Trade From The Quarry

I have been working out a trade with Johnny, who authors the blog, Cards From The Quarry.  He will be getting the Troy Tulowitzki auto/relic that I got out of my box of Museum Collection.  In exchange, he hooked me up with a bunch of set needs.  The highlights of which I have scanned to show here.

Above, I got the 1959 Topps highlights card discussing Al Kaline winning the batting title for 1958.  I like these highlights cards.  I've been looking at the Willie Mays catch card for some time now and will probably jump on it soon.

How I missed that this Ted Williams card was a part of the 1969 set is beyond me, but I'm glad Johnny added it to the trade.  I know my brother, John, would love to have it.

I like seeing the pic of Williams teaching a younger player the art of hitting.  Williams wasn't successful at all as a manager, but you just can't teach greatness.

Thanks for the trade, Johnny.  I really appreciate it and I hope you like the Tulo.

Make sure you check out Johnny's blog here.

Instagram Trade With Keton

I completed a trade recently over Instagram with an awesome guy named Keton.  We had been chatting for a while on prospective deals and finally, the both of us were able to pull the trigger.  I helped him finish off his 1980 Topps set and he sent me set needs from 1959, 2013 Chrome and 2013 Emerald.

The above Monbouquette is really nice.  I like the green background on the 1959s.  I think the green and red are my favorites.

Thanks so much for the trade, Keton!

Also, if you haven't checked out my Jose Abreu auction, right now, it is up to $148.50.  I would love for it to jump some more.  We'll see.  If you want to check out what I have listed, here is a link.

One More Brooks Patch To Go

I'm still on a cloud from pulling that Jose Abreu auto today.  In case anyone was interested, the card (and some other things) is listed on Ebay.  My user ID is Roaddogg57.  Here is a link to my seller page.  Please bid!

So, I have been active on Ebay lately and was happily surprised to receive an email from them telling me that someone had listed a bunch of 2009 Topps Brooks Robinson letter patches. There were may 7-10 of them and luckily, one of them was the letter A.  I needed A and R to finish the set, so I pounced all over this one.  It only cost me $9.99 + $3.00 shipping, so I was really lucky is wasn't more than that.  Not that I would have minded.  I'm at the point where I'd pay just about anything to put this set away.

One letter to go!  If anyone has or has seen the letter R, please let me know!  I want to finish this set that has been 5 years in the making!

Look At What I Just Pulled - 2014 Bowman Jose Abreu Auto

Yeah, I just pulled this while opening a Jumbo pack of 2014 Bowman at the LCS.  This bad boy is headed to Ebay right now.  My user ID is Roaddogg57.  Please bid on it!

Awesome Vintage Pickups From The Columbia Antique Shop

I love traveling to Columbia, SC.  The reason I go is to see my younger brother, Adam, who has lived in Columbia for something close to 7 years now.  We alternate trips, so the next time we see each other will be when he makes his way to my house.  Adam is always in step with what is going on concerning the local scene, always knowing which are the best restaurants, pubs and shops to check out while we are in town. This always makes our trips adventurous and never dull.

This time down marked the second time we went to the Rosewood Crawfish Festival.  Last time we went was 2012, missing 2013 due to one of Chris's baseball games.  Before the festival, however, I took a few hours to check out my other favorite thing about Columbia, the Chic Antiques shop at the Columbia Antique mall.

Usually, when I head to the antique shop, I pick up a few vintage set needs and a baseball or two.  This time, Conrad, the shop proprietor, didn't have any that I needed readily available.  So, along with the 70 1959 Topps cards I got for my set, I also picked up some amazing vintage cards, starting with the above 1952 Topps Bob Feller.

I had this Feller on my Top 10 wishlist and figured it would be fairly easily attainable.  Supposed book value is around $250 and I was able to get this card for $75.  Not bad at all.  I figured that this card took the place of whatever signed ball I would have picked up.  I haven't been afforded the luxury of having access to too many 1952 Topps cards, but while looking at this card, and one you'll see below, I can see why there is such a draw to them.  They are very sharp cards and I really want to pick up a few more.

I have been wanting a 1953 Topps Roy Campanella for quite some time now.  This one has a bit of paper loss on the top and bottom, but the coloring and artwork look great.  For $40, I think I got a steal and am really happy with it.  I definitely want to pick up some more Campanella cards sometime in the future, and this one is a very good start for me.

