Rickey wishes Rickey a happy birthday. Rickey wishes all of you a merry Christmas.

Rickey hopes you spend it with the people who are most important to you, and have a great day. Rickey also wishes for peace on Earth, goodwill toward all, and an invitation for Rickey to Spring Training.

Rickey still feels that Rickey has something to contribute. Rickey is considering taking Rickey's talents to South Beach.

Rickey will stop now.

A package arrived from the States, from my parents. Inside were two pillow speakers (the things that you plug into your clock radio and then put under your pillow so you can listen to the radio at night without disturbing your partner), a complete 1989 Upper Deck set (more on that later), and a Felix Hernandez bobblehead doll. In some ways, that was the best gift because on the customs form, my poor confused mom listed it as a "H. Fernandez bobble head doll". So I guess I'm now the proud owner of a Helix Fernandez stadium giveaway.

But also in the package were some cards. And enough of those card fit into a certain binder page to give me this:

That's 2009 Spectrum card #82, otherwise known as The Freak, Tim Lincecum. And that, my friends, is my first complete rainbow. Strangely enough, the #/25 turquoise card was not in the package - I already had that one. But the blue, green and black cards give me the complete set. I also stuck the two Spectrum Swatches cards (blue and light blue) to fill the gaps and create a nice nine-card spread.

I'm also collecting the Griffey, Ichiro and Helix Fernandez rainbows. I've got the six Ichiro non-relic cards (although some of them are in my COMC account), both of the Griffey Spectrum Swatches (but not the gold relic or some of the parallels) and a couple of King Felixes. In fact, the red King Felix was my first Spectrum parallel - you can read about its misfiling on this page.

But for now, I'm basking in the glory of my first rainbow. I showed my wife, and while she feigned an appropriate level of enthusiasm, I could tell her heart wasn't really in it. So I'm sharing with you, dear reader. I know you're happy for me.

Over at Community Gum, Jon is running a contest with two boxes of Topps Moments and Milestones. Since the odds of pulling a card you want out of that set is similar to winning the lottery, he's created a lottery-style contest.

I highly suggest that you check out his page and enter. He does a pretty good job of explaining the rules, much better than I could ever do. Of course, since he came up with the rules, I should hope so.

This post gets me an extra entry in the contest. Since three of the players I collect are in the Topps M&M set, I need all the entries I can get. Off to Twitter to follow Jon's account...

Beleive me, I'm all for the idea of Zack Greinke not being traded to the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets or any other ESPN-friendly team. I like the idea of any team potentially being able to land a superstar player via a trade, because lord knows it doesn't happen with free agency. But why, oh why, does it have to be the Brewers who get Greinke?

No offense to Thorzul or any of the other fine folks who support the Cervezeros, but the fact is that Milwaukee is in the NL Central. So are the Reds. The Reds are, in fact, the defending NL Central champions (and damn it feels good to say that). Personally, I don't want any other team in the division strengthening themselves, especially when the Reds haven't done that much in the off season.

So Kansas City, please steer Zack Greinke away from Milwaukee, or St. Louis, or Houston or Chicago. Pittsburgh is okay because I don't think he'll make that much of a difference to the Pirates anyway. And if you really want to make a statement, and show the world that there are great baseball teams located in cities other than New York, Boston or Los Angeles, feel free to ship Greinke up the Ohio River. I bet he would look great in red.

No, not mine. Someday I hope to have a contest, but right now I just hope to have my card collection all ready for when the movers get here.

The contest I am referring to is over at All About Cards. Earlier, Ian asked for nominations for three categories for the end of year awards. Now, the polls are open and it's time to vote. And vote you shall, simply by clicking on the link above.

Since I like to have people know my opinions on things (it's kinda why I have a blog), I will share my votes with you:

"Sickest" card of 2010 - The Bowman Stephen Strasburg 1/1 Red Auto. Four 1/1 Strasburg cards drove the whole market for a time this spring, then the last one to be found kept the bubble going all by itself. Even months after it was found, I was still able to sell a hobby box of Bowman on eBay for $150+

You telling me that's not sick, by any definition of sick that you choose?

