Christmas Gift From Nick S.

My buddy, Nick S., sent me a nice Christmas package a while ago.  He wrote me a note lamenting the fact that it cost too much to ship a bat that he had for me, so instead of shipping the bat, he gathered some relic and auto cards from his collection and sent those instead.  He still plans on sending me the bat, but wanted me to have something to open during Christmas.

Nick is a really great guy, and any card would have been just fine.  I don't expect him to spend his money and give up a bat that he has had in his collection.  Still, it is the thought that counts, and Nick always is thinking about me.  It is really appreciated, and it won't be forgotten.

In the package were the two MLB debut coin cards I showed, this nice Kyle Waldrop auto from 2016 Donruss and a few more relics and autos.  Nick really went above and beyond for me for Christmas.  He didn't want cards, so I sent him some money via Paypal, instead.  I think he used it to buy equipment for his upcoming baseball season.

Thank you so much for the Christmas package, Nick!

Visit From Scott - Gypsy Queen Box Break

Yesterday was a really good day.  I was able to spend the day with my very good friend, Scott and his Dad since Scott and I both mistakenly thought the Raleigh card show was this weekend.  We had planned to meet up at the show, hang out as long as possible and then grab dinner afterward.  Since we realized that we had the wrong weekend for the show, and since both of us would be unable to attend next weekend, we decided to meet up here at my house.

Scott and his dad rolled in about a quarter to 11 in the morning, just in time to grab some lunch in downtown Greenville.  After lunch, Scott, his dad, Chris and I all did a tour of the two card shops in the area.  At the first card shop, in Kinston, Scott and I decided to go halves on a box so we would have something to bust when we got back to the house.

When we got back home, we split the box evenly and started ripping packs.  Both of us made out with our packs as each got a relic and auto and several short prints.  It wasn't until later that Scott texted me and told me that the Yu Darvish SP I got was, in fact, a super short print photo variation.  Not bad.  I think the odds of pulling one of those is 1:461 packs.  Really not bad.

I also pulled this sweet Matt Adams on-card auto.  I know two Cardinals fans who are going to be fighting each other to get this card.  The first one to email me and pony up some cash, will be the victor!

In all, I had a really great day hanging out with a fellow blogger/collector along with his dad, who was awesome enough to bring along some of his own collection (which isn't baseball cards) for us to look at.  It was really cool being able to sit around on the couch and talk about collecting, collecting regrets, auction sites, shows, etc.  I think we all decided that this would become a regular thing, so I'm hoping we all can hang out really soon.  Scott and his dad are awesome folks and I am so glad we got the date wrong on the card show.  This was so much more fun!  Go take a look at Scott's blog and give him some follows.  he's a hell of a guy and deserves more attention for his blog!

My Thoughts on 2012 Topps Update

To get my mind off of last night's meltdown, I figured I would post about the jumbo box of Topps Update that I picked up from the card shop yesterday.

When one of the gold cards you get is one of the players who you are trying to get every single parallel of, that definitely makes getting the box worthwhile.  I was super excited to pull this Topps Gold Nolan Reimold from one of the first packs I opened (I think it was the second or third pack I opened.  I think all I need of him from 2012 now is a printing plate, any 1/1 they issued (platinum or whatever) and the orange factory set exclusive (I should have bought one when I saw it.  Oh yeah, I still need his mini black parallel.

Speaking of black parallels, I pulled the above Jay Bruce from my box.  Cool.  I also got the above Roberto Clemente award winner golden ring.  Pretty cool card.  I'm probably one of the few who likes the manufactured rings.  But hey, I also enjoyed the manufactured patches also.

I think my biggest hit was the above Yu Darvish relic.  Usually, pulling Darvish stuff is up to my buddy Scott, since it seems Darvish is in every pack he opens.  I bet Scott could buy a crappy wax pack of 1987 Topps and pull a Darvish...

Hey look!  My wife can finally have that Jesus Montero autograph that he denied her a few months ago.  If you don't remember the story, my wife asked him to sign her notepad at a game in August and he told her he doesn't sign pieces of paper.  He does, however, sign stickers.  Yeah, this is trade bait.

