so close I can smell it...

Two cards. that's all I need to complete last years' A&G set before this years comes out. I still have a few left to trade that I haven't given away to others trying to complete this thing.
Does anybody have #312 and #313?


EDIT: darkship comes through.... Thank you Todd!

Where have you gone Bill Wennington?

I'm in the middle of Spring Cleaning. Yuck. But it needs to be done. Since there's still snow outside, I'm working inside. The house is pretty much done. Yay.
But my "card closet" is not. It needs it. Desperately. So in I dive. The beginning of Organization 101.

In the next few days you will see random posts like this one. If you want, pay no attention to my ramblings.. if you feel my pain, listen in. you can help. Yes. I'm talking to you.

Random babble #1

Somehow, card #431 Bill Wennington from '90/91 Hoops got up and left. Crawled out of the binder and went home. I looked through my monster box of doubles, and he wasn't there either. Now, I have a case of these waxboxes...(yes, a case) and I will open them all if I have to. It'll save me from sending them to dayf slowly over the next while...
but if you happen to have a minty fresh Bill Wennington #431, and you're willing to share... great.
I thank you. And I'll still be able to send stuff to dayf.

2009 Goudey = Big steaming pile of crap

Zman over at Autographed cards has the first look I've seen of the new '09 Goudey.

My wallet just got a little fatter looking at those cards. I will not be buying any needless to say.

What happened to all the really good sets? Why do they insist on taking all these really great ideas and ruining them?

Get your guesses in...

Go here to see the prize....

Rules are simple... pick the winners, pick the amount of games needed, and guess the answer to the tie breaking bonus question.

(6)Carolina Hurricanes @ (1) Boston Bruins

(8) Anaheim Ducks @ (2) Detroit Red Wings

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins @ (2) Washington Capitals

(4) Chicago Black Hawks @ (3) Vancouver Canucks

each series is a best of 7 games....

Bonus Tie Breaking question: Who will be the Conn Smythe Trophy Winner? (playoff MVP)

Good Luck!

EDIT: guess all the way through to the finals.... winner of Carolina/Boston vs Pittsburgh/Washington and winner of Anaheim/Detroit vs Chicago/Vancouver, then the Finals

cutoff is Friday 5pm MST

Wow!

That was some playoff hockey! Two amazing Game 7's... and the Braves beating the Cardinals. Before I get to the hockey... an interesting note to the Braves/Cardinals series.

Pujols is 1 for 8 with 3 strikeouts. The Cardinals have "intentionally" walked Chipper 5 times. Including 4 tonight. There is no way that LaRussa is letting his guys pitch to last years Batting Champion, while Bobby is letting his young staff go after what is considered the best hitter in all of baseball. Interesting chess match.

Now the good stuff. If you don't like what you saw in tonight's Game 7's, you're not a sports fan. Wow! Great action and intensity. And some of the greatest goaltending you'll ever see. Amazing.
How Carolina came back against New Jersey I'll never know. I watched it, and I still don't know. Two goals in the last 1:20 of the game to win 4-3. Unbelievable. Cam Ward deserves a medal for his heroics in the Hurricanes' net.....

Speaking of heroics... the only reason there was a Game 7, or a Game 5 for that matter, is Henrik Lundqvist. Unbelievable. The Rangers were no match for the powerful Caps, but Henrik stole, took, absconded, with 3 games.

Wow. This is the reason that playoff hockey is the best sports has to offer, better than the Superbowl, far better than the World Series....

for the love of the gods...

WTF are they doing???? And it's an SP to boot.

Contest Prize announced

Time for another contest. We haven't had one in awhile. As you all know, it's playoff time! And what better way to celebrate than with a contest.
The first round ends tonight. Starting with round 2, pick the winners of the remaining series all the way through to the Stanley Cup Finals!
(relax, don't start thinking yet, I'll have the bracket up late tonight or tomorrow)
They'll also be a couple of tie-breaker questions.

