A Trade Post...

Alright, a couple of trade posts: first we have Jon over at Community Gum. We worked out a deal to send me a few Gypsy Queen cards, and for me to send some cards off his want list. Thanks Jon. This gets you one entry as well into my bronze border contest!

Next we have Charles from the Lifetime Topps Project. This was an epic trade that got a bit convoluted. We ended up swapping Mini Hobby Only Variants and then a slew of cards from each others' want lists. Also included are 11 bronze borders!!!! This'll get Charles 11 entries into the contest, the most so far! This puts me at a total of 49/100, so there's still 51+ entries available (I say 51+ because I'll take duplicates!!!). The Ortiz is for trade!

Well, there you go everyone... have a great day... hopefully my evening gets even better because I've got my volleyball league tonight and we're playing against one of our rivals... would love to beat the heck out of them! This is me getting all competitive and testosterone filled... Tim Allen would be so proud...

A Post for My Wife - It's all about Hollywood...

First of all, I need 3 more people for my group break of 2006 Ovation, a full case! Come on, certainly there's 3 of you out there who want to join the fun! PLENTY of great teams left! Alright, enough about that...

My wife collects a lot of the Hollywood and celebrity sets, specifically anything that has stars from yesteryear. She's a big movie buff and watches a lot of the black-and-white movies that I find hard to keep an attention span while watching. She's opened my mind a bit with getting me to watch It's A Wonderful Life and Gone With The Wind. I can see why they are so popular. Anyways, I've been wanting to show off some of her cards for a while, and there are quite a few that she wouldn't mind parting with if they brought back decent cards of actors she likes in return. Anyways, take a look and I'll give details after each photo:

From top to bottom, we have Redd Foxx numbered 135/500 with a nice multi-color swatch. Then Mr. Tarzan himself, Johnny Weissmuller "Silver Screen" edition, numbered 02/15. Next up, our favorite Hobbit Elijah Wood, an autograph numbered 22/50. Then there's Anthony Quinn "Golden Ere" also coincidentally numbered 22/50. Then we have two "A Piece of Hollywood" pieces from 2009 UD A Piece of History: John Hurt's shirt from Outlander, and a very fuzzy piece of robe from Bruce Lee's Enter The Dragon. Finally, from Breygent's Classic Vintage Movie Posters "Stars, Monsters and Comedy" set, we have a piece of suspender from Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon and a piece of Buckwheat's tie from "Tire Trouble" with the Little Rascals. Some pretty interesting pieces there... on to the next set of photos:

Here we have a Maud Adams and Dom DeLuise slabbed autos from Donruss Celebrity Cuts, numbered 39/200 and 39/50 respectively. Then there is a 07/50 Ashley Judd dress swatch. The next is a Mary Pickford card from 2008 Americana numbered 314/400. Finally, from the Breygent Vintage Poster Collection is this sweet looking sketch card of the "Point Blank" promo poster. Finally, two TV stars:

That's a Tori Spelling "Private Signings" (cut off at the bottom) and a Robert Hegyes "Proof" (again cut off on the bottom)shirt swatch numbered 73/73 and 07/25 respectively.

Well, that's not all she has, but it's all she'd be willing to entertain offers on! So if any of you collectors out there have Hollywood cards that you'd be willing to deal, shoot me an e-mail... and go sign up for my group break while you're at it... ok, ok, I'll stop... haha! Have a great week!

Multiple Packages... including 2 from Topps... and some trades!

Alright, I got a total of 5 packages in today! The first two in the video are from Topps. I opened them both because one package would be for the (2) cards we were shorted in the group break and then the other package would be for the (3) cards I was shorted from my personal boxes I bought a few days later. I was afraid they'd show up at the same time, thus I did the video so everyone could see I didn't keep the best autos for myself. After that, are three trade packages... from Dustin over at No Relics Pulled... then Donald, a fellow I met through FanBro.com and then finally, Bill Boehm over at Thorzul Will Rule. I mumbled and bumbled my way through the ending, but hopefully you all enjoy the video... lots of new trade bait for you collectors out there as well!!!


Congrats to the two of you who received the "replacement" cards provided by Topps... Brian from Play at the Plate and Dennis from Pictures of Men.

I will also mention at this time that I need only 3 more people for the next group break: a break of a CASE of 2006 Ovation! LOTS of hits, lots of Rookies and lots of inserts! Only $30 gets you two teams worth of cards!

Trade Post, Group Break & Contest Reminder

Hey everyone... one quick trade to post and a couple of reminders...

