A Gift From Frankie At The National

I spent a lot of time at the National with my good friend, Frankie.  The National was in hit back yard, and he was a very gracious host to Andrew and I while we were there.  Early on at the show, Frankie surprised me with this awesome 2016 Museum Collection Manny Machaco quad relic.  It has a nice piece of orange patch, as well.  The card is numbered 42/75.

I really appreciated Frankie hooking me up with this card.  He didn't have to give it to me, but he did.  I love Museum Collection, and this Machado will look great in my collection!  Thanks Frankie!

Purchase From Frankie - 2015 Topps Museum Collection Quad Relic

As I laid in bed at my in-laws' house Christmas night, I browsed Instagram while I waited to fall asleep.  On Instagram I saw that my friend, Frankie, had posted this nice 2015 Topps Museum Collection quad relic of Orioles Nelson Cruz, Jonathan Schoop, Adam Jones and Chris Davis.  I liked his price, so I jumped on Paypal immediately and sent him a payment.  I texted him right after that and told him I had purchased the quad.  I loved Frankie's response when he texted back saying "I knew you would want that card!"

So, I was able to help my friend out a bit by making a purchase from him and I got another Museum Collection card to add to my Chris Davis PC.  This card is numbered 25/99 and has a nice 3-color piece of Adam Jones's jersey (the one patch on the card).  Cruz is a piece of bat, while Davis and Schoop are both jersey swatches.

I only had two other quad relics of these guys on 2015 Museum Collection.  Those are numbered /25 and /75.  With this one numbered /99, I now have three different serial number series.  Not bad.

Thanks for the deal, Frankie!

2015 Replay Review

2015 was a banner year for this blog with some awesome highs and some heartbreaking lows.  Let's call up the umpires for a review of how I did with my goals for the year:

• Acquire 10 baseballs for my Hall of Fame Collection.  As of today, I stand at 118.  I exceeded my goal by one, so that is nice.  I added: Lou Brock, Leon Day, Hank Greenberg, Bobby Cox, Harry Caray, Tom Glavine, Al Lopez, Pee Wee Reese, Joe DiMaggio, Sparky Anderson, and John Smoltz.
• Acquire 5 cards from my Top Ten Wishlist.  I exceeded that goal by one as well, having knocked off 6 cards this year.  The best pickup was the 1992 Donruss Elite Cal Ripken auto that I got at the National.  You can see it here.  The Top Ten will be updated shortly with some fresh cards for 2016 and the 4 holdovers from 2015.
• Attend the 2015 National.  As you can see in the photo above, I was able to make it to the National this past summer and had an amazing time.  I would have said "Once in a Lifetime" but I intend on going again, so now all I need to do is start saving again.
• Keep up with blog trades and emails.  I didn't do as well as I would have liked with this goal, but I think I have graduated from email to app with my trading.  I still enjoy getting emails from fellow bloggers and have followed up with them.  My trading is primarily done over Instagram, Snapchat, Kik and Skype.  I see that being the main venue for discussion here on out.
• Meet and complete trades with 10 new people.  I've blown that away, I believe.  I've added some new friends and lost a couple whom I traded with regularly.  I think that will continue and I will keep meeting new folks.
• Continue to add and expand my google docs spreadsheets.  Well, I was halfway right on this one.  I have my Davis and Reimold PCs up to date and have done a good job in doing so.  I haven't added anyone to the sheets yet, and my Brooks Robinson PC isn't up to date.  That will probably be a goal for 2016 (and 2017 and 2018).
• Complete the 1948 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  I met both of these goals this year, and am really happy that I did so.  Both sets were difficult, but are now closed.  I completed the 1959 set this summer at the National (click here); and the 1948 Bowman set was finished in April when I got the Joe Page card (read here).
• Start one 1950s set and one 1960s set if 1948 Bowman and 1959 Topps are completed.  I haven't officially started a set in either decade because I wanted to work on the often-neglected 1969 set that I have been trying to finish.  I have a good start on the 1967 set, so I guess you could say that I have that one going, even though I haven't officially added the checklist to my wishlist.  I think I opted to consider completing the 1972 set before I embark on another 50s set.
• Complete the 1994 Topps, 1997 Topps, 2012 Topps Update, 2014 Topps Update and 2014 Topps Chrome sets.  I got most of these done.  I still need to complete 1994 Topps and 2012 Topps Update.  I didn't even try 2015 Topps Update, even though I busted a jumbo box.  Instead, I went after 2015 Chrome and 2015 Stadium Club.  Those are still to be finished.
• If the 1994 Topps set is complete, start the 1995 Topps set.  I didn't complete the 1994 set, so this will carry over to 2016 goals, I believe.

