Ripping Packs, Feeling Like a Kid - Show Recap pt. 2

No, no, no...wait! That's ripping packs of Kids, Topps Kids that is. These came out back in 1992, and while I was collecting then, I really don't remember seeing these at the time. I remember Upper Deck Fun Pack coming out a few years later, but not these. So, when I saw a few of these mixed in a bin of packs at the show, I couldn't pass up the chance to bust a few. All in all, I was able to find these 6 packs hiding among a bunch of other junk wax and they cost me a dime per pack. I had almost forgotten what it was like to rip an actual wax pack.

Here is the promised gum(this is for you, Jeff!) that comes in each pack. Surprisingly enough, the stick I opened was still pliable and not petrified. There's still no way I was going to chew it though.

A few personal favorites to start thing off. Are you dizzy looking at the background on that Roberto Kelly? Very interesting design on these to say he least.

Next up, check out the cartoon bodies on the Fernandez and Ozzie cards. The drawings make them look like here on steroids! More trippy spirals on that Larkin.

Hipnotic Kirby... I'm planning to put you all in a trance so you'll send me awesome cardboard! Oh wait, a lot of you already do that! Thanks, by the way. Gotta love the cartoonish Rocket, but my favorite is the very Batman-esque background on that George Brett(probably only a few of you will get that reference).

Finally, here are my favorites of the bunch. I am thrilled to have pulled the Mattingly and the Henderson. Even though Doc is on the Mets here, I'll always remember him fondly for his time in pinstripes! This was a really fun few packs to flip through. I'd probably grab a few more of these in the future if the opportunity arrises, especially for the price I paid. Definitely a few keepers in here, and several of these will be making their way to new homes at some point. This was certainly one of the more entertaining purchases of the day, but there is still plenty of the haul left to write about over the next few days. Thanks for reading!

A Pair of Great PWEs

Sorry for the unimaginative post title. Today, I'm taking a break from sharing the card show spoils so The Great Trade Post Catch Up can roll into its penultimate stop. That's right, after sharing these two PWEs, there is only one more trade package to go before I am caught up! I'm fairly sure it will be short-lived since it appears that Super Traders packages may begin arriving imminently, but at least I'm won't be as far behind as I was at the beginning of the year. Now, if I can only begin to catch up on outgoing, return trade packages to a number of folks. Perhaps I'll just have to bulk up some of those packages before I begin dropping Super Trader packages. I also want to be sure to let everyone know that I will absolutely continue to send packages out to all of my trade partners that aren't in the ST group, same as I have up to this point.

Alright, let's get on to the first of these awesome PWEs. It came to me from one of the most prolific trade partners I've had thus far, Jeff from Wish They Still Came With Bubble Gum. As usual, it contained some excellent cardboard.

All around awesomeness in this scan. From the Elway in his Stanford uni to the super shiny gold Bernie, these were all welcome additions to the collection. Somehow, I've owned the mirror gold parallel of that Pettitte for 15 years or better, but the base version had eluded me until now.

I'm happy to have this Broncos relic, and Ball played a small role behind Knowshon Moreno when they got annihilated by the Seahawks in the Super Bowl a few years back. However, he was released by the Broncos prior to the 2015 season, spent the entire year on the Patriots practice squad and was recently released by the Pats after reports of his arrest on a battery charge after a dispute with his girlfriend. At least this is a reminder of a more promising time in his career.

I thought this was so cool when I saw it. I had no idea that there was a Hockey card game, though I probably should have known. It's a pretty great first card to have. Scott Stevens is one of my favorite players to collect. Good stuff Jeff, thanks!

Next up was a vintage dominated PWE from Brian at HSCA.

Yes, I'm aware that this is far from vintage. It is the only non-vintage card that I'm going to highlight. I'm not sure how the season will play out, but with any luck at all, this one will end up with an in person signature on it once the SWB Rail Riders come to Durham.

Look at all that cardboard goodness! All are in pretty decent condition and are certainly welcome additions to my ever-growing stack of vintage Yankees. Thanks for the great stuff as always, Brian. I've got some pre-ST stuff to send your way.

Thanks for reading.