Fan Favorite Set - Allen & Ginter. As I said before, any set that inspires its own annual month-long, net-wide contest has got to be pretty damn popular. It was a fairly easy choice for me, although Obak is getting more and more popular every year and was a close second. If someone ever starts an "Obak-palooza" contest, I may have to revisit my vote.

Box Most Likely to Contain "Mojo" - Topps Triple Threads. It was the only baseball set that was nominated, and I collect baseball cards. But it is a very nice set. Someday, when I grow up, I'll be able to afford a box of Triple Threads.

The one that I opened while I was writing my reports? Well, I realised that I haven't posted the results from that box yet. I teased it a bit, but never actually showed anything. Well, here's what I got. Let's start with the big hits, because neither of them are available anymore.

The Stroke of Genius autograph was John Maine, and it's on its way to BA Benny along with a stack of other cards. I'd like to thank Mike for giving my Yankee Stadium Legacy cards a good home, along with some other cards that I know he'll like.


And you can see why I was excited about the relic. This is only the second time I've personally pulled an auto or relic of a player I collect (the other was an Ichiro jersey in 2010 Allen and Ginter). Good ol' Junior - welcome to the family. I think you're really going to like it here with all the other Junior cards.







Here are the framed cards that I pulled. It was also good for my PCs, as I got a framed Lincecum. The Jay Bruce is nice for me, too - it's a brown frame that's numbered to 100. The red Verlander already has a new home - it will be moving to Virginia to join Spankee's collection. Not sure why I got so many Padres - the Maddux and Peavy are available for trade. Eddie Murray, on the other hand, is staying here since he's wearing a Birds uniform (as it should be!).






The short prints in the box included Jack Morris, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt and Rod Carew. There was also a Yogi SP that isn't available anymore - it's going to Queens along with John Maine. I'm keeping the Ripken, of course. The other ones may be available for trade soon - I purchased the complete set of SPs but had to get it shipped to my parents. Once I get the OK from them that everything is as it should be, I'll make these four cards available for trade.

Finally, I have a number of duplicate base cards that I'm willing to trade. In numerical order:

4 - Chipper Jones
5 - Max Scherzer
13 - Curt Schilling
19 - Ryne Sandberg
27 - Victor Martinez
33 - Asdrubal Cabrera
34 - Gary Sheffield
42 - Andruw Jones
70 - Jimmy Rollins
71 - Ryan Howard
77 - Jake Peavy
78 - Barry Zito
80 - Tim Lincecum
84 - Jason Varitek (x2)

As always, leave me a comment or shoot me an e-mail if you are interested in any of the available cards. You can find my contact details on the "Contact Me" page, funnily enough.

Over at the Daily Dimwit is one of the more imaginative contests I've seen in a while. The Dimwit has bought and busted a bunch of discounted blasters. If you watch the video, and post which five cards you'd like, then he'll send them to you if your number comes up. Just so long as you don't ask for the Nolan Ryan card. But you wouldn't do that to him, would you?

The deadline is Friday (that's tomorrow) so head over there now and enter.

Here's the cards and inserts that I got from my jumbo box of Topps Update. Most of these are available for trade. If you see something you want, please let me know, but quickly. Because of the house move, I'd like to get these trade packages in the mail by Friday, which means Thursday night in America. The post offices in Australia aren't open on Saturdays.

Here are the chrome rookie cards. The Tabata came in my jumbo box, while the Demel was a card I was given when I went to my local card shop and they opened a fresh jumbo box for me. Both are available for trade, ideally for a chrome rookie card I actually care about (i.e. one of the Reds or Oriole cards)


The gold parallels in the box (#ed to 2010) were heavy on the Athletics for some reason. That being said, I'm perfectly willing to trade any of them. The only card that's hands-off is the Joey Votto card.

Cards available: 13 Max Scherzer, 42 Conor Jackson, 73 Torii Hunter All-Star, 95 Jamie Moyer, 102 Chris Carter, 115 Brad Lincoln, 167 Ramon Santiago, 239 Gabe Gross, 268 Logan Morrison

Now for the hits. The box promises two relics and an autograph, and that's exactly what I got. Except both the relics are manufactured and the autograph is a sticker.