Finally, after doing a google search this evening for Topps Update Short Prints, I discovered that I owned a short print of Prince Fielder.  The all star cards featuring players in suits is one of the variations that permeate this year's set.  There are also some All Star parade SPs as well as horizontal SPs.

I had two minor disappointments with this set/box.  One i that Miguel Gonzalez didn't make it into the checklist, so I'll have to wait until sometime in 2013 to get his RC.  My other gripe is that the Jim Thome in an O's uniform is a SP and it is going at a ridiculous price on Ebay.  I figure I'll wait for them to flood the market and snatch one up for cheap.

August 18, 2012 Trip to the Card Shop

Since it had been a while since I had bought some new stuff, I decided to go to the LCS and see what they had.  I got a pack of 2012 Topps Finest and 2 packs of 2012 Bowman Platinum.  I also got a tobacco sized screwdown case for me 1930 World Series ticket, which I didn't think they made.  It is the size of a normal screwdown, except the inlay is fitted for tobacco cards.  The ticket fits perfectly!

 The highlights of the packs I got are the above Yu Darvish RC and the below Liam Hendriks auto.

The auto is on card and it looks really sweet.  The 2012 version of Finest is nice, as always.  Finest is always sharp looking and I would buy more if it was a little more affordable.

Bowman Platinum is becoming one of my favorite Bowman issues each year.  This year's looks really good.  I pulled the above Bryce Harper, which is definitely a good pull for me.

I was slo happy to pull this green chrome Mike Montgomery numbered 307/399.  I saw Montgomery pitch in person a couple years ago against the Kinston Indians and he was electric.  I think he is going to be a huge star for the Royals.

So, not bad for a couple packs at the LCS.  I hope I can add a few more Platinum and Topps FInest over the next few weeks, but I still need to recover from my vacation (financially, I mean).

Series 2 Topps Wrapper Redemption Cards

I meant to post these yesterday, but I still wasn't feeling all that great, so I put it off until today.  Of course, today, they would have been posted sooner but when I scanned them, I noticed that I needed to clean up all of the pictures on my laptop.  So, I did that, then we decided to make a trip to the beach for the afternoon.  Anyway, here I am, a little late.

I had enough jumbo wrappers from Series 2 Topps to get 2 Topps Goldrush packs.  I was really happy that the first card I saw was this Cal Ripken.  Again, it is always nice to add a new Ripken to the collection.

 I also got this Nick Markakis.  2 Orioles in one pack, not bad at all.

I think this Mike Trout was a decent pull.  I think it will be some good trade bait or a good sell at my next card show.

Another decent pull is this Yu Darvish.  I saw that it is selling on Ebay for around $22, so that is definitely worth it to me.  More trade bait!  Or sell bait.  Whatever you want to call it.

Anyway, I liked this year's wrapper redemption cards, even though I didn't pull an auto.  I still want to get the Virgil Trucks auto from last year's wrapper redemptions.  If anyone has one of those, please shoot me an email.

Redemption Day!!!

I'm glad I wasn't holding my breath, I finally got some Topps Redemptions in today! I got my 3 WBC redemptions, Jung Bong, Dice-K and Yu Darvish.

I like the way these cards look. I heard a lot about Darvish, he was pretty dang good during the WBC.

Next is a pretty sweet Miguel Tejada that a customer from the shop gave me (he gave me the redemption card). Its nice. Miggy did ok when he played for the O's, but I will always remember him as a rally killer and asking to be traded a few times. He put up the numbers, but they felt kind of hollow...

Finally is a SWEET Nick the STICK auto. I have no clue who the other dude is, maybe the guy who signed him? I dunno. Maybe Jim can tell me... Anyway it is SWEET! Leave me some comments haha.

World Baseball Classic Redemptions

Wow. I just found out who I am recieving as my redemptions for the world baseball classic are. I'm very pleased: Yu Darvish, Jung Keun Bong and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Can't go wrong there. I'm especially glad i got the Darvish, hes pretty good....