So Topps redeemed... A redemption...

Months ago I bought a redemption card on eBay. Finally it has arrived and it was absolutely worth the wait.

Wow! Numbered /25! On card! Just a beautiful card! Thanks Topps!

One Heck of a Secret Santa!

I signed up for the Crackin Wax Elfster Gift exchange again this year! I pulled a fellow Astos collector and sent him a big goodie box. I was fortunate to get Tom O. and if any of you have gotten packages from him before, you know how generous he is! Here's a look at the loot! 

Ooopo... What's inside?!?!

Wrapped and all!

Box of loose singles, Triple Theeads base and such!

A blaster! With Ryne Sandberg commemorative patch!

A freakin sweet Astros hat! And finally:

A couple of sweeeeet McFarlanes of my Astros! 

Thanks Tom!!!!

Collector's Crate Video Review

For those of you just dying to see me on video opening all the Collector Crate packs and stuff, enjoy...

Collector Crate! December Edition

Well, I am desperately trying to get the video uploaded but each time I try it says that it's going to take 800+ minutes. I don't know why. Maybe my upload speed is crap. But here are the highlights as far as cards going into the trade bait!

I got a box of 2007 Ultimate Collection. Looking at the checklist, I think I may have gotten one of the crappiest boxes EVER. If I went to DACardworld and paid $170 for this, I'd be PISSED. But it was a fun bust.

These (6) cards represent the (3) autos and (3) relics that come standard in any Gold Level Collector Crate. One could argue these (6) are better than the (3) I got in the Ultimate Collection box. Am I bitter? Of course not...

The great people over at Collector Crate threw in the Puckett RC. A nice card indeed, and as usual they threw in their monthly sketch card, this month it's Mike Trout. My scanner sucks and gobbled up the left edge of both the Puckett and Trout, meh.

Another fun month of busting cards from Collector Crate. There were 10 loose packs as well, but nothing came out of them that were exciting enough to throw up here on the blog. If I ever get YouTube to upload the stupid video, you'll see them all!

A Couple of Trades

I recently completed trades with a couple of guys who I've had long running histories of trades! Always good to connect with collectors and swap our teams' cards again!

First up is Adam from ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession, I sent him a Pedro Sandoval Tier One relic and got back some beauts! Here are the highlights!

A couple of amazing die-cut Springers! And of course the J.J.!!!! That's numbered out of /25! Thanks Adam!

Next up is my buddy Jeff from 2x3 Heroes! He had this amazing gold bordered auto sitting around and we put together a deal. Hope he liked his end of the deal because I love this card!

Jake has a chance to make a big splash this year with the Astros. Hopefully he solidifies the LF spot next to Dexter Fowler. Of course, as soon I hit "Publish" I'm sure I'll read a breaking story that Jake and Dexter have been traded by Luhnow. Ha! Jeff, thanks for the deal, I'm in your debt for sure!

Jeff keeps saying I need to host group breaks again. I say he's crazy. What say you people? Is there even room in the market anymore for blogger/breakers like myself anymore?

eBay Pick-ups!

A couple of cheap eBay pick ups I've forgotten to post!

Dallas had a BREAKOUT year this past season and I hope he keeps up the success! He won the pitcher's Gold Glove award in the AL, which I think is pretty cool. Got this card for like $5, couldn't believe the seller accepted my offer! This is a product I will be sniping cards off eBay for rather than buying boxes. I like Supreme but these days the risk is too much for my wallet.

Next up, a Marlin... wait? Why a Marlin? Well because traded for this prospect last year and I'm glad we did!

Don't get me wrong, I liked Jared Cosart but I really think Moran has a chance to be something special. He'll probably be at AAA this year with hopes of him and Correa forming the left side of the infield in 2016. Another under $5 pick-up, kind of crazy how autos and relics are so "normal" these days that two cards like the ones in this post can be had for $10. I'll take it!

Thanks for stopping by, I've added cards to my TRADE BAIT page, so please click and see what I've got available!

A Trade with Rodney on Twitter

A military guy on twitter, Rodney, hooked me up with quite a deal for the Byron Buxton I pulled from Bowman Sterling! Here is the loot!

First up, some TEXANS and NASA!

The Mercilus is out of /399! While the Gold die cut Watt is out of just /25!!!! Gotta love that Lovell relic, although I do already have a copy so if anyone is interested in trading for this one, let me know!!!

Next up, SHINY Astros!

Springer on the top row! Morgan, Appel and Correa /99 in the middle and then some shiny Nolan Ryan on the bottom!

Finally, the meat of the deal! MORE SHINY STUFF!!!!

