Reds and more...

I'm Back...

2012-02-18T17:57:00.003-06:00

For at least one post. Hopefully more in the future, It's been a year since my last. The reason for this post is one card. I finally obtained the 2008 Andre Woodson Topps Superfractor 1/1. It's the second superfractor i've purchased and my only one right now. Since I was able to purchase this off of ebay i've renewed my Woodson collection and hope to improve it even more. Here's an orange Bowman auto refractor i got recently as well. I've got another or two on the way and some off of COMC to ship that I hope to be showing off. My really only other chase right now is the American Heritage Refractors of the Civil Rights Leaders. I've got Malcolm X, MLK, Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Booker T. Washington. If anyone has a heads up on the other five please let me know. I'll always take another MLK though too.

Any Johnny Mize collectors out there?

2011-02-17T11:41:00.004-06:00

I apologize for the lack of a picture right now but i'm at work. Yesterday I bought an unopened Topps Chicle box loader cabinet card from a local store (don't ask). It turned out to be an artist proof of Johnny Mize (in a Cardinals uniform) and autographed by the artist (forget the name). It's numbered out of 50. I'll try and get a picture of it up tomorrow but it's a good looking card with a good looking signature. I realize it's a small market for something like that so that's why i'll trade it instead of listing it on ebay. Let me know what ya got...

It's been awhile...

2011-02-09T11:16:00.010-06:00

since i've posted last. It's been crazy around here with the snow storms, death in the family, holidays, etc. I haven't bought many cards if at all since December but I have gotten a couple trade packages in the mail and my COMC.com shipment arrived. I also finally received my two Mike Leake redemption autos and a custom Kentucky Steve Johnson card finally came back signed and personalized. So without further delay:

First I want to thank Jeremy from no one's going to read this blog. We've sent a few packages back and forth and I just received another one the other day. I still haven't posted what he sent before. I have to admit most of the cards he sent got mixed in with my other Reds that need to be organized but I wanted to show off two today. One is a custom 1/1 sketch card that Jeremy made of Johnny Bench. While this isn't from a card company, it's still my first sketch card and very legit if you ask me. Very cool. The other is a Jay Bruce N43 Ginter card. This is only my second N43 card and he even included an oversized top loader that fits it perfect. Thanks again Jeremy, it's been great trading with you and I hope to continue. Now I just have to find some more Mets or Packers!

The next cards I wanted to show off were some autos I got. The Steve Johnson I got back through the mail, a Steve Johnson score auto numbered /50 I got off of COMC for about $3, a Tristar Reymond Fuentes inscription autograph numbered /25 that I also got off of COMC (this will go along with my Bowman Orange Refractor auto I pulled), A Devin Mesoraco Refractor auto from COMC, and one of the two Mike Leakes.

Finally, I want to show off the stamp card I won on Jimmy's blog Prophet Got It. It was a contest he was having back in December I think. It's about time for him to be back so I wanted to get this up. Thanks again Jimmy.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I'm not sure when the next post will come but I really don't want to shut this down and wish I hadn't later. Even though I don't buy as much any more I'm still collecting, and condensing. I'm still looking for Steve Johnson Refractors, Reds, and anything else on my want list. I have some stuff that I was collecting but am not now that I may make available but i'm not sure yet. I'm not sure if i'll go the ebay route or make them available for trade. I've actually been selling some cards on ebay and taking that money and buying original artwork for my house off of a couple artists on Etsy. It's kind of a girly site but they have a lot of great artists on there selling their works. Time to dig myself out of my hosue with the ol' snow shovel!

Trade With Prophet Got It

2010-12-15T12:35:00.004-06:00

I've been meaning to do this trade post for about two weeks or more. Jimmy from Prophet Got It... hit me up about my Ike Davis autograph and I was happy to send it his way. He sent back a nice assortment of Reds cards including some newer cards that I haven't bought yet. I've been too busy liquidating my cards to buy the stuff that I want. Here's a scan of my favorites. The chromes are curving up after sitting on my desk so I figured this scan was as good as it's going to get as far as keeping them lined up. Thanks Jimmy! By the way, I really like that Sparky Anderson card. It's a nice card to honor one of the Reds greatest managers who is no longer with us.

Cards obtained from COMC

2010-12-04T14:50:00.005-06:00

This is a small sample of the 250 or so cards I have coming my way from COMC.com. I've been acquiring this lot for months now and finally had them shipped during their Thanksgiving sale. Most of the ones i've decided to show are the Gallery of Heroes but I had to show this Vader card which is transparent like the Gallery cards. I can't wait to put that George Foster in aviators into an uncirculated case also.

More Circulated Favorites

2010-12-01T09:55:00.001-06:00

It's been over a month since my last post but it doesn't mean I haven't been busy with card stuff. Getting the team lot project wrapped up was a lot more overwhelming than I thought. I've still got one more box to go out to Night Owl which will go out eventually. I've been doing a lot of Ebay business getting rid of stuff I don't want and know will bring a few dollars. I sold a Steve Johnson National Treasures Auto /99 for $60 just prior to the Steelers game which worked out well. I still have a couple of his other autos and now two of his orange refractors. One of which is for sale on Ebay.

I thought I'd give you all something to look at as I've added more cards to my Circulated favorites collection. These are my favorite cards that may or may not be worth anything but I put them into Topps Uncirculated cases once I pop the crappy card out.

The first is a Steve Johnson RC refractor. The second is a cool MJ card showing him dunking with the Sears Tower in the background. Then you have Rowdy Roddy Piper choking out the Junkyard Dog, a Brandon Phillips Beam Team auto card. These Beam Team and Gallery of Heroes stained glass cards are becoming my favorite cards. The last is an Oscar Robertson in a Cincinnati Royals uni. Too bad Cincy doesn't still have an NBA team. How gangster would that team be? Of course the scan doesn't do these cards justice.

Chrome Box Breaks

2010-10-23T11:24:00.005-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. Been busy with work and doing work around the house. The Reds getting no-hit then ultimately swept out of the playoffs didn't help my desire to post anything Reds or sports related for that matter. I have been up to a few things card related lately though.

I pre-ordered two boxes of chrome baseball earlier in the spring/summer time. Mistake. The price has dropped about $20 per box since then. Oh well. Here's a bit of irony for ya; the same day I received my two boxes of chrome, I got my Mike Leake TTM auto attempt back. Notice I said attempt. Instead of sending my Ginter card back he sent a Mike Leake brand baseball card complete with a facsimile autograph. He must have needed my Ginter card or something. The irony part of this is one of the autos out of my chrome box was a redemption for a Mike Leake base auto. Not a refractor. I've seen his base autos on Ebay. I got a redemption. So two chances to have a Mike Leake auto in one day and I got anything but. Hey, i'm glad it's a Red, and I like Leake (minus the whole stealing my baseball card thing) but come on. I also got autos of Austin Jackson, Ike Davis, and someone who probably doesn't matter. I got a Scott Kazmir Heritage Black Refractor that got caught in the pack sealing crimper machine thing...great. I'm not even going to get it replaced because I don't care. It's not too bad so if someone wants it, leave a comment and i'll mail it to you for a Mike Leake Ginter card. Or nothing at all, I don't care.

