Just another Massive Mail-day... oh oh oh... wish it were... ok, I'll stop...

Now that I have the catchy tune in your head (come on, you know you all love The Bangles)... I got a bunch of packages in the mail today... let's get started with my favorite blogger who recently returned to the blogging realm after a nine month or so absence... the one and only... B A Benny!!!! We put together a MASSIVE deal after his return and here's my side of the loot!

The Bagwell here is the jewel amongst them all... Various Astros past and present... I really like the Sweet Beginnings from Sweet Spot. I miss that set!

The oversized manufactured relic from Vintage Sports cards that we've all seen out of the Target re-packs is pretty cool... the Patridge was thrown in there for my wife's collection. I believe the Oswalt and Wandy's are duplicates so if anyone is interested in those, make me an offer! Mike also sent over a nice healthy stack of base Astros cards as per the usual!

Finally, the cornerstone of the deal was this AMAING CARD!!!! It is the next-to-last one that I need for the set of mini relics from 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen!!!!!

Munson was such a bad@$$. He just looks like a dude you wouldn't mess with on this card! Now, I just have my sights set on the Babe Ruth and my mini relic set will be complete! Mike, I know it hurt to trade away the Munson but believe me this card will be taken care of very well! Thanks for another great trade my friend, it truly is great to have you back in the blog world!

Next up... a big shipment from COMC... I went on a bit of a splurge!

 Yay!!!! Mini's!!!!!

 Most of these, I got for under $2 a piece! The Jumbo Bagwell swatch is SICK!!!! Plus you have the Biggio triple relic with pants, jersey and shoe! I really like the quad bat with Biggio, Alomar, Boone and Vidro! Sweeeeet!!!!!

And here we have a bunch of Gypsy Queen pick ups! I decided to go after as many of the autographs from the set as possible... as there is no definitive checklist, I may be picking up autos from this set from here to eternity... there are a couple of checklists on the web, but there were several autos that didn't make pack out (like Brett Wallace and others) and Topps has never confirmed the actual list of available autos to my knowledge.  Oh, and you may wonder why Jon Garland is randomly thrown in there... well this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've bought his SP card from the set and I have accidentally traded the others away not remembering I bought them to complete my base set! I realized my error and this one is not going anywhere but in the binder!

Next up is Kyle from JABO's. We made a straight forward 1-for-1 swap... here's my card!

A nice Beltran relic! I don't have a bunch from his Astros days, so I snatch up any I can get. He was a big part of that 2004 squad and I wish we would have been able to re-sign him, but it was obvious that he was looking for a spot in the big city at the time and the Mets sure dealt out the cash to get him. Nice to see him have a bit of a resurgence this year and last with the Cardinals and Giants. Thanks Kyle!

Finally, The Diamond King sent me over some Bagwell inserts... Going to have to find something nice to send back his way for sure!

Wow, that's one heck of a mail day! Thanks Kevin!

Whew... I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time updating spreadsheets and the like... hope you all enjoyed the massive amounts of cards added to my collection today and thanks to all who contributed!

Massive Mail Day!

Alright, let's get rolling with contest winnings from Matt over at Number 5 Type Collection! The randomizer scored me this sweet 1951 Bowman George Kell:

Loved on a bit, but that's my kind of vintage. Yes, PSA 10's are great, but I find it hard to enjoy a card that's slabbed. Thanks Matt!

Next up, an eBay purchase! Only once I got it here and took a look did I realize that I got the wrong "back" card... this is a red GQ back... and as you all certainly know, for 2011 I'm going for the set of "regular" back cards... anyone got this card with the original back and want to swap with me????

Anyone who could help would gain much appreciation, and you'd also get this card back in return (and who knows what else!!!)...

Jeff over at My Sports Obsession was giving away cards... he sent over a nice healthy stack of Topps Unique, as I think I may go after the base set... and these great cards...

More vintage! YAY! And the Towles auto is nice and numbered /500! SWEEET! Thanks Jeff!