What will you win? I'm glad you asked. The winner will receive a complete set of 1977/78 OPC Hockey Glossy Inserts.

These were randonly inserted into packs over 30 years ago. But don't worry, I've completed the set for you.

Questions?

EDIT: the contest is live! Go HERE and make your guesses...

Stay Tuned....

keep checking back for a contest announcement... coming soon.

Prizes and details to be announced Tuesday or Wednesday, depending when I can find them.

Can you identify these?

I need a little bit of help identifying what subsets these are from. Now I know that these are from 2004 Diamond Kings. But as you may know, that set has quite a few parallel subsets.
I checked my handy dandy 2009 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards that I received for Christmas... but to no avail. I guess 1850 pages ain't what it used to be.

I'm guessing this is a Framed Black Auto #'d /5 But is that the correct name?

and this could be Framed Bronze Combo Bat/Bat #'d to /25, but according to the SCD, the combos did not come auto'd.

Now does anyone out there have (and it pains me to say it) a Beckett that they could look at to tell what these are?

Thanks.

a little pimpin'....

A couple of days ago, I was sent an email from John. (I'm sure he sent out quite a few emails to other bloggers as well) John has started a website called The Dugout - Cards and collectibles.

You can visit him here.

John is trying to make a go of it selling off singles at what he thinks are competitive prices. I browsed around for a few minutes... but the NFL draft was starting so I got distracted.
He's going to be adding singles from the last year or two in the very near future as well.

Check him out. Good Luck John.

He's the best folks...

He does this every other night.... unreal.

%#$@!! ebay'ers

for the second time this month, and for the fourth time this year, an ebayer has screwed me. And not in the good way either. I am sick of how ebay favours the sellers and does not give buyers any recourse.

This is the most minor of the four, but it ticks me off just the same.

I found a Bowman Chrome Draft super parallel XFractor shiny glow in the dark #'d to /199 of Braves outfielder Jordan Schafer. BIN for $1.99.

Sold.

Here is what I got in the mail today.

Notice any problem? After contacting the seller, I am more than welcome to return the card, at my expense, for a refund of my purchase price, less S+H. To summarize, I pay a total of $6 to get my $1.99 back, with no card to look at.

Perfect.

This goes along with the guy who sent my 30 '71 OPC baseball cards that had been trimmed with scissors. Badly. They were tiny. And mis-shapen. Again, return them at my expense for a refund, less S+H.

The previous two were sellers who did not deliver the waxboxes I had purchased. One proved that he had sent it. (to the wrong address) The other said, but had no proof, that it was returned to sender and wanted another $20 to ship it again.

Both times, ebay did nothing. I'm going to start selling on ebay again, but buying elsewhere.

the Lions are on the clock...

Yes my children, tomorrow is the holy day. Draft Day. It should be a holiday. Schools should be closed. Wait. They are closed. Good. Someone is coming to their senses.

I won't amaze/bore you with my 1st round mock draft. Although I will gloat that for the first time in 4 years, the Cowboys are guaranteed to get a top quality player with their first round pick. (they traded it, #20 overall, to Detroit for Roy Williams.)

Pre-draft starts on the NFL network at 11am est. First pick at 4pm est.

I'm gonna need snacks....

Just because...

most of you know I love non-sport cards. James Bond, Battlestar Galactica, Marvel, 24, whatever. I love 'em.
This is the oldest waxbox I have of non-sports cards.
1983 Donruss Magnum P.I.
Awesome.
This set is heavily geared towards Tom Selleck.

althought the supporting cast gets a card or two... Higgins! Wake up!

Don't forget the car!

Tom does his own stunts.... (no, not really)

The backs of the cards combine to make a big picture...

8 cards per pack, and a 66 card set. I've opened three packs so far, and already have 3 doubles and a triple. Not good.

These cards have come a long way since. But I loved the show back in the day. In fact, i'm watching it right now.

Looking for a good time?

