CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT - FOR GEORGIA MINDSET!

Just in case you're the one person in the blog-world who hasn't heard about this contest!!!! Check it out people! Thanks Georgia Mindet!!!

TRADE POST - Ryan at "O" No!!!! Another Orioles Blog

Got a nice little package of cards in the mail the other day from Ryan over at "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog and I was pleasantly surprised with the loot! He was able to send me some cards towards both of my set completion projects: 1978 Topps and the 20th Anniversary 2009 UD Series. Plus, what I believe is my first Brooks Robinson card. Below are the highlights...

Thanks again Ryan. I'll work on getting a package back to you here very soon...

2010 Topps Update Box Break

I should have titled this: Let the Strasburg Pimping Continue... but that was expected right? You don't sign an exclusivity deal and then not throw in a bunch of his cards right? Well, here we go. The box has 36 packs, at 10 cards per pack, and a 1 card Rookie Refractor as well. There is a guarantee of 1 auto or relic. The same basic insert sets are there from the original Series 1 and 2. There are 330 or 331 cards in the set, depending on where you consider the Strasburg #661 card lands. According to the checklist cards in the set, it's part of the update... First, here's the refractor card that I got:

Not too bad, it's not Strasburg but I'll take it. The kid is playing his part in the Rangers' quest for the WS. Alright, next is a random selection of inserts, including my first black border parallel which is numbered 48/59. Definitely like the inclusion of the Nolan Ryan cards and the Babe always looks great on a baseball card.

Alright, I mentions Strasburg pimpage... well, there's 3 cards in the base update, and then a 4th card I got as part of the inserts... it seems most of the big rookies have a base RC and then a "debut card", Strasburg is also included on a checklist card and then there's the "More Tales from the Game" Rookie Tsunami card.

So overall, I got a very considerable portion of the entire update set. I'd approximate that I'm about 30-40 cards short (I'll post a want list once I think more people have them available for trade), and only had 12 duplicates of base cards total. I ended up with 4 Turkey Red inserts, however I got duplicates of 3 of them (so I should have gotten 7 total, great job on the collation there Topps)... Oh wait, at this point, I bet you're wondering "Hmm... The Dimwit hasn't posted his auto or relic, I wonder what it is? Is it so fantabulous that he saved it for the very end???" OF COURSE I did... here you go everyone, my "relic"...

That's right, more Stasburg mania... this beauty is numbered 116/500. The odds of pulling a RC Patch card are 1:1125 packs or thereabouts, so pulling one of the 500 Strasburgs is a nice hit I guess. What should I do, hold on to it, or sell it on ebay? Hmmm... let me know what you think!

Putting a toe in the water...

So, we went to Wal-Mart tonight and I picked up a couple blasters. The first was one of those Tri-Star card chases with 16 packs for $20 with a chance at a '52 high series pack. The other was a 2010 Topps Chrome blaster. I recorded a video each, but after the Tri-Star box (which was complete 1988-89 JUNK WAX and one pack of 2009 Obak) I decided I wouldn't bore you with that box. Thus, here's the Topps Chrome blaster... all cards for trade... don't think I'll be collecting Chrome, not a huge fan of rainbow shaped cards that are warped as hell before you even open the pack. Seriously Topps, after all these years you can't figure out a way to make these without warping the hell out of them??!?!?! What's the point if you can't even produce flat, crisp cards? Just doesn't make sense to me... just sayin'...

TRADE POST - WAY OVER DUE!!!

Alright everyone, I finally got a free minute or two and thought I'd get a trade post done... finally... first of all, I have to say that I continue to be amazed and humbled by the generosity of strangers on the blog-o-sphere... you guys are awesome and I can't thank all of you enough who have traded with me...

First we have BA Benny and his big time generosity with giving me his Astros cards... I send him my Mets and Yankees, he sends me quality Astros hits... Along with about 100-150 random Astros cards I got these two beauts:

And then there is Chris from Nachos Grande; we e-mailed back and forth quite a bit and when it came down to it, I just couldn't find anything on his want list that I could provide for him... but rather than table the trade, he basically sent me cards for "A Player To Be Named Later" in MLB Trade lingo... I owe him some cards, and I'll be doing the best I can to fulfill a trade for him soon... as he sent me 21 cards from my A&G want list, and 25 cards from my quest to complete the Upper Deck 20th Anniversary Insert set...

Again, thank you gentlemen for the cards and my deepest apologies for not getting this post done sooner!

If there is anyone who has sent me cards and hasn't gotten a post, please let me know, I can be forgetful or just plain dumb sometimes... thus I'm the Dimwit... goodnight everyone!

CONTEST RESULTS ARE IN!!!