My good buddy David over at Rhubarb Runner not only runs a great blog, but he also has a thing for the Minnesota Twins... which works great as I keep pulling Twins cards that interest him. I got a Scott Baker relic out of a recent box of Artifacts and a trade developed... here's my loot:

I have very few Kent relics from his Astros days, so this is great... anything with Maddux and Bagwell is awesome, and by golly that Topps Gallery Artist Proof looks RIDICULOUS!!!! Thanks David!

Finally I got a package from Oscar over at All Trade Bait, All The Time... he busted some GQ a while back and I laid claim to the mini's... by now, there wasn't but one or two that I needed, but they can all be used to help me make trades to get the ones that I do need! Thanks Oscar!

SWEET! I love me some GQ mini's!!!! YAY!!!!!

Hey USPS... you are hereby charged with Buffoonery...

When the envelope says "Please do not bend", that means that the sender and recipient of said envelope do not want you to bend the living daylights out of the envelope... simple enough right?

You would think so...

Lead prosecutor T. D. Dimwit, Esquire would like to present state evidence #1-A...

I would say the names of the innocent have been redacted but we all can see this is plainly a Biggio/Bagwell dual relic. Notice the double bend, one slightly to the right and below Biggio's bat and then the massive one that seemingly runs through Bagwell's bat relic.  

I rest my case your honor.

I fully blame USPS on this one. This is a trade with a good blogger and I will not sully his good name but we recently made a trade and yes his envelope is still in a stack to be mailed tomorrow by my lovely wife. I've had worse mangling from USPS, but this is still a great card! Dual bats of two of my most favorite players of all time? SWEEET!

USPS, you are a dirty scoundrel and I demand a dual to the death... at midnight, by the big oak tree... doesn't matter which one, just pick one... I'll find you... muahahahaha...

Purchase and a Trade...

I bought me a Brett Wallace auto off eBay on the cheap...

Brett impressed me a bit with his recent call up, seems like losing a bunch of weight and growing out his hair turned him into mini-Samson. Showed more power in this brief stint than he did all of last year combined in my opinion.

Next up, blog reader Brad was seduced by the double Jimmy Rollins hits I got out of my latest crack box... err Gypsy Queen box... he didn't have any Astros for me, but I picked up some trade bait instead...

Gotta say I really like the retro-relics from Archives. Didn't pull any myself but they look pretty cool. I have no clue who Chuck Diering is... but figured there would be a Giants fan out there who did and would want his auto! 

Hope everyone's week is going better than mine so far... have a great day everyone!

Trade Bait Galore... Artifacts Style...

There's a little bit of something for everyone here... snagged 3 boxes of Artifacts, one from 2007 and 2 from 2006...

From 2007:

 The Martinez is very refractor-y... the Kendall is awesome trifecta on one card: auto, jersey and bat!

 Baker and Cordero = Meh.... Dykstra & Oswalt SWEEET!

 First three hits from the final box... nice! An awesome Yankee pinstripe on the Nettles... but then there was the final hit in the final pack... I hadn't gotten an auto yet, so I knew it had to be in the pack... when I split the seam, I could see it was a THICK card, so I was pumped... I knew I had pulled one of the hard-to-get jersey relic-auto combos numbered out of /30... but who could it be?!?!?!!?!?!

SWEEEEEEEET!!!! Nice!

All cards in this post are for trade... yes, even the Oswalt as I already have one!

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Trade... and eBay... and a patent (pending) Dimwit rant...

First up we have Jeroen, our favorite Dutch Card Guy with another trade from across the seas...

He sent me a slew of older Astros, including these greats:

But the crux of this trade is this amazing PATCH card!

 I believe that's a nice chunk of one of the numbers of his jersey! A great card from 2005 Chrome!

Next up, an auto I picked up super cheap on eBay!

For under a $2.00 shipped, I picked up an on-card auto of one of the young guys who should be in the Houston rotation for a while.

