Ebay Pickup - 2016 Topps Triple Threads Chris Davis Patch

I added another awesome Chris Davis patch card to my collection when I was able to snag this off of Ebay for a steal.  It is numbered 3/9 and as you can see, it has a great piece of patch on it.  2016 Triple Threads looks like a really great product, but I can't afford to bust the boxes.  I have to wait til it shows up on Ebay at reasonable prices, then I can grab a few things for the PC.

My Davis PC is pretty awesome, I think.  I never thought I would have so many great patch cards or low numbered ones.  It really had taken some work, but I am happy with it all.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Triple Threads Chris Davis Patch

Recently, on EBay, I found this ridiculous patch card of Chris Davis at a really good price, so I pounded on it.  It is numbered 2/3 and features the Maryland Flag patch from the Orioles' jersey sleeve.  I still contend that the Orioles have some of the best patches on their jerseys, which make some of the bast patch cards.

The Triple Threads product itself is still one of Topps best offerings of the year, and I really liked this year's design.  I also like that the photo of Davis shows off where the patch came from.  That's pretty cool!

Cheap Shots From The National - Nick Markakis Patch

One of the cool things about the bargain boxes at The National is that you can find some really nice stuff when you really aren't looking for it.  I had no Nick Markakis cards in my mind to check for while there, but I found this really cool patch card numbered 8/10.

It's a 2-color patch from 2013 Panini America's Pastime.  I haven't added anything significant to the Markakis PC since he signed with the Braves before last season.  This card is a really cool one, even though the patch almost goes unnoticed.

I got the card for less than $8 as part of a bulk deal, so I likely got it for closer to $5.  Not too bad for a patch of that size and that low of a serial number.

Museum Collection Pickup From The National

I was really happy with everything that I found at this year's National.  Most every card I set out for, I was able to find.  One thing I told myself was that if I saw any Museum Collection Orioles quads at the show, I would pick them up.

I found one for $15 at a booth, and jumped all over it.  This has Manny, Jonesey, Gausman and of course, Chris Davis.  It has patches from Manny and Davis, and jersey swatches from Jones and Gausman.  The card is numbered 73/99.  Including the Davis quads, I have 10 quad cards from 2014 Museum Collection.  I really love the set and will keep picking them up, as long as I see them at reasonable prices.

Ebay Pickup - 2016 Museum Collection Chris Davis Patch

I had to continue a now annual tradition in picking up some Museum Collection of Chris Davis.  I have yet to see as many amazing patches as I saw when 2014 Museum Collection was released.  However, I still enjoy picking up some of the product and adding it to my Davis PC.  I have a bunch of Davis patches from 2014 to 2016 Museum collection, all in magnetic cases, wrapped in team bags.

This one is numbered 2/10 and didn't cost me a whole lot.  I got in on an auction and was able to snag it a lot cheaper than any Buy it Now that I have seen.  Davis has been hitting a few home runs lately, and is known to get hot and go on a tear.  I'm hoping he hits another 40+ homers this year and continues the hitting he has done from 2013 and 2015.

Amazing Ebay Pickup - 2013 Topps Triple Threads Chris Davis Wood 1/1

I don't have very many true 1/1s.  I have a platinum parallel of Chris Davis in my PC, and I have a 1/1 Virgil Trucks auto.  I have some printing plates, but they really are out of, what, 4 or 5?  You know, when you factor in that there are the different ones for each color used when printing a card.  Well, I had something pop up on my Ebay feed last week that got my attention.

This 2013 Topps Triple Threads Chris Davis wood 1/1 showed up and I was determined to not let it out of my sight.  This was one of those cards that I knew if I let it pass, I would never see it again.  So, I prepared myself to do whatever it took to be able to add it to the Davis collection.  Luckily, I got it for much less than I originally anticipated, which was nice.

I have always wanted one of the wood parallels that Topps has been putting in Allen & Ginter.  They aren't too crazy expensive, depending on the player, either.  I just haven't been able to get a Davis.  Funny thing is, I had just seen the wood 1/1 of Adam Jones on Instagram, and the guy who had it offered it to me, but I passed on it.  I am really lucky that this Davis showed up just a couple days afterward!

