What is Trevor Taking Pictures of?!

This is my entry into Round 1 of Nachos Grande Blogger Bracket Challenge! Voting hasn't opened yet (it should on Thursday or Friday) but please vote for me! Or vote for the other guy if you don't like puppies..

So the question is What is Mr. Trevor Hoffman Taking pictures of?!



 He is of course taking pictures of something that we all care about.. Other baseball cards!

We have vintage...

Work it Mick! He looked good in his rookie year.

We have Superfractor shiny...

 

Work the shininess. Pose for that home run ball! 

And last but not least we have The Big Hurt!

Put the Hurtin' on the camera! 

Mr. Hoffman was just trying to spread our love of baseball cards! What a stand up guy! 

Thanks for spreading the enjoyment throughout the world!

A New Showpiece -- Ryan Howard!

I recently picked up this pretty sweet card from Triple Threads. I continually search to see if anything rare pops up and if the price doesn't go crazy, I try and get it. I was lucky enough to land this one!

The patch is pretty sweet, a part of the ie in Phillies. It's numbered 3 out of 3 on the side. Most importantly, it balances the shelf in my living room and looks quite nice with the other sports things I have on it.

Here's hoping Howard's rehab goes well this off season. The Phillies will be relying on him to supply the power in the lineup next year. 

As some of you have experienced, Topps redemption's are slow. I received today a Jim Palmer silver signatures from 2012 Five Star. It's still listed as pending on their page but they sent it! I am still waiting on Bryce Harper Black auto from last year's chrome. I have 7 redemption's from this year's Chrome which I have not redeemed yet. I may wait to see if the card's go live before redeeming or sell them off if the price is ok. Not sure yet. I just don't want to get stuck with some awful replacement.

Thanks for reading!

Entering Nacho's Contest -- Alfonso Soriano The Hero!

This is my entry for Round 0 of Nacho's Grande! contest. Go check out everyone elses posts as well lots of good writing out there!

Earth...

 Fire...

 Wind...

 Water...

Heart...

With your powers combined...

I am Topps Attax Soriano! 

Soriano he's a hero he's going to take Panini down to zero! He's our powers magnified and he's fighting on Topps side! 

Panini off in the distance "You will pay for this Topps Attax Soriano"

We're the Sorianoateer's! You can be one too! Cause saving Topps from Panini is the thing to do! Ripping and Flipping is not the way, hear what Soriano Attax has to say! 

"The Power is Yours!" 

(Sung to the theme of "Captain Planet")

A few new additions to the Rainbow!

I have been diligently searching for the remaining Rainbow cards for 2013 Topps Chrome Ryan Howard. I quite like how the 2012 one displays so I would love to add a complete 2013 one to it. As we stand right this moment, I have the Pink numbered out of 5 on the way and I am merely missing 2 printing plates and the Super! I haven't seen it pop up yet but I hope it does soon, might still be hiding in a pack somewhere.

Check out the 3 new ones!

 

The Purple is a retail exclusive. I didn't purchase any retail chrome so I had to get this one separately. 

 

The Red is numbered out of 25, it's one of the rarer ones and the red really works with the Phillies colors!

The Yellow plate! I now have the black and yellow plate! Just 2 more and I can open a factory and create just Ryan Howard 2013 sets!

If anyone knows where the Super is, please let me know!

Thanks for reading!

One of my favorite Non Phillies Card!

This card I received in a Group Break over at Dan's Other World, a year or so ago. It's the only button card I own and it is quite nice!

It has some nice black and white photography and the old timey button and fabric. The Auto is a sticker but this card is Super short printed, mine is serial numbered 4 of 4!

I'd love to pick up another Button card someday!

Thanks for reading!

Trade with reader Jeff!

I recently completed a trade with Angels fan, Jeff! He had a whole bunch off my want list and offered them up for some Angels from the Chrome case. I happily oblige.

Lets get to it!

 

Look at Bake's hair! Classic! 

