At first I thought Epic Win....

My wife called me and excitedly told me the news. The Braves had made a trade for Jason Bourne. This was amazing news. The intangibles he brings to the team off the field would make up for any bad publicity that may come with him, not to mention visa issues just trying to get him across the border or through airport security.

 But alas, my ever helpful wife got the minute details slightly mixed up. we unfortunaltely did NOT acquire Jason Bourne. What we got was Michael Bourn. Slight difference.
Here, Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence react to hearing they are no longer Astros.

 Good news, but for me sad news as well. We gave up three meh pitchers and one of my favourite Braves, center fielder Jordan Schafer. I really liked Jordan, even if his wrist is made out of rice crispies.

Yeah, I know, Michael Bourn is a gold glove all star center fielder who steals a lot of bases.

Reminds me of a trade we made a couple of years back. We acquired a gold glove winning all star center fielder who stole a lot of bases from Pittsburgh. His name is Nate McLouth. Michael Bourn's job is to do what Nate McLouth still has not done in three years.

I hope this one turns out differently.

Good luck Jordan, I'll miss you..... Welcome Michael Bourn. no pressure buddy.

I found the Shiny!

I stopped by the card shop today. I was going to be in the northern part of the city anyways..... so what's a little diversion, right? I mean, I went there with a big box of base cards for trading to try and finish some of my sets. Not to spend money. But he had some new stuff on the counter. It would be rude not to sample, right?

One pack 2011 Bowman Platinum Baseball. 5 cards for $6.

The wrapper gets special treatment as it has Fabulous Freddie Freeman on it.

 The very first card I see when I peel back the foil wrapper....

 Glorious. For it is The J-Hey.

Next up, A Dodger, for now, Andre Ethier.

 the checklist, scanned front and back for posterity.

 an X-Factor super refractor glittery somethingorother of Blue Jays prospect Deck McGuire. Cool name for Mr No Chins. These are about 1:4 packs.

 A Pirate! Young Pedro Alvarez. Isn't it amazing how many Pirate fans there are now since they've been in first place?

 A Rays Rookie! Jeremy Hellickson! I know nothing about young Jeremy and am too lazy to find out!

 but look! A sixth card in a five card pack!

Oooooohhhhhhhhhh! A Blue Jay hotpack!!! Edwin Encarnacion auto bat relic! I have no idea the insert rate of these as I don't know what group he's in.... BECAUSE TOPPS' WEBSITE SUCKS ASS!!!

I feel better now. All in all a good pack. I like these cards. A kajiilion times better than last year's "effort".

Thank the gods...

It's back baby!

Get ready for the most insane free agency period EVAR!!!!

Trade Night at the LCS - Freebie Edition.

This past Wednesday night was the monthly trade night at the card shop I go to. He had closed down his shop the week before, but it was only to move to a much larger location. Exciting news. So trade night was also opening night. I think it is safe to say that all went well. It's been awhile since I remember that many people still there at 9:30pm. It's been awhile since I've been there at 9:30pm.

Anyways, on with the cards. I got some freebies during the night. Remember Mike? The dude who pulled not one, not two, but three Bryce Harper autos? Well he gave me this sweet '77 Rob Belloir for my team set in progress.

He then proceeded to buy two 1982 Fleer cello packs and pull a Cal Ripken rookie card. A $6 Call Ripken rookie card.

I need mike to buy my lottery tickets. Or pick out my packs at least.

 Darren the owner handed me a few base cards for '08 Legendary Cuts, which included this sweet Dodger card.
Night Owl, if you need it for your PC, you get first dibs :)

I then got two more Braves from a guy whose name completely escapes me at the moment. I feel shame.

But not enough to not show off this sweet horizontal Chipper Jones. Love that swing.

 and my very first Fabulous Freddie Freeman card!!!

His walk up music needs to be Freebird. Just sayin'.

Fabulous Freddie Freeman ladies and gentlemen....

so last night, Braves rookie 1st baseman Freddie Freeman hit his 15th homer and drove in his 50th RBI of the season. Freddie became the first Braves rookie to drive in 50 runs by or before July 18th since some guy named Henry Aaron in 1954.

