Keep in mind people....

a quickie (trade) and an end of an era.

due to a lot of things, money, interest, cost of postage, lack of posting, etc.. etc... trading has been way down around these parts. i mean, waaaaaaaaaay down.

i remember when i first started blogging, almost seven years ago, the trading was glorious. i would send 100 cards out to someone, and they would send 80 back. someone would send me 120 cards, and i'd send them a brick of 90 back.

those days are gone.

and i don't see them ever coming back. thank you canada post and u.s.p.s.

so a little over a month ago, i made a concerted effort to update my zistle inventory. (it's still a work in progress, but it's getting there quite nicely)
the reason to do so was to up my trade game via the pwe. the glorious pwe. under 9 cards for only a .85 cent stamp. or $1.20 if we're headed south.

the results have been promising. 10 successful swaps in 6 weeks. and I'm looking to up the game.

here's the latest to arrive, and my smallest swap yet. only 5 cards.

my very first 2015 adam laroche card. i'm not sure how many people know that i try to be a laroche super collector. most of the people that knew don't hang out in bloggo land anymore. if you have laroche, send them to me. in a pwe.
this is one of those bronze paper parallel somethingorother that all the kids are agog about. #263/499 if you're keeping track at home.

there was a couple of cards to help towards my completion of the 2013 gypsy queen set.

some dodger

 and adam eaton's rookie.

 only 50 more cards to go.... (wantlist link here)

and two awesome cards from one of my favourite sets, the 1991 score set.

both black bordered coincidently.

i'm down to only needing five more to complete this bad boy. #'s 457, 577, 631,

anyone got minty pack fresh copies of those they could share?

such a great swap. each card goes into a slot in a page in a binder. in some cases, that slot has been empty for years.
but not anymore.



speaking of empty, we lost another blogger awhile back. jim form gcrl packed it in and closed up shop. he's still around, reading and (hopefully) trading.
i loved reading jim's blogs. he had three at various times if I remember correctly. he wrote about what he liked, what he loved. and he wrote it for himself. not for readers or comments or free stuff. it takes a lot to be that concentrated on one subject (the dodgers and garvey, cey, russell and lopes) and to make it interesting for others to read. he did it. and he did it a lot. i have no idea how that man could post so much so consistently. but there it was.

but not anymore.

Have you hit 433 home runs? Well he has.....

I can still remember watching a new call up for Atlanta in 2003. A tall skinny kid named Mike Hessman. 6'5" and only 215 lbs.

I saw his first hit as a big leaguer. A pinch hit homer.

 

 

He'd play 19 games that year, and 29 the next. Blocked by a pretty good team with lots of depth, he moved on. He played another 61 big league games over the next 6 years for the Tigers and the Mets.

 

But that's not the story. Hundreds, if not thousands of players can lay claim to that story. What sets apart Mike Hessman from all of those others is what he's done elsewhere.

 

Places like Oklahoma City; Louisville, Ky.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Greenville, S.C.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Macon, Ga.; Richmond and Danville, Va. to Aragua, Venezuela; Culiacan, Mexico; Osaka, Japan; and Beijing. Oh, and Toledo.

Toledo is where Mike, playing for the Mud Hens, hit his 433rd homer of his minor league career, breaking the record held by Buzz Arlett. Buzz held the record for over 80 years.

 

So maybe some would say that the Braves 15th round pick in 1996 didn't turn out.
Others, like me,  would say he did pretty damn good.

Congrats Mike.

Run! HIDE!

Hey you! Trade me right now!

Howdy. For those of you who follow my other blog, Just A Bit Offside, aimed at the hockey world, this will be a bit redundant, but with different pictures.
And pictures are good, am I right?

Basically there are no new products worth busting right now, so I'm ramping up the trade posts. Some other blog I saw did it where they posted a card, then another card, and maybe another one, until someone claimed the pile.

nice idea. We'll do that here with small differences.

I've got baseball for swap here, and a hockey pile up for grabs on Just A Bit Offside.

Let's see what we have in the trade pile for today, shall we?

 a Victor Martinez die cut insert

 These die cut Bowman inserts look great in person. This one is Ben Lively.
"Ben? Nice to meet you Ben. I'm Victor Hugo."
obscure movie reference.

and a Finest Tim Beckham.