On a separate note, I'm a little miffed at ESPN's reaction (namely Buster "East Coast Home-er" Olney Jr.) and his remarks about Matt Cain's Perfect Game, saying in so many words "chill out people, it's the crappy Astros who are horrible and deserve no respect from us baseball 'old-timers' who cover this game, let's wait and see if Cain can do it against a REAL team". Look Buster (if that is your REAL NAME), the Astros have a respectable squad this year, we aren't the joke of a team we were last year, a team that finished with over 100 losses. This team is well on their way to a decent season considering the dire predictions everyone had at the beginning of the year (myself included). This team is fun to watch. We ran into a GREAT pitcher when he had his best stuff, give the guy some respect. His team played great defense behind him as well. That shot by Schafer to deep right center, 95% of the time that's a double... just happened that last night the fielder got to it. And it was, from the highlights I saw, an amazing performance by Cain. This was not Cain vs. a AAA team... this was Cain against a team of guys who would still be on other teams' roster for the most part. No, we aren't the '27 Yanks, but we aren't the even the worst team in baseball this year... let's not forget that it was the defending World Series champs who got no-hit earlier this year, it can happen to any team when a pitcher like Cain puts up a game like he did last night. Alright, rant done.

Big Pimpin' Spending G's...

A couple of contests to get excited about...

1) The Chronicles of Fuji... the awesomeness of summer doesn't start until Fuji starts givin' stuff away!
2) Bass on Balls... a new blog for me, and running a really cool contest...
3) BA Benny... back only a month and already givin' stuff away!

I have a problem... My wife has scheduled an intervention...

The wife and I stopped by the card shop yesterday... I started busting GQ packs... I couldn't stop myself... here's the highlights...

It was a Jimmy Rollins hot box! :(

That's the second Brett Anderson auto I've pulled along with my Brad Peacock... any A's collectors??? Do I hear crickets???

The Cruz is nice and at least the Rollins full size has a nice pin stripe.

I also pulled a Gehrig /99 Sepia mini.

Alright, that's all today folks...

A Couple of Sets For Sale

I've got a couple of complete sets for sale... need to raise some money!

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen - 1-300 + 3 Complete Hobby Insert Sets - Will throw in one mini-relic of your choice from these options: McCann, Hudson, Youkilis, Lester - your pick. $60

2011 Topps Chrome - 1-220 --- Will throw in a Sepia Jose Bautista refractor #'ed 99/99 or Jorge Posada Gold Refractor #'ed 50/50 - your pick. $45

Let me know if you might be interested. All prices include shipping within the US.

Trade Night... and a Trade...

First up, a trade with blog reader Jake! I knocked out a huge chunk of his GQ need list and he sent over a few mini's for me and "future considerations" as we ran out of cards to make a deal. Jake, your cards are in the mail tomorrow!

I picked up this Lester for trade bait... you know who you are...

MINI's!!!

Thanks Jake!

Next up, we had trade night last Saturday at BigHits Sportscards. The turnout was pretty low for several reasons, probably the biggest was that WWE was in town. Anyways, instead of pack wars and trivia, the guys basically just gave a prize out to everyone who came... here's my loot of purchases and freebies!

Ok, so the Dale Murphy auto was my freebie prize... yes, I bought more GQ... yes, it was rather Red Sox-centric oddly enough... The Youk and Mantle are SP's and the Freeze green border just looks cool...

A guy named Kevin opened a pack of Tribute, he got a Salvidor Perez auto... he was not happy... he didn't want his base cards! I claimed them in the name of a Nolan Ryan collector, plus that Hamilton is just sick and numbered 74/75. The Molitor and Hamilton are up for trade for sure!

Finally, I threw down some cash for a box of Artifacts... and was "rewarded" with Peralta, Betancourt and Holliday... oh yea, that Jeter swatch is pretty damn sick. All trade bait!

Alright, that was my weekend last week... 

Tonight, I was very proud of myself... I went to Target and got eye to eye with the card aisle and walked away without buying anything. There was GQ tempting me, Archives taunting me and Series 2 giving me the stink-eye. I resisted. I think I'm going to find a case break of Series 2 to join and see what goods I can get. Other than that, I have no need to go bonkers over series 2, or to buy any more Archives, I have all the cards I could possibly want. I still have a misguided idea that GQ is going to reward faithful buyers, I just can't get it through my head that they nearly doubled production this year compared to last... 