This is just an awesome card.  Not only is it a true 1/1, but it is autographed and it has a really nice O's patch on it as well.  I think my Chris Davis collection is pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.  It has taken a lot of work, but I am really happy with it.  Thankfully, he re-signed with the Orioles, and I can watch him bash homers for them for a good while.

Belated Birthday Present From Andrew - Chris Davis Booklet

I got a package today from my very good friend, Andrew, that had my birthday gift that he had been meaning to send me for a while.  He has been really busy with school and cross country, so he hasn't had much time to get to the post office.  That's ok, though, because that makes it so I can stretch my birthday out as long as possible!!

Andrew really hit it out of the park with his gift.  He picked up this 2014 Panini National Treasures booklet of Chris Davis with an amazing patch.  The booklet is numbered 2/15.  I had some booklet toploaders, but I used them all on the ones I got from Blaine, so I need to grab a few more.

I have all of my booklets on display in my display case, using the booklet toploaders and card stands.  They all look really cool staggered together on the glass shelves.  I'm really happy with the setup.  Otherwise, I'm not too sure how they would be stored.  I feel like they have to be displayed.

I really appreciate the awesome gift, Andrew.  This patch is so amazing.  Thanks so much!

Chris Davis Cards From Blaine

My friend, Blaine, decided to sell off his collection recently, and hit me up with a great deal that saw me land a good portion of his Orioles stuff.  The box finally arrived last week and I was amazed at everything that was inside.  There was so much stuff in there, I will have to break it up in order to do it any justice here on this blog.

Blaine sold me on the collection when he showed me what Chris Davis cards would be included.  The above patch from 2014 Panini National Treasures was the first card I saw, and it really is what helped me decide to do the deal.  This card is numbered 5/11 (kind of an odd numbering) and shows a three-color piece of jersey/patch.  Not bad at all.

Here is another three-color piece, this one is from 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection.  This is numbered 2/25.  I love the Panini Stuff from around this time.  I'm sure it wasn't tier intention for these nice pieces to be so affordable, but they are, and I have definitely taken advantage.

Here is another 2014 Panini Immaculate, this time it is just a swatch of jersey and is numbered 80/99.

This booklet from 2014 National Treasures is numbered 53/99.  I already had a couple of these, but was happy to add a few more.

Finally, this booklet is numbered 80/99.  The relics are kind of hard to see from the scan, but spell out CRUSH.  Looks really cool, I think.

I'll hopefully have some time to show more of what Blaine sent me in the next few days, especially since there is no playoff baseball on IV until Tuesday.

Ebay Pickup - 2014 Topps Museum Collection Chris Davis Quad

When I look at these 2014 Topps Museum Collection quad patch cards, I can't help but feel like Topps his a grand slam with them.  Maybe it's just me, but I think they did an amazing job.  Maybe that's why I now have so many of them.

This is another piece of the "Baltimore" patch with the Maryland flag.  I got it for $14 on Ebay; I couldn't pass it up.  I need to make a special trip to the card shop this weekend to pick up some more magnetic cases.  I have quite a few cards now that need magnetics.

I believe that I will continue to hoard these patch cards as I see them pop up here and there.  They just look too cool.

Card Shop Pull - 2015 Stars And Stripes Matt Olson Patch

I went by myself to the card shop today because my wife and son are out of town.  I treated myself to a few packs of cards, and one of them yielded a really nice pull.  I love pulling patch cards, and this one is a nice one.  Matt Olson three color patch, numbered 5/10 from Panini Stars and Stripes baseball.  Stars and Stripes is a pretty good product, especially now that the draft has been completed.

Olson was a first round pick (#47 overall) by the A's in the 2012 draft out of a Georgia high school.  He has shown a great deal of power so far in the minors, with 76 homers over 381 minor league games.  He strikes out a lot, and has a pretty low batting average (.246).  He is still really young (21), and would likely be finishing college right about now, so he still has a chance to move up in the A's system.  He is currently at AA Midland (GO ROCKHOUNDS!!).