No pressure kid.

 all this from someone who looks like he should be handing me my fries. (Well, except for the whole 6'6" 227lbs thing)

If you'll notice I haven't shown any Freddie Freeman cards. That's because I don't have any. Seriously. Will someone out there hook a Braves fan up?

Keep swinging Freddie.

Oh! and for those of you who remember my Craig Kimbrel post from a couple of weeks ago, with his next save he'll set the Braves rookie record for saves with 30.

I'm going to need my shades.

The first, and last Allen & Ginter post on Waxaholic.

This week marks the start of my least favourite time. Ginter time. Don't get me wrong, I love the product. And if I had more $$$ I'd chase the set. But we here in blogger land know what Ginter time means. It means All Ginter All the time. 24/7 on approximately 365 blogs for the next 6-8 weeks.

Now I try and read all of your blogs, because I truly enjoy reading everyone's differing opinions on stuff. The world is flat, Johnny Depp is a good actor, Yadier Molina is a good catcher... you know.... But sometimes it gets to be too much.

So, like last year, I will make one post about A&G and then no more (unless a card or two gets shown off in a trade post of course) After this, you may come to Waxaholic for a brief respite and a Ginter free zone.

We'll have cake and punch. It'll be fun.

So on we go to my two pack break. Here's what $9 got me.

Pack One:

First card I see, Brandon Beachy. Awesome.

 And to bring me crashing back down to Earth, Ty Wigginton.

 a former Brave, Rafael "I go where the big money is" Soriano

 A hit! It's.... It's ...... Robinson Crusoe. Er... Cano. Craptastic. A guy you hardly hear about, until he lucked out in the Home Run competition. But seriously, why was he even there? If anybody actually collects this guy, offer me a Brave relic somethingorother and we'll swap.

 another former Brave, Mini Derrick Lee.

 Strasburgjo!!!! A year too late I guess...

 and some worthless insert of Lance Berkman.

 Pack Two: Can I improve on pack one???
No. The answer is no.

Miguel Cabrera.

 Nick Swisher. And my scanner is not playing tricks, nor am I hurt like Night Owl, it really is that bad off center.

 former Brave Tim Collins. We had Tim for five minutes before trading him away for some Maple Bats.

 The man no one wants.... Carlos Zambrano

 Grady Sizemore

 Mini Marmol! I always think of Robert Munsch when I say his name...

 One of the Astros many pitchers named Rodriguez.... this one is Wandy. Seriously. Wandy.

 and how would any pack break for a 2011 baseball product be complete, without a David DeJesus card.

All except Mr Beachy are for trade.... especially for any Braves or Adam LaRoche cards you may have.

Have fun Gintering!!!!!! Come back here for a well deserved break.

the world is coming to an end..... sooner than we thought.

doesn't look like the Macho Man can save us from this one.............


NEW YORK (AP) -- The fan who returned Derek Jeter's ball from his 3,000th hit will get a bit of memorabilia to keep -- his own baseball card.


Topps says it will produce a trading card featuring Christian Lopez that will be included in sets later this year.

"We thought what he did captures the essence of what baseball and the Topps company is about," said Mark Sapir, Topps vice president for sports.
The recent college graduate with outstanding student loans will get some financial help, too.
Memorabilia dealer Brandon Steiner and sporting goods CEO Mitch Modell said they will make sure Lopez gets at least $50,000 toward his outstanding student loans of $150,000.

Steiner said he got a call on Wednesday from his buddy Modell, and they got the ball rolling. Steiner set up an auction of memorabilia that eventually will include baseballs signed by both Lopez and Jeter and said Modell is pledging five percent from the sale of Yankees-related merchandise at the Modell's chain during what will be called "Christian Lopez Week."
"That itself is a totally awesome situation right now for all parties involved," Lopez said.