Now the fun part. 2010 Topps Chrome Football. I typed it all out because I love this set. I liked the regular cards when they came out but the chrome is soooo much better. I originally bought two boxes; one for me and one for my brother. I opened them both so I had to order two more. One for me and one for my brother (which I did seal up in a box to ship so I didn't open it). The first two boxes were ok base wise. Standard number of refractors and one Red refractor of Beanie Wells (which is on Ebay). I got two great autos though. CJ Spiller and Dexter McCluster. The third box was about the same base wise. I got a red refractor of Ray Lewis (which is also on Ebay). The auto was...wait for it..........John Skelton. Awesome. But, it's cool. I'm actually collecting the autos for this set. Whether I finish it out when it comes time to Tebow and Bradford has yet to be determined. My hope is that my brother will get a pretty good box with a Best or Suh auto, we'll see. And if anyone is wondering, CJ Spiller would have been his. Sorry Chris.

I guess that's about it. I've been selling a butt load of cards on Ebay as part of my purge of cards I don't care about any more. I'm not breaking the bank but I've got a nice little pile in paypal now.

I've still got two team lots to send out which i've been slacking on. The Dodgers for Night Owl, and every other team for Smed's Cards. I hope to get those out this coming week. The post office loves me right now. Luckily I have an unusually quick and unbusy post office where I live compared to every single other one I've been in.

I ganked these picks off of Ebay since I'm at work. I'm pretty sure my C.J. auto looks better but I have to say, I've noticed a lack of effort on a lot of these autos this year. However, they look 1,000% better than the baseball on-card autos which is strange.

**Side Notes: I'm adding John Conner as a player I collect now. Jets FB from Kentucky. I've also added a link to my ebay page on the right over there. Don't be alarmed, there's a couple Buy It Now's that are priced pretty high. That's because I really don't care if I sell them or not but I would take that much money over having the card itself. That is all.

Cincinnati Reds: 2010 NL Central Champs

2010-09-30T08:28:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I may be a day or two late on this but who cares. The Reds are in and that's all that counts. I thought I might have a chance to go to game two in Cincinnati as I'm flying in on the 8th but it looks like they may not have home field advantage. To celebrate the Reds division championship, i'd like to share a couple links to my favorite Reds blogs who have covered the actual baseball part of the season better than I ever could.

1) Redleg Nation
2) OMG Reds

Here's a new blog that I saw featured on OMG Reds that does my new favorite thing, make custom cards. Does anyone now of how to print and make these custom cards real?

3) The Writer's Journey

Another Team Lot Return Package

2010-09-24T18:15:00.003-05:00

I actually forgot that I had just gotten this box in the mail when I did the last post. This is from Scott of Smed's Baseball Card Blog. He received a box of the A's, Rockies, and Brewers (if I remember correctly). What I do remember is stuffing that box so full that i've got about 40 Brewers cards that I couldn't get in there. They're just junk wax commons so who knows, maybe i'll just throw them out or wait to pawn them off on someone else. Here is the top three that I picked from his return box. He had a pretty big box to send as well but these were all Reds and a lot of new ones too. Love the Dibble card.

Team Lot Return Package Post: Catching Up Edition

2010-09-22T14:38:00.007-05:00

I've got four return packages to post this time. I haven't had a lot of time lately so here it goes...

The first package is from Dennis at Too Many Grandersons. He's a Tigers fan (Wolverines fan too but I won't hold that against him) and sent me a great return package of old and new Reds. The three I picked for showing off are the Joe Oliver autograph which is great, the Topps Tek Paul Konerko (plastic see through and refractor like), and an '05 UD Pros and Prospects Griffey. Love the throw back uni.

The next trade is one that I instigated as I found out that Chris from On Card Autos was a Cubs fan and I didn't have anybody claim the Cubs yet (big surprise). He sent a nice little package of Reds, most of them I didn't have yet. I chose the Big Red Machine, Red variation Volquez, and the big head Austin Kearns to show off. I'm gonna have to find some more of the big head cards, those are funny.

The next package came from within the state of Oklahoma from Jeremy of No One's Going To Read This Blog. He's a Mets fan who also requested the Packers. He collects OU Sooners too since he's from Norman. He sent a great package of newer Reds and also some Lions for my brother. I love the Jay Bruce Turkey Red, very classic looking (obviously). It's too bad Upper Deck sucks now because they always had great photography and card design. What was up with 2007 Upper Deck though? Horrible looking sets. I'm glad I didn't start back collecting in '07. Between UD and that Topps set, I probably would have quit again.

The last package came from the legendary Collective Troll. I think between a previous trade with me and trading with Chris from Nachos Grande, Troll didn't have too many Reds left to trade. But...he came through and was able to send a package with some Reds and 80's oddball stuff. I love this Topps Finest Volquez refractor. One of the shiniest refractors i've seen. Of course my scanner isn't going to show you that.

Well I'm caught up for now but should have a couple more coming at some point. I've also pre-ordered two boxes of Topps Chrome baseball and one box of Topps Chrome football so I may have some stuff up for trade.

Team Lot Return Package # 4

2010-09-15T10:27:00.003-05:00

The next package I received was from Ryan over at O No!!! Another Orioles Blog. He sent a smaller box but it was loaded with newer Reds which was great. There were a lot of Larkins and Griffeys which is always a good thing. There were a lot of the current guys too like Votto, Bruce, Volquez, Cueto, and Arroyo. It was hard to pick three cards from this lot because there were a lot of parallels and chrome.

The Larkin below is a refractor like UD3 card. I'm not familiar with this set at all. That's the great thing about these trades, i'm getting to see a lot of different sets that I haven't seen yet. As everyone knows there were so many sets from the mid 90's up until last year. Some sucked but some were really cool. I love the plastic see through EX cards. Usually I have to look through COMC to find new cards but this is a lot easier.

The Phillips relic is an error card of sorts. The back of the card is for a Ryan Braun relic card. The Aroldis Chapman card speaks for itself. It was very nice of Ryan to include a card that's already priced at $10-20 with potential for more. I'd really like a Chapman auto but don't really feel like paying today's prices so I sent a card out in the mail to him and Leake. We'll see if they get returned or not which will definately be another post.

Check out Ryan's blog, it's a good one, especially if you're an Orioles fan.

Team Lot Return Package # 3

2010-09-15T10:10:00.004-05:00

The third package I've received back is from Rhubarb Runner at “é rayhahn, rayhahn”. He sent along a pretty big package with all kinds of stuff in it. It had jumbo cards and mini relic cards that were removed from the frame. I think I like them better that way but I don't think i'll be removing any that I have. He also sent some vintage which is great. He's a Twins fan so check out his blog which is more than just baseball cards. Here's the three that I picked out to show off but again it was hard to narrow it down.

Team Lot Return Package # 2

2010-09-08T18:24:00.004-05:00

The second return package of Reds came from Moremonkeys138 of Crinkly Wrappers. This was a smaller lot of cards than the first but had a lot more newer cards which was great. There were what seemed like team sets from Topps and Chicle. Here are the top three that I chose to show off from this lot. The Jay Bruce is a foil board card and shines like or better than a refractor.

Team Lot Return Package # 1

2010-09-06T21:26:00.004-05:00

It's time to start posting some of what I've recieved in return for my team lots. I'll be getting a lot of packages in return so I've decided to post my three favorite cards of each return package.