Head on over to Zistle. (not what you were thinking?) Zistle is the best card collection site on the internet. Period.
Those of you still using Beckett.... get your mojo over to Zistle. It's better, faster, and easier to use.
And while you're there... check out the live chat feature, trade tracker, and if you like trading, look at my wantlist. I'm always looking to trade.

All the cool kids are there.... why not you?

Sacre Bleu!

So for tonights' Game 4, Montreal will be without the following starters...

Defencemen Andre Markov, Matthiew Schnieder, and Patrice Brisbois

as well as Forwards Alex Tanguay, Robert Lang and Francis Bouillon.

Other than that, things are peachy.

Oh. And league leading cheap shot artist Milan Lucic is back from suspension for Boston.

perfect.

Tradeaway returns

Awhile back I proposed a tradeaway... here and here, and some of the return packages are starting to come in.
This first one is from Duane of Democratic Roadkill. Duane offered to send me a few of the '08 A&G I still needed,
and threw in some "junkwax type Braves" as he put it.

all under the condition that I didn't send him '88 Donruss wax packs. Apparently Duane has put out restraining orders on people who send those. Okay. (but I think I might've snuck in a '90 Donruss...)

Thanks Duane!

The 2nd one today comes from reader Greg, (you know him as Beardy)... Greg sent some random Braves, including a Murph that I didn't have and a shiny Chipper....

along with some more of '08 A&G off of my wantlist.

Sweet! I may finish this sucker yet before the '09 comes out....... maybe....

Thanks guys! Great trading with you.

2009 Topps Finest Baseball

Preview break HERE.


What do you think?

Don't forget about Joe Collectors' case break here... sign up!

Box Break

2008/09 OPC Hockey Series One.
That's Mr Hockey, Gordie Howe telling us that this is a 600 card set. In Series One. This is not for the faint of heart.

The base cards... very old school. Matte finish. Great for TTM autos...

Inserts.... Shiny inserts. This one is the All Rookie Team, there are also 1st All Star team and 2nd All Star team insert sets.

One of two parrallel sets. This is the cool one. A retro one per pack of the old '79/80 OPC set.

The 2nd parallel set is the Gold shiny holofoil rainbow set. Or something like that.

There is a insert set based on the "Winter Classic" game that is played outdoors each year. These inserts fall 1 every 2 boxes. I found one. They are thick for some reason. It can't be a decoy card... who puts a decoy card in every 2 boxes?

But that wasn't the box hit.... oh no. It could've been. But it wasn't.... feast your baby blues on this....

Game used Triple Material Ovechkin - Backstrom - Semin!

These fall 1 in every 6 boxes, or 2 per case! Yeah baby! I have used up my luck for the next two years.

The weird thing was it came in the same pack as the Winter Classic card. One helluva pack.

Breakdown

Base cards - 188

Duplicates - 0

Inserts - lots

Pulls - Way more than I should have.

This is a set builders set. The autos fall 1 every 30 boxes, and the jersey cards, as mentioned, 1:6.

This is about the players, all 600 of 'em. In Series One.

My Series 2 box break tomorrow...

Just cards???

A question for all you readers/bloggers/collectors/sports fans out there... While I go through all of the great blogs online, I can't help but notice that there is very little mention of anything else but cards.
Nothing wrong with that. But there is so much else out there in regards to sports memorabilia.
Game jerseys, autographed items, programs, etc...

Does anyone else collect anything besides cards?

I slipped up....

So I found out about a little card show that happens once a month during the hockey season. Today was the last one until September. So I popped by. I'm saving for OPC baseball and maybe '09 A&G, but I went anyways.
Just a few local collectors selling off their singles and hits from a winter of busting cases of hockey.
One guy was selling off some boxes cheap... but I was saving for OPC baseball and maybe A&G.

He was very persuasive. $100 got me this.
and this.

Just what I needed. Another set to finish.

Why do I do this?

it's a good thing...

