Another Ginter Mini Heist

So while looking for some Allen & Ginter mini cards, I decided to look for some of those lots that list "U-Pick 10, 15, 20, etc," so I was quite surprised when I came across a lot of 2006 minis in which you pick 30 cards and decent "Buy It Right Now" offer.

Now part of the problem with these lots is that they might list 100 or so cards, if that, with maybe a couple of images, so unless one of the images grabs you, or you have the time to go back and forth looking at their numbers and yours, it's easy to pass over these auctions and look elsewhere.

One thing I love about the 2006 edition of Ginter, is the retired player selection. HOFs like Banks, Yaz, Clemente, Brooks and Frank Robinson, etc. and the images that Topps used look great in the mini format. Now the image that lured me was the Nolan Ryan depicted as a California Angel. I have been looking for this mini for a while so right off the bat I knew I had to look and see if I could find thirty cards of my liking. So what did I find?

How about some Hall of Famers (minus the Moose) and original A&G original reprints!!!!! Score!! I love the Frankie Frisch, Yaz, and Frank, but c'mon Topps, why are you showing an end-of-the-line Brooks??? I'd like to know why they went with this shot.

Next up so "RC" designated minis ...

I like the Hanley mini because it's not an action shot taken from a mile away like a couple of his other Ginter cards. The McCann is petty cool, that Braves uniform was made for the A&G product line.

Next up are a whole bunch of current players ...

King Felix, Vladi, Chase, can't go wrong with those guys. Piazza and Nomar in jerseys no one thought they would end up in. As a BoSox, I know I never imagined Nomah in anything but a Red Sox jersey. Too bad nagging injuries and his ego got the best of him. Cubs, Dodgers, A's ... a shame he could be there for both World Series teams. We got some future HOFs here too with Biggio, Chipper, Piazza, and maybe Bonds, but that's a whole different story.

And finally some miscellaneous sports/non-sports ...

The best college basketball coach ever and a Hall of Famer as a player and coach! "Holy s@#t, that was Mike Tyson!" "I mean he's still got it!" ... Mike is back for a cameo again in The Hangover 2 due out this Memorial Day. And lastly, Lady Liberty. A classic indeed. I need more of these type of Ginters, ones like the St. Louis Arch, the Grand Canyon, Eifel Tower.

The average cost of these minis for the lot ... $0.38. This was one of the lots that reminded me of those dime/quarter boxes at card shows, and that with a little time and patience (and flipping between lists), good finds are often right before our eyes — we just have to open them.

Adding more minis to the collection

Relic minis that is.  This was part of my eBay buying binge over the last two weeks. Put a bid on this lot and kinda forgot about it until I was notified that I was the winner.

 We have some white swatches ...

Some gray swatches ...

And some colors and a bat chip. This lot broke down to be about a buck per relic—I thought might as well and if I didn't win, no big deal.

These all came from the 2008 Allen & Ginter set and eventually would like to have a page of relics from each of the A&G years. So, if you have an extra 2006, 07, 09, or 2010 Ginter relic, I would be open to trading a couple of these to pick up another year. About the only one I would not trade is Tulo. Mauer would be available as I already have a 2009 gray w/pinstripe jersey swatch.

In two other separate auctions, I completed my World's Deadliest Sharks insert set with the Great White Shark from the 2008 A&G set. And on top of that, I picked up my first World's Deadliest Snakes card from the 2007 edition in the King Cobra. These Snakes seem to run about $20 or so each so I was pretty happy when I got this guy for half that.

I have a couple more Ginter auction wins to showcase that were part of this spree as well as some vintage HOF'ers joining my No-Hitters collection. Hopefully I'll get all that up by the weekend as well as find a creative way to get some trade bait posts up as well for next week. So stay tuned and Go Sox!

Card Show Finds

So recently I was down at the in-laws in Connecticut and lucked out in finding a card show at the local K of C hall. I had been to a couple of these over the years but hadn't been to a card show period in I bet TWO years. Going in I was hoping maybe for the dime/quarter boxes everyone talks about, maybe come away with some Allen & Ginter minis, basically, I was looking forward to an hour or so of "me" time.

So what did I find ...

After taking a walk around the room (there might have been 30–40 tables but I bet only 12 dealers if that), I stopped at one dealer and noticed he had some 2009 Topps Heritage. Thanks to this blog site, I was able to pull up my wantlists—now you gotta love that!!  Forget your wantlists, no problem—pull up the 'ol blog. So cross off four more cards off this set including a low-series short print Dice-K for a quarter!  Not sure what is more shocking, finding a SP for a quarter or Dice-K throwing a 5-pitch inning today. Sox fans know what I'm talking about on that one!