Jonathan hasn't decided yet what to do with these. Make Jonathan an offer for the Capps auto and/or the Munson patch. Jonathan thinks Jonathan is going to hold on to Rickey, though.






Peak Performance inserts. I'm keeping the Mike Leake, of course, but the other three are available. Dallas Braden, reluctantly so.

Cards available: PP-105 (John Lackey), PP-111 (Ryan Zimmerman), PP-122 (Dallas Braden)


More Tales of the Game and Vintage Legend inserts. I don't collect them, do you? Let's make a trade for inserts I do collect!

More Tales of the Game: MTOG-1 (Joel Youngblood), MTOG-3 (Seven Touchdowns), MTOG-4 (Eddie Mathews), MTOG-5 (Babe Ruth), MTOG-6 (Intracity Sweep), MTOG-7 (Mike Schmidt), MTOG-9 (Andre Dawson/A-Rod), MTOG-10 (Walter Johnson), MTOG-13 (Harry Truman), MTOG-14 (Stephen Strasburg)
Vintage Legends: VLC-31 (Babe Ruth), VLC-32 (Reggie Jackson), VLC-34 (Mike Schmidt), VLC-38 (Lou Gehrig), VLC-39 (Roy Campanella), VLC-45 (Thurman Munson), VLC-46 (Rogers Hornsby), VLC-47 (Jimmie Foxx), VLC-49 (Tris Speaker)

I also pulled a George Sisler but I'm keeping that one.



I do collect Legendary Lineage, but this card (LL-63) is a duplicate. I'd like to  trade it for a Legendary Lineage card I don't have. Check out my want list for the details.

Finally, the base cards. I was able to complete the set, and still have some base cards left over. The Reds, Orioles, White Sox, Mariners and Athletics are staying with me. The Phillies have all found a new home with one of my students, who is improbably a Phillies fan. The rest are up for grabs. No pictures (although the cards are all fresh and well taken care of) and I've listed the dupes by team for your convenience.

Multiple teams
187 - Phil Hughes and David Price (checklist)

Angels
272 - Brian Stokes
306 - Dan Haren (x2)

Blue Jays
118 - Jose Bautista (AS)
181 - J.P. Arencibia (RC)
194 - Vernon Wells (AS)
218 - Kevin Gregg

Rangers
126 - Elvis Andrus (AS)
325 - Ian Kinsler (AS)

Rays
292 - Kelly Shoppach

Red Sox
122 - Darnell McDonald
142 - Mike Cameron
163 - Marco Scutaro
192 - Daniel Nava (RC)

Royals
111 - Willie Bloomquist
129 - Gregor Blanco
313 - Mitch Maier

Tigers
9 - Danny Worth (RC)
120 - Brennan Boesch (RC)
199 - Jhonny Peralta
281 - Jose Valverde (AS)

Twins
86 - Matt Guerrier
233 - Brendan Harris (x2)
252 - Jim Thome

Yankees
110 - Curtis Granderson
149 - Kevin Russo (RC)
151 - Kerry Wood
247 - Nick Swisher (Home Run Derby)
280 - Alex Rodriguez (All-Star)

Astros
48 - Geoff Blum
121 - J.A. Happ

Braves
75 - Jason Heyward (AS)
134 - Rick Ankiel
165 - Omar Infante
213 - Alex Gonzalez
253 - Mike Minor (RC)
288 - Jonny Venters (RC)

Brewers
35 - Ryan Braun (AS)
246 - LaTroy Hawkins

Cardinals
56 - Matt Holliday (AS)
200 - Albert Pujols (AS)
285 - Jaime Garcia

Cubs
17 - Marlon Byrd (AS)
204 - Carlos Silva
299 - Xavier Nady

Diamondbacks
3 - Sam Demel (RC)

Dodgers
70 - Jonathan Broxton (AS)
78 - Jon Link
128 - Reed Johnson
260 - Andre Ethier (AS)

Giants
82 - Emmanuel Burriss
196 - Aubrey Huff
267 - Eugenio Velez (x2)
293 - Pat Burrell

Marlins
150 - Hanley Ramirez (AS)
160 - Josh Johnson (AS)

