Set Pickups From The National

I didn't have a lot of time for box searching at the National like I had hoped, but I did get a few cards to help with some sets I have been working on.  I was disappointed that no sellers seemed to have any 2015 Stadium Club cards, but I knocked out 5 1969 Topps cards for the set, all big names.  The above Frank Robinson was actually on my Top Ten Wishlist, so I was able to cross a card off of that as well.

The other guys I got were Red Schoendienst, Ron Santo, Gaylord Perry and Jim Kaat.  We also walked into the show with Frank Robinson on Friday.  That was really cool.

I also knocked off all of the 2015 Topps Chrome cards that I needed, except for four short prints.  I need to get those from Ebay, I guess.  I nabbed 28 cards that I needed.  I wish I had been able to finish the whole set, but oh well, I'm really close.  I'll probably hit Sportlots and Ebay to finish Chrome and Stadium Club.

Set Pickups From Sportlots

I knocked off a bunch of set needs from Sportlots recently when I picked up several cards for 1959 and 1997 Topps, 2013 Topps Chrome and 2014 Topps Update.

I made the biggest dent in my 1997 set (which I still haven't posted my needs on my wishlist, but I plan on getting around to it, I promise).  I got 40 cards that I needed, the most prominent ones being this Chipper Jones and also Greg Maddux.  I like this set, but I have really neglected completing it since I have been concentrating on 1959 and 1969.  I plan on finishing this up really soon so it will be out of the way, then all I will need to finish from the 90s will be 1994 and 1995.

Another set I completely neglected was 2013 Topps Chrome.  I just stopped looking for them right after they came out and the box has been languishing in my closet.  My intention was to complete this set (and also 2014 Topps Update), but one Sportlots seller apparently failed to send multiple orders so everything I requested from him was canceled.  This means that my 2013 Chrome and 2014 Update set completions will have to wait.

I also added 3 1959 Topps cards that I needed, bringing me down to 94 that I need for completion.  Those high numbers are still tough, but I got the biggest ones out of the way with the Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays All Stars.

Maybe in the coming weeks you'll see that I actually finished a couple of these sets.  Man, I hope so, because I need to relocate some of these set boxes so I can move others in their place.

2014 Topps Museum Collection Box Break and New Trade Bait

I got excited last night and spent some of my tax return on a box of Topps Museum Collection.  I don't buy high-end stuff much at all, but I figured that since I was doing well money-wise, it would be fun to break a box.

I picked up the box at my LCS and broke it here at the house over Skype with Andrew.  I didn't get any huge hits and nothing for any PCs, but I had a good time busting it.

What I wasn't expecting was the contentious negotiations that followed when I posted some pics of the cards in various trade outlets.  Look, I know someone want to get stuff for cheap, but it baffles me when someone gets downright rude when they don't agree with what I'm looking for in return.  You can just say no and move on.

Anyway, Listed are all of the big hits and a couple base cards that I'm willing to sell (via Paypal) or trade (for comparable Orioles).  If you're interested, great, drop me a line.  If not, that's cool, too, just enjoy looking at the cards.  I'm inclined to keep them instead of yard sale them anyway.

I thought this Tulo was pretty cool and so did everyone else who wanted to trade for it.  I almost had a deal, but the person got cold feet at the end.  Oh well.

This one was the source of my frustration.  Someone told me that one sold for $10 on Ebay and that was all I would get for it.  To that, I say: "Then you should have bought the $10 on Ebay, then."  because there is no way in hell I am letting this go for only $10.  I don't care what the completed listings say (and I looked, there were none that went for that low).

Finally, here are a couple base cards.  I would be happy to trade these for Chris Davis base out of Museum or Tribute, if anyone has them.  I'd also be interested in Jones and Machado as well.

So, thanks for listening to me vent, guys.  This is why I typically hang onto my cards or just sell them on Ebay.  It seems that everyone wants something for nothing.

Ebay Pickup - 2013 Topps Brian Roberts Blue Sparkle

I love these Blue Sparkle parallels.  I picked up this Brian Roberts off of Ebay for a couple bucks several weeks ago and am just now getting around to showing it.  Roberts didn't play but 17 games last season so I was able to almost figure out which game this photo came from.  It had to be either June 23 or 24, 2012 when the Nationals visited Baltimore.  You can see Bryce Harper behind Roberts, who seems to be in shock at a call.  Harper went 0-4 in the first game of the series (June 22).  In the second game, Harper went 1-3 and stole second off of Wei-Yin Chen/Matt Weiters.  That one could very well be the play we are seeing here.  Unless, they took the shot during the June 24 game where Harper went 2-4 with a double and you are seeing that play.

I really think this photo was taken during Harper's stolen base on June 23 because if this was from Harper hitting a double and a throw was coming to Roberts from the outfield, then he would be positioned differently and I don't think you would be able to see the advertisement on the outfield wall.  I believe this shot was taken as Roberts received a throw from Wieters and was shocked that the call didn't go in the O's favor.  You know, because Wieters is money when it comes to throwing out baserunners.