Here is a look back at a few of the things that happened on this blog this year:

• On January 1, I posted a year in review of 2014 and my 2015 goals.
• January 24 was when the baseball world lost Ernie Banks.  I was in a Skype chat when I heard about it.  It was definitely a shocker.
• On February 1, I posted about the 2015 Orioles Fan Fest.  I took my mom, wife, sister and son to Fan Fest and we all had an amazing time.
• On April 28, I briefly discussed the civil unrest in Baltimore.  The day after, the Orioles would play the first ever game in an empty stadium.
• On May 4, I showed how awesome my mom was when she picked up two amazing vintage cards for me.
• On May 10, I cut ties with a former friend who was being dishonest with fellow traders.  This was rare for me, since I usually am forgiving to a fault.  I haven't heard from the guy since, and I doubt I will.  I lost a few other "friends" throughout the year, for various reasons.  I think I'm better off without them in the long run, and I imagine a few of them will apologize and try to make things right.  We'll see how that goes.
• On May 20, my wife, son and I met local former MLB player, George Altman.
• On July 6, I completed my second trade with my good friend, Nick S. from Instagram.  Nick and I have become really close over the last month, and he is one of the funniest people I have ever met.  I hope we can keep it going, because he is a lot of fun to talk to, and an all-around good guy.  We had completed a trade a long time before, for a 2014 Panini Prizm Chris Davis blue parallel, but I never posted it.  This was one of the reasons why I wanted to do a better job of keeping track of trades.
• On July 29, I posted my first of many blog posts on location in Chicago from the National Card Show.  I met up with fellow bloggers Andrew and Nick (Dime Boxes) and fellow instagrammers Max, Eli and Frankie.  Max's family hosted us for a box break and barbecue.  I had an amazing time and solidified some awesome friendships I made in the community.
• On August 4, I posted about meeting Hulk Hogan, a long-time idol of mine.  I have watched wrestling my whole life, and Hogan is probably the most famous wrestler.  He was very gracious and humble.  I teared up after talking to him.
• On August 10, still on a high from the amazing time at the National, I was heartbroken by the loss of my friend; my cat, Jericho.  He passed away on the way to the pet emergency clinic in Greenville.  Not a day goes by that I don't think of him.  I loved him and will always miss him.
• On September 9. I wrote about a former scammer making things right with me.  He messaged me out of the blue to apologize, and sent me a care package to try to make amends.  He honestly had me at hello.  I never expected to hear from him again.  I was so moved by his gesture, I included him when I sent out Christmas gifts this year.
• On September 23, I wrote about the passing of a legend, Yogi Berra.
• On October 5, I showed that I had appeared (briefly) on MASN celebrating Chris Davis's second home run of the day; in the final game of the season.  My son and I enjoyed a three-game series in Baltimore and capped it off with the Orioles sweeping the Yankees.
• I reached my 2,000th post on October 6.
• On November 29, I got an amazing 1906 Trophy Baseball.
• I went to 2016 Orioles Fan Fest on December 12.

I had a pretty good year, I think.  I can now look toward 2016 and set a few goals and see if I can achieve them.

