It's all a blur...

Ok, you all are going to think I went nuts... but really all the cards here are from weeks of purchases that have slowly mounted up on my desk... and I need to share.

So, we'll start with a couple of football cards, one was a bonus thrown into a eBay purchase, the other was a redemption that Panini finally got around to mailing out...

The Turbin is numbered 10/349 while the Graham is 20/199... both are infinitely tradable...

Ok, we're moving now into a group of LCS box/pack purchases...

First up 2013 Panini Golden Age:

Apparently I was destined to pull Dodgers... I offered these up to the great Greg Z but he didn't bite, so they are fair game for any of you who might be interested. However, that Hodges is one sweet looking card, I may decide to keep that one in my collection.

Next up, a couple of high end packs:

And low end results... lol... the C.J. Wilson has sold a few times on eBay for $0.99... awesome. Jones /40 might get me a bit more of a decent trade return: I'm starting at you O's fans, I know you read this blog... ;)

I finally took the bait and bought a box of Bowman Inception, and boy was I glad I did...

These are some sweeeeet cards. I love the card stock and the on-card autos rock. The Seager redemption and the Piscotty are both spoken for, I was hoping to pull a Springer or Singleton but alas I was left disappointed!

Finally, before I left the LSC, I had a final $10 in my pocket. I figured I'd pick up three packs of Panini USA Champions. I got ridiculously lucky, all three packs had an auto! It may be from the mythical hot boxes, but either way, yay me!

Lindor red ink /25?!?!! SWEEEET!!! No clue who Christian Lopes is and Bob Watson's auto will go securely into my collection as he was both a player and GM for my Astros.

Ok, to wrap up this post... I have an EPIC card I didn't think there was a ice cube's chance in hell that I'd get... but I found a BIN or Best Offer on eBay and I low-balled the daylights out of it... and the guy accepted. He drug his feet mailing it, but finally after 2 weeks, it's here... and it's mine all mine!!!!!

Gold solid metal border...


Auto...


Numbered /15...


Certain future HOF'er Craig Biggio!!!!

Man there isn't a single think I don't like about this card. If you haven't seen these gold borders in person, they are a sight to see and hold. They are HEAVY and probably some of the nicest in-pack cards I've seen Topps produce in a long time, if ever. I don't give Topps much credit, but they did well with these metal bordered autographs.

Alright, that's got me caught up for a while, unless otherwise noted, everything here is trade bait pretty much...

Have a great rest-of-your-week everyone.

Yet Another Top 20 Bites the Dust

Picked up this one off eBay for a mere $6... makes me wonder how I made it this long without owning one: the 1988 Score XRC of Craig Biggio!

What an awesome card! I miss 88 Score. Loved the set and really dig the color schemes they used! If I remember right, I think they were the first ones to use the sealed plastic wrappers as well. Anyways, really excited to add this one to my collection!

Another Top 20 Most Wanted Captures

I picked up this sweet auto on eBay!

I am down to just 8 autos needed for the GQ autograph set!

Hope everyone is having a great week. I'm really trying to mentally get back into blogging... we'll see how it goes...

A Couple of Pick-Ups

Sorry for the infrequent posts everyone... time has been a challenge to carve out, as the Hotwit and I have been preoccupied with a new little one in the house. No, not a child... this guy...

A friend found him on their property wondering around, starving and needing a home. We've welcomed him and are trying to get him housebroken. It takes a lot of time, and he's VERY energetic. We've named him Ludo (think of the movie Labyrinth). Hopefully he's on the right track and we get him to the point I can be in another room without him going crazy in the mornings so I can blog before work! Today is the test run!

So, for today, I present a couple of rare finds, just like our new guy Ludo.

I couldn't pass up on the printing plate with Jose in the AWESOME retro uni. And as we all know, I'm collecting Topps Silk cards of any Astro! So, another one off the list!

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone... and for those of you who follow me on twitter (@thedimwit) you know that I have something HUGE and AWESOME coming via eBay soon... can't wait to show it off here!