First of all, a bit thanks to Shane over at Off The Wall for this trade. I've got to say I failed on this one, as I prepared the link, I realized I wasn't officially "following" Shane's blog, problem remedied. For sure a follower at this point because this guy is an awesome trader! He contacted me about a bunch of mini's and I sent them over his way gladly in return for a team bag full of Astros and these beauts as well:

All the base cards shown are SP's and then of course the two bronze borders garner him 2 entries into my contest! If you've got some of these to trade (even if I already have them, I'll take duplicates and still give you an entry!) then please send me an e-mail and let me know what you would like in return from my many FOR TRADE lists.

Ok, as for the GROUP BREAK... currently 12 teams are claimed, we only need 3 more!!!! Get the word out peeps! There are PLENTY of good teams left and there are going to be some great teams left to be randomized off as well once it's all said and done! Only $30 will get you into the break for two teams. With over 32 "hits" available plus plenty of quality inserts and parallels, this is going to be a very fun break with some great looking and feeling cards!

The Next Group Break - Let's Make It A Case!

Well, I've done some shopping around and I think I've got a pretty nice price on a case of 2006 Ovation! (Click the link for a full checklist!) We opened a box of this during the Gypsy Queen break and I really like the set. There are lots of inserts, parallels, rookies, autos and relics to be had. At least 2 per box so a total of AT LEAST 32 hits! There are boxes with more than 2 hits so there should be plenty of good cards to go around!

So, what I've decided to do is split this break into 15 slots of 2 teams a piece. Each participant will pick one team, and once all 15 slots are full, the remaining 15 teams will randomized. I'll allow some time for people to trade 2nd teams if they wish to do so!

So, claim your first team with a comment below. Payment is not due immediately, I will post a payment date as we get a little further along! Oh, I guess I should let you know now how much each slot will be... for this break, it'll be $30. Keep in mind that gets you two teams in the case break and covers shipping!

I will update this list as teams are claimed. First to post a comment gets the team!

Arizona Diamondbacks -
Atlanta Braves -CLAIMED and PAID by COLBEY (via e-mail)
Baltimore Orioles -
Boston Red Sox - CLAIMED by LONESTARR
Chicago White Sox -
Chicago Cubs - CLAIMED and PAID by MATT P.
Cincinnati Reds - CLAIMED and PAID by RYAN G.
Cleveland Indians - CLAIMED PAID by DAVID H.
Colorado Rockies - CLAIMED and PAID by HIFLEW
Detroit Tigers -
Florida Marlins -CLAIMED by MU (via e-mail)
Houston Astros - CLAIMED by THE DIMWIT
Kansas City Royals -
Los Angeles Angels -
Los Angeles Dodgers -
Milwaukee Brewers -
Minnesota Twins -
New York Mets -CLAIMED and PAID by BA BENNY
New York Yankees -CLAIMED and PAID by LONGLIVETHEWHO
Oakland Athletics -
Philadelphia Phillies -CLAIMED by PAID DAWGBONES
Pittsburgh Pirates -
San Diego Padres -
San Fransisco Giants -CLAIMED by JAY/MOJO
Seattle Mariners -CLAIMED and PAID by CHRIS
St. Louis Cardinals -CLAIMED and PAID by KIRK JACOBSON
Tampa Bay Rays -
Texas Rangers -CLAIMED and PAID by NAPKIN DOON
Toronto Blue Jays -
Washington Nationals -

Let me know if you have any questions! If anyone wants to go ahead and start sending their money for the break, my paypal address is samuelpair AT yahoo.com. Please remember to send it as a gift.

More and more trades... and a sweet purchase...

Well, I'll make this short and sweet! It's been a busy couple of mail days... First of all I'll show off two cards that I had Mike from Bad Wax put together for me... freakin' sweet... the Scott will be my first attempt at TTM since I was a kid. Thanks Mike!!!!

Next up are two cards from a recent trade with Larry over at Sewing Machine Guy. I sent him a slew of Heritage and a Torri Hunter relic card. In return I got these two beauts... and let me tell ya, that Chris Johnson card is all kinds of shiny and just plain awesome! Thanks Larry!!!! (By the way, your opinion about the "bonus packs" in blasters is shared by this Dimwit, I'll never understand it...).

Finally, over on Shot Not Taken Ray put together a bunch of trade bait lists, most notably one of some Hollywood memorabilia cards. My wife collects the Hollywood stuff so if any of you out there have anything to trade, let me know! We put together a bit of a mega deal, with me receiving 3 Hollywood cards for my wife, a Jay Austin auto (boy does he need to practice his signature) and a couple of Minnesota Twins trade bait cards. Rhubarb Runner are you reading?!?!?! Check it out!!!