Mets
4 - Alex Cora
20 - Jason Bay

Nationals
33 - Matt Capps (AS)
183 - Luis Atilano (RC)

Padres
60 - Miguel Tejada
221 - Heath Bell (AS)

Pirates
115 - Brad Lincoln (RC)
235 - Jose Tabata (RC)

Rockies
71 - Jason Giambi
210 - Ubaldo Jimenez (AS)

Any time I get a Frank Robinson card, it's a time for excitement. Particularly if it's a card that shows Frank Robinson as a Cincinnati Red. Look, I love the Orioles, and I always will, but I am a Reds fan, first and foremost. And Frank Robinson's time in Cincinnati often gets overlooked. The guy was an MVP with the Reds. He is a member of the team's Hall of Fame. Heck, the number 20 is retired by the Reds as well as the Orioles. Robby spent ten seasons in the Queen City and served the team with distinction. When he was traded, the move was so unpopular in Cincinnati that Bill DeWitt had to come up with that line about Robby being "an old 30" just to save face and attempt to justify an unjustifiable transaction. Of course, Frank saw that as all the motivation he needed, and went out and won an MVP award and a World Series in his first season in Baltimore. You don't piss off Frank Robinson.

Here's the inserts that I pulled from my jumbo box of 2010 Topps. With ten Turkey Red cards and ten Cards My Mother (didn't) Throw Out, it put a small dent in two of the large insert sets I'm chasing. I've updated my want list to show what a still need. Please do me a favor and check it out, won't you?

Tomorrow, I'll post my trade bait from the set. I have a fair number of duplicates that I don't need, as well as some insert sets I don't collect (but you might) and some shiny cards, too.


2010 Turkey Red


TR107 - Aramis Ramirez
TR112 - Miguel Cabrera
TR116 - Jonathan Broxton
TR119 - Jason Bay
TR123 - Roy Halladay
TR124 - Ryan Doumit
TR125 - Kyle Blanks
TR132 - Ryan Zimmerman
TR136 - Rogers Hornsby
TR147 - Frank Robinson

Of these cards, the Robby is my favorite, of course, but I really also like the way the Ryan Doumit looks. When I pulled that card out of the pack, my first reaction was "wow!" Perhaps it's all the catcher's gear he's wearing, but the card seems so much more intricate and detailed than the other, standard cards that feature hitters swinging bats or pitchers just standing there.


Cards Your Mom Threw Out


CMT123 - Roger Maris
CMT132 - Brooks Robinson
CMT149 - Darryl StrawberryCMT152 - Barry Larkin
CMT157 - Don Mattingly
CMT161 - Chipper Jones
CMT163 - Mike Piazza/Ken Griffey Jr.
CMT167 - Jason Bay
CMT140 - Yogi Berra/Roy Campanella
CMT172 - Ubaldo Jimenez

You can't help but think that Ubaldo wouldn't have made this set if he hadn't pitched that no-hitter earlier this season. And it seems to me that the CYMTOs in the update series are a lot more gimmicky. The Berra/Campanella (which is a reprint of a reprint) and Griffey/Piazza are just two examples - the checklist also shows a Berra/Mantle and Lou Brock/Carl Yastrzemski pairing. This is an extension of the bad trend that started in Series two with the Babe Ruth 100th birthday and the Ichiro/Pujols cards being included in the set. Once again, Topps takes a good thing and ruins it. 174 cards is too damn much - as much as I enjoy the idea, I'll be the first to tell you that this insert set should not have gone past the Series 2 cards.

That being said, I did pull one original back card:



Legendary Lineage


LL62 - Walter Johnson/Stephen Strasburg
LL63 - Victor Martinez/Carlos Santana
LL64 - Rod Carew/Robinson Cano
LL68 - Mark Teixeira/Logan Morrison
LL69 - Tom Seaver/Mike Leake
LL70 - Ernie Banks/Starlin Castro

Another set that was really good at the beginning, but just got more ridiculous as time went on. Now, in an attempt to make the set tie in with all the rookies, some really stupid connections have been made. Of course, the hyperbole is at its best with the Baseball Jesus, as he is being compared to none other that Walter Johnson. But as I think of it, the Ernie Banks/Starlin Castro comparison is even more offensive.