Three awesome Bowman Chrome Astros prospect autos! Nottingham and Martin are very low level guys right now, but Preston Tucker has shot up the ranks and may find himself at AAA Fresno (I think that's where our AAA affiliate is these days) this year. Another couple of Nolan shiny cards and then more Springer love. This is quite a haul for a single card. Some people may think I should have gone for more but I think it's a pretty fair deal based on the prices I saw on the Buxton auto on eBay.

Thanks Rodney, hope you enjoy the Buxton!

My Wife Rocks

So the other day a surprise package showed up from COMC... with wife had gone to my Top 20 Wanted List and knocked out a couple of cards for me! She is the BOMB!

Whoa! Holy crap-tastic scanning skills Batman, I really didn't get that scanned right but I'm too lazy to re-do it this morning. Sweet vintage Nolan! Gotta love the old 1971 design! These are awesome cards to add to my collection! Thanks wonderful woman, you did AMAZING!

Black Friday Shopping - Card Style!

So a couple weeks ago I picked up a box of 2012 Panini Americana Heroes & Legends. For Black Friday, Dave & Adam's had boxes on sale! So I picked up a couple more and a blaster. The blasters are great because that's where I've found a majority of the NASA relics that I now have plus you are guaranteed a relic hit out of them! So, all told I should expect 7 hits and that's just what I got! In the first box I beat the odds and got two autos (one of which I will cherish forever) and in the second I got two relics and an auto.

Here's the relic hits:

Whoa! Got a George H.W. Bush relic! That's staying here in my collection, along with that Hope Solo relic! I have no clue who Lauren Cheney is, so that one may be trade bait if anyone is interested. As is the Eugene Richardson, as this is a duplicate within my collection, pretty crazy that I ended up with 2 of the 239 copies of this card from random box purchases! I was pretty excited on the Bush relic, I find Presidential memorabilia to be pretty cool. The Hope Solo probably would have sold pretty nicely in 2012, but I like having a nice relic like this of a famous player who I watched in the World Cup and Olympics.

Ok, now on to the autographs! I was REALLY excited about these!!!!

First of all, Cat Osterman the women's softball phenom. I still kick myself for trading away my first ever Topps Redemption, an auto of Cat's from Allen & Ginter. Wish I remembered who I traded that to, and see if I could trade for it back! But the BIG super awesome auto in this trio is Gene Kranz. I've explained my affinity for the NASA program before, so I won't again but this auto will fit wonderfully into the collection! I now have the Gene Kranz auto, relic and auto/relic from this set! This auto is numbered out of just /49 copies!!!! So pumped to end up with this one from a pack I pulled! Finally there is Katie Hoff, the wife has pulled a couple of her autos from 2011 Americana, so it's familiar, although this one has her in action in the Olympics. The Cat and Gene are staying here in the collection, but the Hoff could definitely be had.

If anyone has any of the astronaut relics from this set up for trade, let me know! Thanks for stopping by!

I have updated my TRADE BAIT page and I also have (2) complete sets of the 2012 Panini Americana Heroes & Legends for trade/sale if anyone is interested in a set.

One Sided Deal

Matt from Cardboard Conundrum recently opened a box/pack of this year's Stadium Club. He pulled an auto of current Astro Jake Marisnick. I asked about it and before we could work out a deal, he just sent it, I'm sure he knows I'll send some Cubs his way! Here's the card!

Thanks for the card Matt!

Another Twitter Pick-Up

I love seeing Astros cards pop up on Twitter, it usually means someone wants to sell it and avoid eBay fees! Works for me! $5 delivered got me this beauty:

Hopefully George never becomes trade bait for the Astros and all these cards I'm piling up get to stay in the permanent collection!

Please Help If You Can

Hey everyone, I know I just came back and I normally don't do this kind of stuff. BUT... a good friend of mine, former co-worker Julie... her son was in a car accident last month. He suffered some major head trauma. He is a senior in high school and while he has made it out of the hospital, he is completely having to re-learn how to walk & talk in rehab so he can hopefully get back to school soon. He's a great kid and couldn't have a greater family with his mom and dad. I put a widget in my side bar if you want to check it out. But if any of you oh so generous bloggers can help this family, I'd be very grateful. Literally every dollar helps. If you can't see the widget on the side bar, just click this link:

https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/l0j6/aaron-needs-your-help


Again, thanks for just stopping by and reading this.

Collector Crate! November Box

This month is my second go around with Collector Crate! So far, I love it! I go for the Gold level box because really it's about my only pack or box buying opportunity up here in the panhandle. So, last month was pretty exciting stuff, let's see what the box holds in store this month!

Here's what the box looks like, nothing fancy, simple and understated, just like me. 

 So they throw in some items relating to the three teams you picked. I went for Astros, Rangers and Yankees, mainly for trade-ability factors. The sunglasses have a Yankees logo so you won't see them on this noggin! But fun items for sure, last month I got a Giants mini baseball and Pirates pennant. 

