Happy Belated Blog-Aversary to Me

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and trying to get some posts actually published around these parts, I completely overlooked that exactly one week ago was my two-year blog-aversary. Despite the second half of the year bringing me unexpected reasons to not be able to post, I am thrilled to be a part of this community. I had planned to do a end of he year wrap up/recap after we make our way into the new year so not much to do in this one besides show off a few additions to the collection that have come my way from sources outside of the blogging community.

I won this in a razz a few weeks back. I rolled the dice on one spot for $6 and was fortunate to come up the winner! I was especially excited to receive this since it is my first auto of the former Wolfpack standout. Being an NC State guy, I think I'll focus on adding to my Turner collection in blog year three.

I snagged this in a auto/relic lot for less than $10. As I may have mentioned here before, I really enjoyed watching Shaffer play in Durham over the past few seasons. He was recently traded to Seatlle and then shortly thereafter he was designated for assignment. I suppose there is an outside chance he ends up back in the Rays system, but I just hope he catches on somewhere and gets a shot at the big league level. I'll continue to collect his cardboard wherever he lands.

Lastly, I won this Topps Vault 1/1 on eBay for the minimum bid. I was happy to add this since Motter is probably my favorite Durham Bulls player over the past few seasons. His cardboard appearances on non-minor league issues are rare so I am trying to find whatever parallels I can afford to add. Sadly, he too was traded to Seattle. I hope that he is able to find some regular playing time in the Pacific Northwest and I am anxiously awaiting his first card sporting a Mariners jersey.

What would a blog-aversary post be without announcing a contest/giveaway? If you're interested, simply leave a comment on this post. I'll leave it open until Christmas Day at midnight. I will run all of the names through the randomizer 9 times. Depending on the number of entries, I may award two prizes. Oh, the prizes? What are they, you ask? I'll be sure to customize it to the winner(s) collecting preferences.

Hey, if you can't get enough of contests, want to enter one more, and are a fan of UFC, you should visit Sport Card Collectors blog here: http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2016/12/review2016-topps-museum-collection.html The deadline for entry is tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who has read any of the content here over the past two years. It means a great deal.

My First Look at 2016 Bowman

Tuesday, on he eve of its official release, I stumbled onto some Bowman 'value packs' at the local Target. I hurriedly picked out two and used a few of my Marketplace coupons to get $1 off each pack. I opened them and am just getting around to being able to scan them for a post.

Here is the 'exclusive' yellow parallel pack out of the first 'value pack'. I'm pretty happy with the Maeda, especially considering how dominant he has been in his first few starts.

Regular pack number 1 provided the money card. In my neck of the woods, Swanson is quite the hot commodity since the Carolina Mudcats are easily within driving distance. I'm hoping that I'll have a chance to shoot over to he stadium for either a game or one of their open practices to get this signed before he is promoted to the next level. That's also my first Chapman shown with the Yankees. The Guzman is #/99. I don't know much about that kid, but it's a relatively low numbered parallel which could end up being a decent piece of cardboard.

I really like the Vlad Guerrero squared card. I'm going to look into the rest of that checklist, it looks like a nice set.

Wow, I was beyond thrilled to pull the base Maeda from the same value pack. Piscotty is pretty decent too. Let's move along to the second value pack.

As awesome as pulling the yellow Maeda was, this pack was better. Moncada and Wade will hopefully end up with some ink on them at some point.

I'm digging the Mondesi RC. Since he made his MLB debut in the World Series, it's cool to see the WS patch on the sleeve of his uni. Compared to years past, I'm loving the Top 100 this year. It doesn't hurt to pull such a highly rated prospect, but he design is pretty sweet.

BOOM! Sitting in he middle of the second pack of my second value pack was a retail exclusive paper prospect auto. Try saying that five times fast... From my understanding, McGuire has some pretty decent potential in the Pirates system, and he's in his age 21 season this year so he still has time to develop.

The final pack was a bit anti-climactic, but it still yielded one of this year's RC Flashbacks and a unique, press conference card of new Diamondback, Zack Greinke.

Overall, I was really pleased with the packs. I always say that I'm not going to buy a lot of Bowman, but this season, I really like the design. Team that up with the fact that I am doing my best to get back into autograph hunting when I'm able to make it to the ballpark and maybe his is the set for me this year. I'll reserve judgment until I've picked up a few more packs, but my initial reaction to the product is quite positive. Thanks for reading.

Recently Acquired Ink From a Few of My Favorite Bulls

Now that I've had the chance to rip my first packs of 2016 product, and with Spring Training approaching, I find myself looking forward to another season of Durham Bulls baseball with my family. I know I've written about some of my favorite players that I've had the opportunity to watch up close at the DBAP before. Until recently, my collection of most of these guys has consisted of base, a few parallels, and Bulls team set cards. Thanks to some Paypal funds, courtesy of the recent sale of a few unwanted cards, I decided that I needed to add some substance to my former Bulls collection. A few eBay steals and a rather large chunk of Listia credits later and I am the proud owner of some great autos.