My first package came from Mariner1 of Emerald City Diamond Gems. I received this package even before I sent mine out. It had about 300 or 400 cards. It was a variety of cards ranging from the 60's through today. It was hard to pick three cards because there was a lot of Bench, Foster, etc. Thanks Mariner1, pleasure trading with you!

30 Worst Baseball Cards of All-Time

2010-09-04T08:01:00.003-05:00

I came across this link the other day. It's the 30 worst baseball cards of all-time courtesy of acidcow.com. I'm not familiar with the site but there are some great cards here. I even managed to pick up a couple on COMC. I think Pete Ladd may be my new favorite player and Wally Moon has the best uni-brow ever.

Team Lot Update

2010-09-02T10:14:00.006-05:00

I'm getting ready to begin "phase two" of pulling teams to trade for more Reds. Here's a list of what teams are already gone or spoken for:

Gone:

1) Reds
2) Rangers
3) Yankees
4) Blue Jays
5) Twins
6) O's
7) Mariners
8) Red Sox
9) Angels
10 Giants
11 Cubs

Spoken For:

1) Rays
2) Pirates
3) Nationals
4) Indians
5) Dodgers
6) Mets
7) Tigers
8) A's
9) Brewers
10 Rockies

So the remaining teams are: D'Backs, Braves, White Sox, Marlins, Astros, Royals, Phillies, Padres, Cardinals

If you'd like to get in on phase two let me know in the next couple days. For those that didn't see the first post, I'm trading away the teams that I don't collect (all but the Reds) for Reds cards or other things that I collect which are listed on the blog to the right. The cards are commons, stars, prospects, and possibly a relic or auto (more than one if available). I'm keeping most of the chrome prospect cards so most of those will be base. I have included other chrome cards and some refractors though.

I hope to post what I get in return also. I've gotten two boxes back already from Larry of Emerald City Diamond Gems and Ted of Crinkly Wrappers. Thanks again guys. Great cards.

New COMC Purchases

2010-08-31T19:40:00.004-05:00

Since I'm not getting my COMC lot shipped this month, I figured I'd snag the pics from the site and show off what I buy more often. Then I won't have to scan a bunch of cards later. Today's focus has been Topps Archives Reserve which is basically a chrome refractor version of older Topps cards. Very cool if it's a player you collect. I got a few Reds and a Fridge card. I found an '88 Donruss (Donruss Originals) of Griffey which is pretty cool. I love these new retro cards.

COMC

2010-08-21T20:42:00.004-05:00

So I have another huge lot of Check Out My Cards ready to ship. I'll have to do the bulk ship which falls on the last week of the month. It seems like every month I either forget or don't want to pay the price of a hobby box for shipping. That's right, hobby box. I have approx. 320 cards waiting to be shipped right now. The cool thing is they're all cards that I want versus a hobby box where I might not get anything I really want. What I usually do is load $10 into my account at work and shop for cards throughout the day. I've found some really cool sets that I didn't know about just surfing around looking at specific players and years, etc. The latest sets I've been checking out are the mid 2000's Bowman Heritage. I really like these cards especially the variations like the Mahogany (Ginter wood anyone?) and the rainbow foil versions of the '07 set. Another would be the 2003 Fleer Platinum which has prospect cards that look like '88 Fleer. I also found a 2007(?) Topps Wal-mart Manny Ramirez card that looks like an '88 Topps. I'm a sucker for these reprints that feature new players on old cards or old players on newer cards. One thing I think is funny is I almost went all in on the Tony Hawk Ginter wood card on ebay lately but bailed out and I'm glad I did. After seeing the mahogany Bowman cards, it doesn't seem that special.

One last COMC thought, I have a box i'm working on to send to them so I can get my own cards up for sale. I'd like to be able to fund my account from stuff I already have. Anyone have a lot of success doing this? Anyone have any random thoughts about COMC?

Steroid Power!!

2010-08-12T15:10:00.002-05:00

Random COMC purchase.

Team Collector Wanted: Angels

2010-08-07T17:14:00.005-05:00

I really want to condense my collection and rid myself of all of my cards that I don't care too much about. I have a friend at work who I assembled almost all of my Yankees cards for and I've thought about working out trades like this for the other teams. While shipping may be a bit much, it would be worth it to eventually empty some boxes out of my closet. So here's how I would like it to work: I'll post one or two teams at a time. Whoever would like that team leave a comment. The only thing I would like in return would be something that I collect. I really don't care how many or what kind of card it is. You can wait until the box arrives or whatever. First team up is the Angels. If there is a team you are interested in you can leave a comment and I'll keep it in mind. If you're not the first one interested then tell me what you have to offer and I may contact the first person and take a best offer kind of thing. Included will be commons, stars, rookies, prospects, maybe relics or autos.

Tony Hawk Relic

2010-07-23T15:46:00.003-05:00

Here's the latest card I picked up off of Ebay. The coolest part of this card is that every little piece is different. The Tony Hawk auto is about the only other Ginter card I'd like to have as i've bought the complete set off of Ebay. I would trade my Heyward auto for the Hawk auto if anyone has one or know's someone that does.

Trade With Priceless Pursuit

2010-07-15T14:10:00.004-05:00

Joe from www.PricelessPursuit.wordpress.com claimed the Darryl Strawberry cards I wanted to get rid of. He sent me a nice package of Reds cards in return. Here's a few of my favorites which includes a nice pack of 80's baseball tats featuring Pete Rose. I love the Janish refractor rookie and the '10 Topps vintage Bench '57. I love the '57 set for some reason.

Breaking News: Bowman Prices Officially Beyond Ignorant

2010-07-10T07:49:00.003-05:00

Let me get this straight...The Strasburg 1/1's have all been found minus a printing plate or two and this product still continues to rise. The latest price for a jumbo box is $388.99. I'm not even sure if the Bryce Harper Superfractor has been found but if it hasn't who cares? One remaining super card does not warrant this kind of inflation. I'm not blaming Blowout totally, I've had nothing but good experiences with them. But $388? Seriously? Is anyone really paying this much? Are enough people paying $355 that the price can continue to rise? Unbelievable.

Dr. J

2010-07-09T18:42:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to show off my latest Ebay pull. This is a 1996 Topps Finest Chrome Refractor Reprint of Julius Erving's rookie card.

Huge Ginter Hit

2010-07-04T11:18:00.005-05:00

I received my box of Ginter from Blowout yesterday. Two of the hits were your standard lower end relics (Carlos Marmol jersey, Yunel Escobar bat) but the third will probably pay for the box. I got a Jason Heyward auto. I also got my first bazooka back hand numbered mini (Eric Byrnes) which is available for trade if anyone wants it.

Trade With SpastikMooss

2010-07-02T17:16:00.004-05:00

I sent Tim (SpastikMooss) of The Great Sports Name Hall Of Fame a Tyronn Lue X-Fractor that I didn't want and he did. We've been emailing back and forth and i've found out that we have some similar collecting interests. I've also been inspired to streamline my collecting goals. Last year I bought anything and everything. I have some people I collect, some people I half-ass collect and a lot of stuff I accumulate. So the process has begun. Tim helped me out by sending me a nice stack of Reds cards old and new. He also sent along some transparent cards (ex. EX) that we're both fond of. Check out his site. He's a cool cat and has a fresh take on card collecting.