I also got an ebay package in with 7 bronze Gypsy Queen cards. I debated quite a bit about what I'd do about additional cards that I purchased myself, and how it would affect the contest. Finally I decided that they wouldn't have any bearing on the giveaway at all. For all the cards that I get from you readers, you'll get an entry fair and square. For cards I purchase myself, that's just my fault for buying them and not being patient! I think I'm near the halfway point although I haven't really counted them in a while. If anyone has traded some to me and you don't see your name or correct count number in the tally list, please let me know and I'll review my records; please note that I won't post your name or quantity until I have the cards in hand. And come on people, there are great prizes up for grabs!!!!! I'll trade for the bronze borders so you will not only have the chance to win, but you'll get value back as well!

Have a great day everyone!

A trip to Target... benefits galore...

So, the wife and I went to Target amongst many other stops today on a somewhat lazy Sunday. Below are the spoils... enjoy... much trade bait for those who are interested...

A benfactor from Skokie...

To the anonymous benefactor by the initials "JM" from Skokie, Illinois: thank you very much. An unexpected and welcomed package showed up in my mail box today and I couldn't have been happier to open it up to find 51 cards from my 1978 Topps need list. I know I had a person or two say they'd send me some cards in exchange for nothing, but I certainly wasn't expecting this many! Thanks for the great cards and they already look great in the binder! Only about 180 cards left to complete the entire set! Getting so very close! Thanks to "JM" for helping me well along the way! If there's every anything you need, please let me know!

It's trade time... Mail Day and some trade bait!

I've got three mega deals to show off, then some mega bait!!! Without further ado...

First up is Michael from Nomo's Sushi Platter... this is our first deal but hopefully not our last! I sent him some Gypsy Queen Dodgers and a Brett Butler cut auto. In return he sent me a slew of Astros base cards and then this thing of beauty:

That's going in my Astros collection even though it lists him as a Phillie. A sweet printing plate, it'll look nice next to my 2010 A&G Lance Berkman black printing plate! Thanks Michael.

Onward (I know you're only here for the trade bait, but I'll get to that, don't make me put in a jump break!!!) next we have another great trade from Derek over at Tomahawk Chopping. Coincidentally, I just noticed that he had the nerve to go and get married on the exact same date as my wife and I did last year!!!! Haha! Congrats, I now have a blogger AND wedding-anniversary-sharing friend... oh ain't life grand! Especially when cards like these come in the mail:

This is the second trade we've pulled off, and we're working on a third as he persistently attempts to pull the Rickey Henderson card from my collection! Can't wait to post that trade as well!

The third and final trade is with my good buddy David (aka Rhubarb Runner) who's blog title name is unpronounceable and thus I won't try to type it. I think it's Latin for "I SEND AWESOME TRADE PACKAGES" but I cannot confirm that as I only really know English... back to the cards... months ago David teased me by sending the redemption card he pulled for a 2010 Bowman Platinum Chris Johnson auto/relic. Well, after months of waiting, I got it!!!! Along with some other Gypsy Queen needs and some more UD 20th Anniversary Cards in exchange for some more Twins goodness sent his way! Thanks David!

That brings my Gypsy Queen 1-300 base needs down to 2 cards! Woo-hoo!!!

Alright alright, you people want trade bait, well here you go, not everyone at once now...

The local card shop had a big bin of game-used and autos marked 50% off so I delved in and spent my weekly $20 on these three plus a couple for my personal collection. The Dawson is pretty sweet if I say so myself! The Perry I got mainly because of those powder blue uniforms Texas used to have and I just KNOW someone is going to be all over that Fielder/Pujols combo!

Have a great weekend everyone! Looks like lots of yard work for me, as we finally got some rain!

Quick Trade Post - Ryan H!

I got one package in the mail today... from Ryan H. (yes, there are multiple Ryan's out there and it's confusing the hell out of me when they all try to trade with me at once... I'm a dimwit I tell ya, I can't handle such things!!!!). He runs the blog "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog. He admittedly lured me into a trade by offering up a bronze bordered Evan Longoria, he also offered up a couple SP's and an insert or two.... finally, he sent along an additional 13 UD 20th Anniversary cards (good googaly moogaly it's going to take me forever to put this set together), I'm not even 1/4 of the way yet so keep 'em coming!!!!). Well, here are some highlights!

Thanks Ryan! GREAT CARDS!!!!