What do you guys think?

Awesome Mail From Weston

I got a surprise package in the mail yesterday from Weston over at 'Fantastic Catch.'  In the package was a bunch of Orioles cards and the (surprisingly) above Bryce Harper 2013 Topps Emerald parallel.  Oh man, I was really happy to get this card and knock it off of my wishlist.

Some other cool stuff in the package included these two Topps Coins (Cal Ripken and Pete Stanicek) and this Orioles mini helmet.  Shockingly, I did not yet have the Ripken coin, so I am also really glad to add it to my Cal PC.

Thanks for all of the stuff, Weston!  It was really appreciated and I will definitely get you something in the mail soon.

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.

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).

Thoughts on 2012 Bowman

I've been so busy lately, when I get home, I don't feel like scanning bunches of cards.  Pure laziness on my part.  I've gotten trade packages from Nachos Grande, Rhubarb Runner, No Relics Pulled and Andrew's Cards.  I need to get posts up for all of those trades.  I hope to do it eventually.  If I don't get to them, sorry guys.  It doesn't mean I don't appreciate the trades, quite the contrary.  I get so excited to get the cards, they immediately get put in top loaders and added to my PCs that I forget who sent what.  Oops.

Anyway, I did get a chance to go by my LCS today and picked up a bunch of packs and the shopkeeper was nice enough to let me go through his pulls from 2012 Bowman.  I picked up some Orioles and a few others from his stack of cards, namely the below Bryce Harper, some Yankees for Drew and an Aroldis Chapman for Andrew.

I'm going to add this Harper to my 'treasure box' which includes cards I like of Hall of Famers and other players.  I don't think I'm going to start a Harper PC, but I do want to add a couple of his early cards, just to say that I have them.

2012 Bowman doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of Orioles prospects that I have seen so far, but Nicky Delmonico (above) looks to be a real good prospect.  His dad is the coach at Tennessee, so he has baseball in his blood.  I hope that he is a good position player prospect for the O's, something that they desperately need.

I like the Bowman's Best cards.  Here is one of Miguel Sano.  He was a pretty highly sought after international free agent.  I haven't heard much about him after he signed, but apparently the raw skills are there.  We'll see about that.

Finally, here is a nice Bowman's Best of this past year's number 1 over all pick, Gerrit Cole.  The Pirates have had a tough time developing their number one picks, so let's hope that Cole is their exception and helps the Pirates get back to a winning organization.

In all, 2012 Bowman isn't too bad.  I didn't get a whole lot of variations or parallels.  I also didn't get any autos, but having purchased only 7 packs, I didn't really expect much, if anything, at all.  I do like that they went away from the standard black border that they have used for the past several years.  Sometimes change is good.

More Mail From Andrew

I said in this post last week that I have found some new trade partners in Weston and Andrew.  They both are really good kids who are just getting into card collecting and blogging.  One of my missions with this blog has been to help educate people on card collecting and set building and I am always happy to help out with someone's set and PC needs.

I sent Andrew an assortment of Cardinals cards as well as a 2012 Topps Gold Rush Aroldis Chapman, since Chapman was his favorite player.  He totally surprised me when he emailed me and told me what he had sent my way:

He sent this 2011 Bowman Chrome Bryce Harper!  Very awesome of Andrew to send this to me.  Did I mention that he was a really nice kid?  He also included a card for Chris:

He also included a bunch of Orioles cards, including the below Matt Wieters 2010 Upper Deck RC.

Thanks so much Andrew.  I really hope you liked the stuff I sent.  I thought this was a great package from you.  If you all haven't gone to his blog, yet, please check it out and follow him:  ANDREW'S BASEBALL CARDS.

POST NUMBER 500!!!!! (Or, Great Moments in Foul Bunt History)

Hooray! Foul Bunt has made it to another milestone!! 500 Posts! Wooooo.
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Let's take a look back and remember some great moments in Foul Bunt history...