THIS is the only reason I could even make an appearance today after THIS.


thank god for playoff hockey....

attention Know It Alls....

In an effort to organize my collection, I started going through boxes today. I'm in for a long, arduous, journey.
Anyways, I found these. Now what I need to know (and am too lazy to research) is if I am missing any?
2006 Topps Chrome refractor White
2006 Topps Chrome refractor Blue (is this a parallel? It's not numbered..)

2006 Topps Chrome refractor Black (#'d to 549)

2006 Topps Chrome refractor Red (#'d to 90)

any more of these? What colour should I be chasing next????

and...

is the regular 2006 Topps the same? Or is there just this plain base version?

I'm so confused.

Playoff wager...

It's that special time of year. Spring. The time when a young man's thoughts turn to.... playoff hockey. Yeahhh baby!
No sport has a more intense, passionate playoffs than hockey. And nothing annoys a good Canadian lad more than some Yank thinking he knows more about his national sport than he does. (okay, our national sport is lacrosse, but I'm on a rant here...)

Shane, from Shoebox Legends, has thrown down the gauntlet. Crossed the line. Killed the rabbit. He let the Germans bomb Pearl Harbour.

Yes. That's right. He said the Boston Bruins would defeat the Montreal Canadiens in this years playoffs.
I know. What a buffoon. Anyways, I could not let him get away with it. I picked up the gauntlet, erased the line, performed CPR on the rabbit, and defeated the Germans, just like we did at Normandy and Vimy Ridge!

Take a look Shane... there it is...
Enjoy it. That's as close as you're going to get to it. You may as well send my new Topps Archives Montreal Forum Seat Relic my way now. Avoid the inevitable embarassment.

p.s. No rabbits were actually harmed in the making of this post...

A Nasty Update...

Tommy Hanson, in his second start, took the loss as he gave up one run in 5 2/3 innings with 7 K's and 2 BB's.

That gives him a season total of 10 IP 0.90 ERA 17 K 4 BB

Rough outing.... hopefully he can bounce back in the next one.

Hey everybody...

Check out this new blog from a buddy of mine. He's a Jays fan, but we won't hold that against him........ yet.

Blue Jays Cards

He's at one post and climbing...

now that's service!

Most of you read a post I did last week on a box break of '08/09 In the Game Between The Pipes. If not, go here. In that break, I found that I was missing five base cards from the box. I sent an email to ITG the next day, and I posted about it here.

Today, 8 days later, (included in that time, Easter Weekend) a package arrived today from ITG.
Inside were two very well wrapped packs of '08/09 Between the Pipes.
Sweet! Now that's customer service!

Of course, my luck being what it is, I did not get any of the cards I need to complete my set. All 8 cards were duplicates. *sigh*
But at least I have cards to trade now. Anybody else collecting this set?
Bueller?

A big thanks to In The Game and Dr Brian Price for their excellent customer service.

A Lopes Sighting...

I received my half of our trade from Greg@ Night Owl today. He sent some good stuff.

My very first look at '09 Heritage. (Canada still has yet to see these at less than $140 a box, and still no packs. None)
Brandon styling and profiling in the dugout. (Hey! that's Hubbard in the background...)

Another card closer to the '09 Topps team set with Mike onboard...

Another copy of Jair, now I have one to trade!

Greg sent not one, but two '09 UD Jair Jurrjens... (another one to trade...)

a James Parr RC... (how is this an RC???)

Chipper ! representing the franchise as the face on the checklist...

Chipper again! Chipper does not look impressed at having to be on a purple shiny card.

And Greg also sent some previously loved '76 Topps towards my efforts to complete this darn set.

Davey Lopes looks kinda rough, but he's the last card in the set, and came to me from a huge Dodgers fan. And that's good enough for me.

Thanks Greg!

EDIT: a huge faux pas on my part.. this was sent from Greg, not Jim... I've got a few mail day packages in the queue and got the two Dodger bloggers mixed up. Sorry guys.... That's kinda how my week has gone...