A journey to the dark side....

Way back in the day, I ranted about graded cards. I didn't like them. I still don't like them. But despite what my girlfriend says, I'm not a dinosaur.

I understand the need for them. The hobby is changing. And graded cards are where it's heading. Heck, it's already there. 

In an online world, buying and selling graded cards is easy. No muss, no fuss. Each party knows exactly what the value is. With raw cards? Not so much. Extremely subjective. 

Now don't misunderstand me... I'm not running around acquiring these hunks of plastic all willy nilly. But I'm not cracking them out of their cases like I used to either.

Well, almost never.

There are a few exceptions... like when I literally trip over one at a local card show that slides into my wheelhouse. 

There it was. And cheap too. I had no idea just how cheap until much later. I now feel bad about it. If I run into the seller again, I might throw some cash his way. Somehow a hockey collector ended up with a baseball card and didn't know what it was worth. Being junk wax, I mistakenly assumed it was priced correctly.
Ah well, I was probably going to hell anyway.

What say you? Do you like graded cards? Do you crack them out of their wee prisons?

Late Night with.....

well, with me. And my buddy Night Owl. While we don't always see eye to eye on things, (I'm a lot taller) we do agree that the night time is the right time.

And that smoothly leads to a surprise envelope that landed in my mailbox this past week. From the previously mentioned owl.

In it were half a dozen needs from my 2015 Topps want list, (thanks to owl for actually looking at my list!) and a couple of other throw ins...

first up, we have the Pig. It's good to have owl looking at your lists when it's Dodgers you need.

case in point. Yimi? Really? I suppose Youppie was already taken. (props if you know who the heck I'm talking about.)

and being the secret Giant fan that we all know he is, he had extra Bumgarners too....

along with being a closet Rockie super collector...

and for this one I got nuthin'... just glad to have received it.

Here we have a card that I set my sights on as soon as I knew it was coming out, but not a single card shop in town brought in any Donruss baseball (can you blame them?) So no pack busting for me...
but like any good friend, he knew I'd give it a good home.

and the final card I'll show is this Chipper Jones mini from 2012 A&G.

it's an A&G back, but has no number on it. Did all the A&G backs have no number? I thought only the regular backs got the "no number whoops we accidentally goofed on purpose" treatment.
Am I wrong? What am I looking at here?
I suppose I could google, but that'll take something close to effort.

Thanks owl!

Now if only someone had the last four cards I need for my 2015 Topps set... #33, 113, 152, 312

Bueller?

The only Hall of Fame post you need......

I'm not saying I'm not overly thrilled with Maddux and Glavine being elected to the Hall. Most deserving.

But everyone knew that was coming.

Some people deluded themselves into thinking guys like Morris or Martinez (HA!) would be in the running, but no.

 

But here it is on Canada's National sports page, front and center.... well, maybe down and to the lower left actually.

Behind the lead story that Montreal is starting their backup goalie against the Flyers tonight.

But! It did make it ahead of Michael Bradley signing with Toronto FC! So there's that...

 

How baseball has fallen over the years... almost an afterthought. Hopefully whomever takes over for that idiot Selig can right some wrongs and bring baseball back.

2 spots remaining....

My good buddy John form Old School Breaks is holding a multi box busting break party, and two of you are invited.
At the time of this posting, he still needs two more participants for yummy fullness. The great thing about John's breaks are that they are almost always from "the dark period" or, the time when I didn't even think about collecting. So I always see cool cards that I've never seen before.
Like this little beauty I received in the mail the other day from John.
I don't remember the Braves ever wearing blue pinstripes, but we'll go with it 'cause it's a sweet card.
So go over to Old School Box Breaks and sign up. Here's a list of what he's busting...

1 box 2004 Donruss World Series
1 box 2003 Donruss Elite
1 box 2002 Donruss Elite
1 box 2004 Donruss Studio
1 box 2001 Fleer Genuine
1 box 2002 Fleer Showcase
1 box 2002 Bowman’s Best


EDIT: break full up, thanks.

One to go....

I need one more..... (I think)

Here Chipper, Chipper, Chipper..........

Thanks for the trade Amanda!