2 Cards I already traded!

I was checking out my scan folder and I realized I never posted these cards and I already traded them! They are nice cards and deserve to be shown!

 

Nothing like 90's inserts! This is the Hideo Nomo Y Axis Die-Cut refractor.

This is a relic of recently deceased Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. This was the first year of National Treasures. It's a bit too expensive for me to bust but I did pick up a few singles.

Just a quick post this morning, I've received some stuff in the mail and have to get my scanner revved up!

Thanks for reading!

2015 Topps Series 1 Ryan Howard auto!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ryan Howard has base autograph in Series 1. I can't remember the last time that has happened (if it was pre-2011, I wasn't collecting then). Thankfully, it was not short printed or anything like that and a ton of them are available! The hard chase isn't always the best one. Despite the sticker I think the design works.

The card is commemorating his 58 home run season. Check out his line from that year:

159 G, 104 R, 58 HR, 182 H, 25 Doubles, 149 RBI's, 108 BB, .313 BA, .425 OBP, .659 SLG, 1.084 OPS, 383 TB.

Oh yea and he won the MVP. Pretty solid 2nd year of any career. (He played in 2004 but didn't have enough at bats to qualify as a rookie) If the Phillies have any chance this year, Howard needs to be more like that line then he has been the past 3 years. Hopefully his injuries are fully healed and he's ready to prove himself again.

Thanks for reading!

A Little Acetate Love!

I have started my Ryan Howard journey this year in earnest. I really like the picture they used this year in the Topps Card and I really hope he's included in Topps Chrome so I can go after that Rainbow (always fun!). The gold's this year really pop out, they're really nice. I don't have the gold Howard yet but this post isn't about that. It's about see through things.. like windows and cool looking cards!

Here's the 2014 Version:

Here's the 2015 version!

I got super lucky to find it so quick. Someone put it up on ebay for 30 bucks so I jumped on it. The next one was an auction and it went to 45 dollars. Last year the prices were higher but these are definite PC chase cards! Topps got these right!

Thanks for reading!

Purple Parallel Madness! (Happy V-Day!)

On Valentine's Day I had already planned to cook dinner for my lovely wife and I requested nothing in return (we always exchange cards in the least) but she suggested we go to a local store that has a ton of 2nd hand stuff thats pretty fun to browse. That store just so happens to be right next to a Toys R Us. We just happened to go in and buy 20 Blister packs. Happy Valentine's Day indeed!

The purple parallels this year look really sharp. They are not quite Chrome but they are still a bit shinier then the base cards. I didn't pull any Jeters (heard he's retired or something?!) but it was fun and got a couple good guys!

I scanned a sampling, the Phillies are PC (I still need the Ryan Howard if anyone wants to swap) but if you need your guy and I happened to pull it please let me know we can work out a swap or I'll sell it, either way.

The purple's I hit are as follows.. in number order..

10 Cole Hamels
17 Brian McCann
21 Brett Gardner
22 Tyler Flowers
31 Nick Tropeano
34 Charlie Blackmon
42 Todd Frazier
44 Gio Gonzalez
52 Fernando Rodney
61 League Leaders Kershaw/Cueto/Wainwright
62 Nolan Arenado
67 Hunter Pence
82 Nick Tepesch
83 David Wright
97 Dalton Pompey
105 Jeff Baker
107 James Loney
109 Doug Fister
127 League Leaders Morneau/Harrison/McCutchen
131 Edward Mujica
132 Michael Taylor
141 Cory Spangenberg
148 JD Martinez
149 Daniel Murphy
153 Josh Reddick
156 Santiago Casilla
163 Chase Utley
194 David Murphy
200 Miguel Cabrera
201 Tommy La Stella
204 Eduardo Escobar
212 Cliff Lee
214 League Leaders Kluber/Scherzer/Weaver
238 Hyun Jin Ryu
247 Aaron Hill
250 Evan Longoria
256 Adam Eaton
259 Brian Dozier
262 Ryan Braun
265 Arizona Diamondbacks
269 Jordy Mercer
284 Brandon League
285 League Leaders Cruz/Carter/Trout
295 Erick Aybar
296 Charlie Morton
300 Mike Trout
304 Shawn Kelley
305 Sonny Gray
308 Carl Crawford
311 Jhonny Peralta
312 Kyle Lobstein
320 Shin Soo Choo
331 Danny Espinosa
338 Yasmani Grandal
342 San Diego Padres
344 Manny Parra

Got no doubles which is nice. Got shorted one card in one of the packs. That's a bit annoying. The cards this year are in pretty nice condition. In 2012 (still have quite a few of those) a bunch of the parallels were dinged up pretty good.

