Thoughts on 2012 Topps Chrome

So, I bit the bullet and decided to buy a box of 2012 Topps Chrome last week at my LCS.  I figured that it would be a fun break and I may get a couple decent autos, as well as some of the different refractors.

There aren't a whole lot of Orioles in this year's Chrome, but one I pulled was Chris Davis.  He is quickly becoming one of my favorite players, so I was glad to get this card.  Would have been nice to get a parallel of him, but that might be something I end up pursuing soon, just for the fun of it.

I got this nice Ryan Braun die cut.  This card will likely be up for trade.  I don't have a Braun PC.  I think he is a really good player, but I just don't see myself holding on to this for much longer.  If interested, shoot me an email.  Oh yeah, a bunch of you guys commented way back when I posted Topps Series 2 that there was interest in the inserts and parallels, yet no one has emailed me.  If you are interested, send me an email.  I don't bite... hard.

This Drew Smyly auto is actually the second auto I pulled, but for some reason it posted first and I'm too lazy to move them around.  You'll be ok.  This card is already spoken for.  Dustin will get this one soon, once he comes up with some Orioles that I need.  No rush, Dustin.

I also pulled this Kirk Neuwen... Niewen... Nieuwenhuis, yeah that guy, auto.  He was on my fantasy team for a good bit of the year and did ok.  I'm not a Met fan, so this one will also either be traded or sold.  I'd prefer sold, unless someone has something nice that they would send.  Again, send me an email and let me know.

Oh look, its a Bryce Harper RC.  Nice, I don't have to get one off of ebay.  Is this one for trade or sale, you ask?  That's a clown question, Bro.

Awesome, a Stephen Strasburg refractor.  I enjoyed this card for about 160-180 innings before I was told by the higher ups that I had to shut it down.  Also not for trade, sorry.

AWESOME!  I got the gold parallel, numbered 8/50 of Andrew McCutchen, my new PC.  I was REALLY happy to add this card to my collection!  I will probably look for the McCutchen Rainbow out of this year's Chrome.  If you want to trade me one of the other colors, EMAIL me and we can work something out!  McCutchen is a great ball player and should be the NL MVP, even though he has cooled off lately.  I mean, he has carried the Pirates all season, so I imagine he is exhausted.

Finally, another card that has been spoken for.  I traded this card for a Wei-Yin Chen base Chrome.  Did I overpay, you ask?  Well, since I bought the pack of cards that the Chen came from and still had to trade to get it back, you might think yes, but since it will be going to my son, Chris, I don't think it is too much trouble to swing a trade with him.  Especially since this Lincecum is going in a top loader and being put in my box for safekeeping anyway.

So, in all, I was really satisfied with this year's Topps Chrome.  They weren't warped like 2010's and I actually pulled two different colored parallels out of one box (unlike NONE from maybe 5 boxes of 2010).  2010 really soured me on Chrome, even though that is the only Chrome set I have built.  I may actually attempt to build this Chrome set.  If anyone has any duplicate base cards they want to unload, let me know.  I might be interested.

More on the Trade With Schuyler

So, I discussed my trade with Schuyler here.  Here are a few of the other highlights from the deal.

He threw in a few 2011 Topps cards.  One of which is this Ivan Rodriguez.  He is seen here talking to Stephen Strasburg.  It seems that Topps likes the relationship between Pudge and Strasburg, as they have shown the duo on several cards, now.

Another cool card is this Kaz Sasaki relic out of Fleer Tradition.  Sasaki was a really good player in MLB, albeit, for a very short time.  He was Seattle's Ichiro, before there was Ichiro.

I traded Schuyler some shiny cards as well as a partial 1987 Topps set (complete with a Bonds RC) for the Bechler auto and these cards (as well as several others which aren't pictured).

Schuyler is a really cool dude and you should check out his blog if you haven't already.  make sure to click 'follow' so he knows people are interested in what he has to say.  I look forward to doing a lot more trades with him in the future.

Thoughts on 2011 Topps Lineage

 Yeah, I'm a bit late for this, but money has been tight lately, so I haven't been able to pick up any packs.  I went to the card shop here in Greenville a few weeks ago and picked up some 2011 Topps Lineage.  I have to say, the design was pretty nice.  I also liked the rookies as it was a take on the glossy All Star cards of the 80s which reminded me of my childhood and junk wax...

Overall, the set seemed to me like a cousin of the Topps Base set.  I only opened 2 packs so I didn't get any mega pulls, but I did get this sweet Hank Aaron sticker.

It looks really old school and is a pretty cool card.  I liked the concept, but of course, I'll never use it as an actual sticker...

By the way, the Strasburg was pulled from a pack and is definitely up for trade if anyone is interested.

A Few More Hits From The Card Show

I did get some cards other than Virgil Trucks at the show. I had hoped I could grab another Bowman Feller, but I didn't have a lot to spend, and I figured with his recent passing, several of the dealers may have had Fellers going at a premium, so I tried to avoid his stuff at this show. Instead, I got a few random cards. Here they are:
I needed a George Kell card to go with the autographed baseball I picked up last month. I like the 1951 Bowmans, so I knew when I saw this one, that it would fit nicely into my collection.

Because Topps likes to mock their set builders, I picked up this 2010 Topps 'card number 661' Stephen Strasburg by trading the guy in the neighboring booth a Matt Cain auto from UD Masterpieces. I think it was Masterpieces, or Artifacts. Oh well, tells you how much I remembered having it in my colleciton. I was able to file thie Strasburg into my 2010 set, so maybe I can call it complete again. Or should I wait until they issue card number 662: Ken Griffey, IV. Hmmm.

Finally, I traded my booth-neighbor a handful of 4/$1.00 cards for this Sweet Spot Brian Burres Mini Helmet Auto. Burres was non tendered by the O's some time ago, but the card still looks sharp. I love the mini helmet idea.

So, there you have it, I got several Virgil Trucks cards, a mini helmet auto, 3 1948 Bowmans, a Stephen Strasburg and a vintage Bowman of a Hall of Famer. Not too shabby. I have one more thing I got from the show that I will post later, nothing momentous, but I will have to wait to get the box out of my car, and seriously guys... it's cold outside, and I'm lazy. So, maybe tomorrow, ok? Haha! Hope you have enjoyed!

Another Pickup From the Card Shop

I bought a pack of 2010 Topps Chrome at the shop and was pleasantly surprised to see this:
A Stephen Strasburg Chrome RC. I'm not going to sell it. I'm going to hold onto it and add it to my RC collection. I have a bunch of notable rookie cards, and right now, I think Strasburg is the most notable RC out there. Well, I'd really like the Pujols Chrome RC, but that's not in my budget right now.

I actually had a pretty amazing pack that the Strasburg was in. There was also Ichiro, Lincecum and Roy Oswalt. Not bad at all!!!