Any Darryl Strawberry Collectors Out There?

2010-07-02T15:02:00.004-05:00

I have a stack of Strawberry cards from the 80's and 90's I want to get rid of. You can have them for nothing or take them and send me some Reds or something. Free cards! Send me an email or leave me a comment. First person to reply gets them.

Civil Rights Refractors

2010-06-30T16:59:00.004-05:00

Here's two refractors that I chased down earlier this year from the American Heritage set. They're numbered /76.

Updated: New Picture showing refractorness

Gold Refractor Goodness

2010-06-26T10:14:00.005-05:00

Here is a 2008 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor Steve Johnson I won recently on Ebay. I know a lot of people out there don't know who he is mainly because he doesn't play much. The reason for me showing this is 1) because it's a gold refractor which is always cool to see and 2) to show off one of the players i'm collecting and am looking for. Johnson is a WR that played for Kentucky in '07. He's still with the Bills and hopefully will have a bigger role this year. The latest thing i've read is that he's lining up ahead of Hardy as the #2 receiver right now.

I'm having a hard time finding his chrome refractors as he only has a Bowman chrome card. I regrettably passed up an orange refractor on Check Out My Cards for $8. There is a regular refractor on ebay but it's like $5.50 with shipping. That's a little more than I want to pay for the regular refractor right now. All this made me think of some cards that I'd really like to have and i'm going to put up this new most wanted list.

1) Steve Johnson refractors
2) 2009-10 Topps Chrome Gold refractor Nate Robinson
3) 2008 Topps Chrome Andre Woodson superfractor auto (/10) (have two)
4) 2008 Topps Heritage Jay Bruce red auto (/59)
5) 2009-10 UD Masterpieces Wilt Chamberlain (still don't think this exists)
6) 2006 Allen & Ginter complete set (have '07, '08, '09)
7) 2010 Topps Opening Day Mascots (have a little more than half)
8) 2008 Topps Chrome Andre Woodson red refractor (/25)

That's all I can think of right now. If anyone has these or has seen them please let me know. There will be a reward for any these items or information leading to their acquisition.

WTF Blowout!?!?!!!!

2010-06-11T10:37:00.004-05:00

This is getting pretty ridiculous. I was going to order two boxes of Allen & Ginter from Blowout but couldn't make up my mind. I saw they had an Ebay listing for it and it was originally $84.99. They had a best offer option (?) which I used and was denied. So I decided to pre-order two boxes of Topps Chrome at the nice price of $66 each. In the last two days the prices keep escalating for no reason. Every time I think about going to order Ginter, the price is $5 more than the previous day let alone 6 hours prior. As it stands right now Ginter is $104.99 and Chrome is $87.99. I think it's bull s**t that a distributor can jack up prices like that for no reason. I totally understand it's all about supply and demand but not everyone wants to spend stupid money on these boxes but would still like to get some of these cards. What's also bull s**t is there's people on the Blowout forums saying "I don't normally open baseball cards but I figured I'd get in on the craziness that's Bowman this year. Are these cards any good?" Seriously? I'm starting to listen to the people who are saying the "bubble's about to burst" on the hobby again. Obviously the Strasburg price was ignorant but this effects pretty much everyone who collects.

I think i've decided to let all the idoits pay 2k or over for all the cases to bust and i'll buy my Ginter complete set for $30 on ebay and save a crap load of money. I also think that if I get a Strasburg auto superfractor in one of my "discounted" Chrome Hobby boxes, i'll post a video online of me ripping a fake one in half just to see what happens. Then I'll sell the real one on ebay the next week.

Getting In On The Strasburg Action Pt. 2

2010-06-09T21:00:00.005-05:00

My '09 Strasburg UD USA card sold for a little over $11 which i'm still awaiting payment for (awesome) but I replaced that with the one I was wanting today. I bought some Bowman for the first time this year besides the Reds team set I bought on Ebay. I picked up some Jumbo rack packs from Wal-Mart today and the chrome Strasburg was in the second pack. Two things to note from this: 1) the rack packs have way better odds on refractors than the blaster boxes and 2) a lot of the chrome prospect cards are off center. 18 out of 48 are waaaaay off center and almost worthless. I'm going to send them in and see what happens. Last year I was shorted an auto two times out of two jumbo boxes and Topps sent me two in the mail so we'll see what they do with this. Anyways, check the Stras which I plan on keeping. Btw, I'm not sure how pissed I would be if this card was off center but i'm pretty sure it would be a lot.

Getting In On The Strasburg Action

2010-06-05T08:06:00.003-05:00

Well, i've wanted to post before now but i've been pretty busy with work and a new house. I finally got my desktop cpu set up so it'll be a lot easier to just jump on the cpu instead of firing up my laptop every time. Anyways, for the lack of another reason for a post i figured i'd post a link to the Strasburg card I have up for bid on ebay. I know it's not a Bowman but hey, it's a Strasburg right? I figure now is the best time to get rid of it so if you'd like a cheap one it's at 99 cents right now.

I also have a 2009 Bowman chrome orange refractor Rene Garcia listed as well. You know you want it. Bowman is hot right now, get all you can. Support my Check Out My Cards habit.

Get Serious Joey Votto...

2010-05-20T18:24:00.004-05:00

The Reds blew it today and are back in second place.

Smile Joey Votto!!

2010-05-18T21:01:00.002-05:00

The Reds are in first place!!!

Best 20 cents ever spent?

2010-05-15T16:33:00.002-05:00

I think so.

Custom Cut Auto #1: Walter Payton

2010-05-14T14:53:00.003-05:00

This is an autograph I got on my plane ticket at O'hare airport back in the day . For the longest time I had this stuffed away in a small binder where no one could see it. After seeing cut autos that the card companys put out I decided to make my own. The ticket cover itself was falling apart so it really didn't matter if I cut it or not. Now it's in a protective case and can go with the rest of my collection. Payton was a nice guy and even talked to me in Jacksonville since we flew on the same plane.

Rajon Rondo

2010-05-13T23:31:00.005-05:00

is turning out to be a nice ball player and I have a rookie auto card of his. I didn't follow him at Kentucky but from what I gather a lot of the local folks there weren't too big on him. Has anyone noticed he sounds like MC Pee Pants from ATHF?

The next couple of posts I plan to show off my Andre Woodson auto collection for lack of better ideas, but also I want to show off my custom cut autos with a fairly big name leading the pack.

The Infinite Baseball Card Set

2010-05-06T19:16:00.003-05:00

I ordered mine, anyone else?
www.infinitecardset.blogspot.com/

Reds HOF

2010-05-04T08:27:00.017-05:00

Here's some pictures of the Reds Hall Of Fame that is just outside the stadium. Easily the highlight of the day (besides lunch and the beer sampler at Rockbottom Brewery in the fountain square) since Bronson decided to stink up the place during the game. Definately worth the $10 admission price and they also gave us a free hardback Opening Day book from 2004 that was originally $35. There's a lot of stuff that I didn't take pictures of like the entire 1990 team section that is being featured this year, but this is a nice sample.