1. I have 118 Hall of Fame baseballs as of the close of 2015.  I actually have some on the way, as well.  I would like to close 2016 with 10 new Hall of Famers, so I would like to be at or above 128.
2. I want to knock 5 cards off of my Top Ten Wishlist, with at least two of them being holdovers from 2015.  That shouldn't be difficult, depending on which cards I add to the list.
3. I want to upgrade at least one of my Hall of Fame balls of Phil Niekro, Pat Gillick and Jim Bunning.  I got those before I knew about the troubles with China balls, so I intend to correct those soon.
4. I want to upgrade my 1955 Topps Duke Snider. The one I have is really rough, so upgrading that one would be nice.  I plan to, in the future, upgrade a few more of those cards, but the Snider is one of the worst of the bunch.  This will not be a Top 10 card.
5. I want to complete the 2015 Topps Chrome, 2015 Topps Stadium Club, 2012 Topps Update, 1994 Topps and 1969 Topps sets.
6. WHEN 1994 Topps is complete, I need to start on 1995 Topps.
7. Add 1967 and 1972 Topps to my wishlist page and my notebook, officially starting those sets.
8. Get two TTM successes completed in 2016.  I actually tried a few in 2015, but two subjects passed away in transit (how does that happen) and one if still pending.
9. Attend the 2016 National in Atlantic City.  With a better handle on my budget.
10. Spend more time organizing my cards and actually enjoying them, instead of letting them pile up on my desk, just to be added to random boxes.

I think those are attainable goals for the year.  Finally, I want to thank everyone who made 2015 so amazing.  I can't even begin to name you all, but I want to single out: Max, Andrew, Drew, Nick S., Michael, Scott, Noah, Caleb, Sam, Josh, P. A., Eli, Frankie, Julie, Robert, Jayden, Jack, Cameron, Joey, Ben, Jake, Jake Iggy, Ryu, Brian, Tim and so many others.  If I didn't mention you, I apologize.  I also want to single out my mom who added some more memories to this blog, which I know you all enjoy reading about.

I hope everyone who I am blessed enough to call my friends and family have a safe and happy New Year and a prosperous 2016.  Thank you all, and I will see you next year!

Christmas Gift From Frankie

I got an awesome Christmas package in the other day from my good friend, Frankie from the blog "My Life In The Sportscard Hobby".  I met Frankie last year through my good friend, Drew.  Frankie and I did a couple trades, then we spent a lot of time together at this past year's National walking around and enjoying the show.  Frankie is a really good guy, but I did not in any way expect that he would land this kind of gift on me.

Above is an awesome 2013 Topps Pro Debut Sonny Gray printing plate.  This is the cyan plate.  Also of note, Gray appears as a RockHound on this card.  My son, Chris, was a RockHound for two seasons, and had a very special time on those teams.  So, I think it is really cool to have this card with Gray in the RockHounds uniform!

Frankie included a few Orioles cards as well, most notably this Cal Ripken from 2015 Topps Hi Tek that I didn't yet have in my collection.  The card is numbered 48/50 and is acetate.  Frankie must have read the several posts of mine where I discuss how much I love acetate cards!

Thank you so much for the awesome Christmas gifts, Frankie!  I really appreciate it!

2015 National Recap

I feel like now is a good time to draw my 2015 National Card Show experience to a close.  This was a much better time than the National I went to in 2012, mainly because I decided to go "all in" and do the VIP pass and attend all 5 days.  Spending time with Max, Andrew, Eli and Frankie made the experience even better.