Snell is the most recent player that I had the fortune to see play in Durham. He had quite an impressive 2015 across three minor league levels and walked away with multiple Minor League Player/Pitcher of the Year awards. This one was found during a trek through the Land of Listia and cost me a nice chunk of credits, but it was definitely worth it. This picture doesn't come close to doing it justice! I'm not sure whether he'll officially be a former Durham Bull to open the season or if I'll have an opportunity to see him start a few more games before making his way to Tampa. Either way, I'm happy to add this certified auto to my in-person signature I snagged at the end of last season.

Next up is this great rookie year, serial numbered auto of Brandon Guyer. A few seasons back, he was my favorite Bull. He plays at 110% all the time and I dig that. This is my second Guyer auto, but my first showing him in a Rays uni. I was overjoyed to win this one for just over three bucks shipped on eBay.

Last, but certainly not least, is probably my current favorite non-Yankee.

I have been keeping my eyes open for one of these Kiermaier RC's almost since it was released. Though he's not a superstar, every copy that I have seen has gone for way more than I wanted to spend on it and most had either a plain white swatch or a piece of bat chip. When I saw this one pop up through my eBay saved searches I knew I had to make a serious run at it. At the end of the auction, when the dust settled(there was a crazy, last second flurry of bidding) I was thrilled to be the highest bidder. 

This concludes my brief distraction from the pending 2016 Topps obsession. Said obsession will likely return tomorrow or Friday at the latest since I will be taking delivery of my jumbo hobby box tomorrow around mid-day. Thanks for reading!

Raleigh Card Show Post 3 of 3 - Relics, Autos, and Other Big Spending

Let's launch straight into the most expensive cards that I purchased all day. For the second straight show, I saw fellow blogger William of the Orioles-centric blog Foul Bunt set up as a vendor. While we chatted about everything from pro wrestling to his recent trip to the National, I flipped through a few dollar boxes he had set up.

I snagged this gold parallel of the current Yankees manager and picked out a few others that I needed. While my total purchase may not have put me in the 'big spender' category, it's always nice to see a fellow blogger in person.

I couldn't pass up this Desmond liquorfractor and I couldn't believe my eyes when I flipped to this Turkey Red Josh Gibson.

Next to William's table was a guy who had all sorts of vintage sorted by year. I wanted to find some vintage oddball stuff which was tough since he mostly had singles for the set collectors.

After some digging, I was able to find this Topps Embossed Bobby Richardson for another dollar. There was a few other singles to be had, but they were in pretty rough shape and not worth the asking price. I am very close to completing the 1968 Topps Game set and have out a pretty good dent into the 1969 Deckle set. It's possible that this vintage oddball set will be next on my list to hunt down.

My last stop of the day was a guy that had a bunch of relic/auto boxes marked at $3 each. I normally don't spend too much time looking through boxes like these, but after flipping through a stack or two I saw enough that interested me that I was hooked.

This was the first card that really drew me in. Over the past few weeks, I've been slowly accumulating rookie cards of Virgil Green and this is the first auto I've been able to add.

Shortly after unearthing the Green RC auto, I found this Bradley Roby auto. I bid on a few of these last season when they first came out, but I didn't win one. Now I can add one to my Broncos collection.

I couldn't pass on this cheap Rays prospect auto. It's quite possible that Tyler here will be playing in Durham sometime in the next season or two.

Next up, I pulled another Rays prospect auto. Floro played in Durham this season and I was able to see him pitch a few games. Floro began the season pitching really well for the Bulls, but then he had some really terrible outings and was inconsistent down the stretch. In his first season at Triple A, he certainly showed some signs that he may be able to handle a spot in the Rays rotation, but he will definitely need to learn to limit those big innings against him.

This was far and away my favorite baseball auto of the day. I thought I was lucky to find this Guyer in the discount bin. He's been a really solid player over the past few seasons for the Rays and I really enjoyed watching him play with the Bulls when he was in Durham. 

As I flipped through those boxes, I picked out a few here and there that will end up taking a trip via the USPS in the near future. All told, I picked out more than ten at $3 per. When I handed them to the vendor to pay, he counted them out once and then said 'No, let's do it like this'. He proceeded to count them out again at what turned out to be only $2/card instead. Obviously, I was even happier to grab these cards for me and a few trading partners at that price. That one final deal made the day all the better. I'm glad it was a good one since the show won't be returning to Raleigh until December. I guess that just gives me some extra time to pad my budget for that show! Thanks for reading.

Bob Walked the Plank and Broke the Ice

I've been reading the great blog Bob Walk the Plank for quite some time. In fact, I'm not sure why I hadn't tried to contact Matthew sooner about setting up a first trade to 'break the ice'. A few weeks back, we exchanged messages and before I knew it, a padded envelope had arrived in my mailbox. When I opened it I was blown away! I've seen that the typical trade package from Matthew is comprised of a few high quality cards, and this one certainly fit that description. It was four cards in total, all of which were awesome new additions to my collection.