Huge Joey Votto "fathead" outside the team shop which is actually the exit for the HOF.

Nice Pete Rose display

Very cool ghosts of Crosley Field painting

World Series Trophy, it'll probably be awhile until they add another one.

Nasty Boys

Hall Of Fame Plaques

I forgot to look at who I was sitting next to

My brother in the pitching cage. I'm not going to post our top speeds because it's pretty embarassing but I will say 90 feet seems a lot farther than it sounds.

Cool Big Red Machine mural inside the stadium

Cueto "fathead" inside the stadium

Crazy Week

2010-05-01T10:38:00.005-05:00

It's been a crazy last 8 days or so. A week ago Friday I arrived in Cincinnati and was picked up by my brother at the airport. We went to the Reds and Padres game that night. We were able to see the Reds at their worst, in the midst of a losing streak. We were lucky enough to see the bad Bronson Arroyo show up and give up 9 through 4 or so. It was rainy, somewhat cold, and we both had an allergy/cold thing going on. It was miserable enough that we left after the sixth and never looked back. We got to see A-Gon hit a grand slam which sucked but, hey, it's a grand slam. The highlight of the day was the Reds Hall Of Fame which is connected to the team shop at the stadium. Why have I always skipped this before? Thoroughly enjoyed it. Highlight of the trip besides getting to visit family. I may post some pictures in the next day or two.

After returning to Tulsa on Monday, I worked on Tuesday, closed on my new house on Wednesday, and spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday moving/setting up the new house. It's been great but very time consuming. With the help of the home buyers tax credit, I was able to buy new furniture, appliances, and lawn equipment that I didn't have or need living in an apartment for the better part of eight years.

In the midst of all this hecticness, the Reds have posted a five game winning streak. They took one from the Padres, swept the Astros and as of last night, have taken the first game of the series with the Cards. Johnny Cueto got the win last night and it seems the rotation has turned things around for the time being.

I also recieved a nice little package from Chris of Nachos Grande. He was nice enough to send me an Eric Davis I had my eye on and some Reds cards from his group break that I was not a part of. Great gesture that will definately be repaid once I figure out how.

Hopefully in the next couple of days I can get some HOF pics up, a post i've been wanting to make consisting of my Andre Woodson (UK QB class of '07) auto collection, and some cards Nachos sent me.

In tribute to the Reds winning streak and last night's winner, Johnny, here's the only Cueto card I currently have in que at CheckOutMyCards.

How Is This Even Possible?

2010-04-27T10:06:00.003-05:00

Have you ever wanted to see a video where one mascot makes a three pointer off the nuts of another mascot and then that mascot falls through a basketball hoop? Well, here it is...

Please Fire These Two Guys

2010-04-22T09:43:00.005-05:00

Reds, please fire Dusty Baker and hitting coach Brooke Jacoby. Thanks.

Cards from Troll

2010-04-21T11:29:00.005-05:00

I sent some cards to Troll awhile back and he repaid me with a nice package of Reds, Negro League players, and Clemente cards. He included two autos, Joey Votto which he obtained in person and a Johnny Cueto. The Cueto is good timing as I get to see him pitch on Friday. I'm headed to Cincy to take in a game against the Padres with my brother. We have tickets for the all you can eat section which will be his first time and my second time since '95 for the gluttony that are these tickets.

First TTM auto in nearly 20 years

2010-04-16T21:16:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time since I sent a card through the mail for an auto and honestly it seems kind of weird trying to get an autograph of someone younger than me. But, that's part of the fun of this hobby and it was still cool to see the envelope I addressed to myself in the mail box. I decided to send a card to Pat Neshek who is a pitcher for the Twins. He has his own blog and is a baseball card collector himself. He says he'll sign whatever cards you send him and he definately did. He also sent it back immediately meaning I had it back in exactly a week. The card I chose was one I purchased off of CheckOutMyCards. It's his '09 Allen & Ginter code breaker card which turned out to be the key to the whole code puzzle.

Best...Mullet...Ever.

2010-04-14T16:33:00.003-05:00

Ummm....No.

2010-04-10T09:02:00.004-05:00

This is what Ken Griffey Jr.'s response should have been when they showed him his '92 Fleer Next Generation card. I don't exactly remember, but did rainbows not mean the same thing in '92?

More Circulated Favorites

2010-04-07T14:06:00.004-05:00

2009 Topps Chrome Refractor Nate Robinson and Sammy.

Check Out My Cards shipment arrives

2010-04-07T13:13:00.003-05:00

Here's just a sample of the 250 or so cards I had shipped from Check Out My Cards. The Singh and Gray autos are refractors. The triple auto is Todd Frazier (Reds), Matt Dominguez, and Kevin Ahrens. It's a Just Minors card numbered 10/25 which I think I got for like $8. The Clemente Gallery is a refractor like artist proof. The '08 Jay Bruce doesn't say refractor but shines like one which is weird. The Stadium Club Clemente is a good looking card. And of course there's an Action Packed textured William Perry card. Most of the other cards I got were Masterpieces to finish my sets and random refractors and rookies. I have two more to show in the next post which I placed in the popped open uncirculated cases.

Corn-Fed

2010-04-06T13:34:00.003-05:00

I hadn't seen this card before today. I now own it for 25 cents.

Dusty Baker Loses To Cardinals

2010-04-06T06:58:00.003-05:00

First game of the year and I'm already wanting to throw up. I liked Dusty on Baseball Tonight, but I'm so tired of him being a manager. His lineups are crap and his utilization of pitchers is terrible. Here's how the Reds are fixed.

1) Paul Janish who hit over .300 this spring should start. He's younger and better defensively than Orlando Cabrera. He's been known to have a light bat but out hit Cabrera all spring. Cabrera is a bench player.

2) Ryan Hanigan should start over Ramon Hernandez. Hanigan hit over .300 last year and is much younger than Ramon. I'm not against Ramon starting with the latin pitchers but he's also a bench player at this point in his career.

3) Drew Stubbs should start over Dickerson. No platoon, Stubbs won the job. If these young kids don't play everyday they're not going to progress as fast. I know Dickerson isn't old but Stubbs is better.

4) Quit letting crappy players make the team according to how much money they make. I'll give the Reds credit, they did eat some money this year but there is no reason that Mike Lincoln should be on this team.

5) Fire Dusty Baker.

I really don't know what else to say. It's going to be the same result this year as last if there aren't some changes. I'm going to go vomit now.

He even annoys Pujols.

More Circulated Favorites

2010-03-31T17:37:00.004-05:00

Here's four more favorite cards of mine that I inserted into Topps uncirculated cases after popping them open and removing the crappy card inside.

1) Nomar Garciaparra 2000 Impact "Point Of Impact" Insert. Just a cool looking card. It kind of looks like this year's Upper Deck insert (All World?).

2) Ken Griffey Jr. 2000 Topps Gallery "Gallery Of Heroes" insert. Die cut, plastic and see through. Great looking card.

3) Jason McElwain 2007 Allen & Ginter. The autistic water boy for Athena High's basketball team in Rome, NY. The coach put him in for the last four minutes of the last game of the season as a courtesy. Kid drained six three's and a two earning him a spot on Sports Center.

4) Oscar Gamble '76 Topps Traded. No explanation needed.

