It's been a rough couple of months here at RGB Manor. Financially speaking, things weren't going too flash. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say, I didn't really have the funds to purchase any 2012 cards, and rather than read about all the sick pulls you all were getting, and feeling like I was missing out, I just withdrew from the blogging community.

I also didn't feel like writing about old cards. I had three jumbo packs of 2011 Update just sitting on my shelf, unopened. I didn't want to touch them because I didn't know when I would be able to purchase any more cards, and I didn't want to use up what little I had. Strange, I know, but I blame my grandfather, who grew up during the Great Depression, for passing that particular little mental viewpoint on to me.

It may not be the Great Depression, but the Great Recession sure hit hard. We moved back down from up north with only one guaranteed income (my wife's). We thought it wouldn't be too hard for me to find a job, but that turned out to be untrue. Apparently, at least 35 other teachers were looking for full-time employment down here. I know, because every time I applied for a job and got knocked back, I got the same story: "You had a very strong application, and we appreciate the time you put into it, but there were 35 other applicants for the same position."

Teacher shortage, my ass.

Sure, I picked up some relief teaching, but it wasn't consistent (as substitute teaching is wont to be). And while I did get a job teaching phys ed, and it was a great little school, it was only one day a week. Not enough to bring in. I also got a weekend job at a gas station. It's not like I earned rest on the weekend, anyway. We could use the money.

But today is opening day. The Mariners are 1-0. And Ichiro leads the majors in batting, with a crisp .800 mark. So all is right with the world.

Not only that, but I got a good little piece of news today. Along with a full-time job. I'll be teaching science to students from Grades 1 to 7, starting next term. Plus, I have relief teaching lined up for the rest of this term. I finally feel like a real teacher again.

The box of 2012 Topps has been ordered, and it is making its way to RGB Manor as we speak.

Ahh, the magic of Opening Day.

So I'm listening to spring training baseball this morning, thanks to the awesome MLB At Bat app for my iPhone. There is nothing better for keeping track of my teams or baseball in general. At any rate, I was listening to the only game available, the Washington Nationals versus the newly re-christened Miami Marlins. But that wasn't the only name change in the stadium.

Listening to the lineups, I noticed the announcer didn't call the Marlins' left fielder "Mike." Instead, he announced Giancarlo Stanton. Although, with the sound of the final syllable of the first name and the initial syllable of the last name, at first it sounded like John Carlos Stanton. But still, when did this happen?

It turns out that Mr. Stanton has always been name Giancarlo, but started using Mike, one of his middle names, in high school for ease of pronounciation. That I can totally understand - I went to high school with a guy whose first name is Bilal, but who we all called Mike (now that he's an adult, he reverted back to his real name, too).

But what I don't understand is, when there were already two other Mike Stantons in the big leagues, why Giancarlo didn't start going by his first name sooner. Because not only is he the first Giancarlo Stanton in the big leagues, he's the first Giancarlo, period. Talk about branding!

Oh, and one more thing. Mike Stanton, the former Braves reliever and All-Star? His first name is William.

Well, my vacation is over, so I should get things back to normal very soon. In the meantime, here's a list of mini-posts you missed if you don't check out my Tumblr feed.

D.J. LeMahieu's reign as the coolest name in baseball was short-lived...

...anatomical oddities are explored...

...or is it just over-zealous airbrushing?...

...Steve Pearce get all potty-mouthed...

...and of course, it wouldn't be Tumblr if we didn't kick a man while he was already down...

Did any big trades happen while I was gone?

I'm on vacation this week - so the blog posts won't be very frequent. Not to worry, though - I opened a bunch of packs before I left and created a ton of tumblr posts ready to launch throughout the week. The snark meter is set to high - enjoy my amusing comments about cards in the 2011 Update Series.

Each week I'm going to create a "review post" about the tumblr highlights. Feel free to check them out and leave your own witty comments, or just a thumbs-up. And if you have your own tumblr, or know of some good baseball tumblrs I should follow, let me know in the comments section of this post.

This week in tumblr...

...we take a look at cool baseball names...

...explore baserunning fundamentals...

...learn about proper design techniques...

