Trade and Purchase... don't forget my contest...

So I got two packages in the mail yesterday... first up, is a trade with Brian from the blog Pirates Treasure Room. There aren't a lot of Pirates bloggers out there and Brian's is a good read, make sure he's on your blogroll or Google Reader Feed. Here's what he sent my way...

An awesome bat card from Berkman, some Nolan Ryan cards as an Angel & Ranger that I didn't have from 2012 Topps and then some random Astros, I only scanned the Bagwells. Thanks Brian!


Next up is a card of epic proportions... AWESOMENESS encapsulated in cardboard... behold, the 6 relic card!!!!!!

Yes, that's batting glove, jersey, bat, shoe, fielding glove and hat. The last piece, the hat, looks like it was from a hat Berkman wore for a while too, all dirty and sweaty. It's an AWESOME CARD!!!! Got it for a steal of a deal on the eBay. Couldn't be happier!!!

Here's the back, it's numbered 10/25!!! Freakin' SWEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!

Alright, make sure you enter my contest, it's free and you win cards... what else could you want????

It's CONTEST TIME... I fell off the wagon, and you win!

I fell off the "not buying 2012 Topps" wagon. We stopped by Target on the way home... I saw a blaster of Topps 2012 looking all lonely on the shelf and figured, what the hell... what's the harm??? Well, the wife was an enabler (we'll be having a serious discussion about this later)... and I have decided that the only way to purge myself of this piece of karma is to give the cards away! So, here's what I'm going to do... there will be three winners. The first winner will get all the base cards. The second winner will get all the insert/parallel cards. The third winner will win the Golden Giveaway card that I pulled from the box...

The commemorative card, that's mine... I have to win something from this blaster, right?!?!?! Well, here's what I got for my commemorative patch card:

Yea, a freakin' SWEEEEEET patch... Topps, I have to hand it to you, again... you knocked it out of the park with the manu-patches this year.

Alright, onto the contest... here's how you win. Your entry will consist of three answers:

1) Team name with the most BASE cards from my blaster and guess how many cards were pulled of that team? (Hint: no cards were pulled for the Royals, Red Sox, Padres or Braves... so that leaves 26 other possible teams.) Any multi-team card will go with the team on the far left of the card. (Winner gets all the base cards)
2) Team name with the most INSERT and PARALLEL cards in the blaster, and how many cards were pulled of that team? (Winner gets all the Inserts and Parallels)
3) What is the first letter of the code from the Golden Giveaway card and what player is on the front of the code card? (Winner gets the code card)

If your comment "name" doesn't link back to either an e-mail or profile where I can get in touch with you, please also include an e-mail address with your comment.

If no one guesses the correct team for questions 1 and 2, I'll randomize all entrants for each and the #1 and #2 name listed will win the corresponding prize. The second part of each question will be used to determine a winner in case of a tie. Whoever is closest without going over (The Price Is Right rules) will win the tie-breaker. For question three, if no one guesses the correct letter, I'll randomize the entrants as well and #2 will get the code card. On question three, if two people guess the winning letter, and there is a tie that cannot be broken, I'll give both people a code card as I have a second one from my jumbo pack I bought last week. If more than two, I'll randomize the one card among all correct letter guesses.

Ok, I think that covers all likely scenarios...

Friday, after I get home from work, I'll determine a winner for each category.

Another Monday...

Ug... just not feeling it at all today... going to be a long day...

I put all my extra Gypsy Queen on Sportlots.com last night, hoping to sell off extras to fund future pickups. If anyone wants to make some purchases to fill in their set needs, my seller name is Dimwit80. Almost all the base is at .20 per card. I didn't realize at the time it was .18 minimum, so I may go back and change it to .18 for most of them if they aren't selling. Anyways, lots of commons and mini's if anyone is interested.

Sorry for the brief post, I should have some more exciting stuff to post later in the week.

Sportslots and eBay... we may have a problem here...

So I got two packages in today... one from Sportslots and one from eBay...

The problem I speak of in the title of this post is that Sportslots is an awesome site. Very reasonably priced Gypsy Queen commons (and even SP's! $0.18 for a GQ SP??? Heck ya! Sign me up!) Anyways, this was my first experience on the site and I'm tempted to put some cards up myself, it was a blast! The first of two packages arrived today...