Combine that with the fact that they didn't even use the same color combination as they did for the first two sets, and Topps really screwed the pooch with Legendary Lineage Mark III. Thanks for nothing, Topps. Again.

All About Cards. Yearly Awards Contest. Go here and vote. Here's my ballot:

Sickest card - for me, it's the Mariners franchise history card in the Topps base set because that has two of the four players I collect in it. If I look closely, I think I just might be able to pick out King Felix lurking in the background, too.

Fan Favorite - Well it's Ginter, isn't it? The only set I know of to inspire a yearly contest for box breaking.

Mojo Box - 2010 Bowman, at least until the four Strasburg 1/1 cards were all found. The market for that was just plain crazy.

So I logged into my Million Card Giveaway account to see what trade offers were available. It was the usual detritus - six 1985 to 1988 cards for my 1971 Curt Blefary, an '89 Ozzie Smith for my '71 Johnny Jeter, five junk wax cards for my Luis Tiant, and my personal favorite, a 1987 Don Mattingly All-Star card for the 1968 card in my account.

Not even the regular card. The All-Star card.

W

T

F???


Hang on, what's this? An offer for my 1956 Jim Davis (aka the oldest card in my collection). It's another 1956 card, and it's not a Cub. In fact, it's a White Sox card:

Hello Dixie Howell. I do believe I'll trade for you.

The back of the card says that Dixie Howell made the majors in 1955 after twenty years in the minor leagues. In a feat reminicent of Ron Mahay or Rick Ankiel in reverse, Dixie actually tried to break in to the Reds team in 1943 as an outfielder, and made it 12 years later as a pitcher instead. He is not to be confused with Dixie Howell the catcher, although the MCG site seems to do that anyway. But the best part of this card isn't any of that. It's his full name:


Yes, Dixie Howell is named after one of America's great forgotten presidents, Millard Fillmore. I'm not really sure what would possess parents to name their child after Millard Fillmore. I'm pretty sure that even by 1920, he was already considered a mediocre president. You have to wonder - did he have a brother named Franklin Pierce Howell? Or Martin Van Buren Howell, perhaps?

No wonder he went by Dixie, even though he was from Pennsylvania.

Well, it's mostly just one guy, but he seems really desperate to get his hands on my 1976 Fred Stanley. He even offered me a sweet deal on a 1979 Ron Blomberg - twice! Maybe he read my Bo Belinsky post?

And, of course, there's the obligatory crappy 1987 card offer...

Tonight is the seventh night of Hannukah. There's one more night left, after tonight.

Bo Belinsky, who was newly unlocked and placed in my Million Card Giveaway account by the Transmogifier, wishes you a Happy Hannukah. He also wants to know which Hollywood starlet you've set him up with on a blind date.

I wonder how many offers of 1987 junk wax I'll get for Bo. I may have to borrow Dayf's schtick. No you can't have my Bo!

Well, not completely, but I don't have any more comments to write, just edit the corrections that my principal makes. I can now devote my writing time to this blog.

Expect some e-mails from me regarding trade proposals. I also found out my new address so things are proceeding nicely. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have three remaining packs of Masterpieces to open...

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...

...

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...Boy was that fun! A little something for everyone in that pack, including one of the two hits which, while I'm nonplussed about, I know some people who read this blog will definitely be interested in. Don't worry, though, there's plenty of stuff for me to show off. Tomorrow I'll post the hits, the parallels, the short prints and the duplicates that are available for trade.

But until then, here's two cards from the same pack. In fact, not only were they in the same pack, they were back-to-back:

It's a Double Ryno!

I also opened one of my jumbo packs of Topps Update. With approximately 3,274 Stephen Strasburg cards in the 330-card set, I figured my odds were pretty good of getting my first card of the Baseball Jesus. Let's see...

...

...

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...DENIED! However, I did pull this card:


Luke Hughes, if you didn't know, is from Perth. So I'm sitting here in Western Australia and I pulled the baseball card of a WA boy. He was supposed to play winter ball (even though it's summer) here in Perth but the Twins screwed over the Perth Heat and sent him to Venezuela instead.

