2011 Topps Pedigree.... Blood lines... Ancestry...

  so basically Topps put out another fail. Surprise. With no incentive to make great products... guess what? No great products. No one seems to like Lineage. There are issues about it for sure. The backs are the worst backs in card history. They are so bad, I couldn't bring myself to scan them. Also, their bastardization of the Spanish language is unforgivable.

I bought two packs at my LCS for $10. And I got CHIPPER!!!!!!

Let's see what else I got.

 Jay Bruce and Kurt Suzuki. Yawn.

 A Mutt, Ike Davis.

 Nolan Nolan Rollin', Keep those cattle rollin', RAWHIDE!

 Young Mr Weeks.

 And a very shiny Todd Helton refractor.

 Hey look! A pop up pecker version of Joe Mauer.

 Pack two.

A Brandon Beachy rookie! Brandon has the second most strike outs among rookie starters.

 some Sox rookie I've never heard of.

 Ty Cobb! Sweet!

 Holy Hammerin' Hank Aaron Bat Man!!! Chipper, Beachy, and Henry!!! My luck is never this good.

 Love the Milwaukee logo.
This is my dude. The one I pull in every single pack and brand of cards I buy. Nice to see you again Pedro.

 Paul O'Neill??? Nolan Ryan, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, and Paul effing O'Neill??? Do we really need to add Yankees to the set just because? And Paul is a Red to boot. Not a damn Yankee.

 a really shiny Brooks Robinson refractor!!! (really? Paul O'Neill?)

 and a pop up pecker Mickey Mantle! (Paul O'Neill? Anyone?)

Now to me, it looks like the same guy designed both of these sets. That's the brand new Victory hockey set at .99 cents per pack. Except the card stock is better on the Victory.

And that takes me to my point about Lineage. It would've been a really great set IF

1) They didn't let an 8 year old design the backs.

2) Lose the autos and the Patch cards

3) Put this baby out at $1.50 per pack.

Imagine the fun of chasing the useless but fun inserts and the base set with the cool old guys (except paul O'Neill) at $1.50 per pack. The quality and value per box would be spot on.

But at $5 per pack, and crappy autos, this is one epic loser of a product. So I'll trade for my Braves. Or buy them for .18 cents each off of Sportslots.

You can buy packs for a fiver if you want, but I doubt you will.....

oh yeah, all of the cards here, except for the Braves, are up for trade. Yes, even Paul O'Neill.

sad news...

 Longtime Brave, Ernie Johnson passed away today. He was 87. I've always said that the reason I'm a Braves fan is because of Ernie, Pete van Wieren, and Skip Caray all those summer days on TBS. Now all I have left is Pete. Someone please wrap him in bubblewrap or something....
I'm not that old, I don't feel old, my wife and mistress both say I don't look old... and yet everything I hold dear from my youth is disappearing forever.

I actually don't even have a card of Ernie. I thought I bought the one you see here. Turns out I bought card #101 of Orioles pitcher Don Johnson with Ernie's picture on the front. Ernie's actual card appears later on in the set.

 Ernie was one of the few remaining links to the Boston Braves/Milwaukee Braves/Atlanta Braves. He was around for all three.

 Here's Ernie with his lovely wife Lois when he was elected to the Braves Hall of Fame in 2001.

We'll miss you pal.

Friends dusting the cobwebs off of some old wantlists....

This is the continuing story of the infamous dayf and Troll trade/gift packages....

You ever think you'd see the day when a Juan Uribe card led off a show off post??? Me either. But here we are.

 Back in 2007 when I got back into cards, one of the first sets that caught my eye was this set that emulated the 1954 Topps set. Turns out it was called Topps Heritage and was from 2003. I decided to collect it. Not only collect it, but to do what I used to do, which was get the master set. All of the variations and short prints. Four years later I'm still trying to finish that set. Dayf managed to find five cards off of my wantlist, including two SP's. One of which is old Juan Uribe up there.