Trade Night - Box #3 - 2013 Topps Pro Debut

This box of 2013 Topps Pro Debut was calling my name. It finally has a decent representation of Astros prospects and a decent chance of a hit from a guy I've heard of... so without further ado, here's what I ended up with:

Ok, so we have the Puig card, that's pretty awesome especially with the way he's tearing it up in LA these days. I hadn't heard of Broxton but Colome is a guy the Rays will have on the big league club full time. There's one of Puig's teammates, Chris Reed. Maybe Greg will want both of those. Anyways, the final card is the best from the box, it's a Robert Stephenson variation hat patch logo manu-relic. It's the gold version numbered 2/5! There's got to be a Reds fan out there who will want this bad boy, it's a pretty sweet looking logo to boot!

Ok, I also picked up a few packs of football cards during the pack wars and here are the highlights:

The Randle is /100, while the prime patch Hall is unnumbered, as is the Hernandez. I also pulled a silver parallel of Hernandez /75 from a pack of the Bowman. Sadly, I could probably make a decent buck or two on eBay with those two cards, which is a sad indictment on our society as a whole. All trade bait for you football collectors out there.

Trade Night Loot - Part 2 - Box #2: 2013 Panini Team USA Baseball

I decided to take a shot with some Panini cards since it was Team USA and they actually had the rights to those logos... I was pretty happy with what I ended up without of my box. You're promised 5 hits, but every box I saw opened had at least 6... I got 6 as well!

That first auto is numbered out of /10! The Nolan Fontana is a GREAT pick-up for my Astros PC! I have no idea who the redemption is, some guy names J.P. Ramirez... who knows. Not a bad group of relics either. I liked the base set and the die-cut inserts as well. Overall, a better effort than Topps put into this product.

Trade Night Loot - Box/Packs #1: Topps Series 2

So I grabbed a jumbo box of Series 2 Topps and few extra packs during the Pack War... here's what I ended up with overall...

Two decent autos... the Weaver just looks like a big doodle... I like the manufactured relics again, they are at least trying harder than the stitched nameplates and team logos from years past. Simmons isn't a horrible relic to pull either. Overall, not too shabby considering I also ended up with a complete set out of the box.

Tomorrow, I'll show off the loot from the Team USA Baseball box!

Another Gyspy Queen Addition!!!

Well, before I get into the Trade Night post, I thought I'd show off one more GQ auto that I picked up recently...

Mr. Chapman, welcome to the collection! Only 9 more to go! This set is lookin' really nice in the binder pages, let me tell ya! 

Tomorrow, I have my Trade night loot from Saturday night... I'd get it up today, but my scanner is being a pain and refusing to scan... 

Have a great Tuesday!

Another Elusive Card Captured

I think I did pretty well for getting this one in the collection for just $75...

It is nowhere near that off-center, the scanner just cut off a chunk of the left side of the card. A Cal Ripken Jr. auto never comes cheap and especially from this set. My understanding was that this was a redemption/replacement hit for the shorted boxes. A fine looking card and this is my 33rd auto from the set, I have one more that should be in the mailbox today to get me down to just 9 of the 43 confirmed autos left to find!

Hope everyone had a great July 4th!

IT IS FINISHED!!!!!!

Ok, so that was a little bit of a dramatic post title... but here we are, nearly 2 1/4 years after the release of 2011 Gypsy Queen and I have completed the 350 card (including SP's) BASE MINI REGULAR BACK SET!!!!! With this card, my binder is complete:

JAY BRUCE!!!! YOU ARE MINE!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! You all cannot believe how unnecessarily excited I am about completing this set... these mini's took a long time to gather. From trades, to purchases, to blasters out the wazoo... I am so glad to put this one in the books...

Now I can obsess over the autographs... and the Tarot Card Back Queens... and the Green Framed Parallels (got the want list posted yesterday here, just in case you were bored). Anyways, thanks for stopping by and thanks to all of those who have helped along the way!!!! Card #1 from The Daily Dimwit Top 20 Most Wanted has been captured. I'd do a cool photoshop-y deal with Captured across the front of this card, but I suck at photo editing and am entirely too lazy to do such a thing.