bag.  I was really impressed that this young man made sure his job was finished before he sat down to look at some cards.

Matt tore open the team bag, and his jaw dropped.  What were "base" cards for me, were treasures for him.  There were 5 Babe Ruths, 2 Ty Cobbs and a Yogi Berra.  I wish I had taken a picture of the look on his face, because he was so amazed that he now owned several Babe Ruth cards.  I was really happy that I made this kid's day, and hopefully, he will cherish those cards as his collection grows.

It was a pretty cool day at the card shop, to say the least.

Thoughts on 2015 Panini Diamond Kings

We all know that Panini doesn't have an MLB license, but that hasn't stopped them from producing quality products lately.  When I opened my first pack of 2015 Diamond Kings, I was amazed.  The cards have a canvas, oil painting feel to them, and look really awesome.  I've already opened something like 5 or 6 packs of them already, and wouls get a box of them if I wasn't pinching my pennies for the National Card Show.

I am really happy with these cards, they remind me a lot of UD Masterpieces, a favorite set of many folks.  I may consider purchasing a box at some point, and maybe doing the set.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the cards I have gotten of these, so far.