The want lists have been updated. One day when I hit the lottery I'm going to retire and open a fun card shop. Where profit won't matter cause I'll be rich so it will be all about busting packs and having a good time. That's the plan!

Thanks for reading!

Trade with Nooooooooomo!

My friend and your's Nomo from Nomo's Sushi Platter, came back from his brief hiatus to complete a trade with me (and probably some other people). I sent him a bunch of Dodgers (hoping he has them by now) and he sent me some cool cards back.

 

The J Roll in the middle is pretty sweet. It's from the WBC Tribute set, my first card from this set! Any card of Dutch is a good card, hope he's starting to get healthy again. 

The star of the show was this Dutch card from 1994 Leaf. It's pretty sweet and partially see through. It's a nice action shot of him throwing out a runner.

Thanks for the trade!

Trade with GCRL!

I recently completed a trade with Dodger Blogger GCRL! I sent him what was left of my Dodger tradebait (need to replenish that!) and he sent me a whole mess of interesting Phillies. I had trouble narrowing it down to the ones I wanted to show.

 

This page is nice. Eight Ryan Howard's and a Steve Carlton! Always appreciate a Triple Threads base card (I've yet to buy a box of it, maybe one day). The O Pee Chee card has a blank back, not sure if thats normal or not to be honest.

The Lidge is a sweet 1960 refractor! Big fan of the look of that set! I like the Orange retail refractors as well. The Burger King card is a sweet oddball. It's the checklist of the 1979 set. And I get 3 cards free with a order of large fries! I wonder if they will honor that now!

Thanks for the trade!

Trade with Angels!

I recently (a few weeks ago) completed a quick an easy trade with Angels in Order! I sent him some cards he expressed interest in a while ago and he sent me vintage!

Any trade package that includes a 1968 and 1965 card, count me in! I am slowly inching towards to my goal to complete all the Phillies vintage team sets 1952-1985. One day I will get there!

Thanks for the easy trade!

Need Help finding 2 Ryan Howard's!

As I mentioned before I am chasing the Ryan Howard Rainbow for this year's Chrome! I have last year's Rainbow complete (it's pretty). This year I am in dire need of finding the Pink and Superfractor (no idea if it's been pulled!) If anyone has a bead on either of them please let me know!

Just by happenstance I have 2 of the printing plates! I would like all 4 just cause that would be a first for me! (the Yellow one is on the way)

And if you personally happen to have a Pink refractor or the Superfractor, I will offer cash/trade or cash whatever works. Just let me know!

Here is what I have in hand right now! (Red and purple refs are on the way!)

Rolling with the Trade Posts -- Democratic Roadkill!

I recently completed a 'mini' trade with Democratic Roadkill! He was super easy to deal with so check out his blog! He is in the market for mini's and we made a quick an easy trade. I had just opened my gint a cuffs box and gave him all the mini's he needed for that.

He responded with a smorgasbord of Phillies little cards:

 

A nice eclectic mix of mini's! Definitely all new to me so that's always a plus!

 

Always like 1960 Topps cards! This set is really colorful. It's on the possible short list of vintage sets that I would love to complete some day!

He was also kind enough to shoot me over a new Frank Thomas card and some more Phillies!

All in all a quick easy and great trade! Just the way it should be done!

Thanks for the trade and thanks for reading!

A Trade with Baseball Dad!

I am behind on trade posts! I will try and catch up in the next week or so. I wanted to show off what I received from everyone's favorite Tribe loving blog Baseball Dad Tribe Blog! He showed interest in a dual relic I posted a while ago and we quickly came to an agreement. I quite like what he sent back.

 

 I really like the Finest cards from the 90s. They were always out of my price range as a kid so it's nice to get them now and think of the good ole days in the 90s, when no one knew what a Debt Ceiling was. (at least I didn't). The Howard in the middle is one I didn't have. I wasn't big on the Pinnacle set this year so I didn't open any of it, so happy to get the Howard in a trade!

 

Lenny Dykstra was at the last card show I was at. He's had quite a life after baseball. Definitely, a good read even though everything he's done hasn't exactly been on the up and up. 