I came home with the pile that you see above.  Here is what it ended up being:

• A 1992 Donruss Elite Cal Ripken autograph that I have wanted since 1992.
• Enough 1959 Topps cards to complete my set.
• 15 signed baseballs (8 Hall of Famers, 6 VIP signers and one Kris Bryant from Max).
• A signed hat for my buddy, Sam.
• A box of Allen and Ginter.
• Two signed 8 x 10 photos.
• A ton of other assorted autograph and relic cards of various PC guys.
• I met Hulk Hogan, Brooks Robinson (again), Lou Brock, Tom Gordon, Ben Grieve, Eric Hinske, Dontrelle Willis, Manny Sanguillen, Maury Wills and Cecil Cooper.

I went way over my budget, but I was really happy with everything I found while I was there.  I also spent a good bit of money on the friends that were with me, and some that couldn't make it.  I found some sweet deals, and even some amazing dime box finds, like the above 1981 Topps  Kirk Gibson RC.

Speaking of dime boxes, I met Nick, the king of Dime Boxes while I was there, as well.

We had a great time using our VIP autograph vouchers.  Some of the guys, we didn't have enough baseballs for, so we got cards signed, like this 1987 Topps John Candelaria.  That made some of the dime box searching pretty fun.  I can't remember the last time I was looking for a Candelaria card on purpose.  The 1987s turn out pretty nice signed, I do believe.

I've said before that the part that I liked the most about the National was being able to spend time with my friends.  Here is a nice group shot of Max, Me, Frankie and Andrew from the Thurdsay at the show.  We all really enjoyed each other's company.  The guys who didn't know each other very well before the show all had become close friends by the end of it.  I was glad that I was able to be allowed to accompany them.  It truly was an honor.

I hope we can all get together again soon, but until then, we can all reflect on this photo and remember the amazing time that we had.

National Gifts From Frankie

One of the things I liked the most about The National was the time I was able to spend with some of my closest friends in the hobby.  During that time, I was able to make a new friend, Frankie, who spent the week walking around the venue with us.

Frankie surprised me with this really nice Adam Jones 2014 Topps Supreme auto numbered 5/45.  It was a really kind gesture from a really good guy.

Frankie also surprised me with this 2015 Topps Tier One Jones relic that he pulled out of a box that he busted in the VIP room.  This card is numbered 131/399.

I really appreciated the cards from Frankie, but I appreciated my time with him even more.  It was cool to get to know him, and welcome him into our little group.

A $5 Mystery Pack At The National

When our group was walking around the National, we stopped by one vendor who had a bunch of mystery packs for $5 each that promised vintage hits like a Bowman Joe DiMaggio, a 1939 Boston Red Sox signed baseball, and stuff like that.  We all thought it would be fun to give the mystery packs a shot, so we all bought in (Me, Andrew, Max, Frankie and Max's dad).  The first mystery pack I bought yielded a 1970 Hoyt Wilhelm and a 1966 Don Schwall.  Not too bad.  It was fun enough, so I figured I would try again, as did my friends, and my second mystery pack was much better.

I pulled this 1982 Topps Cal Ripken RC out of a $5 mystery pack.  Now my fourth '82 Topps Ripken, this was a really cool hit.  Frankie ended up with an early 50s Bowman card, which carried some value, but none of the stuff the guys pulled equaled the excitement I got out of pulling this Cal.

Yeah, I know I have others, but it still was a lot of fun to get a PC item (a rookie, at that).  Maybe I'll take the plunge sometime and get one of them graded.  I don't know.

The Show Must Go On

I wanted to take a minute before I start this post and thank everyone for the outpouring of support following the loss of my cat, Jericho, last night.  I got messages on here, Facebook, Instagram, text, kik and snapchat, all with well-wishes.  That meant a lot to me, and I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.  He really meant a lot to me, and after the arrangements I made today, he will be taken care of.  So, thank you all, again.

I'd like to say that he would want me to continue on posting as normal today, but I knew him well enough that he would not want me sitting here posting.  He would rather I be in the recliner with him on my lap, grabbing my hand and forcing me to pet him for hours.  I always told my wife that if he had opposable  thumbs, he would have been dangerous.