Trade With Thorzul

2010-03-31T17:33:00.004-05:00

This was a quick trade with Thorzul to break the ice. I had an '07 Topps '52 Rookies Chrome he needed and he had a nice Jay Bruce '09 Heritage Chrome I needed.

Shakey's Pizza Josh Gibson

2010-03-27T13:07:00.003-05:00

This is a card I've had my eye on for awhile on COMC.com. I'm really not sure why as it's not really a good looking card. I guess mostly because it's the oldest Josh Gibson card I've come across and it's as old as I am. For $1.99 that's not too bad. I saw that someone recently put up the same Josh Gibson 2005 Bowman Sterling relic refractor I won on eBay for 99 cents. They have it for $15 which means it was a good buy for me.

$45.90 for shipping?!?!?!?

2010-03-25T16:18:00.004-05:00

That's what it's going to cost for my latest bulk shipment of 256 cards from CheckOutMyCards. It's actually cheaper than my last shipment which pushed 400 cards and ran about $60. I really don't even remember what all's in this shipment. I know there's a butt load of Masterpieces to finish my sets. I'm going to try to scan the highlights but I'm not sure how many that'll be. What do you think Corey Feldman?

How badass do you have to be...

2010-03-23T15:03:00.002-05:00

to have your position listed as "Slugger". I'm assuming George is somewhat happy about this.

APB: Wilt Chamberlain Masterpieces

2010-03-23T09:57:00.001-05:00

Has anyone seen this card? Does it even exist? This will be the last card I need to complete my basketball Masterpieces set and I can't find it anywhere. One of my new favorite sellers on Ebay morandy13 (who's store can be seen here) says he's busted about 6 cases of 2009-10 Upper Deck Basketball and hasn't seen one yet. I really want to finish this set.

Together Again

2010-03-19T11:37:00.001-05:00

This is old but a classic. What a douche.

Trade With Nachos Grande

2010-03-17T22:05:00.001-05:00

You'd think it would be easy to trade with someone who's favorite team is the same as yours. Until you try to decide which cards to send not knowing what they have. Fortunately I collect Eric Davis and Nachos collects Barry Larkin. I recieved my box in the deal the other day. While I did receive some cards I already had, he sent me some I didn't have and that made fine additions to my collection. I also learned something from the trade. I didn't realize Charlie Leibrandt came up with the Reds. Thanks Nachos Grande, looking forward to the next trade.

Holy Crap!

2010-03-14T17:23:00.001-05:00

I found this in a $4 ziplock bag at an antique shop. It's got a small crease at the bottom but compared to the rest of the cards it's in pretty good shape!

Two more...

2010-03-14T13:49:00.001-05:00

What to do with crappy uncirculated cards...

2010-03-14T13:13:00.002-05:00

Ever wonder what to do with that '06 Tyronn Lue uncirculated X-Fractor or that '04 Bowman Gil Meche uncirculated white base card? I hate these cards and am usually pissed when a card this crappy is a "hit" or box topper. You can't just throw them away so I came up with an idea. Pop them suckers open and put cards in there that aren't necessarily valuable but hold personal value. I.e. the card I consider my first ever baseball card, 1988 Shawon Dunston. Or an '85 Rusty Kuntz. Or a '91 ProSet Yo! MTV Raps Public Enemy card with Chuck D rockin' a Reds hat.

How can you not buy this...

2010-03-13T16:48:00.001-06:00

Going Oldschool

2010-03-13T15:58:00.001-06:00

I can feel my collecting focus shifting to vintage. Yesterday I took a couple of my more recent "hits" and finds and traded for a 1964 Topps Roberto Clemente. I've always been a fan of Clemente even though I'm too young to have ever seen him play. Before yesterday the only Clemente cards I had were of the more recent kind. Now that i've got the '64, I've got an itch for more. On ebay today I picked up a '69 for cheap. It's not in the best of shape but I don't mind at all. The '64 is actually pretty nice and had a $100 price tag on it. I'll scan it later. I also picked up a '69 Rose in the trade.

As I'm wrapping up the Masterpiece sets, I've set my sights on a new set to collect. 1998 Topps Finest Clemente reprints. Topps reprinted every single Clemente base card chrome finest style and there are refractors to be had. I already had one so that left me 18 to go. I picked up a few on CheckOutMyCards today and two more on Ebay. I've averaging about $5 apiece and one was a refractor. I plan on slowly matching that set with the originals of which I now have two. I'll scan each finest as I get them.

Speaking of Masterpieces, the two baseball sets are done. I finished the '08 SP's with one of those pick X number auctions on Ebay. I purchased a football base set for about $10 and need the SP's from that. I have a few basketball ones I need to finish out that set. That'll be a seperate post later as well.

If anyone has the Clementes let me know.

Real or not??

2010-03-10T17:07:00.002-06:00

This is a 2002 Bowman Chrome Joey Votto RC autograph that I purchased on Ebay last year. It's not certified and I won it for only $6. What do you think, is it real or not? I've studied a lot of autos over the last year and when compared to others it looks real to me. I also don't understand why someone would ruin such a great card only to get less than it's original value. What does everyone else think about buying non-certified autos on ebay?

Card Shop Wednesday

2010-03-10T17:04:00.002-06:00

Here's the biggest thing I purchased today at the card shop. It's a card i've had my eye one for awhile as it's kind of an iconic Reds card. 1957 Topps Ted Kluszewski.

Josh Gibson Relic

2010-03-10T17:01:00.001-06:00

This is an '05 Bowman Sterling Refractor relic of Josh Gibson numbered to 199. I've only seen two different relic cards for Gibson on Ebay and this is by far the better looking card. It's a relic of a seat from Forbes Field. Better than nothing I guess. I was able to score this for 99 cents plus shipping.

Delonte West - Desperado

2010-03-06T14:53:00.001-06:00

This has to be my favorite offseason player arrest story. I know this is a little old but I can't help but think of it every time I see him on Sports Center. In short, Delonte West is arrested after being pulled over on his motorcycle carrying a guitar case with a shotgun inside strapped to his back. He also has two small handguns on his person. Here's a link to the story.

Trade With Beardy

2010-03-05T17:12:00.001-06:00

I saw that Beardy had an '08 Stadium Club Johnny Cueto Auto Redemption up for trade. I had an '09 Bowman DPP Chrome Matt Hobgood auto to send his way. He threw in a few Goodwin minis. I hadn't seen any of the chrome versions until now. I'm going to have to look for more of those I think.

UD Masterpieces

2010-03-04T06:43:00.001-06:00

I've decided to put together the Masterpieces sets. I've finished the 2007 set and am now working on the 2008 set. The only needs I have are some of the SP's. I'm also kind of working on the football and basketball sets but want to finish the 2008 baseball set first. Here's my needs:

92 Ripken # 1
99 Griffey
100 Al Kaline
101 Ripken # 2
102 Nolan Ryan
103 Jack Morris
104 Rod Carew
106 Mattingly
108 Dimaggio
109 Jeter
112 Schmidt
116 Pujols
117 Musial
118 Bob Gibson

I'd take an extra Clemente if someone wanted to get rid of one. Let me know if you have any of these to trade.