$3.00 shipped. Can't beat that with a stick! Well, you could but then you'd damage the card, so just enjoy the fact that you got it for $3, right? Sportslots, I'll be back to you soon to find cheap commons and relics!

Next up, I've got a purchase from eBay that is THIS close to making want to start buying hobby jumbo packs of 2012 Topps.

Um.... *drool*... this card is epically AWESOME!!! I will collect anything with Nolan plastered on it of course, but Topps hit one out of the park with these ring cards. These things are about 15 cards thick and are going to be nearly impossible to store/display. Anyone found a solution yet? I just put mine in a hard case, there's room in there for it to move around a bit, but I don't plan on jostling it around too much anyways. What a great looking card, the ring part has a great design and again they mount it on the faux felt that just makes it look like some kind of museum presentation. Anyways, a great picture of Nolan as an Angel as well.

In the past 4 days, I've managed to snatch up all but two card that I'm looking for from 2012 Topps Series one: The /34 Nolan Ryan Coin card (Never getting this one, it just isn't going to happen...) and the Brett Wallace jersey card. I've got my eye on several auctions at 0.99 out there and I can't believe there are enough Brett Wallace fans out there to keep me from getting one for $0.99 + shipping. Anyways, if anyone has one for trade just let me know, I'd love to trade for it if I can!

eBay Purchase #1 - Topps 2012 Astros

So, I saw that Brent & Becca (I'm sure most or all of you know who they are) busted 60 JUMBO CASES (ridiculous) of 2012 Topps flagship. Well, they busted my share... so I checked out their eBay store and stalked a few items. First one to get to my door is my 2012 Astros Teams set (including all inserts). I wasn't sure what all inserts the Astros had in this set, and it turns out there were a lot fewer than I thought there would be... only 5. Sad times for Astros fans everywhere, we can't even get a decent insert of a modern player. Here are the base cards:

We got all vertical shots in series 1. It's odd they included Corporan as he only appeared in 52 games and is only back on a minor league contract this year. Quintero would seem like a more logical choice if you ask me considering he's on the MLB roster and all. Melancon is already on another team (Boston). Meanwhile, the rest are still with the squad. I'm excited to see how Altuve does in his first full year at the major league level, hopefully he hits well and keeps his OPS up to where it was in the minors. There is talk of Brett Wallace moving to 3B,  which would be great to fill a defensive hole, but if he still doesn't hit the ball it doesn't matter. Onto the inserts:

Here are ALL the inserts the Astros have in series one. Seriously Topps, with all the insert sets, you couldn't find a way to throw an Astro on any of them. Jordan Lyles is our hot pitching prospect... nothing? Eh, ok... I understand. Not to diminish the look of these Nolan inserts! I love the rainbow uniforms!!! I know there are bloggers who turn green and want to puke when they see them, but I just absolutely think they are the best uniforms we ever had. The opening day Colt 45's jerseys are a close second. Anyway, classic Nolan pitching shots on all 5.

All this for only $2.01 auction. For my collecting goals this year, this is a win. Much better than buying a box... although I really want to bust some wax!!!!!

Cards from Blog Reader Tom

Tom contacted me a couple weeks ago before I did some major damage to my 1978 want list with a couple trades, and after I got it whittled down to my actual needs he said he had a handful of cards to send my way, even if I couldn't round up something for him. Well, he sent some great cards and I'll definitely be sending back some cards for him as soon as I get a chance!

Here's the '78s he sent my way:

I'm down below 50 cards needed in total for my 1978 set!!!!! Thanks a bunch Tom!

So, I sold my error autograph recently of Dominic Ficociello/Nolan Fontana and used the funds to make some purchases of the few cards I actually wanted from 2012 Topps and a couple of other cards. As soon as they arrive, I'll be letting you all see the awesomeness that I turned these cards into!

Have a great Thursday everyone!!!

A Call for 2011 Gypsy Queen

As many of you know, I'm working on quite a collection of 2011 Gypsy Queen cards. I wanted to put out a call for any cards you may have lying around or that you once pulled together but now realize that you aren't going to finish off a certain collection...

