A long time coming ...

for a new post that is. Man, I have been swamped at work lately, add freelancing, coaching baseball, and an hour plus commute, and by the time I sit down, I'm able to catch a couple of innings of the Sox or MLB Network and I'm cooked.

So, I made it a point to do two things today, finally get some posts up, schedule some others, and go to the LCS. LCS was a success as I managed to add 100 Allen & Ginter minis from 2006–2010 for 10 bucks and also picked up two cool vintage cards for almost nothing. Will try to get scans of this stuff up before the weekend is out.

So, first up, I gotta recap some trades I have been able to make over the last two months.

First up, a great trade with Crinkly Wrappers, a trade that stemmed from this post. CW needed the 1975 Topps Munson and had a 1975 Topps Palmer that I needed for my 1975 Topps Wantlist. The trade turned into a bigger affair and the end result was two happy bloggers.

First up, the '75 Palmer that I needed for my set.

From this Palmer, Ted hit a number of spots on my needs list. He was able to knock three cards off my 2010 Heritage set as well as knocking Chris Woodward off my All-Time Red Sox Roster collection.

Next up, a bunch of 2009 Topps Heritage, including a couple of short prints. One of these days I finish this set ... always amazed at how few of those coaches cards ever cross my path.

Next up, some Allen & Ginter minis ...

And how about that 2010 Celestial Sign of Vladi!!!! This is the second one I have obtained via trade and in both cases (the other a Longoria), I had no idea it was coming. Truly a a great surprise!!!!

Next up, some T206 minis for my "Frankenstein" T206 set as well as a couple of 2009 Goodwin minis. I still need to post my needs list for the Goodwins set, I don't think I'm too far off.

And finally, some good 'ol Red Sox cards ...

Thanks again Ted, hope to trade again!!

* * * * * * *

On a side note before I forget, and forgive me if someone else posted as such, but I purchased a 2011 Topps Series 2 blaster box from Target and I swear that color and the photography is off compared to my Series 1 cards. As a designer, I can't get past how the blacks are not as strong and the grass doesn't seem as green. For example (and a scan would have been appropriate here) but I compared an Oakland A's card from each series and the green is off in the name arc and the same green uniform is TWO different shades. There's almost a dullness to the fronts. Anyone else come across the same issue? 

Oh, and no real big hits, I think my two best cards were a Kimball Champion mini of Koufax and Musial, no complaints there.

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.

Trade recaps: Lifetime Topps Project & The Call of Cardboard

Take a crazy work week and thrown in two big freelance projects and I pretty much have worked no-stop since Friday with absolutely no time to post anything. I was lucky enough to happen to see all the 2011 Ginter posts that have gone up the last 24 hours. Very happy that Topps is bringing that back again. One card preview peaked my interest and will showcase that tomorrow. Okay, time to share two trades ...

First trade comes via Charlie over the Lifetime Topps Project. I happened to be reading one of his posts when I noticed he had a 2011 Topps sparkly card of Sox fav, Jon Lester. As a Lester collector, I offered up three 2011 Topps sparklies for the one. Charlie was also nice enough to include some other goodies too.

Here we have the best lefty in the junior circuit and a 2011 Topps Kimball Champions mini Clay Buchholz. As a retro mini collector, I think these cards are pretty sweet; too bad these weren't the '11 Ginter design. Where I am collecting this set, I'll need another mini of Clay for my player collector too. Also in the package was four 2011 Topps Red Sox I still needed for my '11 Topps set.

Lars and Scutaro actually ended up in my Red Sox All-Time Roster collection since they show their 2010 Sox stats while VMart and Paps went towards the Topps base set. Come the end of the 2011 (VMart has already left for Detroit), these guys will all be gone from the Sox organization. Paps is clearly headed for free agency, one time top prospect Lars Anderson is blocked by Theo's man-crush, Adrian Gonzelez, and Marco (Polo) Scutaro is a bridge to prospect Jose Iglesias.

Thanks again Charlie for the trade and be sure to check out his blog. It's a nice ride back in time when many of us were getting our feet wet in the baseball collecting universe.

*******

Next trade recap is from my buddy Chris over at The Call of Cardboard. Chris sent along another package of 2009 UD Goodwin Champion minis. I still need to put a want list together, just need to find five minutes to do so.

First three mini are of the retired legend variety. A young looking Whitey Ford, Bucky "Bleepin" Dent and World Series hero, Joe Carter. I always like Joe Carter when I was younger. Never got in trouble, seemed to always be having fun playing the game and a heck of a ballplayer to boot. I cannot tell you how many times growing up as a kid that we would hear rumors of Joe Carter coming to the Sox or the Sox trading for Carter. Seemed to happen almost every year. He would have been a nice fit at Fenway for sure.

Next up, some current day players, including another guy I wished had donned a different color of Sox, Jim Thome. He has had one heck of a career and I think evades of the "juice" and "roids" talk. From afar, Thome has always been a class act and a pretty consistent player. I was glad to see him go back to Minnesota for another year. Also in this lot, a possible (yet he's hurt again already) fantasy bounce back player in Brian Roberts and the lone face of the Rays, Evan Longoria.

And finally some Goodwin non-sport (real sport) minis. I never got into the whole MMA craze so I couldn't tell you who the two on the right are. I have heard of Evelyn Ng thanks to ESPN's poker coverage, surfer and artist (done a couple of his art puzzles), Laird Hamilton and the biker, uhm no clue but cool card (according to my six-year old). So 11 more minis closer to a set.  Thanks again Chris, will have your cards in the mail this week and I'm sure we'll be wheeling and dealing soon!

Goodwin Minis from the local shop

So I managed to get to the local card store (DJ's Sportscards in Oxford, MA) last Friday to help fill out a couple of other blogger want lists in order to send off a couple of trade packages. After finding those needs, I decided to look for some 2009 Goodwin Champion minis for myself.

For one buck, I brought home 19 more minis for my set and who doesn't love the old Milwaukee Braves logo on McCann's card.