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.

Topps Diamond Giveaway — Digging Works

So decided to "dig" into the Topps Diamond this morning and with my three Digs, and unlocked these virtual rings. I guess the point of having these virtual rings is to keep buying packs and therefore keep collecting and unlocking your Diamond Giveaway cards. From there, you'll move up on the points scale and receive various prizes. I also have read that trading of cards and rings will not start until April 1st.

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At some point today, I'll finish posting what I didn't get to from yesterday, so be on the look out for that, plus later this week I'll showcase I sweet card I received in a trade with Cards from the Quarry. If you haven't already, go check out his blog! Like me, his blog is fairly new, and has really put out a lot of strong content.

A new reoccuring feature — OTW's Topps, the Lost Cards

George Foster did not have the Mets career many hoped for when they signed him. He did all right at times, just not as well as he did when he was on the Big Red Machine. He was never appreciated due to his quiet demeanor and lack of production but he toiled away. During the 1986 season, Foster began complaining over his lack of playing time, sighting it was racially-based. The Mets were not about to have their dream season fall apart over racial discord so they released him. 

The Chicago White Sox picked him up off of waivers on August 15th of that year. He saw action in 15 games for them, his last being on September 6, 1986 before being released the following day. He played the outfield for 11 games and DH'd in three others. He had 11 hits in 51 at bats—two of those TRIPLES(!!), 2 runs, 1 HR, and 4 RBI.

Pictured above, is Foster's 1986 Topps Traded card. A Lost Card no more.

Two more Diamond Topps Giveaways

Ok, this is a little better ... vintage!

1969 #384 Larry Shepard
In his two seasons as skipper of the Bucs, he had a combined record of 164–155, finishing sixth in the ten-team National League in 1968 and third in the NL East in 1969. After his firing by the Pirates with seven games remaining in the ‘69 season, Shepard returned to the coaching ranks. He was the pitching coach of the fabled Cincinnati Reds “Big Red Machine” dynasty under Sparky Anderson from 1970 through 1978, and finished his career in uniform in a similar post with the 1979 San Francisco Giants.

1973 #496 Ray Lamb
Lamb is the only Los Angeles Dodger to wear #42 after Jackie Robinson before it was retired in 1972. I found this little tidbit interesting seeing that Robinson was elected into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962. Seems odd that after this milestone, they would hand is #42 to a minor league pitcher seven years later.

Topps Diamond Giveaway is Live

So just minutes ago, I entered my first code at www.diamondtopps.com ... the prefix was kB9 ... the cards was ...

... a 1996 Topps Javy Lopez [insert groan here]. Well not the way I was looking to start my collection.  I have two more codes to enter, but will a little bit later. I had read recently that last years codes may have shown some sort of pattern depending on prefixes and when other decades had recently been unlocked. Did anyone else hear of this and what was your experiences in when you decided to unlock your codes.

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Later today on this blog, I'll showcase what I picked up at the local card shop, a "Card that Should Have Been", and I'll throw out some 2011 Topps Inserts for Trade Bait.

Trade with Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle

So Greg over at Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle hit me up in the comments field for the Trade Bait Utley patch from the 2011 Topps. While these retro logo patch cards are cool, I just have never been into collecting them. So instead of sitting in a box, I decided to throw it out as my first Trade Bait.

Taking a ride across country were some Ginter minis and a well-loved Reggie Smith.

First up, Reggie, pictured here as a Red Sox on his second year, 1968 Topps card. Greg, you were right, it's got a lot of character, but I like it. Wouldn't you like to be able to trace this card's path over the years. Think of how different life has changed in only 43 years. In 1973, Smith was limited to only 115 games, but still hit .303 with 21 home runs and 69 RBI and ended a streak of four straight years in which he had received votes in the MVP balloting.

Smith became expendable after the '73 season, as Boston had a slew of rookie outfielders coming up and needed starting pitching. Dwight Evans, Rick Miller, Fred Lynn, and Jim Rice had already reached the majors or were just on the cusp. Rise Wise and '75 World Series (game 6) hero Bernie Carbo came to Boston for Smith. It would mark the second time in 3 years that Wise had been traded.

For his 17-year career, Smith’s numbers were very impressive. He finished with a .287 batting average, 314 home runs, 1,092 RBI and 1,123 runs scored. Since retirement, Smith has served as a hitting coach. He was the hitting coach for Team USA at the 1988 Olympics and the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009.

Next in the package were a handful of Allen & Ginter minis and mini inserts. It's nice to be able to add some National Animals as I only had a few in hand. With all the minis I have landed lately, I need more tobacco sized sheets in a big way. I currently have been using these 20 pocket sheets (not UltraPro) but don't like how the don't quite cover the whole card, but they'll do for now. I also realize that with my budget, collecting the entire run of mini sets is really not feasible right now, but want more minis than what the "Frankenstein set" would limit me to at a 350 card set.

Thanks for dropping me a line Greg, I'm sure we'll trade again. With my first Trade Bait being a success, I will definitely throw another up this week. Stay tuned.

Trade with Bound for Beantown ...

So Joe, a fellow Red Sox Nation member at Bound for Beantown dropped me a line not too long ago about doing a trade. Joe has recently got back into collecting and was eager to help me out on a number of fronts.

First up, three cards off my All-Time Red Sox Roster collection. Nick Green (kinda looks like Bradley Cooper), Paul Byrd, and Lars Anderson. Poor Lars finally got back on track last year only to now be block by Adrian Gonzalez. I don't see Lars reaching Boston again and think he'll be elsewhere come Spring Training's end.

Next up, some YYYYOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! Love this sweaty guy. Kevin has really turned himself into one of the game's top players. He was never your typical top prospect, toolsy guy. He came from University of Cincinnatti—not exactly a baseball powehouse—he's slow, and does not look the part of an athlete, but sure knows how to play the game. His swing was built for Fenway and have turned himself into a great fielder no matter which side of the corners he plays from. The "Greek God of Walks" looks good here in this batch of cards, including his 2003 Bowman rookie that I did not have.

In this batch, we have another rising Sox star in Clay Buchholz. A guy that other teams have coveted in trade talks over the years. Now along with Jon Lester, has given the Sox an excellent home-built, 1 and 1A top of the rotation for years to come. I didn't have too many of his cards, so this was a nice add, especially his All-Star jersey swatch.

 Next up, some more BoSox including a Lester I didn't have in the '10 Upper Deck.

Joe also sent along a bunch of retro minis too!!! First in the lot was three, numbered to 99, T206 Cycle cards.

More Topps T206s from 2009 and 2010. As we now know, T206 is dead and will not return this year.

Next up, some Allen & Ginter minis. I have received a number of these lately and need to update my Frankenstein set wants. When I was at my local shop on Friday, he told me that he has not received any info regarding an 2011 Ginter offering. I wonder if Topps will push this later this year. Above are batches from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 sets.

And finally, we close with more retro minis from 2009 UD's Goodwin Champions. Will be building this set—love the artwork too much to not build it. A nice mix of SPs and black borders.

So thanks Joe!!!  I need to put the final touches on your package and get that out to you this week. You definitely hit on all my likes with this trade.

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Coming up this week, I'll have my trade bait Utley patch recap coming on Monday, plus I'll show what I picked up at the local card store, will do another trade bait post, plus will show a card or two I designed for "Cards that Should Have Been." I won't be doing any TTM requests this Spring Training, but for those that do, good luck and this is the week to get those requests in the mail. The earlier the better as most teams don't really get their workout going till later this week.