I don't think I did too bad with this pull.  I love getting patches, and for the $4.00 price of the pack, I am pretty sure I got my money's worth.

Istagram Pickup - 2015 Topps Museum Collection Orioles Quad Patch

I recently purchased a box of 2015 Topps Museum Collection and busted it.  I already have traded away 2 of the 4 hits and was kind of underwhelmed at the results of the break.  While I love busting boxes, it is so much easier to just seek out the cards you want and buy them up.  That does take a lot of the "thrill of the chase" out of it, but sometimes, it's better to conserve money.  That being said, I do like busting this product and I probably will continue to do so, budget permitting.

Anyway, I looked around after my box break and saw that the Orioles had some nice quad patches available.  I failed to nab a few off of Ebay, and had given up the hunt, until I noticed this on Instagram as I was waiting for my food Friday night (on the way to Columbia).  I made a quick and easy deal with a fellow named John who runs the Instagram handle @phillysportscards.  John and I hammered out a deal within minutes of my initial contact with him through Kik, and consummated the deal via PayPal.  All while I was sitting and waiting for my house salad with hot bacon dressing to arrive at my table (and I assume my steak was on the grill).

This card looked so much better in person when it got here last night, having three of the four relics being patches.  It is numbered 53/75.

A side note, I posted this card on my Instagram page last night and almost immediately, one of the folks on there had to comment "Nice card, too bad it has two steroid users on it."  Why is it that people feel the need to make comments like that.  He responded later that he meant no disrespect, but really, why make the comment in the first place?  It reminded me of the time I posted a Wade Boggs signed baseball on there and someone commented "There is a smudge on the ball."  Really?  Like I didn't see that on my own ball.  Some people, these days!

Anyway, I like the card, and ALL of the players on it.  I plan on watching out for others that have some nice patches, but at this moment, I am content with just this one.  I appreciate the deal I made with John, and I hope that he can check out this blog.

Another Amazing Deal With Michael

I completed a couple deals with my friend, Michael recently and they all came in one package yesterday.  One of the biggest pieces in the deal was this Miguel Cabrera 4-color patch card numbered 24/25 (Uniform Number Ebay 1/1 wooo hooo).  This card is amazing, and I plan on keeping it for myself.  I like Cabrera, and I really wanted a "sick" patch of his.

The other piece of the deal was supposed to be a Craig Biggio auto that I wanted to trade to a friend of mine, but Michael decided that he wanted to do a Biggio PC, so he sent me this Machado relic/auto instead.  I think I like this card a lot more than that Biggio.  Look at how young Manny is!

As some throw ins, Michael included this Chance Sisco Bowman Chrome auto and the below Black refractor.

I was surprised, I thought this black refractor would be numbered, but it isn't. I think it is just the black wave refractor.  I think they started the black static and carbon fiber refractors in 2014.

Michael also included this Michael Kopech refractor auto from 2014 Bowman Sterling.  This is a really nice card, and I already have an idea who will be getting it.

Another throw in was this Gregg Olson IP auto.  I actually started a binder for IP autos that friends have sent me.  This will look good in there.

Finally, the other big deal I made with Michael was getting this autographed game used Nolan Reimold bat from him.  I have pretty much anything else Nolan, but I didn't have a bat.  It looks awesome, and I need to get another bat tube, so I can display it next to my Brian Roberts and Brooks Robinson signed bats.

Thanks so much for another couple of successful deals, Michael!  I really appreciate it.  Now, let me save some money for the National!!  Haha!

Catching Up On Mail - Recent Instagram Pickups

It's crunch time at my place, today as I prepare for my first card show in a couple years.  I have to continue sorting and pricing cards and avoid burning myself out on them.  Never is a good feeling being sick of looking at cards.

I also have been really behind on posting recent mail, even with posting a post a day.  So, I condensed a few trades and deals down to one post, with the hope of catching up a bit.  Even by doing this, I still have a ton in my "to be blogged pile".  Thank you all for bearing with me.  I'm sure some of you are tired of the "I got this today, or dealt for that" posts.  Trading has never been busier for me, so I suppose that's a good thing.