THE RULES.

okay, they're not rules per se.... just what I'd like to happen.
Claim the pile in the comment section, then email me letting me know you want to swap.

WHAT I WANT IN RETURN

cards. Duh. Preferably off of my want list. The link is on the right hand side of the blog. You can send me one card (okay) or you can send me twenty cards (YAY!). But let's try to keep this at a PWE level.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE NOTHING I WANT?

if you really want the cards but do not have anything off of my lists, I'm always looking for cards for my player binders.  Adam LaRoche, Carey Price, PK Subban,..... wait. Price? Subban?? Yes. I will take hockey cards in exchange for baseball, and I will take baseball in exchange for hockey. Mix and match folks. We're all friends here.
Send me an email, we'll work something out easy peasy.

It's a Feetsball Miracle!

The 2015 World Cup is only six days away. Okay, so it's not then men's, but the women's turn. AND, it's here in Canada. The land of hockey, polar bears, artificial turf stadiums, poutine and the philipp's head screw driver.

I have collectors from all over the world emailing me, asking if I'm swapping stickers, full packets, and empty sticker books. To which I reply, no.

Why?

Because here in Calgary, exactly zero places are selling them. Zero. None. Nada.

Granted the ladies do not play here. The closest is Edmonton or Vancouver, but still..... it's the freaking World Cup!

*sigh*

I did manage to find a football (fine, soccer) card at the card show last weekend. It was even an on card auto.

 

from the 2011 Goodwin Champions set. Kasey Keller.

Kasey was part of four World Cup teams, as well as being the first American goalkeeper to play in Germany and the Premier League. Without him, no Brad Friedel, No Tim Howard, No Brad Guzan.

I think this was an SP? Maybe a case hit? I dunno. It doesn't matter. I found it in a .25 cent binder. And for the show, he had all .25 cards marked down to .10 cents.

Yeah, I pillaged those binders, let me tell you.

Anyways, GO CANADA! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good bye, we hardly knew you. Hello, and welcome!

The 2014-15 Barclay's Premier League season has ended. With that, we say good bye to the bottom three teams in the standings. (for those of you who don't follow English football, every season the last three teams in league standings get relegated to a lower tiered league. The top three teams from that league, called The Championship, get promoted to play in the Premier League. Think of that format applied to your favourite sporting league.)

 

Two teams who were promoted this season, were then promptly relegated.

 

At the bottom, Queens Park Rangers (QPR)

8 wins 6 draws 24 losses - 30 pts

 

QPR is in a bit of a bind with FIFA over their 'fair play' mandate about spending within your means.

They spent a LOT of cash to get promoted, and those moves just didn't work in the long haul. Expect a fire sale at Loftus Road over the summer transfer window as they look to get under budget.

 

 Burnley F.C.
7 wins 12 draws 19 losses  - 33pts

Burnley fought bravely, but in the end were overwhelmed by more experienced teams with bigger payrolls. Look for rising stars Danny Ings, Tom Heaton and Scott Arfield to be plucked away by bigger clubs offering Burnley bushels of Euros.

Hull City F.C.
8 wins 11 draws 19 losses

Hull, one of my favourite clubs to watch, fell short of avoiding the drop on the final day. They had to win, combined with a Newcastle loss to stay up. It was not to be as the drew Manchester United at home while Newcastle broke an 11 game losing skid to defeat West Ham.
I'll miss them. but Steve Bruce has what it takes to bring them back.

On a more positive note.... we have added three new clubs. We welcome to the 2015-16 Premier League....

Norwich City F.C.

the Premier League will once again be visiting Carrow Road after a brief hiatus. The Cannaries were relegated after the 2013-14 season, spending one season in the Championship before earning another promotion.

Watford F.C

Watford! Watford! WATFORD!

The Hornets are back after an 8 year absence. I for one, can't wait. And I know that Arsenal may have one fewer fan next season....

Bournemouth AFC won the Championship title on the last day of the season, and come up to the Premier League for the first time in their 117 year existence.
Patience pays off people. Never give up. Don't ever give up.

I for one, cannot wait until the new season kicks off. But before we get to that, we'll have a few months of transfer rumours and dealings to get through.
Have any hopes for you club?

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?

would this be a Dripping?