Instantly Hits Top 5

2010-03-03T14:23:00.001-06:00

I picked up this card today at my local card shop S&S Sports Cards for about the price of a pack of the 2009 Topps Tribute. Very good deal since if I would have bought a pack I never would have gotten something this cool let alone something that I liked. It's numbered out of /99.

Trade With Omega Cardboard

2010-03-03T14:17:00.002-06:00

Here is my haul from a trade with Giantsfan of Omega Cardboard. He is looking for multi-colored patches from each team so if you can help him out give him a shout. He was able to pry a Papelbon patch from me that I really liked but offered up the following autos plus some random Reds cards. The Josh Hamilton is a favorite of mine as is the entire Masterpieces set. More on that later.

Oh Yeeeeaaaaahhh!!!

2010-02-24T23:08:00.001-06:00

Great wrestling cards that I bought from Check Out My Cards.

Steve Carlton and Octopussy

2010-02-24T14:08:00.001-06:00

I watched a show called Hoarders the other night on A&E and while i'm not a hoarder, i'm boarderline OCD. So I decided to clean out my closet today. I came across a box of older CD's which I decided to take to our local hobby store Vintage Stock. They took most of them which gave me $40 in trade. I got two 2009 Sweet Spot packs and they have a clearance deal where you get a free card up to $20 in value when you purchase a pack of cards of equal value. All of the sports cards were picked over so I went with two non-sports cards. The first was the James Bond Octopussy circus program relic card. They had it for 19.99. Not sure what it's worth if anything but it's pretty neat. The other was a Star Trek Worf uniform relic card numbered to 1,500. It comes in it's own Topps style sealed plastic case which also has a raised Star Trek logo and number on it. Weird. I'm not a Star Trek fan so if anyone wants it, it's yours. The Swee Spot packs gave me a base Porcello uni relic and this Steve Carlton base uni relic which is pretty cool.

Brandon Jennings

2010-02-23T05:28:00.001-06:00

I finally acquired the Topps Chrome Brandon Jennings Refractor I've been chasing. I also picked up the regular chrome version cheaper than I thought I would, both on eBay. One thing that is kind of frustrating is the Gold Chrome Refractor just sold for $128. I spent more than that on a couple hobby boxes of baseball that didn't produce much. I keep telling myself I'm going to quit buying boxes but it's not as fun just picking the ones you want and sometimes you can get lucky and pull the orange auto refractor or better. But usually I just get crap.

Open For Trades

2010-02-19T17:35:00.001-06:00

If you stroll by here and have some Reds cards you don't want I'm up for trading. I plan on adding some scans to my up for trade page on the right hand side eventually. I'm also going to take on the task of organizing my cards into individual teams. I'm starting with the prospects and young stars and will dig into the commons next. Hit me up.

Cameron

Bo Knows Manners

2010-02-19T17:22:00.001-06:00

Since i'm getting some scans under my belt I thought I would scan my best autograph. I obtained this at a Spring Training game in 1990 (I think). It was the year of the lockout. We had tickets to the Royals game but the lockout ended that day or the day before so the players were just working out. Bo signed for a bunch of us kids that were on top of the dugout. I remember some kid almost got pushed off onto the field as everyone wanted to get his signature. He stopped and scolded the crowd and said everyone would get an autograph. I got offered $50 for this card when I got back home in Indiana and didn't sell it (obviously). I'm glad I didn't because even though it may not be worth $50, it definately has sentimental value.

New Scanner Purchased!

2010-02-19T17:05:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since i've been in the scanner or printer market. I was kind of surprised to find that you almost have to buy a combo any more. They're also a lot cheaper than they used to be. I also made an impulse buy while at Best Buy, Sling Box. For those that don't know what that is, it connects to your cable/dvr box and to your internet router so you can watch your tv on your laptop anywhere. You can also watch tv on your iPhone over wifi or now 3G. I love technology. So here's a scan of some recent good pulls and card store purchases.

1) '09 Reymond Fuentes Bowman Chrome Draft Orange Auto Refractor
2) '07 Todd Frazier/Justin Jackson USA Baseball Dual Auto
3) '02 Joe Mauer Topps Chrome Series II RC
4) '05 Dwyane Wade Fleer @ Large Auto /50
5) '06 Kobe Bryant Topps Jersey Card
6) '09 Russell Westbrook Topps Chrome Gold Refractor /50
7) '09 Brandon Jennings UD RC
8) '09 Julius Erving UD Masterpieces
9) '09 Tyreke Evans UD RC

Trade with Project '62

2010-02-19T16:59:00.001-06:00

I received my package from Chris of Project '62. I traded for the Corey Feldman (and his wife) auto and a vintage Red. Chris also included some other vintage Reds cards which is great since I really don't have that many. Thanks a lot Chris and I hope to trade again. Helps a small sample of the package that was sent my way.

Topps Million Card Giveaway

2010-02-18T06:39:00.001-06:00

So I finally redeemed the seven cards I had and I did pretty good. The newest card I got was an '85 Topps. I even got a couple vintage Reds cards, not too bad.

1) '52 Gerry Staley

2) '72 Rollie Fingers

3)'71 Reds Rookie Stars Frank Duffy and Milt Wilcox

4) 1961 Harry Anderson (Reds)

5) 1966 Tom Egan (Angels)

6) 1972 Mike Paul (Rangers)

7) 1985 Tito Landrum (Cardinals)

I saw on Ebay the redemption cards have almost doubled from about a dollar a piece to two on average.

Birthday Box Breaks

2010-02-17T22:38:00.002-06:00

Today is my birthday so I went to the card shop and spent more than I should have on some hobby boxes. One box of '09 Bowman Draft, one box of '08 Chrome, one box of '07 Chrome, one box of '02 Chrome series II, and they threw in a box of '99 Finest since I spent quite a bit (all baseball). The '99 Finest gave me two Split Screen refractor cards (Griffey/Rodriguez) and (McGwire/Sosa). The '02 Chrome gave me a Mauer RC, a Harden RC, and a Felipe Lopez black refractor. The '07 and '08 Chrome autos sucked and all four could have been had for about $15 on CheckOutMyCards, but the Bowman produced one of the best pulls I've had yet. It's an orange refractor auto #'d/25 of the Red Sox first round pick Reymond Fuentes. He just turned 19 and is Carlos Beltran's cousin. I think I'll have to hold this for a couple years until it hits max value.

2010 Baseball Season

2010-02-11T08:21:00.001-06:00

Pitchers and catchers report in a week. As a Cincinnati Reds fan, you have to be excited this time of year. The Reds are always World Series contenders during Spring Training. Then comes April. And May. This year could be different. The Reds seem to have a young club with lots of upside. There are some decent veterans to provide leadership and bridge the gap until the rest of the prospects are ready. Just because I'm bored, here's the projected lineup.

SP: Harang, Arroyo, Cueto, Bailey, Owings
SP possibilities: Chapman, Maloney, Lehr, Volquez (injured)
RP: Cordero, Massey, Rhodes, Lincoln, Herrera, Burton, Bray

C Ramon Hernandez/Ryan Hanigan
1B Votto
2B Phillips
SS Cabrera/Janish
3B Rolen
LF (up for grabs) Frazier, Dickerson, Heisey, Gomes(?)
CF Stubbs
RF Bruce

Reds fans have high hopes for Bruce, Stubbs, and Votto. Votto was one of the best hitters last year and dealt with personal issues which kept him out for awhile. Hopefully he'll improve even more. Aroldis Chapman is the X-factor. I say throw him out there and let the new pitching coach work with him throughout the year. But having Owings in the rotation vs. the pen makes him available to pinch hit the four days he's not pitching. Or they could just put him in LF and call it good. Later I'll list the Red's top prospects.