First, a really nice jersey card of the guy that mans the hot corner for the Nats!

Then came this incredibly attractive framed Desmond jersey from A&G. That's a great start, but the hits just kept coming...literally!

I think I stared at this auto for five minutes before moving on to check out the final card in the package. Though I list a lot of Nats and Rays on my 'players I collect' list, I don't have many relics or autos for most of them. This was a first on a few levels for me. It's my first Museum Collection auto and my first Jordan Zimmermann auto. I really like the design of this one. The colors of the photo and the blue signature really pop against the parchment-like background.

For me, the highlight of the package was this Alex Cobb Tier One autograph! Again, I am sad to say that this is my first Tier One auto and my first Cobb signature. It's a drag that he was poised to provide quite the 1-2 punch with Chris Archer at the front of the Rays rotation, but was cut down by TJ surgery. Still, I think he'll return next season to pick up where he left off. I guess if there's a silver lining to his injury(at least for this collector) I hope to pick up an in person auto once he makes it back to Durham during his rehab assignment.

That was an incredible way to break the ice Matthew, thanks! I'm sorry that I'm still working on your return package. Life has gotten in the way and I've not only gotten behind in posting about trade packages, but I've got several trade packages that are at least halfway complete and just awaiting the right finishing touches. I'm hoping to hit the card show in Raleigh this weekend and pick up a few cards to finish off a bunch of these, yours included. I want to be sure that there's some high quality when you flip through what I send back. Thanks again for a great trade package! I hope you'll enjoy the return as much as I'm digging what you sent my way.

Busting Chrome - The Hobby Box Edition

I heard that Topps Chrome retail had started showing up in stores over a week before the official release date. So, I went hunting for some. Target after Target, Walmart after Walmart and I found nothing. Then the official release date came and went...still nothing. Since I couldn't get my retail fix, I contacted my former LCS owner. He was able to sell me a box for a really good price. Here's my hobby box haul.

I actually pulled the two autos out of the first three packs I opened, but that doesn't make for a good presentation. I hit one of the high number SP rookies. It would have been nice if it was Buxton or Correa, but I can't complain about what I can only assume is beating the odds on that pull(haven't seen actual SP rookie odds). The green refractor Wainwright is #/99 and the purple Fernandez is #/250. In addition to these, I hit right on the odds for the regular refractors and the prism refractors too.

The base auto Moya was less than exciting for me, but I may know someone that would be interested in it. The Wong is quite shiny, as is the Hamels and Barnes. I was fortunate to pull the refractor parallel of Jose Pirela and the prism refractor of Ian Desmond for the team/player collections.

The orange refractor Pompey auto #/25 was a heck of a pull! Oh wait, is that a Christmas card? Why yes, it is, 12/25! I honestly couldn't care less about the player, but it was another example of beating the odds in this box. Overall, the box wasn't the greatest as far as anything hat I was interested in, but it could have been way worse. Some of these are already on their way to new homes, but if anyone is interested in any of these, let me know and we can work out a deal. Thanks for reading!

Breaking Down a Trade Package

I recently completed my first trade with Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown. As has been the case of late, I inquired about a trade in order to pick up a few needs for the Topps Game set from Archives. Things just snowballed from there.

Here are another 5 that arrived around he same time as the 5 from Douglas. I still stand at 20/33 on this set.

I thought it was ironic that I found this in Gavin's envelope. I had recently acquired this in a large lot of 1960's/'70's inserts. The lot primarily consisted of original Game inserts, Deckle, and cloth stickers but there were a few of these booklets. It was great that Gavin sent this over as it is a significant upgrade from the copy I found in the lot.

I will assume that these were the fruits of searching the card show prior to mailing this out. I love the Old Judge autos. I remember both of these guys and it's fun to remember a time when something with a print run of 5750 copies was truly considered limited.

This is one of the few trade packages I've received that has addressed my non-Yankees collections. I like the blue Desmond in particular. There were some Former Durham Bulls thrown in too though they aren't pictured.

Of course the Yankees were fairly represented as well. The Ford is #/499 and the Cone is metal! I had never really seen the prismatic Pacific cards in baseball, just football. Kinda cool to have the Tartabull there. That Larsen is only my third or fourth Golden Age single. I'm not sure about the set as a whole, but the small sample size I have in my collection makes me think the set is well done. This would have been more than enough for an initial trade package, but the real gem of the package was this:

This extremely limited, custom magnet is awesome! I used to be a fan of The Simpsons back when this episode aired and I love the 1991 Studio design. I'd rather forget Steve Sax's tenure as the Yankees second baseman, but I'm thrilled to have this. In fact, it has already assumed a prime location affixed to my magnetic message board next to my desk.

Thanks for a great trade Gavin! I'll have to send another stack of cards your way really soon.