...make fun of a father of six...

...and of course, engage in toilet humor

There's more as well, so be sure to check out the tumblr every day. Posts go up around 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, give or take an hour.

P.S. This is where I'm staying. Not to rub it in or anything...

Earlier this week, I posted my latest pull from the Topps Update jumbo pack I purchased over Thanksgiving. It was a Bert Blyleven liquorfractor, and my pal Richard (aka Dawgbones) commented on how great it looked, especially since some liquorfractors are worse than the original card.

Today's liquorfractor comes from Series 1 - it's card #5, Joey Votto. I think it goes in the "improve" pile. I really like the 3-D effect:

Incredibly, not the only Votto card in that pack. Or even the best one. Next up is an early contender for "Pull of the Year, 2012"


The leader in the clubhouse...a Joey Votto jumbo patch card, numbered 1/6. It will take some doing to top that, but I hope I can. I'd hate to think my 2012 has peaked on January 4th.

I love it when case hits like this one (odds - 1:665) end up in the right hands. Namely, me.

This is what Card US58 is supposed to look like:

Not bad, especially because it's Lincecum. I need one for my PC, anyway. But this is what the US58 I pulled looks like:


Holland's greatest living ballplayer, Rik Adelbert Aalbert Blyleven.

What's the name of that particular type of diamond parallel? Port wine stain?

An interesting question wound its way around the Twitters last week: What are your collection resolutions for 2012? Normally, I don't do resolutions, and I certainly don't share them. But this one is different - this one is fun.

I responded, of course, in 140 characters. Not near enough space to elaborate. So here is the expanded version.

1. Finally complete the damn 2009, 2010 and 2011 Topps base sets
I'm so close on 2009 and 2010 - less than ten cards for each. 2011 is a bit more work, owning to the fact that I couldn't get a jumbo box of Series 2 and my Series 1 jumbo box didn't have every base card because it was too busy being awesome instead. 34 cards to go there, plus whatever is left over after I open my jumbo box of Update Series (which I hope will give me all the cards). Every time I go back to America I find some more base cards, but obviously not all of the ones I needed. With no trips to America scheduled for 2012, I may just have to go onto Check Out My Cards and bite the bullet.

2. Get to 50% completion on my 1975 Birth Year set
Five months after deciding to start on this set, I'm about one-sixth the way there. I have another 20+ cards coming to me via the Diamond Giveaway, where I have been steadily accumulating 1975 cards to the exclusion of everything else. I even traded away my Ike Davis diamond die-cut because somebody offered me ten '75 cards, and nothing else. Either that was a case of dumb luck or some dude on the Diamond Giveaway website is stalking me and knows my trading preferences. I'm hoping for Option A.

3. Complete the 2012 set by the end of 2012
Mostly because I don't what to be in this same position again next December 31. But I might end up having to collect this set twice-over.

4. Finish at least one insert set from 2009, 2010, 2011 or 2012
Dammit Topps, why do you publish so many historically-based insert sets that pique my interest? Why can't you just stick to the repulsive insert sets like "When They Were Young"?

Finally, I'd like to take this post, the first of the new year, to announce a new feature: the RGB Cards tumblr. Part of the reason why I took a long sabbatical this year was because I lost momentum, and didn't feel like writing a lot, or scanning a bunch of cards. And as the days got by, and the "to scan" pile got bigger, the inertia grew as well. It was a shame, because a ton of great stuff happened in September, October and November, as you are doubtlessly aware.

Hopefully, the tumblr, and its inherent short-form qualities, will be a ideal way to keep posting things when I don't really feel like posting. A "quick-and-dirty", if you will. Long-form pieces will still appear on the blog, and my goal is to write at least ten blog posts each month. By contrast, my goal is to make at least ten tumblr posts each week. I'm also hoping to integrate the blog, tumblr, and Twitter account better - an "RGB Cards Network," if you will.

So there you go - that's the long answer for my 2012 collecting resolutions. What are yours?

Picture from the Topps Twitter feed. I finished the previous year showing my 2011 Sandy Koufax pull, maybe we can keep the mojo coming for another year? I sure wouldn't mind adding that card to my collection!