So, that being said, I would like to continue on as normal as I can with my next post from the National card show.  It is going to be so tough to show all of the cards I picked up, so I will probably condense them down into the best of the best.  I did want to start out with a showing of the Jonathan Schoop cards that I got.  The top card is the 2014 playoffs patch/auto of Schoop and was actually the first card that I picked up.  I had just landed, and took the shuttle to the hotel to check in, then I took the shuttle to the convention center and met Max and Andrew.  They immediately took me to a table that has the Schoop, and I bought it for $25.  Those playoff relics were a "tough get" and would run pretty high, so landing the Schoop was real nice.

Now, the biggest problem I have with all of the cards that I picked up is that I don't remember where all I got them.  The next couple of Schoops were gifts, I believe, from Andrew, Frankie and/or Max.  I wish I could remember who gave me what, but all of the cards were put into a box as we made our way around the show over the next 4 days.

The price tag on the back of this 2014 Bowman Inception Schoop auto says $2.00, and I could have very well picked it up myself.  I have a feeling that it was given to me by Max at that table, and I hope that he will remind me when he reads this post.

The auto is on-card, and looks amazing.  Inception looked really awesome that year, and I wish there were more Orioles in the product.

This Schoop auto came out of another cheap relic/auto bin, and again, I believe it was a gift from one of my friends.  From 2014 Panini National Treasures, this card is numbered 25/99 and looks like the old Sweet Spot product from UD.  I think this card is really cool.

I can say with about 65% confidence that I picked up this 2014 Topps Finest refractor auto of Schoop myself, from a $2 relic/auto bin.  I feel that this is the case because it was right next to an Andrew Lambo auto.  Heck, Max may have gotten me those cards as well.

Speaking of, I was blown away by the generosity of my friends while I was at the National.  Between the four of us (Me, Max, Andrew and Frankie), there were cards being passed back and forth, and all kinds of trades being made.  Care packages were handed off and lots of fun was had.  I think spending the National among friends was the best way to do it.  These are some of the best of the best collectors around, and I feel honored that they wanted to spend time with me.

Finally, I picked up two 2013 Pro Debut Heritage Schoops from a dine box.  I don't recall having any of these, as I only opened a couple packs.  I pretty much expanded the Schoop PC trememdously at the National.  I did pick up one other Schoop auto, but I will show that in a later post, as it has its own story behind it.

Thanks again for reading, and again, thank you all for the support.

Oh, by the way, today is my good friend, Frankie's birthday.  Head on over to his blog (here) and wish my buddy a happy birthday!

Baseball Cards Are Stupid: A Story on How I Got Into Collecting

I remember telling my older brother, John, that baseball cards were stupid.  He was a huge collector at the time, and I remember him getting excited over Wade Boggs cards, but I couldn't understand why.  I was maybe 7 or 8 and didn't know what the point was in opening packs of baseball cards and hoping to get your favorite player.  You see, I wasn't even a baseball fan back then.  I had no idea who the Baltimore Orioles were.  I had never been to any kind of a game (as far as I knew).  All I knew was that John loved baseball cards.  That was his thing.

Not too long after telling John that baseball cards were stupid, we got one of those Troll book order forms from school.  My mom would always let me circle the books I was interested in, and she would always add a few extras that she thought I may like.  We weren't very well off at that point in time, so getting those new books was pretty exciting for us.  When the order came in, for whatever reason, Mom had selected a small book about baseball cards that came with a little album and a pack of cards.

I knew John thought these things were like gold, so I was happy to be getting some cards that I could hold and say "Nyah nyah, I have some cards that you don't have!"  I spent that afternoon laying on my bed and reading each and every card.  I remember two of them, Hipolito Pichardo and Fred Lynn.  They were 1989 Topps cards, and I remember thinking that I liked the design.  I wish I could say that I still have those cards, but the truth is, I'm not sure.  My best guess is that I do, and they are in my completed 1989 set, since I had collated those in order years ago and put them up before I got into making sets.

