America(na), America(n Pie), America... It's That Kind of Night

So just in case you haven't figured it out, the theme tonight is America... with Donruss Americana and the newly released American Pie taking center stage...

I got a random package from Ryan over at Trader Crack's. Not sure why exactly he selected me to receive these cards, but they are DEFINITELY appreciated. I'm guessing I have a want list out there somewhere, because my wife needed every single one of them, although I cant seem to find where I may have posted said list. He sent along a nice stack of 2008 Donruss Americana base cards, which my wife is in desperate need of, so if any of you are hoarding them let me know and I can get you a want list. Ok, so here are some highlights:

Hmm... I wonder who picked which cards to highlight... hahaha... Thanks Ryan!

Alright, so I read on Play At the Plate that 2011 Topps American Pie hit the shelves today! Well, the wife and I looked through the sell page on Sports Card Radio and decided to grab a blaster or two! Well, here's some of the highlights!

First are the base parallel "refractors"? Anyways, they are shiny-er than the regular base cards:

They scan pretty well, very cool... except the Human Genome Project... lame...

Here's a selection of cards, one from each decade. Each decade has a different border along the bottom. Bikini's, corvette, Liz Taylor when she was pretty, Vanna White, Coke, Kurt and Steve Jobs. What a group!

Here are two of the insert sets, "Hirsute History" celebrating hairstyles... zzz... and "Fads & Fashions" celebrating, well, fads and fashions. Nothing exciting here... moving along...

This is the coolest subset in my opinion. Apparently there is a manu-patch version of all these as well numbered out of /50. But the base insert set is still pretty cool and I'm digging it. Brando looks like a bad@$$ and Richard Pryor looks like I remember him. What can you say about the look on Charlie Chaplin's mug? Great job Topps, a good insert set.

Finally, we managed to pull two "hits" from our blasters, nothing earth shattering for sure... and neither serial numbered:

Jimmie who? Sorry, I'm too young (31) to have ever watched "Good Times". Not my niche. However, Tia Carrere... SCHAAAAA-WING!!!! But who the hell awarded her a Grammy? (I mean, other than the people who award the Grammy Awards, don't be jerks). I didn't even know she had an actual singing career. I thought it should read "Actress and Model". But whatever, the swatch is definitely cool as well, always dig the multi-colored cards!

Overall, my wife and I are probably going to be buying more of this set, as it's a rare one with enough pop-culture and old movie stars to keep her interest and enough value in some of the possible hits to keep my attention. The base set is on pretty flimsy card stock, great way to cut even more cost there Topps, you're doing a great job of pissing me the hell off today by the way. Anyways, back to the subject at hand, 50% of the insert sets are interesting enough to collect, the other 50% are just filler. Give me a bigger insert set of the Hollywood Walk of Fame stars, and get rid of the hairstyles and fads... but that would be too logical...

Ok, enough of me ranting against the system and the monopoly. I once was e-mailing Topps and Mr. Clay hoping for a blog sponsorship but was told my readership wasn't big enough. Whatever, at this point, I wouldn't want to represent Topps as a blogger. They just have no clue, especially after my experience with their customer service today.

Alright I said I'd stop ranting and I didn't. Thanks for continuing to read, even if Topps doesn't value your readership. Damnit, stop ranting!!!

So, I have some duplicate "hits" that I'd like to offer up as trade bait to any player collectors or fellow Astros bloggers... I've sent this pic to a couple of you in hopes of some deals, and figured I'd throw it out there for the rest of the blog-o-sphere as well. If you like any of these, feel free to make an offer! Doesn't HAVE to be Astros cards headed my way, as long as it's something trade-able that I don't already have!

A couple of these are ones I just recently traded for, then looked in my binder and realized I already had them... don't you just love that?!?!!?

Oh, and group break participants. I was informed my boxes shipped out yesterday. I'm waiting for my seller to give me a delivery confirmation number so that I can track them and see if I can figure out exactly when they will get here. The goal is to get them all busted and packaged up for a Saturday trip to the post office!