His biggest claim to fame so far (besides being from Perth) is that he hit a home run in his first major league at-bat.

The first page of 2008 Masterpieces that I've completed. One Hall-of-Famer, two sure-fire future HOFers, and a fourth person who will certainly be heading to Cooperstown if he keeps pitching the way he has in his first four seasons.

I love seeing Tony Gwynn in his 80's-style Padres uniform. Also, how skinny he looks. Poor Luke Hochevar sticks out like a sore thumb. I wonder why Upper Deck was so desperate to work him in to all the 2008 sets? He has a card in the Heroes set as well - and it's the exact same picture! It looks like the headshot that they make everybody take in spring training so they can use it in the media guide.

By the way, Ichiro was the last card I needed to finish off this page.

Because everything in a card collector's life tends to be though of in terms of percentage until completion, I don't mind telling you that I have 69 of 92 comments written. I'll leave that up to you to figure out the math.

I'm sure there's some of you out there who are thinking - it's been a week, why aren't you finished? A couple of reasons - I'm pretty sure I spend too much time on each comment making sure it's just so. For the English comments (the largest of the bunch at 10-12 lines), we're talking about 20 minutes per comment.

Another reason is that I need to be inspired. Often times, it's the mental image of my principal breathing down my neck wondering where the comments are that provides all the inspiration I need. But sometimes, nothing I can do will snap me back into writer mode. It's the same reason that this blog had one post in the month of October - there just wasn't anything I could do to get me to want to write. Thankfully, I haven't had that much. The image of the principal seems to be doing the trick.

Yes, I am more than two-thirds of the way to completion, so that's good. And yes, I have opened six of my packs of Masterpieces and will open a seventh as soon as I write one more English comment. When all the report cards have been written, and all the packs have been opened, I'll post the hits, short prints and cards I have available for trade. But for now, let me just say that I have found one of the two promised hits. And, hoo hoo hoo, boy is it a good one.

Post your guesses in the comments, please.

If you have sent me an e-mail about a potential trade, there are two good reasons you haven't heard back from me yet:

1. My mind has been focused on finishing my report cards (I'm a little bit more than halfway finished!)
2. I don't know what address to tell you to send the cards to yet

There is a package on the way from Mr. Colbey Flywheels, and one from eBay. Those were sent on Monday. Anything else sent to me from this point on, I'm afraid, will probably not make it in time before my (next) move (yes, I know I just moved six months ago).

I am definitely interested in trading, and hope to resume negociations with people next week. Until then, I thank you all for your patience. I haven't forgotten anyone, it's just easier for me to post this one time on my blog rather than send out a bunch of e-mails.

Hopefully the cards that have been sent will get here in time so I can show them off!

Well, the incentive plan came into place today. I finished my math comments, which earned me two packs of Masterpieces to open. Unfortunately, it's too late for me to write a big post about what was inside. In fact, due to the whole writing reports thing, my writing juices will be pretty well sapped for the rest of the week.

But before I go into a mini-hiatus, I need some help. This whole missing hit thing with my box of A Piece of History is driving me crazy. Everywhere I've looked, it talks about four hits per box, yet I only got three. What can/should I do now? I managed to save all the wrappers (by virtue of not emptying the waste basket) and put them all in the empty box. What else might I need?

Anybody else have experience with Upper Deck boxes and missing hits? What is their policy and procedure? How did they make good? Is it even worth pursuing? This hasn't happened to me before, so any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

The Incentive: One box of 2008 Upper Deck Masterpiece

The Task: I have to complete my report card comments for my students. I have to write comments on four subjects for each student. These comments should all be six lines long. It is not my favorite part about being a teacher.

So here's the plan. For every ten comments that I write, I treat myself to a pack of Masterpiece. With 23 students, that's a total of 92 comments I need to write. I hope to have this all done by the end of the week. Then I can spend the last two weeks of school, if not relaxing, at least not worrying about report cards anymore.

So far, I have written seven comments. But that was last Thursday, so those don't count. Maybe I will open two packs after I have written 13 comments tonight (13 + 7 = 20).