Thanks for reading!

Trade with Reader Scott!

I recently received another package from Scott! He knows my PC's (Phillies and Frank Thomas) and usually does a good job of hitting on them! This time was no exception.

Check it out!

 

The two collector's choice cards are the silver signature versions. As player collector's know these can be tough to track down. Much appreciated to receive 2 versions! 

This card is literally a CD! I had to look up what year it was from (1997). These came with one CD Rom and 10 cards per pack. Those crazy 90s cards!

Thanks for the Big Hurts, always love adding to that PC!

On another note, I haven't opened any 2015 Topps but I have received a couple cool cards in the mail. I hope to have them scanned soon!

Thanks for reading!

Trade with Arpsmith!

I have not quite completed a trade with Arpsmith's Sports card Obsession! He won a card at his LCS (also won a really nice football card if  you check out his blog!) and he was kind enough to send it to me! No doubt it fits perfectly into my PC!

 

My scanning skills are not all that great, seeing as how this is crooked. The card is not crooked and is in fact an on-card auto hand numbered 55/67 of Ryan Howard! I didn't have any of these so much appreciated that you thought of me when you got it! 

 

 For good measure he threw in a nice Heritage Chrome refractor! I know I didn't have this card either (I'm not a big Heritage breaker). Great 2 cards!

I plan on hitting up the Philly card show in early March, Giants are on my list to get you something nice back!

Thanks for the trade!

2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom Blaster Break!

I had a recent foray into Toys R Us. It was before Topps Series 1 came out so no purple parallels. (Still have quite a few from 2013 Topps!) None the less, there were some discounted blasters in the toy store. I decided to grab the 2009 Ticket to Stardom, because it seemed interesting and I'm sure it would hold my retirement inside (or maybe a cool card or two).

Check out the fun!

 

Every pack had one card with a diecut (kinda like a squiggly line at the top and bottom of the card) It's hard to see in the scan but they're there. The Mat Latos rookie is cool, he's pretty good. 

Onto the super not so rare hits! Got 3 inserts, 1:4, 1:8 and 1:12. Considering I opened 8 packs.. Killed it! It's a shame no one likes A-Rod anymore. He was the man back in the day and now not so much. Votto and Wright are still well liked they just need to have some bounce back years.

Thanks for reading!

What Ebay Bucks has brought!

At the beginning of the year I had 17 dollars in Ebay Bucks. I took advantage of one of the buy anything and get 4x ebay bucks around the holidays! I was looking for a nice case for a bat so it was a perfect time to buy. I will definitely show off what that looks like in a later post. Looks real nice wall mounted.

I was able to get 3 cards for 'free' due to ebay bucks! Love free stuff!

Check em out!

 

Inching closer to completing this insert set! There's 8 total, and I now have 5! One day we will have a full set and a fake CD card. It's nice that these inserts are all numbered out of 5000. Not a particularly low number for todays standards but gives a finite number of them out there.

 

This is a Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor numbered out of 25! The title was listed pretty poorly so I was able to snag it super cheap. Always nice to pick up such a low numbered refractor! I'm a sucker for shiny low numbered cards.

This is my first card of Panini Immaculate. I haven't been able to get my hands on any of the Howard relics yet. It's the blue version numbered out of 10. I figured for free.. hard to beat! It's pretty nice despite the lack of logos but I couldn't see myself dropping the 100s for a box. Too much for me (unless I hit the lottery or something then cases here we come!)

I'm finally catching up with my blogging and scanning and cataloging etc. I owe a bunch of people cards, don't worry I did not forget but it still may be a little bit til I have the proper cards to send. Thanks for your patience!

Thanks for reading!