First Card Show of 2016 Recap pt. 1

Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to spend a few hours hunting around my first card show of the year. I missed the actual first show of the year in my area, so I was very happy to have the chance to browse around a bit. Overall, it was a good show for me and I'll be breaking down my haul into a few posts over the next few days. Tonight, I start with the vintage portion of the haul. It comprised the smallest percent of the whole(only three total cards), but it ended up being the most satisfying. The first of the three that I'll talk about represented the most expensive purchase if the day.

This 1951 Topps red back of Phil Rizzuto was one of the first cards I considered purchasing when I ark paved to the show. It had an asking price of $9.00 which I thought was reasonable but ultimately, I decided to scope the place out before dropping that much if my budget on one of he first cards I saw. All told, I made the rounds and at the end of my browsing, I decided to go back and see if the vendor would go any lower. When I asked, he balked a bit, pulling the old 'it books $60 and I'm already giving it away because of the condition' schtick. I considered walking away without it, but it ended up searching a $2 box he had and eventually made a bundled offer of $10 for the 'Scooter', one single from the $2 box(which I'll share in another recap post), and one of the next two cards I'm going to share. With the pricing of the bundled deal in effect, it essentially dropped the cost of the Rizzuto down to $7. I was thrilled! Not only because I was walking away with another 1951 Topps Yankee, but because the significance of the final card I was able to add to the deal.

Early in the show, I happened to find the Ron Santo for a buck. That dropped my set completion magic number down to one. It left me with only Frank Howard to go for a complete set. As I was contemplating the Rizzuto purchase, I came upon one of several vintage 'oddball' filled binders on this guy's multiple tables. When I flipped to the page that had this pretty clean copy of Frank, my gears started turning. I had already pulled and returned the one card I ended up with from his $2 box and asked about a lower price on the Rizzuto. In the end, when he told me the Howard would only be $1, I pulled a single from my wallet. He turned on the salesmanship, asking if I was sure I only wanted the Howard. That was my chance, so I took a shot. I told him I had only found one card from the $2 box and would give him $10 for that, the Howard, and the Rizzuto. He thought about it for a moment and eventually agreed. I don't usually have much luck negotiating like that, but I sure was proud of myself after I was done. Honestly, I would have been thrilled if these were the only three cards I walked away with. Here it is only mid-February and I can already check off one of my goals for the year. There's plenty more to write about from this show, additions to my collection and a bunch if cards to send to my multiple trading partners, Super Traders or otherwise. That's all stuff for another post though. Thanks for reading!

Cards From the Clubhouse

Before I get to the details of another great trade package, I just have to say the following: IT'S CARD SHOW DAY!!! Yes, today I will be making my way to my first show of 2016. I'm a tad bit excited of you couldn't tell. Truth is, all of my fellow Super Traders(and other trade buddies) should be excited too. I'm looking to pick up little gems that are just screaming to be relocated to new homes all across the US/Canada and even France! Of course, I'll be looking to add a few nice things for myself too. I can't wait to get back and post about my findings(and mail some of them out too)! Now, back to your regularly scheduled trade post.

The next stop for the Great Trade Post Catch Up train comes courtesy of Adam over at Cardboard Clubhouse. It was another in a series of packed, padded envelopes that arrived amidst trying to adjust to the new schedule of having a newborn in the house again, and it was the first trade package arrival of 2016.

A little nostalgia to start things off on the right foot! It seems I've been racking up quite a few Yankees buyback cards over the past weeks and this well worn Bobby Murcer continues that trend. Man, I remember Roberto Kelly for two big reasons: he was my 'Bernie Williams' before Bernie actually came into the picture and he was involved in the trade hat brought Paul O'Neill to the Yankees! No offense Roberto, but that trade favored the guys in Pinstripes.

Ugh! Brien Taylor...I'm not even going to elaborate. On a more positive note, who remembered that Brad Ausmus began his respectable career in the Yankees system? Alvaro Espinosa has the distinction of being the best(or at least fan favorite) of the many Yankee shortstops that filled the role until some guy by the name of Jeter came to town.

This is a nice trio of Yankee hurlers. I especially like the angle on the Doc Gooden. Oh wait, that's probably because it's from Collector's Choice. Have I mentioned lately how much I love that brand?