 As you can see... these aren't high profile players.... but damn hard to find regardless.

 I've never found anyone else who is collecting this set, so if you know someone, let them know about me. I've got lotsa doubles to swap.

 I also did my first trade on The Bench with this set. And my last trade. The trade I did involved $13.10 worth of cards. It took me forever to find a card he wanted to make up that last .10 cents I owed him. This was my re-introduction to beckett.

 Dayf also found a card I needed for the 1976 Topps set that I am very close to finishing. Only 24 more cards to go.

 Next up is a set that no human has managed to complete. The 2008 UD Timelines set. This is the set that never ends. Please sing the song softly to yourself.
A loooong time ago I gave up on the set and sent dayf as many cards as I could off of his wantlist, even from my set regardless if I had duplicates or not. I could be wrong, but I think dayf just sent back the same cards I sent him. Maybe he gave up too. It never ends.

 LOOK! A Yankee!! Without a moustache or tutu drawn on him.

 Here's Mr I run to first base when and if I feel like it.

 and a bum who held on waaaay too long...

 Some die-cut rookies

 Mr Cub. Not.

 Holy Crap! Another Yankee!

 I really, really like this set. But it can never be completed.

 Why yes Mr Towles, it is time to clean my scanner bed, thank you for noticing.

 And why not some 2009 OPC, another of my favourite sets.
Who could resist that face??????

 OPC is another set I'm doing the master set of. And I'm damn close to finishing.

 Awhile back I needed 2 cards to finish the base set. Griffey and Victorino. Four bloggers later, I now have two of each.

 Troll not only sent the Flyin' Hawaiian up there, but also two Braves for my binder.

 well, a Brave and a former Brave. He was a Brave when it was sent.

Thanks a lot guys.... a lot more to come. Next up will be either 2011 stuff or Vintage. Any preferences???

Contests everywhere.

Seriously... how anyone could miss any of these is beyond me with all of the shout outs going on... but anyways.
If you've been in a cave here's a freebie.

Jaybarkerfan's Junk

Go. Enter.

trade loot 2009-2010 Topps style....

Alright, let's get this trade posting thing rolling. I know Sooz is exhausted from staying up all night waiting...

In the interest of keeping a theme going, I'm combining cards from both the Collective Troll and dayf the Cardboard Junkie (like you don't know who they are...) into nice tight little posts. Hit and run, right? Not that you American League fans have any clue what that is.....

First up, a few cards from Troll. The Troll was kind enough to send me three cards off of my Most Wanted List on the right hand side. Numbers 7,11 and 12 if it matters to you. Not that they're in any kind of order or anything...

2009 Update Tommy Hanson. When Tommy visited Rome last year, they did as he did.

 The best backup in baseball. Not just catcher. David would start for about 27 teams.... and I am grateful he's a Brave.

 and Diory Hernandez. Diory isn't well liked among Braves fans. But with Seabass playing like he is... maybe that will change soon.

 a 2010 Update of Mr Jason Heyward. His debut game. Yeah. He went Yard.

 and for some reason a card of Andy LaRoche of the Pirates. But I needed it, so what the heck.

 dayf sent along one of Mike Minor. Thank you Frank for not listening to trade offers.

 and a rookie of the Man. Jonny "Pitch me every freaking day" Venters.

 Wait, how did this get here? Ah well, too late now.
It's my boy! Back home with the Braves! For about three weeks! Now he's in Washington! I never will see him on tv again!

Thanks for looking... and for helping off of my wantlists. And Sooz, the next post will even have a Yankee in it! Promise!

A promise...

In the last little while I've received gift/trade packages from dayf and Collective Troll as well as contest winnings from 1st and Goal cards. My promise to you is that over the next bit, I will share the glorious that was contained within.

Proof or it ain't true you say? Well here's a card from Troll. A 1958 Topps rookie of Carlton Willey.

and it wasn't anywhere near the best card in the package.

Really.

Go get your popcorn ready.