A wee while ago, our young friend Drew offered up some free cards. Well if it's free, it's me and I weighed in, claiming the Barves.

 

Naturally I forgot about it, so when the package arrived, I didn't know what to expect.

 

I scanned it in two scans... but have no idea where the other one went. So I'll just go with it. You'll get the idea after seeing one scan anyways.

 

I done been Bipped. By Drew. So is this a Dripping?

No idea. But I do know some Braves fans that will be getting some cards soon.

Thanks Drew!!!!!

Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Heritage

I have this love / hate relationship with Heritage baseball. It's akin to a Jeckyll / Hyde scenario. There's that sweet feeling of opening packs, looking at cards, sorting them, building the set.
Then there's the harsh reality of needless short prints, stupid gimmicks, and questionable parallels and inserts.

Topps has nailed the card stock with Heritage. They should do away with that plasticky, glossy crap that they use on the base set and use this. Can you imagine the bliss?
But too many collectors want that, so Topps will never do it.

Since I already started building the flagship set, and I still haven't finished any other Heritage sets, combined with my ambivalence of the '66 set itself, I was going to forgo starting this year's Heritage offering.
Still, I had to buy a few packs, right?

There was a box open on the shelf at the last trade night at one of my local shops. They opened two packs, and pulled the shiny purple parallels in each pack. Hot box! Wooo!!!!

Um. No.

They then pulled the box off the shelf for store use and opened another box for pack sales.

wow.

Not cool.

Moving on.....

Out of the new box, I took the top three packs. They felt good. Clean. Crisp. Gently tearing open the first pack of this new box there is this smiling back at me.

One last hurrah.

Maybe I will chase this set, but I doubt it. At least, not for awhile. I can't find many trade partners for flagship, so I figure Heritage would be doubly tough.
Besides, what card can I pull that will be better than this?

2015 Topps Baseball - EDIT

2015 Topps baseball Series 1

Just a place to put things for now... when my scanner and I settle our differences, I'll have lots of pretty pictures and plenty of things to say...

Anybody have a hammer?

List is updated as of 04/11/15  Anybody else want to swap?

Needs...
#'s 33, 113, 152, 312,

I have a few doubles as well if anyone needs..
4, 6, 10, 16, 20, 28, 36, 39, 41, 45, 45, 55, 58, 66, 67, 70, 76, 76, 78, 80, 83, 86, 86, 90, 97, 99, 100, 100, 104, 106, 110, 112, 116, 125, 125, 127, 127, 129, 133, 135, 136, 139, 139, 139, 144, 144, 146, 151, 157, 158, 158, 161, 161, 163, 163, 163, 165, 174, 175, 176, 177, 180, 185, 185, 188, 188, 192, 192, 194, 202, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 212, 212, 213, 216, 221, 229, 229, 230, 230, 239, 239, 240, 242, 242, 243, 247, 247, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 256, 256, 257, 259, 260, 263, 263, 265, 265, 265, 268, 269, 272, 273, 275, 285, 285, 285, 286, 289, 292, 298, 300, 301, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 313, 316, 316, 320, 323, 323, 324, 327, 327, 330, 331, 331, 335, 339, 340, 341, 343, 343, 345, 347, 347

Old Topps...

I suppose before I buy any new Topps, I should try and finish off some old Topps first. Well, my Braves team sets anyways... nothing so ambitious as an entire set.

Maybe this year though. If I can find some trade partners....

Here's what I need for the past couple of years worth of Bravesness...

2014 Topps - no idea. I haven't found a checklist for this year yet... so I'll put that on my wantlist first.

2013 Topps - 46, 105, 115, 201, 222, 257, 344, 357, 418, 444, 477, 540, 576, 581, 610, 614

Updates - US45, US173, US255, US298

All Star Stitches - ASR-CK1 Craig Kimbrel (is this a jersey card???)

Making Their Mark - MM-45, MM-48

Post Season Heroes - PH4, PH5, PH12


2012 Topps -

Updates - US166, US166B, US250, US268, US314

Blockbusters - BB28

'87 Style Minis - TM-136

Gold Futures - GF11, GF34, GF35

Gold Standard - GS31, GS35

Golden Greats - GG52, GG53, GG86

Prime Nine Home Run Legend - HLR3

Retired Rings - HA

Team Rings - CJ


2011 Topps - 135B Murphy, 505B Maddux, 600B Smoltz, 640B Matthews

Updates - US143, US152

Kimball Champions - KC110

Diamond Duos DD17, DD20, DD25,

60 Years of Topps - 60YOT-61 Spahn

Topps 60 - 102, 139, 146

Football vs. Football.

