Ebay Mailday 3/12/12 - Joe Thornton Auto

Just a quick post to show off a card I got in the mail today from an ebay purchase, a Joe Thornton autographed card from 11-12 Dominion. Thornton has an illegible, but still prelly cool-looking, signature and it is signed directly on the card. As most high-end product tend to be, this one has a low serial number of 43/50. While I'm not a huge Sharks fan, I've always like their captain as a player, and this card will be a great companion to a dual-jersey card of his I have on the way.

Not bad, eh?

Some Major Trade Bait Additions

I picked up a few Auto/Game Used card lots off of ebay recently. The idea was to grab up a couple of the cards I liked from them, repackage them, and sell them back on ebay, but before I do, I figured it would be a good idea to see if any of my readers were interested in trading for any. Here's my bounty, and if you see anything you like, let me know.

2007 Turkey Red Angel Berroa Bat

2007 Turkey Red Jorge Cantu Bat

2009 Goodwin Champions Ryne Sandberg Jersey (I'm keeping this one)

2009 Topps 206 Phil Hughes Jersey

2011 Topps Lineage Marlon Byrd Jersey

2009 Triple Threads Michael Bowden Auto/3x Jersey 28/99

2008 SPX Eddie Royal Auto/ 3x Jersey 285/599 (Claimed)

2005 SPX Reggie Brown Auto/Jersey 219/1275

2003 SPX Rookies Auto/Jersey Kevin Curtis 609/1100

2006 Bowman Mike Aviles Auto

2007 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Tommy Mendoza Auto 84/150

2008 Bowman Chrome Dustin Richardson Auto

2008 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor Mario Lisson Auto 161/250

2009 Bowman Chrome Bobby Lanigan Auto

2009 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Bobby Lanigan Auto 29/150 (Traded)

2007 Exquisite Rookie Signatures Kevin Cameron 9/15

2007 Co-Signers Chris Young & Nook Logan Dual Auto

2007 Tri-Star Elegance Gorkys Hernandez Auto

2010 Topps Chrome Refractor Daniel McCutchen Auto 213/499

2007 Just Minors Franklin Morales Auto

2010 Elite Extra Edition Tyler Holt Auto 65/694

2010 Elite Extra Edition Robbie Aviles Auto

2010 Elite Extra Edition Chad Jenkins Die-Cut Auto 11/50

2007 Bowman Sterling Michael Burgess Auto 

2009 Bowman Sterling Dinesh Patel Auto

2007 Ultimate Collection Adam LaRoche Auto

2006 Topps Chrome Bruce Gradkowski Auto

2008 Leaf Limited Lavelle Hawkins Auto 164/299

2007 Co-Signers Jacoby Jones & Yamon Figurs Dual Auto (Keeping this one)

2010 Allen & Ginter Troy Tulowitzki Bat (Traded)

2002 Flair Jersey Heights J.D. Drew Patch 44/100 (Traded)

2007 Sweet Spot Rickie Weeks Jersey

2010 Topps Tribute Jim Bunning Jersey 27/50 (Traded)

2007 Ultimate Collection John Lackey Jersey

2010 Topps Tribute Miguel Cabrera Jersey 33/50

2007 Ultimate Collection Kendry Morales 30/50

2010 National Treasures Jeff Hornacek Prime Jersey 13/25

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Jay Cutler Jersey (Traded)

2010 Donruss Elite Marion Barber Prime Jersey 9/50

2010 Donruss Elite Darren Sproles Prime Jersey 24/50

2010 Donruss Elite Heath Miller Jersey 230/299

2010 Donruss Elite Todd Heap Jersey 136/299

2010 Donruss Elite Steven Jackson Jersey 242/290

2010 Donruss Elite Sidney Rice Jersey 216/216 (Keeping this one, too)

2009 Playoff Prestige Clinton Portis Jersey 231/250

Like I said, any of these are up for trade, with the exception of my three keepers. I'd like to trade them for similar items, and it does NOT have to be anything off of my want list or player collections. After about a week, I'll probably get what I have and post a bulk lot on ebay, and use that PayPal credit to buy some more cool cards. Then again, if someone can make a killing off of my set needs, I'll take that into consideration, too.

Set-Building Help from Card Anathema and Crinkly Wrappers

I just received a couple manilla envelopes in the mail from Ted at Crinkly Wrappers and Matt at Card Anathema. Both were a great help in getting me further along in my sets of 2011 Allen & Ginter, 2011 Heritage, 2011 Gypsy Queen, and 2009 Goodwin Champions. The biggest bonus of it all, though, is that I received the remaining cards I needed fro my 2011 Topps Series 2 and Update sets to finally get me to a complete 990 card set. A big thank you to both bloggers. Go check out their blogs and have a great day!

Some 2012 Topps Hits

I know Topps has its fair share of detractors, but I have been having a blast opening up series 1 so far. The cards look nice, there are some great action shots, and the hits have been amazing. I picked up three blasters a couple of weeks ago and got some SICK manu-relics of Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, and Stan Musial.

What really makes the Historical Stitches cards cool is that both of these are printed on a flannel material, similar to what was being worn back then, and you can never go wrong with a Koufax. What I really like about them going all-legends on these manu-relics, is that you have a 100% chance of getting a great player. No more worrying about pulling a Shin-Soo Choo or Mat Latos.

