More cards from my weekend of impulse eBay buying. This time, it's another lot of Ichiros for 99 cents - twenty of them. Only one duplicate from the last pack, but sadly quite a few cards I already had. Still, there were some good additions, as you'll see.

These were the Topps and Bowman cards that were included. I really like the look of the Peak Performance card in the top left. It seems like I got everyone else's Peak Performance card in the boxes I busted, so it's nice to finally have this one.


There were also nine Upper Deck cards in the pack. Of course, I already had the Heroes and Spectrum cards, as I collect the entire Heroes set and am building the Spectrum rainbow. The Marquee Matchups cards with Dice-K is one that I've contemplated getting from Al's for a few trips now, but never did pick up. I guess I don't have to, now.

That's 18 cards. What were the other two? You guessed it - Ichichromes:


2009 Topps to go with my two 2010 Topps, and a 2009 Bowman Chrome as well.

Coming soon, another blaster of 2011 Topps, plus a pack of 2011 Australian Rules Football cards.

A few weekends ago, I was home by myself with 60 bucks in my Paypal account and an Australian dollar worth $1.05 US. That's a recipe for buying cards if I ever saw one. I have four saved searches set up for auctions ending soon worth 99 cents or less - one for each of my player collections. One of the listings was for a bundle of 25 Ichiro cards, and the seller shipped internationally. Sounds like a winner to me.

With these packages, you know you're going to get plenty of base cards. But the nice thing about players like Ichiro and Griffey is that there are so many insert cards floating around out there, that you're bound to get some cards you don't have anyway.

As for the 2011 Topps, I only realised it had scanned crookedly after I put the cards away. I wasn't going to pull them back out to re-scan a card I have ten of already.


Here's some of the gems of the set. The 2002 Topps rookie cup card was a nice inclusion, as well as the Bowman Platinum. I also liked getting the National Baseball Card Day card, and I thought the Sporting News insert was pretty neat. In bundles like these, you might even find the odd base card you don't have - such as that 2007 Upper Deck. We all know that the 2007 Upper Deck set was phenomenally ugly. Let's face it - between that and Topps, if I had gotten back into collecting in 2007 instead of 2010, I doubt I would have stayed for long.


Finally...Ichichrome! I already had one, and this one is just as bent, but hey...ICHICHROME!

I got a big bag in the mail today. I won't call it a pleasant surprise because I was expecting it, but that doesn't make the contents any less good. It was full of cards that I had purchased off of eBay but had sent to may parents due to the fact that the shippers don't ship internationally. There were quite a few cards in the package, so here's a few of them, with many more to come later. It was a big bag!

Here's one of last year's manupatch varieties - in this case, a Tim Lincecum card commemorating their move from New York to San Francisco. It's a 50th anniversary patch, yet this card didn't appear in the 2008 Topps set (which would have been the actual 50th anniversary) but rather the 2010 set. I don't pretend to understand the logic in that. I've given up trying.

On the other hand, I think it's a great looking card. I like the blue and black border, and the patch itself is quite nice looking. It is the actual logo that appeared on the Giants' uniforms that season - so maybe that's the reason it's on the card. Does anyone know what the "theme" for 2010 Series 1 manupatches was - old commemorative logos, perhaps? I know the Series 2 theme was World Series logos and this season it's obviously old team logos.


Ah, 2008 SPx American Hero - a set that causes Ken Griffey Jr. collectors heartburn. I know there's at least 75 different cards like this, because I'm pretty sure I've seen card #KG75 on eBay. This is card #KG37, and as you'll noticed, it's serial #ed 1 of 25. Thankfully, it wasn't being sold by a douchebag, so he put a very reasonable starting bid (99 cents) and didn't artificially pump up the market by claiming it was a "1 of 1" by virtue of its serial number. Frankly, I couldn't give a flying flip what the first number of a serial number is. I do have a 1/25 (this card) and a 50/50, but that's just because they were the cards that were available at the time.

Now that I have this card, I feel no need to collect any more from the series. I'm not going to play Upper Deck's little game. I may get one of the cards from this set that show Griffey in a Reds uniform, but that's only if the price and circumstances are correct. I'll certainly consider trading for one, too.


About three times after I bought this card, a Felix Hernandez Spectrum Swatch, I panicked that I already owned it in my CheckOutMyCards account. And each time, after about 30 seconds, I remembered that the card in my account is actually the gold parallel Spectrum jersey card numbered to 99. It's actually the first King Felix relic card I bought, so you'd think I'd remember it better.

This card, on the other hand, is not serial numbered. But I do need it for the rainbow, so into the sleeve it goes.

Those are the first three cards to show. There are many more parallels, autos, sets and relics to come. Like I said, it was a big bag.

I'm quickly discovering that this can be a frustrating hobby when you're living in Australia. It seems like everyone's out having fun (even the Canadians) while you feel like you're stuck out on a island, separated by the tyranny of geography and the US Postal Service's high shipping rates.

With only two packs of 2010 Topps left to open, I was already feeling withdrawl symptoms. So last night, instead of sleeping, I trolled eBay looking for the best price/shipping cost combinations I could find on hobby boxes. After some communication (and the okay from my wife, the Gatekeeper of the Finances), I've order a box of 2010 Heritage and 2010 Series 1. That should keep me busy until I get back to the States for a visit in July.

Since I went through the first pack I opened, it seems fitting that I should post the last one, too. I'll do a recap of all 12 packs later on today, along with the first of my five season previews (one for each team):

On top: 282 - Washington National team history (What history?)
231 - Luke Scott (Finally, in my last pack, an Oriole! And one I can use for my season preview, too)
131 - Dustin Richardson RC
260 - Yankees franchise history (two franchise cards in one pack, but that's okay, because the next card is...)

CMT-6 FRANK ROBINSON!!!! (It's not the original back, but right now, I don't care. It says Cincinnati Redlegs on the front and that's awesome)

When They Were Young Johnny Damon
Ticket to Toppstown Manny Ramirez
105 - Madison Bumgarner RC (a good way to end)

Not a bad pack at all, I must say. The two crappy team cards, the Toppstown insert (I still can't believe that counts as one of the eight cards in every pack) and the super-creepy WTWY insert (I don't like that set at all) are more than balanced out by two rookie cards, an awesome Oriole, and Frank Freakin' Robinson.

And by the way, I finally pulled a Million Card Giveway in pack #11.

As you might imagine here in Australia, you can't just walk into a store and buy a pack of baseball cards. AFL (Aussie Rules football) cards, sure. But baseball cards...not so much. In fact, the next store I see baseball cards in will be the first.

So you can imagine that I was pretty excited to find someone on eBay, in Australia, selling 2010 Topps Series 1 cards. So excited, I rushed out and bought the rest of the ones he had. 12 packs are headed my way from Victoria as we speak. I can't wait to open them up and do some pack breaks.

In the meantime, I'll keep looking for cards that don't feature a flat cricket bat.