I love this man.

2014 Topps Heritage Baseball

I've completely lost my 2013 Heritage... and my mind...


2014 Topps Heritage Baseball

1, 13, 20, 22, 28, 33, 34, 47, 58, 61, 89, 107, 117, 119, 126, 127, 135, 136, 138, 145, 148, 152, 154, 156, 171, 175, 179, 185, 205, 210, 211, 219, 224, 228, 231, 241, 242, 247, 260, 266, 278, 288, 298, 299, 344, 354, 355, 356, 359, 363, 375, 377, 394, 403, 407, 415, 426, 427, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 438, 439, 441, 442, 443, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 476, 477, 479, 481, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500

2012 Topps Heritage Baseball

wow.. this one turned ugly fast... I hope I have another stack somewhere...


2012 Topps Heritage Baseball

2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 49, 51, 52, 54, 57, 59, 61, 64, 66, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 77, 80, 82, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 114, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 127, 128, 130, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 159, 161, 162, 167, 168, 170, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 182, 187, 188, 189, 190, 192, 194, 200, 201, 203, 205, 208, 209, 210, 212, 213, 215, 219, 221, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 240, 242, 243, 246, 251, 252, 258, 259, 260, 262, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 274, 275, 276, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 286, 289, 290, 291, 295, 296, 298, 300, 301, 302, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 310, 311, 313, 315, 316, 317, 320, 322, 323, 325, 326, 327, 330, 331, 333, 334, 338, 341, 342, 344, 345, 346, 347, 351, 355, 356, 358, 359, 363, 364, 365, 366, 369, 370, 372, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 386, 387, 389, 391, 393, 394, 399, 402, 404, 406, 407, 409, 410, 411, 413, 415, 416, 417, 418, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, ------------------------- 500

Apparently I don't have a single SP... I think I have to go digging again....

Checklists

C1, C2

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen

posted for posterity... that and to get my ass in gear on organizing this bloody mess.




2013 Gypsy Queen Base

7, 14, 15, 19, 28, 32, 62, 76, 81, 85, 87, 92, 97, 99, 103, 111, 114, 122, 124, 126, 131, 137, 150, 162, 177, 181, 183, 187, 189, 198, 204, 208, 213, 215, 221, 239, 248, 271, 277, 288, 295, 302, 304, 307, 309, 310, 318, 330, 334, 340, 346, 350

Collisions

CP-CF, CP-JB, CP-MM, CP-YM

Dealing Aces

DA-CC, DA-CK, DA-CL, DA-CS, DA-DB, DA-JV, DA-JW, DA-RH, DA-SS, DA-YD

Glove Stories

GS-BH, GS-CC, GS-DJ, GS-MT

No Hitters

NH-CH, NH-JW, NH-SK

Sliding Stars

SS-AJO, SS-BH, SS-CG, SS-DJ, SS-JM, SS-PF, SS-RH

Found a bargain? Or more landfill?

Our first local trade night of 2015 happened last night. It was a pretty good time. Bought some stuff, had some decent arguments about everything sports, and generally misbehaved for almost four hours.

Of the pile of stuff I came home with... two items were rather unusual. Well, unusual for around here.

Topps baseball factory sets.

Yep, in the heart of Hockey Town, I bought two Topps baseball factory sets.

2006.
and 2007.

No, we're not talking about vintage here. Or even close. But for $5 apiece, I caved.

The 2006 set is 659 cards... missing #297.

I wonder if Olbermann will lend me one.....

And of course 2007 with 661 cards.
I must admit, I put the original 2007 factory set that I had intended to purchase back on the shelf in favour of this one.

This one came with some "Rookie variation cards" AND a game used Barry Bonds card.
It's always good to have a relic card of a Hall of Famer.

What? Too soon?

Anyways, this card has a piece of base touched by Barry during one of his home run trots in 2007.

This version also cost me $10.

I'm thinking I should've gone for the regular $5 version.....

Now the big question is... do I keep them like this? Or crack 'em open?