Christmas Gift From Michael S.

I got a nice surprise package in the mail recently from my friend, Michael S. from Instagram.  He and I both have been really busy lately, and haven't chatted much, which I regret.  I have some cards for him, but I have been waiting to ship once I find some more stuff to add to the pile.

Michael really surprised me with what he included in the package.  I had never seen the above 2006 Bowman Originals Nolan Reimold auto.  It is hand numbered and comes in a sealed snap case.  They don't scan very well, but that's ok.  I loved the Bowman Heritage when it came out.  I feel like it may be time for Topps to go back to the well with Bowman Heritage.

Michael included this 2009 Topps Chrome Nolan Reimold auto as well.  I have a couple already, but since I super collect Nolan, I will take duplicates of his relics and autos at any time.

Michael added this 2008 Donruss Diamond Kings Reimold auto.  The card looks really awesome and is numbered 149/500.  I always liked Diamond Kings, when they were their own standalone product, and when they were inserts in Donruss products.  They always look awesome.

Finally, Michael included this 1/1 sketch card.  I have actually seen this one on Ebay from time to time.  I never jumped on it, though.  Now that I have this in my hands, I'm really impressed with the art of it.  The guy is really talented, that's for sure.  I used to do a good bit of artwork when I was younger and always struggled when drawing people.  This guy really nailed it, I think.

Thanks so much for the Christmas care package, Michael.  I really appreciate it and am happy to add all of these cards to my collection!

Christmas Gift From Jack

I got a surprise Christmas care package recently from an Instagram follower named Jack.  I have chatted with him and his cousin, Nathan here and there.  They're both really good people, but I was still surprised that Jack thought enough of me to send me something for Christmas.

Inside the package was a bunch of Orioles parallels, like the above Zach Britton gold from 2015 Topps.  This one is numbered 1952/2015.

Another card in the package was this 2014 Topps Chris Davis gold parallel numbered 142/2014.  I'm still very excited that Davis will be coming back to the O'd for this season and beyond.  I'm really interested in seeing how his career will play out.

This 2013 Topps Opening Day Davis blue parallel also looks really nice.  This is numbered 219/2013.

Like I said, I was surprised to be getting anything from Jack.  He is a really nice guy, and I need to do some more trading with him and his cousin.  Thanks so much for the care package, Jack!

Welcome Back, Orange Crush!

I was getting tired of waking up to bad news this week.  So, when I woke up this morning to a Kik message from my friend Scott saying that Chris Davis has resigned with the Orioles, I got excited.  I tempered my enthusiasm, because I don't get worked up over Orioles news until I confirmed it on Roch Kubatko's blog on MASNSports.com.  Well, I checked Roch's blog and it was confirmed, Davis is back, pending a physical, for 7 years, $161 million.

When the contract is finalized, it will be the biggest contract that the Orioles have ever handed out, far surpassing the one that Adam Jones signed a few years ago (6 years, $85.5 million signed in 2012).

Davis's deal includes a full no trade clause and no opt outs.  Davis is my guy, and I am so happy to see him coming back to the Orioles.  I think you will see a flurry of moves, now that he is off the board.  Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton should be finding landing spots soon.

Recent Topps Mini Chris Davis Pickups

My saved searches on Ebay are paying off.  I picked up a few Chris Davis minis recently that I probably wouldn't have otherwise noticed.  I needed the base mini card, which I grabbed pretty cheaply.  I think this was 99 cents.  Not bad at all.

I found two more of the black parallels.  The above one is numbered 2/10.

This one is numbered 10/10.  I highly doubt I will find all 10.  It probably wouldn't be too fair to other Davis collectors if I owned them all.  It would be kind of cool to own all of the serial numbered versions of one card.  Unless it is a 1/1, I think it might be near impossible to own them all.  Worth trying, I suppose.  I already have three of these, 2/10, 6/10 and 10/10.

Holiday Gift From Scott

I got a really nice holiday package from my good friend, Scott not too long ago.  I feel bad that it has taken me this long to blog about it.  I have a ton of Christmas stuff piled up to talk about, so I should be good on blog posts for the time being.

Scott got me a few really nice cards as my gift.  The above Jonathan Schoop looks really great in person.  It is numbered 17/35 and is from 2013 Topps Tribute.  This is a really nice card, and I didn't have it in my collection yet.

Scott added this 2015 First Home Run coin card of Brooks Robinson that he has been sitting on for a little while.  He had originally wanted to trade it, but we never were able to match up.  I needed this for my Brooks PC, so I'm happy he ultimately added it.

Finally, Scott threw this Alfredo Marte 2013 Chrome Blue Refractor auto in as a kind of joke, since Marte was invited to Orioles spring training.  This is a really nice card.  I used to have one of these.  I have a sneaking suspicion that this used to be the one I had, but I haven't confirmed it with Scott.

Thanks for the awesome holiday package, Scott!  I loved everything that was in it!

Card Show Pickup - 1949 M. P. and Co. Ralph Kiner

I think this would be a good candidate for the POBC blog (Poor Old Baseball Cards) blog.  We all know how much I enjoy a "well loved" card.  This one is a card that I picked up from the card show this past weekend from the same seller where I got my Kaline RC.

This is a 1949 M. P. & Co. (R3202-2) Ralph Kiner.  As you can see, it is beat up pretty bad, but still looks really cool.  According to oldcardboard.com, this set was released as a strip of 8 cards.  I got it for $3.00 because I like Kiner, and also because the card looked really cool.

I'm happy I picked it up.  I'll probably look around and see if I can find one in better condition at some point, and I will also see who else is on the checklist as well (ok, I cheated and looked a few up on Ebay... THERES A BOB FELLER!!).

Rest In Peace - Monte Irvin

Over the course of the last two days, two huge names have left this world and have moved on to the next one.

I was shocked and blown away yesterday morning to hear that music icon, David Bowie had passed away sometime Sunday.

Today, when I was checking on some Oriole news on Twitter, I saw that Hall of Famer Monte Irvon had passed away at age 96.  Irvin wasn't necessarily a shock, since he was 96, but it still stung nonetheless.  He was a baseball pioneer, one of the last remaining players of a bygone era.  He was also very good to fans and a great TTM signer.

The above baseball was one I got TTM back in 2010, which I have since flipped to my good friend, Andrew.  I had replaced that ball with a PSA one from Historic Autographs Ball of Fame.

Irvin was one of the oldest living baseball players at the time of his passing, and was the second longest tenured Hall of Famer (Sandy Koufax is the longest tenured living Hall of Famer, having been elected in 1972).

Irvin was a great ball player in his time and is regarded as one of the best to have come out of the Negro Leagues.  It was widely speculated back then that he would be the player who would break the color barrier, but Branch Rickey went with Jackie Robinson instead.

Rest in peace, Monte Irvin.