At the same table (but came back around near the end of the show) I decided to look throw two 400-count boxes that he had stacked and kinda behind so other boxes. The first was some 2011 Heritage. I'm still up in the air if I want to attempt this set. I still have a handful of '09 and '10 Heritage cards I need for those sets, including a bunch of SPs. And right now, my focus has been Ginter and trying to acquire cards of players that hold unique records or rare feats. So for forty cents apiece, here is what I found ...

So I managed to grab FIVE SPs including a Youkils, a Lester (so worst case if I don't collect this set, I have a couple of player collection cards) AND a GREEN TINT SP!!! Not bad for under $3.00!! I still have no idea, absolutely none whatsoever why Topps decided to place a number of Red Sox players under the backdrop of the Polo Grounds in New York.

While on this second go at this table, I also looked in a boxed that was titled something along the lines of non-sport, presidents, etc. I figured, he must have some Allen & Ginter minis in there ...

Not too many but any mini is a good mini. We have some National Animals, a 2008 World Icon, a couple of World Leaders, a Flag card (always a good find), and a couple of base minis. No complaints here.

I was kicking myself after the fact for a A&G mini I did not pick up. At another take, a dealer had a 2009 Verlander no-number that was hand numbered. The dealer gave me one price and then lowered it to $3.00, I should have taken it. Oh well, maybe it will be there next time.

Next up at another table was some 2009 Goodwin Champion minis. Getting closer on this set and it will be interesting to see how Upper Deck goes about the checklist for the 2011 edition. The most expensive card in this bunch was the Adrian Peterson at a buck.

Next up at one dealer was some 6 and 10 for buck boxes in which I fond some ...

Some Jon Lester's including the sweet 2009 OPC Highlights and Milestones from Jon's No-No for 2008 ... Some ...

Jason Varitek's, the Captain and still a pillar in the clubhouse. He did mighty well helping Josh Beckett get back on track over his last two starts ... and finally some more player collection cards ...

YYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKK! Of this bunch I think my two fav's are the Goudey and the Heritage.

So all in all, I came away with a number of cards that covered a nice swath of needs. It was a small show but still worth it. I'd do it again as I know there were cards I left at various tables that would fill in some other needs. So with that, hopefully, I won't have to wait another two years to attend my next show.

Hmm, what's in this box ...

looks like some 1993 Upper Deck, some Pinnacle cards, oh boy 1992 Topps ... wait, hey I need that and that!

So I was recently back at my Mom's for the day and even though I have long moved out, there still is the occasional small box of cards I forgot to bring along with me. So at first, I thought this was pretty much just junk, and for the most part is was, but then I remember a couple of 1992 Topps cards that I needed for my No-Hitters Club, a Kent Mercker and Mike Flanagan — both guys who were involved in combined No-hitters in 1991. Mercker went six innings against San Diego on September 11, 1991, before Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena finished off the No-No. 

Mike Flanagan and the O's decided to go one better with four pitchers involved in their No-no on July 13, 1991 against the Oakland A's. Bob Milacki pitched 6 innings and struck out three batters before giving ball to the bullpen. He was taken out of the game when he was hit by a line drive in the seventh inning. Flanagan normally a starter pitched the seventh inning walking one batter. Mark Williamson pitched the eight innings and retired the side in order. Gregg Olson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning striking out two batters to record the save.

But wait, what else do we have here?

A 1968 Topps Carl Yastrzemski, hey, I can use him for cycle collection too, and how about some 1975 Topps!!!! We've got a Bob Gibson Highlight, a Lou Brock, and Thurman Munson too!!!! Sweet!!! Now it's too bad I couldn't use any of these three towards my 1975 set, but maybe someone out there can and have a couple of '75's I need. Shoot me an email if you need these and maybe we can cross a couple of cards off one another's list. I also snatched the 1982 Kelloggs Neil Allen just because I have always loved the Kelloggs cards and who knows, maybe I'll come across some others here and there. So not too bad for a "junk" box. Gotta love days when you come across some cards you completely forgot about! Now, I can honestly say, thank you Mom for nothing throwing out my baseball cards!

Catching up on a couple of trades

Got two trades to recap here tonight that are overdue so I'll get right into them.

First up is a trade with Justin from Justin's World who called dibs on a Trade Bait post of 2011 Topps insert cards. He wanted the gold Hoffman and the Heyward Red Diamond card. In addition to those, I tossed him some Cubbies cards from here and there ranging from the mid 70's to some oddball 80's to I believe a couple of recent Cubs cards.