 Next up, a Buster Posey action figure. These are from Macfarlane but aren't the usual static figures, these have "OVER 20 MOVING PARTS" so you can pose them however you want... don't think these won't be used inappropriately by some less mature people in some way...

Let's get into the cards!!!!! First up, a sketch card print exclusive to Collector Crate!

 I like everything about this card except the Jeter part... definitely for trade... 

Next up, the (3) relics and (3) autographs that come standard with each Gold box!

Kemp, Sosa and Piazza on the relics, not shabby at all. J.P. Murphy, Vernon Wells and HOW ABOUT A SPRINGER AUTO!!!!! I do believe the Springer was on purpose based on the teams I selected as it was the top card in the manilla envelope, VERY happy Collector Crate is customizing in this way! 

Alright, how about the packs???? 10 Total with the Gold Box and a promise of some high end mojo!

I decided to do a picture of each pack and the best card I feel I pulled from each! 

First up, 2014 Donruss.

 The Gwynn /999 is nice, but this set just doesn't look great in my opinion. Can't wait for them to some day get a license. It will improve their product by 513%, at least, arbitrarily.

Another Panini product next, it was a nice thick pack, thought I had a relic. It was a blocker... 2013 Panini Golden Age:

 Yep, Honest Abe was the best card. Another product with decent intentions what went awry.

Finally, the last "junk pack" as I would call these first three. None of these are "high end" and again the lack of a license is a killer on the sports cards: 2013 Goodwin Champions.

 Cheatin' Tiger is the best in the pack. It was a lousy pack. Moving on. 

Ah, here we go with some Topps 2011 Allen & Ginter garbage...

 Somewhere along the way they stopped caring about A&G and just puked out sets like 2011 hoping collectors would fawn over it like they did in years past. Meh. RMS Queen Mary, welcome to the board, ghosts and all.

Next up, a product I busted a few boxes of in breaks and was very excited to see in my box last month and this, but alas I went hitless in this product two months in a row. I love their relic sets, and this product is the only one I've ever pulled a bat knob from! Quick, can anyone guess/remember who it was? Matt Pederson, you are not allowed to guess. 2009 Topps Unique

 The McCann /1199 is the best one in this pack!

Half way through, we get into some retro packs! 1996 Leaf Preferred! 

 If I was a fan of Barry Larkin (which I am not) I'd LOVE this metal card! Hopefully there is a Larkin fan who would love this card. I don't remember this set at all, but cool to open a pack!

I had high hopes of a Griffy RC in this next pack of 1989 Upper Deck, the set that started the Griffey fame!

 But alas my only Rookie was the rather disappointing Gregg Jefferies. Brought back some memories though, his was pretty well sought after as well!

Here's another set I don't remember and that I don't think I ever opened a single pack! 1993 Bowman with "Special Engraved Foil Card" in every pack!

 Mr. Larry Sutton, we never knew you, no really, I don't think anyone knows who you were, cool card though, very shiny!

Apparently, 13 year old me missed out on Topps Finest 1993, maybe I was just too poor to open this stuff.

I was hoping for a refractor that would sell for millions. Instead, All Star of Fred McGriff. Meh.

Finally, the big daddy of them all, 2013 Bowman Sterling, where my redemption awaits (figuratively, not literally)...

The first card out of the pack was actually the Cosart, I knew it'd be a good pack...

 

And finally, the two big BOOOOOM cards of this Collector Crate!

Shelby "Don't Call Me a Cardinal" Miller gold auto /25!!! WOO HOO!!!

and...

Current Twins #1 prospect Byron Buxton! Everyone says we should have taken him over Correa, I'm fine with Correa but Buxton is no slouch. Both need to get healthy!

Ok, so I've got a lot of people asking me, "But Mr. Dimwit, is it worth it?" Well, here's my official stance on Collector Crate: I love it. Whether it's worth $100 for the Gold Box or not, it's a heck of a lot of fun to bust open! They put fun stuff in the box along with the packs. The packs hold a lot of potential as well. I'd much rather have this than a single box of any product on the market that I could buy for $100. Is it perfect? No. Some of the pack selection (like any Panini products or Upper Deck) is less than desirable. I ordered the baseball box, I'd like baseball cards. But I would never go buy a pack of Sterling on my own, so it's cool it's part of the deal. Last month my "big pack" was actually an unopened box of Panini Prime Cuts from 2012. So it's definitely worth the gamble for me, and I have a blast opening the product! 

This opinion is 100% my own, I pay full price for my Collector Crate and have no affiliation with them other than following them on Twitter. I have received ZERO compensation for this review. :)