So, after that afternoon of looking at all of those cards, I decided that I did, in fact lie baseball cards and I wanted to get more.  How do I go about this?  Well, even though we didn't get along very well (typical of most brothers around that age, I believe), I reluctantly asked John how I was supposed to go about adding to my collection.

He responded by asking, "What is your favorite team?"  I didn't know.  I knew that with him being the older brother, I wasn't allowed to copy him by saying the Boston Red Sox.  I knew my brother Philip liked the Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants, but I couldn't copy him, either.  That sucked because by then, I knew who the A's were, they were the team that you could select on our Nintendo game and win every time.  Darn.

I couldn't even pick the A's most of the time on the game, because of my older brothers.  So I would have to pick some other random team.  I had always found myself picking the Orioles on that game because they had these crazy looking neon orange uniforms.  So, to answer John's question, I said, "Well, I guess the Orioles."  John said, ok, you should look for Orioles cards when you open packs.  He went to his room, and I went to mine.  A few minutes later, John came into my room and handed me a stack of cards.  "If you like the Orioles, this is their best player.  You should look for his cards."  I don't think I have to say who that player was, because I'm sure you all know it was Cal Ripken.

My mom used to take me to two different card shops in the Winston-Salem area when I was younger.  There was Season Ticket, a card shop owned by Chandy Greenholdt, who is now a fellow vendor of mine at the Raleigh card shows.  The other shop was Sportscards and More, which was owned and run by a guy named Jeff Hayes.  Jeff looked just like Rafael Palmeiro, which is one of the reasons that I liked Raffy growing up.  Mom would always take me to the shop, and the both of us would buy a bunch of packs.  Neither could wait to open them at home, so we would sit in her car and open them in the parking lot.  This is actually something that I still do, to this day.  I will take Chris to the card shop, buy our packs, then the two of us retreat to my truck and open packs.  Many times, I have to go back into the shop to show Wendell what I pulled, and buy a magnetic case or two.

The two card shops in Winston have since closed.  I got out of collecting when I turned 16 and had to get a job.  It wasn't as much fun spending my own money on cards, plus I had to pay for my car, insurance, gas, etc.  Every now and then, I would look through cards, and even buy a pack of two looking for the newest Ripken, but I was pretty much done.

Fast-forward to 2005; I took a friend of mine to a series of Orioles game against the Yankees.  I had still followed the Orioles all those years, and was finally able to go to games, myself.  I had been to a couple Orioles games in 1999 and wanted to try to take my own trip.  So, this friend and I made a trip of it and caught a couple games.  In the second game, Brian Roberts hit a walkoff home run in extra innings.  When I got home from the trip, I had the urge to start collecting again, and this time, I would look for Brian Roberts cards.  The old Sportscards and More had reopened as All About Sports, and a lovely lady was now the main person behind the counter.  She was really awesome in helping me find some new cards to get into, and also helped me search the dolar boxes in the shop for Roberts cards.  We would go on to become good friends, and after shopping there a while, she offered for me to help out at the shop in order to make some extra money.  If you hadn't guessed by now, that person was my friend, Babe.  She was instrumental in helping me get back into collecting.

Finally, while working at the card shop, I met two guys who came in fairly regularly.  We would hang out at the shop and talk cards while the Yu Gi Oh tournaments were being held.  Pete and P. A. were both bloggers and tried to convince me that I could tell some pretty good stories about the different cards that came through the shop.  I had only done a little blogging on my Myspace account (Myspace?  Was that really a thing? Haha!), so I figured it wouldn't last long and would be pretty lame.  However, I decided to give it a shot.  I couldn't think of a title, so I tried to think of the lamest thing in baseball.  "Walking in a run with the bases loaded" was way too long, so I settled on foul bunt.  I didn't even capitalize it, because I felt that is was insignificant and unassuming.  I feared that I would write a couple posts and forget to maintain it.  I started the blog, thinking that it would only be about a few cards and the card shop, but it evolved into something more.  It has become my showcase for everything in my collection.  It helped me start a branch of my collection (HOF signed baseballs) that hadn't yet begun.  It helped me do one of the things I'm most proud of (my Virgil Trucks interview).  I have even blogged about non-card stuff like wrestling, and music.