2009-2010 Topps Basketball

2010-02-11T08:06:00.001-06:00

I think I may try to put this base set together. Why? Because I have so many of the cards now from chasing the Brandon Jennings chrome (and refractor) card. I should of just bought the card outright from Ebay or elsewhere but I can't help how much fun it is to rip the packs hoping to find one of my own. At least it's fun until the last pack is opened and I didn't find crap. I've seriously had to go online and purchase a relic or auto for a couple bucks to make myself feel better. Anyways, I know this set will not be worth that much not being chrome but what the heck. I haven't built a set since '89 Topps baseball. I collected that entire 792 card set on my own except for the last card I needed, Cris Carpenter (the original), which I bought at the card shop.

This guy. I couldn't find the topps pic which I know is hard to believe. What's even harder to believe is that the Cardinals have had two C(h)ris Carpenters. Good thing the second one is better than the original. Bad for the Reds though.

First Blog Trade

2010-02-11T07:24:00.001-06:00

Working on my first blog trade with Chris from Project '62. Looking to acquire a Corey Feldman auto which will be transferred to my brother when obtained. Now to find that elusive Corey Haim auto...

Kwame

2010-02-06T22:02:00.001-06:00

One more thing I'm collecting...

2010-01-30T12:42:00.000-06:00

Awesome hair cards. That's right. Afros. Jheri curls. Afros. Skate or Die (I'm lookin' at you Matt Jones). I purchased the ever popular Oscar Gamble '76 traded card on COMC.com for a quarter I think. My favorite one besides Oscar so far...Kwame Brown with a blowout fro. If I ever get a scanner, it's getting scanned.

CheckOutMyCards.com

2010-01-30T10:31:00.001-06:00

I found this site on another blog, www.beardysbaseballblog.blogspot.com, and fell in love. Instead of buying boxes of cards and not really getting what I want, I can buy exactly what I want and not have to pay Ebay shipping (per card). So after two smaller shipments, I have a bulk shipment ($59) of 349 cards coming soon. That should keep me busy for awhile. The shipment is heavy with Reds players past and present, UD Masterpieces (baseball, football, and the new basketball insert), a few autos, a few relics, and cards that just look cool. I usually don't care for reprints but I found a lot of chrome reprints of older cards and Archives Reserve (refractor) reprints of older cards. I love chrome, I love refractors. Who doesn't want a chrome version of the 1985 McGwire card, or a refractor of Roberto Clemente? Idiots, that's who.

2010 Topps

2010-01-30T10:18:00.001-06:00

So 2010 Topps baseball is out and i've bought one hobby box and one blaster box at Target. The hobby box was fun to rip and i'm pretty sure I got the best relic hit you can get. That's right, Jody Gerut bat relic. Jody. Gerut. bat.. Besides the fact that this is the base product and there is no chrome for another 9 months probably, it wasn't bad. There are a lot of insert cards, some interesting, some not. I got one #'d /50 black parallel card of Brandon Flowers.

The blaster pack was strange as three of the packs had an old style cardboard back vs. the glossy type back. I'm guessing this is a Target variation but strange none the less. Nothing really to speak of besides a Roger Maris variation card.

I bought a blister pack of Bowman draft and got an Aroldis Chapman chrome and a purple (purple?) refractor of some rookie. I've never heard of him, it's not his first card, and the purples are apparently not awesome enough to number so I didn't pay a whole lot of attention.

Four blister packs of 2009-2010 Topps basketball yielded zero chrome cards but two base Brandon Jennings of which I now have four.

2009 Bowman Sterling

2009-10-29T08:27:00.001-05:00

I broke down and bought a pack of Bowman Sterling yesterday. It's hard for me to throw down $50 for one pack of 5 cards but when it says look for multiple autographs in this box, I figured i'd give it a try. Result: Jaison Williams (who?) auto rookie card, Pat White jersey card #'d out of 50, and a Maurice Jones Drew jersey card #'d out of a few hundred. I've decided that Ebay is the way to go on the premium as you can pay for exactly want you want but it's hard to resist the fun of not knowing what you might get. In this case...crap.

Newest Andre Woodson Auto Card

2009-10-29T08:21:00.001-05:00

Here is my latest Andre Woodson auto card purchased from Ebay. 2008 Bowman Chrome Gold refractor #'d 22/25. Once again pic from Ebay second to not having a scanner.

I've got two more Woodson's on the way. 1) 2008 UD Heroes auto #'d 5/5 and 2) 2008 Donruss Elite die cut auto #'d out of 25.

2009 SP Threads box break

2009-10-24T10:23:00.001-05:00

I broke down and bought a box of SP Threads yesterday. 16 packs of 5 cards. 5 hits per box; 1 Letterman, 1 auto, and three relics. I did ok, I got two Letterman autos (a Beanie Wells /24 and a Clint Sintim /20), a Donovan McNabb/DeSean Jackson dual jersey card, Andre Caldwell jersey card, and an Andre Brown (RB Giants)dual jersey card. I usually don't have a lot of luck with good hits in boxes but I guess I can't complain with this one. My previous best hit would be a 2009 Topps Chrome Tommy Hanson auto which there doesn't appear to be a shortage of on Ebay.

What I'm collecting

2009-10-24T10:11:00.000-05:00

Here's what I'm mainly collecting:

1) Cincinnati Reds (basically any and all)
2) Kentucky Wildcats
a) Andre Woodson of the Washington Redskins practice squad
b) Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills
c) Keenan Burton of the St. Louis Rams
d) Jacob Tamme of the Indianapolis Colts
3) Autographed cards (either brand certified or not)

I may post lists of what all I have of the above players and am looking for more. Here's my latest addition, an '08 Topps Chrome Superfractor Auto 8/10 of Andre Woodson. Crappy picture taken from the ebay auction. Won this for $20.

New Blog (second attempt)

2009-10-24T08:43:00.001-05:00

I'm going to give this blog thing a try again. Last year I thought i'd blog about the Cincinnati Reds but I didn't make it out of April. Ironically I don't think the Reds did either. This time I'm going to give the sportscard blog genre a try. I started reading other sportscard blogs and really enjoy seeing other people's collections. If i'm going to really do this I'll have to buy a new scanner.

I started collecting baseball cards in 1988. 1988 Topps Shawon Dunston was my first card and I still have it. I collected a few years but like many gave it up as I grew older and the market became flooded with crappy cards. This year during spring training I started looking at old Pete Rose cards on Ebay. I bought a few and as I got more excited about the upcoming baseball season I started looking into cards for the new Reds. The rest is history. Now, i'm back into collecting full-time. Baseball, Football, Basketball, whatever. I feel like i'm 12 again but this time I have enough money to get pretty much whatever I want. So...we'll see how long I stick with this. I'm not sure what form this blog will take. It'll probably just be random posts about cards I obtain and not one particular theme. Let's begin...