Alright everyone, the moment you've all been waiting for is here!!!! Here's the original list:

And the first randomization of three:

And the second randomization of three:

And the final randomization... the winner is....

Alright everyone there's your winner! Matt, send me an email with your mailing address and I'll get them sent out to you ASAP... good to know these are going into the hands of a loyal Cubs fan... Thanks everyone!!!!

MASSIVE BOX IN THE MAIL!!!!

Wow, so about a week ago, I was contacted by a guy known as "Dan in Maine"... I'm not sure if he has a blog, but I tell you now, if you get an e-mail from him you are very lucky! He said he had about 2,000 Astros cards and said he'd send them on with a promise of Red Sox cards getting sent back to him in the future... well, lets just say I have a lot of cards to be sending to him... all my Red Sox cards from here forward will be marked for Dan! The first picture is just an overall view of all the boxes sent my way:

The CD case looking thing on the bottom left, is well, a CD case, but modified to hold some holographic baseball cards (not endorsed by MLB but awesome nonetheless) celebrating the 1991 Rookie of the Year Jeff Bagwell. There's 4 cards in all and the set is serial numbered 205,026 of 250,000. Scans of those are in the next picture along with a couple of other cards. The biggest of which is my (I know this is kind of sad) FIRST EVER RATED CARD!!!! And it's a Jeff Bagwell 1991 Fleer Ultra Update ROOKIE CARD!!!!! Rated 8.5!!! Very awesome... again it's in the next picture... There is also a bookmark card of Bagwell. Finally, there is a Craig Biggio 1995 Studio card, with embossed print that kind of makes it look like a credit card. See below...

Ok, back to the Biggio card, I was about to just keep going through the many cards, but for some reason it caught me as an odd card, so I flipped it over to find this:

OMG, it IS like a credit card, complete with a signature on the back! First time I've ever seen a signature on the BACK of a card... and it's Craig Biggio!!!! I'll be in Cooperstown in a few years when Craig gets his plaque, and I sure hope I have a chance to shake his hand again and maybe get a few more autographs for my personal collection. In college, I worked on the Astros' Grounds Crew for two seasons and had a chance to sit with many of the Astros, including Craig during batting practice. Great guys and great to get some great cards from a reader! Dan in Maine... you are awesome... I certainly hope some of my fellow readers get a chance to trade with you!

Alright, this post took precedence over some of my recent trades, but I SWEAR the other posts will be done this weekend!

Contest Reminder!!!!!

Get your entries in by Friday evening! If you've plugged the contest on your blog, remember to send me an email to samuelpair@yahoo.com with the link to it for your second entry!

Thanks for all who have entered so far! I promise, later this week or this weekend, there are multiple blogs postings going up for trades I've neglected to post!

CONTEST TIME!!!!

Alright, I've wanted to do a contest... and since I found a couple of auto's to give away, I figured now was a good time to do it!

Two ways to enter:
1) Leave a comment
2) Link to this contest on your blog and email me at samuelpair@yahoo.com with the link. (Yes, I know it's a shameless way to get more readers... I never guaranteed shame on this blog... lower your expectations... haha!)

I'll wait until Friday, get the list together and randomize it 3 times to decide the winner... ok, so I guess you're wondering what the prize is... well, I mentioned that they are auto's... but they are also Cubs... AND they (I believe) RC's!!!!! OMG... who could it be?!?!?!?! I'll end the suspense: see below!

In a non-contest related note: yes, I know I am behind on a couple of trade posts... yes, I will get them posted soon, and yes I am VERY appreciative for the trades... great cards! Will post back to you all later!

Friday Trip To The Card Shop

Well, I stopped by the card shop on the way home and since I couldn't afford a box of Triple Threads... I checked out a couple of other products... First up is a box of 2010 Topps Pro Debut Minor League cards. I always find minor league cards intriguing, mostly because I like to see what prospects (or lately, the lack of) are coming up through the Astros system... well, the box guaranteed two autos and a game-used item and they weren't lying! See photos below for the highlights of the box:

Ok, so that's a Shane Peterson and Steve Garrison Auto, Hector Noesi Futures game patch... Eddie Rosario gold border (02/50) and then inserts of Aroldis Chapman and Kyle Drabek. Nice little set of inserts, if any one is interested in any of these (or any base cards from the set) let me know, they are all up for trade!

The next thing I did was grab a single pack of 2010 UD Sweet Spot College Football, mainly because I was curious and had seen other people get some good hits, and my dealer gave me a good price (wow, that makes it sound like I'm a drug addict or something...)... But I like the LeSean McCoy Sweet Swatch and the base cards I got with it. Again, if you see something that interests you, let me know b/c I love to trade!!!!