When I flipped to these in the package, I was so happy! They're my first 3D cards from a fairly recent Archives release. These are really nicely done and now that I have two of them, it's got me considering the idea of chasing the rest of that set. The Grandy man has me one more single closer to at least finishing the mini Yankees team set from that year.

These are two that I had inquired about, but knowing that they'd be in here didn't take away from my excitement about receiving them! I'm slowly chipping away at the All-Star Access insert, and the Gallo Update Chrome brings my set completion number to 43/50. I'm almost there!

Adam also included a few Broncos cards. Somehow, I don't think I had the Elway and Simon Fletcher was one of the standouts on the defense back in the '80's. I love that NFL 75th Anniversary patch...oh wait that's Collector's Choice again. Baseball, football, no matter the sport it was a great brand. I'm thrilled to have the Latimer parallel. He's still young, but I'm hoping to see big things from him in the coming years. He's going to have to play a big role if the Broncos are going to challenge for another Suoer Bowl Championship.

Thanks Adam! Great stuff all around. I'm compiling a return package for you that will hopefully bring you as many smiles as these have brought me. Thanks everyone for reading, I'm going off to the show!

How I Ended Up With an Auto From One of 2015's Top Rookies...For Free

Sorry about the long winded post title. Gather 'round and I'll tell you a tale... 

Way back in 1989, a pre-teen version of me was in California visiting some family. At that time, I was a huge fan of a certain Bash Brother by the name of Jose Canseco. After a few days visiting(and pestering any adult I could), I finally convinced my uncle to take me somewhere I could buy some packs so I could look for new Canseco cards. I can't remember where we went, but it was probably an early version of a 'big box' store. There, my cousin and I found unopened wax boxes of 1989 Donruss. So somehow we pooled our money and/ or convinced my uncle to grab us a box because we ended up taking one back to the house.  We took turns pulling and ripping packs from the 36 count box, always intently watching which players the other was getting. All I was looking for was Canseco. I eventually got him(and some guy named Griffey Jr for that matter). However, even with my goal met, I still talked my cousin's ear off about Canseco and the A's for the rest of that trip.

Fast forward twenty-five plus years to a few weeks ago... I saw a Facebook post from a local card show promoter that is putting together a really big show in a few months. He was asking people from a card collecting group that I am a member of to please share his show's promo poster to help spread the word, drum up interest, and hopefully pre-sell a bunch of autograph tickets. After a few days of minimal response, he began to offer a few giveaway cards which would be randomed off to those that helped him out by sharing/liking his promotional post.

So, I shared something that looked like this. This show is about a three hour drive for me, but I figured I'd share the promo and maybe I'd be lucky enough to end up with one of the giveaways. Teo of the three cards weren't really of interest to me, but I figured I could always use me as trade bait or eBay/Listia fodder. When I shared the post, I had written that maybe I'd consider going so I could meet Canseco since I was such a big fan when I was younger. My cousin immediately liked what I had written. At the end of the sharing period, the promoter posted a video of him randomizing the entrants names and the three cards he was giving away. I didn't watch terribly closely except to see that I wasn't one of the top three names that were associated with the three prize cards. I was bummed, but I figured: nothing ventured, nothing gained...right? I immediately forgot all about this until yesterday. I went to the mailbox and found a few PWEs that held some Listia winnings and an unexpected, medium sized bubble mailer. I looked at the return name and address, and it happened to be Mr. Cherry, he being the promoter listed on the above ad piece. I was a bit confused, but excitedly ripped into it and was pleasantly surprised to pull this out:

This was giveaway card number two when the randomizer stopped, and the one of the three that I was actually interested in. It turns out, that my cousin happened to be the winner of this one. Once I figured that out, I messaged her. She proceeded to tell me that she had liked the post because she remembered how much of a Canseco fan I was when we were young. She hadn't really intended to enter the contest and no longer collects, so she asked that her prize be sent to me. I was blown away! Not only was this a huge surprise, it happens to be one of the top young talents in MLB and I really love these Bowman Chrome mini shimmer cards from 2015. 

So, there you have it, the very long-winded story of how this awesome auto wound up in my collection for free. If anyone is anywhere remotely close to Fayetteville and wants to make the trip, give me a shout. It could be a fun time! Thanks for reading!