The centerpiece of the trade is this nice Pat the Bat relic! I like the way the Spectrum relic's look. Nice clean design.

Thanks for the trade!

Trade with Plaschke!

I recently completed my 2nd trade with Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle! He's easy to deal with and after a few e-mails we were able to hammer out a deal. He's going after all of the Ginter set this year so check out his blog if you have any for trade.

The Gagne auto was the big draw for me. I'm a big Flyers fan and he was one of my favorites through the last decade. The Brandon Graham auto is a former Eagles first round pick. He's had some injury issues but maybe he can still turn it around. I like the look of the Kolb patch, unfortunately he's out for the season with a concussion. Who knows if he'll play again after that serious of a head injury. The Hartnell looks good with the orange on it. He needs to step up and score 30 goals this year for the Flyers to be good.

Thanks for the trade!

The End of What's in a Case 2013 Chrome -- Summary!

Obviously, I enjoyed this product. I like Chrome every year though so I'm probably not the most non biased opinion out there.

I am collecting the Ryan Howard Rainbow, if anyone sees the pink or super please contact me! I already have the atomic, camo, gold, sepia, black and blue on the way. The Xfractor and refractor I pulled in the case and the orange and purple I'm not worried they aren't numbered they'll be around. I also need the red as of this moment.

Colored Refractors:

Blue /199 (11) (1 in 30 packs):  Rob Brantly, Giancarlo Stanton, Eric Hosmer, Jedd Gyorko, JP Arencibia, Jose Fernandez, Sergio Romo, Dan Straily, Justin Wilson, Andrew McCutchen, Dominic Brown

Black /100 (5) (1 in 55 packs) : Salvador Perez, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Mike Trout, Ryan Wheeler

Sepia /75 (4) (1 in 75 packs): Neftali Feliz, Todd Frazier, Josh Rutledge, Aroldis Chapman

Gold /50 (3) (1 in 112 packs): Buster Posey, Jarrod Parker, David Freese

Red /25 (2) (1 in 223 packs): Matt Magill, Josh Johnson

Pink /5 (1) (1 in 1,010 packs): Justin Wilson

I did not get any Camo's or Atomic's this year. I hit an atomic of Cliff Lee last year. The Camo's are new but I have the Howard coming so I'll get to see what they look like in person.

The Auto's!

Base Auto's: Jedd Gyorko (redemption), Tony Cingrani (2) (redemption), Oswaldo Arcia (redemption), Brandon Maurer, Avisail Garcia, Melky Mesa, Jeurys Familia, Jake Odorizzi(2), LJ Hoes (2), Wil Myers, Allen Webster (2)

Refractor /499 (1 in 83 packs): Jose Fernandez (redemption), Bruce Rondon, Nick Maronde

 

Blue /199 (1 in 152 packs): Nick Franklin (redemption), Christian Yelich, Jurickson Profar

 Black /100 (1 in 301 packs): Tony Cingrani (redemption), Alfredo Marte

Red /25 (1 in 1,210 packs): Yasiel Puig Redemption

There's all the colors and hits laid out in nice picture format. The Puig is gone for anyone that didn't read my previous posts. I traded it and sent that card away to be slabbed so once I get it back I will post it! I'm quite pleased with the trade. 

Out of 12 boxes, I was lucky enough to hit 9 numbered autos. The name's were solid. No Ryu or Machado or Bundy, but Puig, Cingrani, Profar, Yelich, Fernandez and Myers are pretty solid.

I hit exactly 12 Dynamic diecuts and 24 connection die cuts as expected. The Refractors were 8 per box as well as the Xfractors. If you're looking for someone specific let me know. I have 2 complete base sets and tons of extras (not sure how far away from a 3rd base set probably close).

I know some of you expressed interest in certain cards. I haven't promised any of the cards to anyone so they are available. If I don't email you and you said something please leave a comment or email me and we'll work something out. 

Always on the lookout for Phillies color! 

Thanks for following along!