A Couple of eBay Pick Ups

Snagged these off eBay for decent prices:

The Scott is of course from 2012 Archives. The Ryan from 2002 Archives. Awesome cards and I was pretty happy with the price I got them for! I find it odd that Topps put Scott on a 1987 Topps card but used an absolutely different picture than his regular base card from that year. Getting that card wraps up all the cards I want from 2012 Archives except for the Nolan Ryan foil parallel.

All the group break packages have been taped up and postage printed. They will go out in the mail today!

Group Break Loot - Community Gum

So the great guys over at Community Gum did a group break of 2012 Topps Archives. The Astros were $20 and I figured I'd take a shot at getting the Jim Wynn and Mike Scott autographs. So I wasn't paying attention to their twitter feed at all the day they busted it, so I had no clue what happened. Then I started getting notifications that I was being mentioned in tweets... hmmm... so here's my Astros loot:

Ryan and Scott were the only base cards, the Morgan is a re-print original and then the deckle edge is a nice card as well. I'm not a huge fan of the deckle edge, but it's an improvement over Lineage last year for sure...

But then there was this card.........

WHOA!!!! Best $20 EVER INVESTED!!!! SWEEEEEEEEET!!!!! I could not be happier with the group break and no I am never selling this one or trading it!!!!

Anyone in the break who didn't want multiple team sets was able to get other teams' sets if they gave up their own duplicates, which I did so I also have a generous stack of random other teams' base cards. Let me know if there are any particulars you all are looking for from the following teams: Pirates, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, D'backs, Dodgers, Rockies, Braves, Marlins, Phillies, Mets, Nationals.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Group Break Box #3 - UD SP Legendary Cuts 2007

Here's the video...



Scan after the page break!

Group Break Box #2 - 2008 Topps Co-Signers

Well, no 1/1 in this box... not every box can be so epic!




Scans after the break!

And the June Group Break begins... Box #1 Topps Unique!

Here you go everyone... PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO... don't just skip to the pictures... I think my freak-out is probably worth it... ;)


Scans after the page break...

June Group Break - Blasters!

So I offered up two blasters if the group break filled by Sunday night, much to my amazement it filled in about 5 hours! Ridiculous!

So here's the video of the blasters if you care to watch... scans after the page break!

June Group Break - 2nd Team Randomization

Wow! That group break filled up FAST!!!!! I certainly wasn't expecting it to fill within 5 hours... craziness!

Alright, so heres the numbering for the 2nd team randomization:
1) Atlanta - Chris
2) Baltimore - William
3) Boston - Matt Perry
4) Cubs - Matt Pederson
5) White Sox - Jeff Wilk
6) Cleveland - David
7) Detroit - The Dutch Card Guy
8) Houston - The Dimwit
9) Dodgers - dodgers88
10) Yankees - kmsrocknj
11) Philadelphia - daddyohoho
12) Pittsburgh - PTR
13) San Francisco - arpsmith
14) St. Louis - William
15) Texas - Matt Pederson

Hit the randomize button 3 times...

And the number in the randomization below corresponds to your number above:

1) Atlanta & Toronto - Chris

2) Baltimore & Seattle - William

3) Boston & San Diego (Trade with Matt Pederson) - Matt Perry

4) Cubs & Colorado - Matt Pederson

5) White Sox & Washington - Jeff Wilk

6) Cleveland & Kansas City - David

7) Detroit & Miami - The Dutch Card Guy

8) Houston & Minnesota - The Dimwit

9) Dodgers & Arizona - dodgers88

10) Yankees & Cincinnati - kmsrocknj

11) Philadelphia & Tampa - daddyohoho

12) Pittsburgh & NY Mets - PTR

13) San Francisco & Oakland - arpsmith

14) St. Louis & L.A. Angels - William

15) Texas & Milwaukee (Trade with Matt Perry) - Matt Pederson

Feel free to trade away! The boxes were ordered today from the fine folks over at Atlanta Sports Cards, so hopefully they will be here Monday or Tuesday!

Thanks everyone... I'll get those blasters at some point and get those videos posted!!!!!