In exchange all I wanted was a 2011 Kimball Champion mini Clay Buchholz. Justin was generous enough though to load a package of some Sox cards from the 80/90's. But it was these Sox Fav's that
needed to be shown.

Justin had crossed off a card from my Red Sox All-Time Roster list with the 2005 Tony Graffanino, a card that I didn't know existed. I had seen his Heritage card of him as a Red Sox, but not this one. In any case, another card off the list. Also was another card for my Youkilis collection, a 2010 Bowman Platinum and a couple of other Sox I can find a place for in my collection.

Thanks again Justin, I appreciate the cards and maybe I can send you a whole lot more Cubs in the future!

*******

Second of the trade recaps is from Nachos Grande's Trade Stacks. The one card of the three I wanted was the 2010 Topps National Chicle Jon Lester. What I had going his was was a couple of 2011 Topps "60" cards and threw in some Reds I thought Nacho would like as well.

In addition to the Lester was a Nomah I could use for my player collection and some other Sox cards as well. Thanks again and I really like that Trade Stack concept. Looks like you have done well with that — I know I check back to see if there's anything I can use/like.

Good things come to those who wait

So the saying goes. Got a nice little surprise in the mailbox today — actually two surprises.

Several years ago I had done some TTM autograph collecting, stopped for a couple of years and then decided to try it again last spring training. From there life and work got in the way and just didn't have time to dedicate to writing to players.

So, imagine my surprise when not one, but TWO familiar SASEs appeared when I checked the mail today.  I forget the exact dates sent, but know it was mid-March of last year.

The National League's 2010 Most Valuable Player, Joey Votto, and Toronto slugger Adam Lind who is off to another 2009-like start.  Pretty sweet sigs, guys!  I know you won't come across this, but thank you Mr. Votto and thank you Mr. Lind!

Trade with The Other World

So one of my readers, Dan from The Other World is a transplanted Phillies fan on the left coast, and had missed out on a 2011 Topps Utley manufactured patch card that I offered up as Trade Bait. We chatted, looked at each others lists and put together a pretty good trade for one another. The key card going back his was a nice, 1971 Topps "Reynolds" Rookie Prospect card from the high series. One of the "Reynolds' on there was a Phillie and the last card he needed for a 1971 Phillies team set. In addition a bunch of Phillies cards from all years went west as well.

Coming east where ...

Nine Allen & Ginter minis!!!! I finally picked up on eBay a couple of boxes of the UltraPro 15-pocket sheets to house all these Ginter minis. I had been using another company (20 pockets) but didn't like how the minis stuck out of the pockets. So, hopefully I will have time to start putting these all into sheets today.

Next up ....

Some retro vintage Red Sox. Love the Kimball Ortiz as I need it for my Kimball Champions set.

How how some, somewhat vintage Sox ...

A couple of 1978 Topps and 1980 Topps Sox. Poor Fisk goes from an awesome action shot ('77) to a ho-hum standing around pose ('78). That 1980 Topps Fred Lynn has always been one of my favorites, I think it's because it's a "action/pose" shot you rarely see on a card.

And finally ...

Some Sox favorites' cards. I keep acquiring Pedroia cards in trades that I think I may have to add him to my list of Sox to collection. He's certainly a fan fav around here because he leaves it all out on the field. He's not the biggest guy, doesn't have the flair or grace of a Jeter, certainly is not the speedster of say HanRam but boy, he's a smart, hard working, and one hell of a ballplayer!

Thanks again Dan for the trade, hope to do it again down the road.

*******

So, finally caught my breath to finally get a post up. Got a number of scans ready to go and hope to schedule a bunch of posts for this weekend and next week. Work still has the buffer on any Blogger sites so I can even edit my want lists and make postings. Also went on a little bit of an eBay buying binge and picked up a bunch of nice stuff. Just need to scan and edit lists so stay tuned.

Happenings

So work has been crazy, freelance work has been crazy, and on top of that, IT has starting blocking various sites and putting the clamps on employees posting to blog sites and whatnot. Although I can view my site and view others, I cannot post anything to this blog and that in turn has been part of the reason for lack of posts.

I just installed some software for a new Canon-do-it-all machine so I now have the ability to scan cards rather than take photos. I just wrapped up a bunch of scans and now I just have to write about them. I have three trades to review, my findings from my first card show in maybe TWO years, and some cards I came across from a recent trip back home.

Add to that, a have completed FOUR fantasy baseball drafts in the last week.

So, what I think I will do is schedule the posts I have coming, so that they hit here and there and therefore I can bypass the site blocking. So with that, I need to go write and get ready to watch my Red Sox stumble so more out of the starting block.