What impressed the sports executives -- as well as countless fans across the country -- was the way a 23-year-old mobile phone salesman passed on the chance to sell the ball.
Instead, Lopez gave the ball to Jeter, saying he deserved to have the keepsake.
"Can you believe how good a mensch this kid was?" Steiner said.
Lopez has been overrun with requests since Saturday.
"It's been overwhelming to be honest with you," he said. "It's been a little crazy. But I'm handling it as best I can. I'm trying to get back to everybody I can."
That includes Topps.
"Yeah, I spoke with them a couple days ago," Lopez said. "All I know, is they kind of want to make a baseball card out of me."

Lopez was an avid collector as a kid. He said he has "probably a couple thousand baseball cards."
His favorite? A Yankees card, of course. It depicts Babe Ruth and one of the Yankees' owners at the time he came over from the Red Sox in 1920.
"It's a very dear card to me. I've had it for 15 years now or so," Lopez said.
Now he'll have another Yankees card to keep next to it.

2011 Goodwin Champions trade/swap/giveaway post

Alright alright... settle down out there. We all know why you're here. There's been a billion posts on 2011 Goodwin Champions and this is just one more. I'll save you the review and just make it a show and trade post. Or a show and giveaway post if you have nothing I want.

If you've been following Cardboard Junkie, and really, who isn't? Then you've seen him go a little ga-ga over Champions. And rightly so. They're cool cards and his card shop sold him a stack really cheap. If there's anything you want or need to learn about these, go there. I'm just showing pictures for trade purposes.

John McGraw

 Stevie Y!!!!!

 Grant Hill.... I was just saying the other day I've never heard of this dude, now I have a card of him.

 Keanu... I mean, Damien Hobgood.

 Hey! A black bordered mini of Delino DeShields Jr the Second!!!

 Now he's got a green bottom, what's that mean? and do all black border mini's have red Lady Luck backs?

 Rhino is looking old. Real old. Nice sweater Mr Rogers.

 A creepy pic of John Havlicek.

 Hey look!!! Whitey Ford off to fight the bloody Germans after they bombed Pearl Harbour! Go get 'em Whitey!

 Now this next one kind of blew me away. It's a die-cut from the Figures of Sports insert set. This card featuring an vastly over rated Jerry Rice. This is a box hit ladies and gentlemen. This is on par with autographs, relics, and printing plates. I just don't get this one....

 Excuse me, do you have Jerry Rice in a can?
Why yes, yes I do.
Don't you think you oughtta let him out then? BWAHAHAHAAHAHHAA!!!!

moving on.

I'll finish up with my only short print, General Robert E. Lee. Apparently there is a car named after him.

You just heard the horn in your head, didn't you???? I knew it.

So there you have it. two packs, $9 worth. Whomever is looking for any of these, drop me a line. I'm sure dayf needs a couple... maybe Mr Lee since he's from that area...

I'm late and gotta catch up....

The postal strike is over!! Which means it's finally here! My good friend John, or Jack Plumstead if you prefer, sent me the 2011 Topps Premier League sticker book!!! Now if you've been paying attention, yeah, I'm a wee late on starting this. The season has ended with Manchester United rightfully atop the standings.

No matter! Isnt it pretty?

 John also sent along what must be considered a rack pack over there...... 11 packets for the price of 10!!!
Isn't it nice how they don't try and snow you by saying "One FREE bonus pack!" But I digress.

 Those astute ones in the bunch have by now noticed the new feature for this year........

 Yeah baby!!! 3D!!! Not all the stickers.... but quite a few, plus a lot of pages in the book.

 The set also has large team stickers, here showing the best team in English football.

 and smaller, regular size stickers. The section that shows off all the new kits, (uniforms) are in foil this year.

 As are all of the team logos. I show Everton here in respect to my friend G_Moses.

 Something new this season is a section for "Stars of the Future". Basically young and upcoming players. Yeah, they're rookie cards. But they don't need a one inch square rookie card logo.... Old school.

 and of course the regular base stickers. 449 in all.

Thanks John!!!! If on the off chance that any of you are collecting this... I'm always available for swaps.