I Almost Waited 'Til Next Year

Well, so much for my bracket. Wichita State has already been eliminated, so all I can do is hope everybody else's bracket at work sucks as much as mine.

Here's an overdue trade post. During the never ending process of cleaning out the spare bedroom of stuff I've been keeping but don't really need, I found a trade package that I had forgotten about. The spare bedroom is a mess of bins and disorganized loose things, so I'm surprised that even I found this. I've read posts from bloggers about trade packages that they had received months earlier, and I certainly can relate. The postmark on the envelope is from January (which isn't too bad, right?) and the blogger responsible for this generosity is Tom from "Waiting 'Til Next Year."

I collect minor league cards as well, and I do have some of the Team Best cards and Just Memorabilia ones thanks to repacks. Also, I wish somebody would have told me that left-handed relievers (like Tony Fossas) could pitch in the big leagues almost forever. I would have stuck with baseball past the age of fifteen.

A bunch of Red Sox prospects plus Wally the Green Monster. Only Middlebrooks and Britton have made it to the big club.

2013 Topps Opening Day Superstar Celebrations David Ortiz. He's not having a good Spring Training. But nothing counts until next week.

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter John Lackey mini.

This is the first of the Topps coins that I've gotten. I think they are actually pretty cool looking. I'd think about trying to complete the set, but do I really need to start another set I probably won't finish?

I don't pull very many memorabilia cards. Most that I have I've either bought for really cheap or given to me by generous bloggers. I'll gladly take any unwanted Red Sox that anybody may have lying around.

He sent three from 2013 Series II Topps...

...as well as five from 2010 Topps (aka The Set That Won't Die).

Can you believe with all the pissing and moaning I've done about being so far away from completing this set, I now only need three cards!!

These two from 1985 Topps brings me down to only needing just under twenty cards. Unfortunately one is the McGwire rookie.

These two were from 2013 Topps Archives, one of the only two 2013 sets that I completed.

And saving the best for last...a few more 1979 Topps. I'm getting closer and closer to finally finishing it off. I was at a card show a couple of weeks ago, and the guy who usually has some (and at Beckett prices!...Boo!), didn't bring them. I'm hoping to get to one this weekend, so maybe I'll have some more of this set to show next week.

Thanks Tom for the cards...and if you ever decide to put together any more junk wax sets, I'm sure I can give you a good head start!

You Really Can't Have Too Many Cards

David, whom we all know as Hackenbush from "Can't Have Too Many Cards" recently had a slew of spare 2008 Goudey cards he wanted to unload. He did this by holding a really cool contest. All you had to do was comment on his post, but to get an extra entry he asked you to submit a sports photo that you really like.

Here is the photo I submitted.

Now I you would have thought that I would have won hands down with this photo, because to me it was the greatest sports photo of my youth. A cropped version of this photo was the cover of the January 18, 1982 issue of Sports Illustrated.

I liked this cover photo so much I even took a picture of the magazine after I got it in the mail.

This was taken back in January of 1982 in the living room of the house I grew up in. Check out that television! Those TV's back then were heavy! And that indistinguishable beautiful child to the right of the magazine is me. I think I was five or something like that.

The photos were not graded on "coolness" unfortunately, so all of us entrants were thrown into the randomizer. So I didn't win...but I did.

Adam E from "Thoughts And Sox" actually won the contest. In fact according to the randomizer he came in second as well. I ended up third, when meant that the top three spots were held by Red Sox bloggers. He didn't want the cards, so David contacted me and asked if I was interested.

Of course I was.

So last week a package of over a hundred and thirty cards from the 2008 Goudey set showed up on my doorstep. I thought I needed a lot of cards for this set, but I actually didn't. However, now I only need TWO cards for this set.

Card 6 - Max Scherzer
Card 89 - Alex Gordon

If anybody is working on this set, I'd be happy to trade dupes with you. If you're not, I'll trade you something you are working on.

Thanks David....for the contest and the cards!

You Have Got To Be F*****g Kidding Me

I went to Walmart today to pick up the wife some back patches for her sore back. After getting those I went to the paint section to look for one of those touch-up pens so I could "re-color" a small portion of our entertainment center.

While I was in that aisle I noticed this atrocity:

Justin Bieber duct tape? Is this a big seller? Do any of you out there have this?

(Note: The 6 dollar clearance tag is not for this. That just happens to be where I put this highly coveted duct tape so I could take the picture.)

Oh, and to make this post somewhat card related, I did pick up a hanger of 2014 Topps on the way out.

Would you believe with the very limited amount that I have purchased this year I already have two copies of the Yasiel Puig card? I thought for certain I'd have to end up trading for it.

Oh and going back to the back patches, my wife had texted me earlier that her back was feeling sore again. I asked her if she wanted me to get her some more of the patches and she said no, she would be okay. For those of you who are not married yet, this is one of those rare occasions when you do not listen to your wife. Go out and buy the back patches. She will thank you later for not listening to her. Trust me on this one.

However, if she tells you not to buy the Justin Bieber duct tape, listen to her.

Trust me on this one.

Listia Loot II

I happen to enjoy the Sportflics (or Sportflix) releases of the 80's and 90's. While they look cool in person, they scan like hell. So from now on I will be referring to these types of cards as "CSC's" or "Crappy Scan Cards". So on a recent Listia expedition, I picked up these four beauties for only 100 credits.