One of the more underrated Hall of Fame pitchers of all-time is the man above, Phillies ace, Robin Roberts. I thought I was done when I decided to purchase the Bob Feller, but when Conrad told me I was getting a "friends and family" discount on the cards, I decided to add this one to my stack.  This card is also very sharp-looking.  The colors are bold and the portrait of Roberts looks great.  He and Feller, both, are players that I wish I could have met.

Finally, as a bit of a surprise to myself, I remembered to ask Conrad if he had any 1948 Bowman.  I keep forgetting that I am working on this set, mainly because the cards themselves are sort of "unremarkable."  I'm one who really enjoys the bold colors or a sleek design (I know, wave something shiny in front of me and I'm easily distracted).  However, this 1948 set has been a lot of fun to build over the years.  Before this weekend, I had 24 of the 48 cards in the set.  Mathematically, I had half of the set completed already, but having 5 of the 6 major cards (Musial, Feller, Kiner, Spahn and Berra rookies; missing Rizzuto) really puts me well over halfway toward my goal.

So, including the above Snuffy Stirnweiss, I picked up 5 cards I needed for my set.  That means I have 29 of the possible 48 cards, or 60% of the set.  I bet I will have this set wrapped up before too long.  I don't know if I will attempt another Bowman set at this moment, but you never know.  If I can knock out the '48 set, I know that will be a huge feather in my cap, though.

That being said, I really enjoyed my weekend with my brother.  Not only did I get to see him, I also got to hang out with my older brother, Philip, my younger brother, Andy, and Andy's lady-friend, Camryn.  We all had a great time eating crawfish and having a few beers.  I can't wait til the next time I can make the trip down to see Adam, probably sometime in July.

Instagram Pickup - 2013 Bowman Chrome Silver Wave Alex Murphy

I was really worried about this card.  I made a deal with a guy named Jeff on Instagram, paid him via Paypal, then a week or so later, as I was waiting on the card to arrive, Jeff closed his Instagram account.

I wasn't too happy about that because I was afraid that I had no way to get my card, or my money back. Luckily, I remembered that I had Jeff's email because I paid him via Paypal, so I shot him an email asking him what was up.  It turned out that Jeff was pissed off because some kid had scammed him out of $200 worth of cards, so in a fury, he closed his account.  To compound the issue, he had thought that he sent my card, but it had ended up under another trade stack and had been forgotten.  Thankfully, Jeff sent my card immediately and it got here in no time, and I now have this awesome Alex Murphy Bowman Silver Wave. The card is numbered 17/25 and looks great.

I seriously doubt Jeff was trying to scam me, since i only paid $10 for the card and he sent an additional card for my trouble.  Folks make mistakes, but I'm glad we were able to catch this one and correct it quickly.

Instagram Pickup - 1959 Topps Roger Maris

Normally, I really dislike any type of writing on a baseball card.  To me, that might just be at the top of cardinal sins of card collecting.  You know, right up there with wrapping rubber bands around a stack of cards or storing them in plastic bags.  I remember one time when I was helping at the card shop, a young man, probably about 14 or 15, came in with his card collection.  He wasn't really wanting to sell, he just wanted to proudly show off what he had.  I took the time to listen to him, to admire his card, and when it came time for him to leave, I handed him a storage box, free of charge.  When he asked me what it was for, I told him that it would help him preserve his cards a lot better than the plastic grocery bag he brought them in.  Naturally, the kid was appreciative that he got something for free, but I think he also appreciated that someone took the time to help him better his collection.

Anyway, back to the card that I got.  I bought the card from a nice kid named Joey, whom I have traded with before.  He made me an amazing deal for this card that I really couldn't turn down.  Writing or not.  So, I have this Roger Maris card.  With the KC A's scratched out and NY Yanks written in on it in what is seemingly the handwriting of a kid from back in the early 1960s.  It also looks like someone tried in vain to erase the ink, but clearly they failed.  My 1959 set is far from Mint, so I technically could keep this card as part of my set, or I could hold onto it as a separate card.  I looked and I would be very lucky to get another Maris for my set for less than $50, so I really may be inclined to mark this one off of my checklist for good. I just don't know.

Regardless, I appreciate Joey hooking me up with th card and I really do enjoy it.  We'll see if it makes the cut, so to speak.  As of right now, I am leaning toward putting it in the set.  Anyone have any thoughts?