My musical taste has evolved just as much.  From being a huge Bon Jovi fan at 8 years old, to falling asleep to Guns N Roses (Use Your Illusion I is still, to this day, one of my favorite albums of all-time), to being really into Aerosmith during college.  I now am a huge Pearl Jam fan.  I always got into music late, and didn't really discover Pearl Jam until college.  I do, however, like all of those aforementioned bands.

Thank you all for taking a trip down memory lane.  I am asked a lot of times about how I got into collecting, and how I became an Orioles fan, even though I'm not from Baltimore.  Speaking of that, I actually have to remind people on Instagram that I am from NC, and not Baltimore.

Please take a moment to check out my friend Frankie's blog.  He is currently doing a contest over at "My Life In The Sports Card Hobby" and is interested in hearing about how everyone got into collecting.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Top 10 Wishlist Pickup - 1992 Donruss Elite Cal Ripken Auto

I'm going to do a day-by-day recap of the National Card Show when I get back home, but I will be posting bits and pieces while I am here.  Today marked a big day for me in my collection.  I have been collecting Cal Ripken since 1990 and today marks my most anticipated addition to that PC.

Since it was issued in 1992, I have always wanted the 1992 Donruss Elite Cal Ripken autograph.  One of the first autos issued in packs (I think UD did Reggie Jackson a few years prior), this was a sought after card back during the Junk Wax era.  I opened a ton of 1992 Donruss, just to find that I didn't have a magic touch that would yield this card.

Fast forward 23 years and I was finally able to track down a nice version of this card at the 2015 National Sports Collector's Convention in Chicago.  Max, Andrew and I walked around the show all day today asking vendors if they had this card.  Each search turned up empty, and most requests caused vendors to look at me like I was crazy.

Finally, around 3:45 PM, Max had to leave, but Andrew and I hooked up with my good buddy, Frankie (from the blog - My Life in the Sports Card Hobby), and after about 5 minutes into resuming our search, we found the card.

Let's just say that the vendor told us later that my reaction to when he said he had the card made the show for him.  I was so very happy that I got the card.  I paid the sticker price for the card, as the vendor didn't budge, but it really was a fair deal (he did throw in a Brooks Robinson auto).  My budget for the National is already busted, but I met all of my goals.  By the way, this card is numbered 3,202/5,000.  Frankie was kind enough to give me a magnetic case and a team bag to slab it in.

I'm so happy that I found this card, and I'm even more happy that I was able to experience the thrill of the hunt for it with several of my close friend.  This sure beat landing the card on Ebay and it coming in the mail.  I enjoyed the quest with Max, Frankie and Andrew, and to me, that made getting it even more special.

Please continue to check back to see our progress from The National.  We are only one full day into it with three to go.  The next few days surely won't have as much cash change hands, but I do intend on continuing to pick up several items for myself and some friends.

Picking Up Prospects From Frankie

I completed a trade recently with Frankie from the wonderful blog "My Life In The Sports Card Hobby" when I sent him a couple relic cards of Hall of Famers in exchange for some nice Bowman Chrome prospect cards.

One of the keys to the trade was this 2014 Bowman Chrome Shimmer refractor of Clint Frazier.  I've been kind of following Frazier a bit since he was drafted.  I have a couple of his cards, and am looking to get one of his autos at some point.  He's a really good player, and I think he will be really good for the Indians when he finally makes the big leagues.  This shimmer refractor is numbered 3/25 and will be put up.  I really enjoyed the different types of refractors that were offered in Bowman Chrome last year.  I hope they continue with this, because they were really cool-looking.