• On November 16, 2008, Foul Bunt opened it's doors. You can read the post here. I chose the name Foul Bunt because I figured the blog would be pretty lame and a foul bunt was one of the lamest things you could do in baseball. Apparently, 80 followers later, my blog isn't as lame as I thought it would be.
• On December 14, 2008, I discussed my best pull ever (up to that time, of course). A 1960 Topps Stan Musial out of a shoebox bought off of Ebay. Read it here.
• On December 31, 2008, I got my 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson card. Read the post here. I also posted the Robinson while counting my 1955 set. That post (here) became my most viewed post yesterday (February 8, 2011), according to my handy dandy stats page.
• On February 1, 2009, I got the Roberto Clemente 1955 Topps rookie card in the mail. Check it out here.
• On May 31, 2009, I demonstrated the perils of alcohol and ebay after I had a couple beverages and bid on (and won) a 1955 Topps Phil Rizzuto.
• On July 3, 2009, Max and I demonstrate that it is not a good idea to try the gum found in 1988 Topps wax packs. Make sure you watch the video. Check it here.
• On July 24, 2009, I completed my first trade with Drew. Who knew that we'd become such good friends since then. Read the post here.
• I said earlier that my 1955 Jackie Robinson post had become my most viewed post. The previous champ that had held the record since google started keeping track in June was my September 22, 2009 post on meeting Bryce Harper.
• On October 27, 2009, I posted one of my most memorable posts, when I met Brooks Robinson in person. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. I'm glad I was able to share it with all of you here.
• On December 19, 2009, I completed the 1955 Topps set. One of my greatest card accomplishments ever.
• On May 2, 2010, I got my first TTM signed ball - Bobby Doerr. I've done pretty well with TTMs since then, but Doerr was the first.
• On June 11, 2010, I met Nolan Reimold in person. I was working at a site close to Norfolk and my boss allowed me to stay there overnight. I went to two games at Harbor Park and met Nolan outside the clubhouse. He was a really nice guy and I hope that he can finally put injuries behind him and become the great player that I know he is.
• On July 29, 2010, I met MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko. I read Roch's blog every day (multiple times a day). It was awesome to meet him in person and talk about baseball for a while.
• On October 1, 2010, I started my daily listing of 1955 Topps cards. It has become a nice feature of my blog. I wonder what I'm going to do when I finish posting the set. Read the post here.
• On November 8, 2010, I posted probably my greatest TTM success. That of Virgil Trucks. If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am now a huge fan of Trucks, but this post is what started it all.
• On December 15, 2010, I posted on the huge loss of Bob Feller. I was really upset when he passed, I sure would have loved to meet him in person. You can read the post here.
• Finally, one of the coolest things to ever happen to me was being able to conduct an interview with the great Virgil Trucks. You can remind yourself here. I'm still amazed that I was afforded the opportunity.

So, there you have it. A much bigger recap post than I thought I'd do. I hope everyone has enjoyed everything. I've really enjoyed it and I hope that I can keep it up! Thanks everyone. Click the links and enjoy some nostalgia!

Meeting THE Bryce Harper

After a failed attempt to meet super phenom Bryce Harper (super phenom, mainly because of a well timed SI article, and strategic representation by THE Scott Boras) on Saturday, I was able to meet him on Sunday in Winterville at the Team USA 18-U vs Pitt CC game. I watched him lace a double down the right-field line and hit a couple balls to the warning track. There were no fireworks, no 570-foot home runs and cancer was not cured. BUT I was not disappointed. The day was beautiful, I had Chris with me, he had a blast, and we got to see some great baseball played for $5 (although, according to Team USA, the game was supposed to be free...

I already had a signed ball from Harper, which P.A. was able to get for me on Saturday (for my birthday too), so my main goal was to meet Harper and to try to get Chris and Max signed balls.

Success.

Harper was a nice guy, he patted Chris on the head and talked to him, and for once, Chris wasn't shy and actually gave up his ball to Harper on the first try. Usually if he has a baseball in his hand, he won't give it up.

All in all, it was a good day, and I like Harper's swing, even if it doesn't cure cancer...

Putting a bow on my birthday

As a kid, birthdays were special. Pretty much like Christmas, but really your own special day. After I turned 18, they really became just another day to me, mainly because after that, my Mom was really the only person who would get me stuff. Now, I know what you're thinking... selfish, materialistic, blah blah blah. Yeah, don't tell me you don't like getting free stuff, haha. Anyway, Yes, I am aware that my wife gets me stuff too, but usually, its stuff that in the end, I'm paying for. Also, it is really hard to get me anything anyway because I, like my father, usually see something I want, and buy it for myself.

So, this year, I wasn't really expecting much. I was hoping for, really, just a few phone calls, maybe a few personal emails, etc. Some people remembered to call, some didn't. No big deal, like I said before, it really is just another day to me now... I was caught by surprise though, when Pete and P.A. both told me they had gotten me stuff.

Earlier, I posted from the Topps Chrome and A&G needs that Pete got me. Pete, I really appreciate that you remembered me. I don't do thank yous well (I usually write the thank you cards and forget to mail them), so here, in public, I'm saying thank you Pete.

Now, onto what I received from P.A.:

The Nolan Reimold Topps Chrome RC Auto I was really hoping to pull-and a personalized ball signed by THE Bryce Harper. Now, this was definitely unexpected from these guys, but it goes to show that the three-hour drive to the card shop is definitely worth more than the pay. Its more than that. I really have made some good friends, ones who I know I can count on, and definitely won't forget me :) Thanks again guys, you're the best!!!
Not to be left out, my wife did work hard to get a little something as well (seeing as we are really strapped for cash right now), and without me knowing, or having to pay for it myself, haha. She got a gift card to ebay for me, and I have a couple 1955 Topps I got with it on their way here to Greenville.

So, all in all, a pretty mediocre birthday was made much better by the thoughts from Mallory, Pete, P.A. and of course Mom. Thanks, it really means a lot that you guys went out of your way to try to make my day a little more special.