Here's where I stand on certain collections within Gypsy Queen, and you can see specific cards I need in the Gypsy Queen link on the sidebar or here.

1. Base Set - I have one complete base set. I am only a handful of SP's away from a second. Now, you may ask why I'm putting together a second base set, A) I had a BUNCH of duplicates and thought "What the hell?" and B) I wanted to sell the second complete set to re-coup some money and invest it in some of the harder mini-relics to pull (Ruth and Gehrig).
2. Mini Set - I am also within 15% or so of completing the mini base set - regular back. This set is really starting to look nice in my binder pages!!! Mostly SP mini's left and if you have some you can spare, please let me know.
3. Gypsy Queens - This is my area of greatest need. I would like to get the regular and tarot card back versions and I thought they'd be easy to track down since most people aren't collecting them. Let me know if you have any!
4. Bronze Border Parallels - I'm almost done with this one! I originally started a contest to get a complete set of these. I'm down to about the last 10 and if it comes down to having to buy them all (as I've bought about 30 on my own from COMC) then I am going to be reluctant to give away the grand prize. So please, if you have any of the remaining, get yourself an entry or 10 and have a chance at a great Brooks Robinson relic numbered 60/60.
5. Mini-Relic Set - I've got 18/24 of these. Ruth and Gehrig are going to be major investments, I don't foresee being able to trade for them, unless there is just an amazing benevolent person out there who just really loves me. Musial, Munson, Jeter and Ripken may all be purchases as well unless there are trade candidates. I'm down to the big hitters on this one.
6. Regular Relic Set - I've only got a handful of these (8 to be exact). Any help on these is appreciated. Again, I'd love to trade for these, and there are some names on the need list that are pretty tradable guys. I've already got the Ripken in this set so hopefully I can get the rest pretty easily. 

I thought hard about trying for the autograph set as well, but then I remembered there's Koufax and Aaron in that auto set and I have no hope whatsoever of ever owning those two cards. So I stand pat with what I've got up there...

So I'm calling out to all collectors who read this little corner of the blog-o-sphere!!! IF you have 2011 Gypsy Queen to spare, I'm a trading fool! Let me know what you have and I'll gladly make you a more than fair offer for it! 

Thanks everyone! 

A Hiflew-in' Trade

I made another deal with Hiflew (Johnny) over at Cards From The Quarry. He's the only Rockies collector that I know, so luckily for him he gets first dibs on all the sweet Rockies cards I tend to pull. Anyways, here's what Johnny sent my way this time!

 Wow, the Bagwell/Biggio relic is just sick and awesome. Bases. Yesterday I show you wall piece relics, today you get bases! An awesome card for sure! Hakeem... what can be said about The Dream that hasn't already been said. One of the top 5 centers of all time. Very cool to get his Goodwin relic, the only permanent basketball card in my collection... A nice GQ mini I needed... and oh, what's that Mr. Hidalgo? You have something to show us????

Nice! A jersey swatch #'ed out of 50! I'm going to have to see about getting a box of this Playoff Portraits 2003 for my next break. I love the artwork and the relics are just sweeeeeet! 

Have a great day everyone, and thanks Johnny!!!

Group Break Box #4

I guess I should post this since I know people started getting their cards today... dang, USPS, you finally did some work... I dropped off the packages after the front office closed on Saturday, apparently there were in the back offices sorting and sending, as people got packages today!

Scans after the page break...

Another Day, Another Card

Congrats to you Giants fans out there. That was a pretty good game last night, lots of drama in the 4th quarter and what a catch by Manningham. Anyways, it's time for another installment of a cool card out of my collection...

Ok, so anyone can put a piece of jersey or bat in a card, but in 2001 Donruss got a hold of a couple pieces of wall from the dismantled Three Rivers Stadium and figured, "Let's cut 'em up and put 'em in cards!" Well, I couldn't be happier that they did. This is just plain awesome. The card highlights a game on 9/29/00 where Lance had two hits and a run scored. What's even better, check out the back of the card:

It actually gives a picture of the piece of walls that the piece was cut from. I wasn't collecting in 2001, I wish I was because I would have bought a ton of Donruss Studio I think. Hey, I was in college and had a BUNCH of disposable income from playing poker... haha... 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this one... will have the final group break post up tonight!