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.