1994 Sportflics J.T. Snow

1994 Sportflics Scott Stahoviak (Rookie!!)

1995 Sportflix Phil Plantier

1995 Sportflix Dave Nillson

That's all...a short and sweet Thursday night post!

Listia Loot I

So I ended up going with Witchita State as the winner of the NCAA bracket challenge at work. (See, I told you I'd keep you bored informed.)

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had decided to give Listia one last try. By holding a few auctions, I was able to pull together a few thousand credits to "spend". I've only been having one auction every week or so because I put everything in a bubble mailer and track it. I've found that there seems to be a selection of bidders that never seem to receive what you send them unless you track it. So far, no problems. However, it ends up being $3.37 per package (it is usually a lot of twenty or so cards), so that's why I only do one at a time. As I get more comfortable doing these type of transactions, I plan to branch out to COMC, Sportlots and maybe even Ebay. But I'm not going to get ahead of myself. You are talking to someone who gets frustrated extremely easy and this is supposed to be fun.

So I've kind of figured out how to find some auctions that are getting ready to close. But once you get past the single junk wax cards for 499 credits or the auctions without free shipping, it doesn't leave you with very much else. Occasionally though, you do find something worth your time (or at least mine).

Like early 90's minor league cards.

These are from the 1991 Line Drive minor league set, which I actually bought a box of back in the day for cheap. The seller was kind enough to list the card numbers in the description and I needed seven of the eight that were being offered. Yes, it had that dreaded 499 beginning bid, but it was free shipping and I was the only one that ended up bidding on it...and it only took a couple of days to get here. So yay for me.

It's Not Too Late For A 2013 Heritage Post, Is It?

Tonight is the final night before the NCAA tournament. We do the brackets at my day job, and I am finishing them up tonight whilst I read some blogs. I don't follow college basketball, so I know absolutely nothing about any of the teams. I'll be sure to give you updates as to how well I do compared to everyone else at my company, because I know you all are completely interested in college basketball too. There is only a few people doing it this year, so the pot is not very big, but I'll still take it.

Back in December, Jeff from 2X3 Heroes was having a "Tis the Season" giveaway, and I commented on his "Tis the Season: Take my Dupes, Please." post that I was interested in some of the dupes he was trying to unload.

When I received my loot a couple of weeks ago, I had forgotten just what I had asked for. It was in a box this size and when I opened it I was greeted with:

2013 Topps Heritage!

Lots of 2013 Topps Heritage!

And some 2012 Topps!

If there is anyone out there that has not finished off 2012 Topps let me know, and we can work out a trade. Thanks to repacks, I've got plenty.

There was also a single 2011 Topps card.

Thanks Jeff! I hadn't bought too much 2013 Heritage and this will really help me out!

1991 Topps Desert Shield Cards

I won these two cards from a Listia auction for just over 600 credits. They were only sent to the armed forces and had a gold "Operation Desert Shield" logo stamped on them. I don't know what these go for nowadays, but they were quite expensive around the time they were released.

I can't remember ever seeing these at a show, so to my knowledge I'd never seen one in person, much less held one in my hands.

According to www.baseballcardpedia.com, approximately 6,313 copies of each card were produced.

I do not know however, why the "Topps 40 Years Of Baseball" stamp is darker on one than the other. They do have different sheet codes, the Cerone is "A", and the Mahler is "D", so maybe that is why.

Late Night Listia Win

Even though I was initially discouraged with Listia in the beginning, I've slowly spent more and more time perusing what they have to offer. I've even held a few auctions, so I've got a fair amount of credits to "spend".

However, I find most of the auctions quite laughable. You want me to bid 499 credits for a 1990 Donruss Dennis Rasmussen card? Sweet, sign me up.

I did happen to land a lot of twelve 2007 Upper Deck Goudey cards (at about 1 o'clock in the morning) for just over 500 credits, and it arrived rather quickly...with creative packaging as well.

This was inserted into a bubble mailer and even though the mailer had started to rip a bit, the cards arrived just fine.

Nine of these were the "red back" version and three were the "green back". I'm sure this was done so collectors would feel the need to have complete sets of both.

Well, I can tell you this blogger does not fall for such marketing shenanigans.

Pardon Me Whilst I Brag About A Junk Wax Mailday

One of the trade packages I received last week was from Jeff from One Man's Junk Wax. He sent me over fifty cards, and they were creatively packaged, as you can see.

Did you know these pocket pages can be used for extreme couponing too?

And some people apparently engage in power couponing as well. It seems like everything is "extreme" this or "power" that now. I guess just calling it what it is, is too boring for the younger generation.

Do you think if I called it "Extreme Card Sorting", I could get some kids to help me out?

1992 Donruss was featured most prominently with twenty-eight needed cards.

Eleven from 1989 Upper Deck.

A couple from 1991 Topps. Yes, I've already completed the set, but I'm only a couple of cards away from putting together another one.

One lonely 1986 Donruss card...

...and one from 1988 Score. My favorite release from Score by the way.

The best part of the package of course, was the 1979 Topps that was included. I think this brings me to needing just a little over thirty cards.

Thank you Jeff for the trade! Keep up the great work on your blog!