I got the above Zach Britton snow camo parallel in a trade with a kid from Instagram who uses the handle sports.cards.24.  I sent him a Derek Jeter coin from the Turn 2 Foundation, and got this Britton that is numbered 38/99.  It looks pretty cool, and will stay in my collection.

In exchange for a Bowman Chrome blue parallel of Dawel Lugo and a Jonathan Gray die cut, a kid named Barton (topshelf_graphs on Instagram) sent me this 2014 Topps Chrome Jose Fernandez black parallel numbered  21/100.  The card is really nice, and I think I can sell it at the show tomorrow.  If not, it'll be posted on my trade bait page.

Being in a hurry is never good, especially when you are scanning cards.  This Nick Kingham was obtained (along with an Orange Tim Cooney auto) in exchange for a AJ Cole Bowman Sterling auto.  I got the card from a guy named Christian (Primesportscards on Instagram).  I picked them up specifically for trades and the Cooney has already been claimed by Andrew.  I can probably get a little bit out of the Kingham as well.  We'll see.

I traded for this Justin Verlander a while ago, and when I traded for it, I had no idea it was a patch card (and numbered to 9).  It's about the saddest patch card that I have seen, with the bare minimum of the patch showing.  Yet, it is still a patch card, and two colors for that matter.  I have had a lot of folks ask about it.  I'm going to take it with me tomorrow, and set the price pretty high and see what I can do.  I'm not too worried about this one, though, because I know I have a market for it when I get back here.  I also might end up keeping it, though.  It is a pretty cool card.  I would like to get some more patches soon.

Finally, I got some set needs from my good friend, Jet, recently when he was trying to raise some money for a trip that he wants to take later this summer.  He sent 7 1959 Topps cards that I needed for my set.  Some of them will fit in nicely, and a couple of the others will be placeholders until I can upgrade them.

So, thanks for all of the deals, guys.  I really appreciate them, even if I wasn't able to dedicate standalone posts for them.  Hopefully you all understand.  It'll be nice to get caught up, but I don't know if I can.  I'm just hoping I can get some stuff cleared out tomorrow and maybe make a little money in the process.

Instagram Trade With Samthecardcollector - Zach Britton Patch

I gathered together some Reds hits and other cards for my friend, Sam L. who runs the YouTube channel: Samthecardcollector (that's his Instagram handle as well).  He's a really nice guy, and we have already completed a couple trades.

Sam hooked me up with this awesome Zach Britton relic/patch/auto from 2011 Topps Marquee.  I was amazed that Sam was ok with letting this card go.  I really appreciated his generosity.

Please, everyone, check out Sam's YouTube page, he needs more followers and is a great guy. Thanks again, Sam!

Instagram Trade With Max - Amazing Christian Walker Patch

It has become quite obvious who my favorite trading partner on Instagram is.  Not to take away from anyone else on there that I trade with, but Max has become one of my closest friends in the trading community.  When I picked up the Orval Overall T-205 card for him, I had every intention of just giving it to him for free but he offered me this awesome Christian Walker patch from 2014 Topps Pro Debut.

The card is just awesome.  I like Walker, not only because he is an Oriole but because I got to see him play for the University of South Carolina back when he was in college.  The card is numbered 2/5 and Max really could have asked for the moon on this one.  Luckily, he was so excited to get the Overall tobacco card, that he wanted to send this for it.  I have every intention of sending Max more good stuff with this trade in mind, but I already do that anyway.  He and I are now at the point where we just send each other stuff that we thing the other would like, which works out the best, I think.

I'm really happy that Max kept me in mind when he found this card.  It meant a lot to me that he made sure it ended up in my PC.  He also included an amazing letter to me in the deal, and a lot of other stuff.  He send so much other stuff, I'll have to show it in subsequent posts.  Stay tuned!

