When I got back from my holidays, there was a package waiting in the mail for me from Richard over at Dawgbones, a Phillie Fan. He and I had been working on a trade, my first involving cards from 2011 Topps. Thankfully, I had a lot of cards that he needed for his collection, and he had more than a few to fill some gaps in my set. While these cards aren't all of them, they are a representative sample.

Richard sent about 15 of the 2011 base cards. These three were the ones that I didn't have, although there were also quite a few White Sox and Orioles for my team sets as a few cards that were upgrades from the damaged cards I pulled from my box. But thanks to the Dawg, I now have Messrs. Wright, Conger and Revere in the binder.




There were also some insert cards - once again, I'm being a fool and attempting to collect the 60 Years of Topps set, even though I haven't finished collecting last year's Cards Your Mom Threw Out (a fact shown by the Maris card from that set that I needed). Thankfully, the Diamond Duos set appears to be a much more reasonable target, even though the pairings are a bit strange. Hornsby and Holliday? Outside of the uniform, there doesn't seem to be much in common. Ramirez and Stanton are at least teammates, so they're a duo that shares a diamond.


As I was hammering out the trade details with Richard, I pulled out my 2010 Allen & Ginter binder and realised that I have a lot of work to go on this set. Thankfully, he had 13 cards from A&G to put in the binder, so I only have a great deal of work to go now.


Now for the big-ticket items. As you might remember, I had pulled a Matt Holliday manu-patch out of my 2011 blaster. I also pulled a Hank Greenburg short print so it wasn't a total loss. Thankfully, not only did Richard want my manu-patch (since he collects players who were the No. 7) but he had an Ichiro patch card from the same series to trade. In fact, I think this my have been the impetus for the trade in the first place.


Another thing that Richard collects is currency. And for the price of AUD 3.85 (approximately US$4.00), which is one of each coin (that's right, we have a dollar and a two-dollar coin, and they're lovely), he was kind enough to throw in this card. It's not a manu-hit, it's the real thing. Ichiro's 2007 Night Before the All-Star Game batting practice jersey, all cut up and preserved for posterity. I like the color.




Besides the cards, which I was expecting, were a few things that I wasn't. First up, these three Fatheads, which will find a place on the front of their respective team binders. Now I'm going to have to chase up the Orioles and the Athletics, too.

But the best thing in the package wasn't even a card, or a Fathead. Richard included a really, really nice note that let me know how much he enjoys reading my blog. It was very touching because, as I've said before, I write this for all of you. I enjoy getting to share my collection, and my opinions on the game, but it's the comments and the interaction with you guys that keep me writing.

He specifically mentioned my Travels With Raleigh series, which was abruptly cut off due to our arriving safely in Derby and not having any internet access up here for a few weeks on my arrival. By that point, it was time to start writing about cards and the new baseball season again. But I should finish the series, because there's a few more stories to tell. Richard's note is the impetus to get that finished. Please hold me to this.

Thanks for an absolutely great trade, Richard. I hope to complete another one with you in the future!

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.

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – Hunter Pence (#45): What the heck? Two Astros in my top three picks? Look, when a card's good, it deserves mention, even if it is an Astros card. In this case, Pence's leaping catch, his concentration, how he's following the ball into the glove with his eyes, and even how it almost looks like he ran out of his shoes (he didn't, by the way) all make for a top-three card. I'm even willing to overlook the tongue.


#2 – Chase Utley (#214): It should be fairly easy to pinpoint the day this picture was taken, it's a daytime interleague game at Fenway Park and the scoreboard could be used to figure out, via the other games, which day it was. Maybe someone can figure it out. As for me, I picked this card because it's proof that Chase Utley can levitate.


#1 – Magglio Ordonez (#181): Another picture snapped at the exact right moment. Magglio definitely didn't swing and miss on this pitch. A beautiful sunny day, the strip of green grass sandwiched between the batter's box and the warning track, and even the white ball contrasting with Mags's brown bat. A winner all around.


Worst card:
Mark Trumbo (#57). A heavily image-adjusted card that makes it looks like he's standing in front of a painted backdrop. It reminds me of one of those home-made baseball cards that you could get with your little league team photo package. I half-expected to flip the card over and see his season statistics printed with a dot-matrix printer, along with such nuggets as "Favorite Food: Ice Cream" and "Favorite Teacher: Mrs. Pinsky".


Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Chris Sale (#65). Not only for the use of the word "yeses" (ok, it was in a direct quote, but I'm still pretty sure that word doesn't exist), but also for Topps making a point about how Sale made it to the majors last season, yet only included his minor-league stats on the back of the card. Whaaaaa?

For the record, here's his big-league stats last year, which were much more impressive:
G: 21  W: 2  L: 1  IP: 23.1  H: 15  R: 5  ER: 5  BB: 10  SO: 32  SV: 4  WHIP: 1.07  ERA: 1.93

Insert cards:


Barry Larkin Topps 60


Ryan Howard/Jason Heyward Diamond Duos (The guy whose manu-glove I pulled, and someone who I'd rather have pulled instead)


1969 Tom Seaver 60 Years of Topps


Mickey Mantle 60YOT The Lost Cards (I'm enjoying this sub-subset more than I thought I would. Having three of the ten cards already probably helps with that)


Vladimir Guerrero Kimball Champions

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?:
Yes, there was a hit. My third of the box. I guess that means I'm done.


Fausto Carmona, looking suspiciously like a Yankee in this card. I guess this was taken at some sort of turn-back-the-clock day, commemorating when the Indians wore navy blue and white and Chief Wahoo was but a gleam in some marketing director's eye. This card is available for trade.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:


Yes! Cincinnati Reds team card (#192). Completely sparkly! No printing errors! A card I wanted all along! Which leads me to...


Card I was most happy to see: Cincinnati Reds team card (#192). I also got the Joey Votto base card, and that was going to be the card I posted here right up until I pulled this one. I'm just happy to have this card in great shape. Winner!

Card I was least happy to see: Eight-way tie for all the dupes I pulled, seven of which I got in the first jumbo pack. The doubles begin. Saying that, I'm still well ahead of completion schedule - let's hope that continues.

Overall thoughts:


Set Progress: 154/330 (46.7%) 
Lyle Overbay sightings: 1

Another day, another trade. This time, it’s with Mike from BA Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet and The Pack Rip Cafe. Mike served up a heaping helping of cards, with a envelope stuffed full of cards off my want list, for my PCs, and even a few relics. Like all good buffets, there was plenty on my plate and I didn’t go hungry.