Are you hungry??

most of you know about the big hootenanny that went down in Las Vegas a week or so ago. All the cool kids were there. Which may be why I wasn't.

It was the Industry Summit, or some such nonsense. Most of the card manufacturers and a whole whack of card shop owners in one place.

Chaos ensued.

But my point is, and I do have one, honest, is that my local shops were well represented.

Well, at the bar and craps tables anyway.......

But throughout the slot machines, video poker, and disease infested strippers, my local card shop thought of me. I'm not sure if I should be flattered or not.

Anyways... as we all know, it's not whether our friends have a good time on vacation or not, it's whether they brought us anything or not.

Am I right?

Well I got something.

and like I said, Are you hungry? Too bad because......

 

HA!

 

Thanks Darren, this is awesome.

you want Bryce Harper autos? I have Bryce Harper autos....

Sothe other night was trade night at Maple Leaf Sports, my local card shop. I'm not even going to make jokes about it being 45 minutes away in light traffic. This is serious business.
2011 Bowman had made it's appearance. And believe it or not, there are a few baseball collectors coming out of the woodwork up here in the Great White North. Especially the hit chasers.

The jumbos got ravaged first. I had thoughts of picking up a box. Just for the Braves. And some guy named Stras... Harper. But by the time I cleared the mothballs from my wallet, all the jumbos were gone. Sold. Cracked. Wrappers everywhere. A bunch of hockey collectors walking around confused why they don't see ice or skates on these guys....

I looked at the "hit ratio" for regular hobby, only one auto per box, and said to myself, Nah........

So my buddy Mike stepped up and grabbed one. A few packs in he pulls his auto. Yeah, if you've been paying attention, it was Bryce Harper chrome rookie auto.

Euphoria ensues... the heaven's part, angels are singing, doves are let loose as everyone gathers around to see the magical card that has just paid his next two months mortgage payments. As Mike goes to show off his prize, and if you've been paying attention to the title (look again if you need to, now back to me), he notices another card stuck to the back of th Chrome Harper auto.

As he seperates the two, his Chrome Harper auto becomes a Chrome Harper auto and a Blue Bordered Chrome Harper auto.

Make that his next 6 mortgage payments.

Surprisingly, Mike made it out of the shop safely.

If anyone wants to see the magnificent glory that is The Harper. Please check out Maple Leaf Sport's Hit blog.... HERE. You can magnify the pic if you dare by clicking on it.....

You've heard of Seal Team Six...

well this has nothing to do with them. But it does have to do with an insert set called Team Six from 2005 Absolute Playoff Baseball. A couple of weeks ago the owner of my local card shop went to the Expo in Toronto. I talk like I know what the Expo is, but I have no idea. All I know is that the card manufacturers are there as well as a whole mess o' dealers. So it's basically a big card show on steroids. I think.

Anyways.... Darren came back with little gifts for all of his best customers. And for some reason he brought me something too.

Here we have the best top 3 pitching rotation in baseball. Damn I miss these guys.

 but that's not all.... look at the back! Andruw Jones!!! and ... and... two other guys!!

 And here it gets even better. How's this for a 3-4-5 in the batting order? Chipper, Murph, and Andruw. Awesome.

 but that's not all! Look at the back! The Big Cat! Raffy! and.... and.... some other guy!

Really cool cards from an era when I wasn't collecting. Even if I was, I would have never pulled these....

But here's where it gets complicated. Do I put these cards in my Chipper box? My Glavine box? My Smoltzie box? My Andruw box? My Maddux box? Seriously. I have monster boxes devoted to each of these guys.

Suggestions?

I'm gonna need some sharp scissors.

Thanks Darren!

Card Shop Party Goodie Bag...

Okay, first up, for those of you who didn't read my last post, click HERE and read it first, or you might not know what the hell is going on.

Are we all up to speed now? Good. The main theme was In The Games 2009/10 Heroes and Prospects set. The key guy everyone wants is Taylor Hall. Remember that name. Taylor.

BTW, if Upper Deck or Topps decides that this post is worth reading, pay attention. You'll learn how to do sticker autos the right way. The way collector's will still chase after them and snap them up like Tic Tacs.

Example #1
Damn! Wrong Taylor. Oh well. This Taylor was a third round pick of Nashville last summer.

Example #2

Damn! Wrong Taylor again! This Taylor was a second round pick of San Jose last summer. The Taylor we wanted will be the first overall pick of Edmonton this summer. Yes. I can predict the future.

Now is that not the way to do sticker autos? Fabulous.

Onto the relics...

Maxime first started playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at 15. He is eligible for this upcoming draft. I was still trying to master long division at 15.

Oliver Roy was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in last summer's draft. Oliver. We're all very sorry about that.

Joey Hishon is eligible for this upcoing draft. Last season Joey scored 37 goals and 81 points in 65 games.

And this is the big one...

Not just a regular Landon Ferraro....

but a made just for me Landon Ferraro.

All in all a great time was had by all in attendance. And there were a lot in attendance. At any one time there were between 30-35 people crammed into Darren's tiny shop. I got to meet some folks that post on some of the boards, and came home with some really cool cards. Can't beat that.

Live anywhere near Calgary?

Be here on Saturday...
It should be a cool time. Somebody needs to bring pizza though. It's a long drive for me and I'm going to get hungry, I just know it.

Hallelujah!

No. Not this one. This will actually be an Olympic free post. I think.



The actual reason for my rejoicing is I found another card shop within 2 hours driving distance.
Most of you remember my anxiety a few weeks back when I found out my favourite cardshop closed it's doors and went to Vancouver. Not to mention the other shop in town refusing to sell packs. Remember that?

Anyways. I found out about another shop in the north end of the city. So I packed a lunch, gassed up the family truckster, and off I went. After my snack, I found myself at Maple Leaf Sports. I walked in the door to a small, but very clean and well laid out shop. Even though they had just opened five minutes before, there was already a customer at the counter making a purchase. Inside, the whole right side wall was devoted to McFarlane figures. The left wall, nothing but wax. A long L shaped group of glass cases filled with various singles.

I picked out a couple of boxes for review here later on, and joy of joys, actually got to pick up some new baseball packs. 2010 Topps Heritage. Right off of the counter. Just sitting there. In Calgary! 3 packs for $10. I have no idea if that's good or not, I just grabbed them. All you Yanks have seen them already, so I'll just hit a couple of highlights.

First card out of the pack. ROY Chris Coghlan. Hmmm... not too exciting...
Hey! My first brave of 2010!!! Not topps, not Upper Deck, but a Heritage Martin Prado. Smile Martin.
Ian Desmond. Is it really necessary to have both RC logos? I long for the day where we had to figure it out for ourselves.
My first SP! A scary picture of Jason Giambi Juice.
I also had to pick up two packs of series 2 UD hockey. After my box break a couple of days ago leaving me without any doubles... this was a must.
another Moose.

I added three cards to my set. Now I have a few doubles for people.

A big thanks to Darren of Maple Leaf Sports for the conversation. I couldn't stay long because I had an appointment to go to, but he's a friendly, knowledgable guy. (despite being a Rams fan) I can't wait to go back and see what else he has. He might even have commons boxes! (dare to dream)

If you're near Calgary, check him out. He also does mail order. I'll get that info and pass it along.