Thoughts on 2014 Topps Update

I picked up a jumbo box of 2014 Topps Update the other day from my local card shop.  I felt like I did really well with what I got.  The above Joe Mauer jumbo patch card was in place of the manufactured patch card (I was really happy about that).  This card is numbered 25/25.  Like I said in a few earlier posts, I really like patch cards, so I think I'll hold onto this one.

The All Star Stitches card was a PC item for me, this Adam Jones.  That makes two recent boxes that I've gotten where my relic hit was Jones.  Not bad!

I also pulled a black parallel Jose Abreu All Star card and a Rougned Odor auto.  I was able to collate most of the set, I lack only 5 cards.  I will post them on my wishlist page shortly.

I took out all of the rookie cards that I want to keep, all Orioles, and then other teams for friends of mine.  I was left with a small stack of random base that I intend to sell.

In all, I was very happy with my jumbo box of Update.  I wasn't going to get a box this year, but decided that I would.  I'm glad I did, because really, I do enjoy the Update set every year.

Ebay Pickup - 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection Chris Davis Patch

I remember saying last year that I wished I had more "sick" patches in my collection.  A year later, I now have a ton.  While I really don't like the term "sick" patch anyway (I mean, the patch didn't barf Ebola all over the card, now, did it?), I do enjoy the patch relic and have decided in my mind that I enjoy them probably more than I do an auto.

I saw this Chris Davis 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection patch on Ebay for $39.99 and jumped all over it.  The card, as you can tell, is numbered 3/5 and looks awesome.  It is hard to tell on the scan, but the jersey has a few faint dirt spots on it as well.  Pretty cool.

Between what I have seen from Immaculate, it looks like a really nice product (that I probably can't afford to buy), much like Museum Collection from Topps.  I know how some folks like to bash card companies who put out this high priced stuff and how they are keeping the little man down, but hey, I'm ok with the loaded folks opening the product and offloading it to Ebay.  I can search what I'm looking for and buy the card I want for a reasonable price instead of shelling out a couple hundred bucks on a box, only to get a Mark Prior relic.

Another Amazing Chris Davis Patch

Thanks to my buddy Michael, I was tipped off on another Chris Davis quad patch card from 2014 Museum Collection that had a really cheap Buy It Now price of $45.  This time, the card has more of the Maryland flag patch and it looks really cool.

The card is numbered 4/99. I can't get enough of these cards and I can't sit here and tell you that if I saw another at that price, I wouldn't pick it up.  These have definitely been great pickups for my Chris Davis PC.  Let's just hope the Orioles sign him long-term and he can be an Oriole for a long time.

Thanks for the tip, Michael!

Awesome 2014 Topps Museum Collection Chris Davis Patch

Thanks to my very good friend, Andrew, I was able to find this amazing 2014 Topps Museum Collection Chris Davis patch card on Ebay.  Something really cool about the card, that I didn't catch right away, was that it was numbered 53/99.  Chris Davis hit 53 home runs last year.  EBAY 1 OF 1 BABY!

As you can see, the card is amazing.  It has part of one of the sleeve patches, likely the Maryland flag portion.  The card scanned really nice, as well.  It did set me back quite a bit, but I didn't care.  The card is amazing and I'm glad I have it.

Thanks for spotting it for me Andrew.

Speaking of Andrew, he is having a contest over at his blog.  Who doesn't want free cards?  That's right, so head on over there and sign up.  Maybe you'll get something cool for free from an awesome guy!  You can find his blog right here.

From Instagram - Another 2014 Topps Museum Collection O's Quad Relic

I made a deal with a kid named Adam on Instagram recently when I purchased this 2014 Topps Museum Collection quad relic Orioles card.  I might have overpaid by just a little bit, but Adam seems like a good guy and I didn't mind helping him out in exchange for this card.

This one has patches from Manny Machado and Adam Jones and jersey relics from Kevin Gausman and Chris Davis.  The card is numbered 33/99.

I know I've said it already, but I'll say it again, I love Museum Collection.  I have two more of these cards I want to show, so keep on the lookout over the next few days.  I have a ton of other stuff I want to show off, too, so I may mix other stuff in here and there.

Thanks for the deal, Adam, I hope we can trade again!