I also go my hands on a jumbo hobby box. My three hits were a Brett Gardner auto, a Jonathan Papelbon jersey and a Tom Seaver World Series pin. The pin cards, much like their retired ring counterparts, are some FANTASTIC looking cards. Even though I'm not the biggest Mets or Seaver fan, this was a great pull for me. All in all, I could have gotten three much worse hits.

Any of these are up for trade, but with any of the manu-relics, I'd like to trade them for like items. I'm especially looking for the Ryne Sandberg retired number ring card, so if anybody comes across one, please let me know and I'll put a good offer together for it.

2011 Topps Diamond Giveaway Haul

I waited very impatiently today for UPS to show up at my door, and finally, at about 3:15 p.m., the brown truck arrived with my haul from the Topps Diamond Giveaway. Here's what I was pleased to find:

After a LARGE number of trades, I managed to get my hands on a Cubs team set from the die cut set, which I was very proud of. The cards you would expect to be easy to get were easy to get, but the Castro, Banks, and Sandberg cards took quite a bit of effort. Like everyone who has seen these has said, they look good on the computer, but FANTASTIC in person. WELL worth all the effort it took to trade for these.

I knew the Robinson and Maris cards would be a challenge, and they were, but I did not expect for the Hamilton to be as hard as it was. I actually had one early on, but traded it for my Sandberg, and had the worst time trying to get one back. Hamilton RARELY has a bad looking card, and the full view of the name and number on the back of his jersey was a great looking shot.

(Note: these things are NOT easy to get back into the penny sleeves after taking them out to scan)

I also got a few cards from the early '80s of players I like, as well as some Cubs from the '60s and '70s.

My free pack was from 1980. I was expecting '87 or '88, so something from earlier was a great find. I won't scan in all the commons, but here's the best of what was in my pack.

Three hall-of-famers. Not bad at all.

I also got the special "Diamond Edition" set, or whatever it's called. Not sure whether to open it, put it in a binder, or sell it on ebay.

I had a lot of fun with the Diamond Giveaway. With so fewer cards on the Golden Giveaway, it won't be quite the same, but as soon as I can actually unlock a few, we'll see how it goes.

Story Time with the Fargo Force

Tuesday night, the Fargo Public Library hosted a story time event featuring players from the Fargo Force, our local USHL (junior hockey) team. We got there a little late, missing out on a few stories about Penguins, but we did make it in time for arts & crafts time, where the kids were able to make trading card frames and hang out with the players.

The two players, forward Alex Iafallo and defenseman Neal Goff, spent time with the kids while they put the crafts together ,were great with the kids, and gave some encouraging tips to the young hockey players there. The cards available of the two players were taken up early on, so we got them to sign copies of the event flyer. My wife picked out the card of backup goaltender Reed Peters for Caroline's frame, mostly because she like the team's blue alternate jerseys.

We all had a great time at the event and it's always good to see players interact with fans, no matter how small of a level it may be.

(Contest) Pimpin' Ain't Easy - Cards Beyond Oceans

Cards Beyond Oceans is holding a cool contest for a great-looking Duke Snider auto/jersey relic card from Sportkings. Head over to his blog and get involved.

Trade Bait Draft With Jaybarkerfan

If anyone is looking for some card drafting fun, head over to Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  At $10 per slot, this is easily the cheapest I have seen, and it has some of the best potential cards available. Entries close Friday, so hurry over.

Topps Golden Giveaway - Day 1

After a couple of weeks following the release of 2012 Topps Series 1, the Golden Giveaway site finally went live. While past on-line gimmicks have not been well received by all, I am a big fan, and am eagerly looking forward to participating this year. I had three codes to enter, and received no cards. Instead, I received three virtual coins, one each of Matt Kemp, David Wright, and the 2012 New York Yankees. We'll see how it goes, but if I don't get some actual hardware soon, I might havea difficult time being as enthusiastic about this year's offering.

On another note, I finally placed my order for my Diamond Giveaway cards, and I think I did pretty well in 2011. In addition to a few cubs vintage cards, I also will be receiving a complete Diamond Giveaway-stamped set of 2011 Topps, a pack of cards from the 70s/80s, and Die Cuts of all 7 Cubs (Sandberg, Banks, Castro, Colvin, Byrd, Marmol, and Ramirez), plus Josh Hamilton, Roger Maris,a dn Jackie Robinson. From what I've heard, these are some incredible-looking cards, so I'm looking forward to seeing them up close and in person.

Trade With "é rayhahn, rayhahn"

Seeing as though I keep track of my fellow bloggers through the Blogger news feed, I am somewhat isolated from others who ise other servers, such as Wordpress. One of those bloggers, Rhubarb-Runner, who writes at "é rayhahn, rayhahn", contacted me about a trade for my Twins trade bait. It turns out that my current place of residence of Fargo, ND is his former place of residence, which was pretty cool. It was also cool, because this makes him a hockey fan, which gave him the ability to help me with my Upper Deck hockey needs. Always nice. He also send me some of my needs from 2011 Topps and the following cards:

While a Johan Hedberg card doesn't turn any heads nowadays, he was a goaltending phenom for the Pens for a season or two. 

Felix Pie was a great prospect for the Cubs who just didn't pan out, and is a reminder of a history of things not going our way. It's funny how at a  certain point of a torturous existence, you embrace your team's misfortune. 

You just can't go too wrong with a Soriano relic. 

This is just a fun card in the simple fact that I never knew that Hinske had any association with the Cubs, much less had a relic card from his time with the team. 


That's the nice thing about card collecting. Especially in this case, it goes to show you, one man's junk is another man's treasure.