Another piece in the deal was this black wave refractor of the Orioles' first pick in the 2015 draft, Brian Gonzalez.  The O's didn't have a pick in the first two rounds during that draft, since they had signed Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz that previous offseason.  I think they would like to have a do-over when they signed Jimenez, but Cruz was a really good pickup.  Gonzalez has been pretty good, so far, for the Orioles.  He went 0-1 with a 1.34 ERA over 10 games between the GCL Orioles and short season Aberdeen.  This season, he has started 3 games for Low A Delmarva and has gone 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA.

Frankie threw in a ton of extras in the deal.  This gold refractor from 2014 Finest is numbered 50/50 and looks really sharp.  Jones has started the season on a tear, and I hope he can keep it up.

Currently batting .167 for the Frederick Keys is Orioles catching prospect, Chance Sisco.  He had a stellar season last year when he batted .340 for Delmarva.  His average is really low right now, but that is only over the course of 5 games (2 for 12).  I think he will get on track and will continue to show why he is one of the Orioles top prospects.  This mini blue refractor from 2013 Bowman Chrome is numbered 65/99.

Another highly-thought-of catching prospect in the Orioles system is Jonah Heim.  I really like him because his grandmother follows me on Twitter and Heim follows me on Instagram.  It doesn't take much to make me happy.  Seriously, though, Heim is well regarded in the Orioles system.  He was a 4th round pick in the 2013 draft out of high school.  He is only 19 (with a birthday in June) and has hit for a low average so far in his Minor League career (.204 over 83 games).  With him being so young, I look for Heim's bat to catch up; he actually is hitting .278 for Delmarva so far this season. This green refractor is numbered 65/75.

Frankie really hooked me up in this deal.  He is a really great guy, and I hope you all get the chance to read and comment on his blog.  Thanks for the trade, Frankie!  I'll keep looking for cool stuff for you so we can work on our next deal.

A Care Package From Frankie

It was about this time, 6 years ago, that I met a young kid who had a great blog and huge enthusiasm for cards.  That kid was 12 years old and now he is in college.  I took Drew under my wing and we forged an amazing friendship.  When I heard that Drew took a liking to a young kid with a new blog and had dispensed a great deal of advice, it was like a torch had been passed.

Drew met up with Frankie, of the blog: My Life in The Sports Card Hobby, at a card show in New York and told me about it the next day.  It was really cool to see Drew kind of mentoring a young person in the hobby, much like I had done with him over the years.  After Drew told me about his blog, I went and read a bunch of Frankie's posts.  He has an amazing collection, even though he is a Yankee fan.  So, to introduce myself to him, I sent Frankie a care package consisting of one item that I thought he might need for his Yankee autograph collection.  I was right, he hadn't acquired the auto I had sent, so I did a good job of finding something that helped him out.

While I didn't want anything in return, Frankie insisted that he send me back a care package, and I got it a few weeks later after a little big of a blogosphere mix-up.  You see, the package Frankie meant to send to me, actually went to Drew, and I received a package intended for Drew.  We laughed it off, and fixed the issue and now I have a few amazing cards that Frankie had sent my way (via Drew).

The above 2012 Bowman All Star Futures Game relic of Dylan Bundy is a really great card.  The card is numbered 176/199 and looks really awesome in person.

Another of the cards that Frankie sent was this 2014 Panini National Treasures Adam Jones jumbo patch card numbered 11/99.  I have gotten so many amazing patch and relic cards lately, I'm going to go broke buying magnetic cases to fit them all.  I also need to get a new storage box for all of my amazing relic cards.

Thank you so much for the package, Frankie.  I really hope that you have enjoyed your time in the card community so far.  You have gravitated toward a great mentor in this hobby (Drew) and I hope you can grow your collection into something far more amazing than it already is!