My Obsession with Moments and Milestones!

I really like the black cards numbered out of 25. No I do not want to overspend for them, but if they're priced right or for trade odds are I will grab them!

Here's the latest haul...

I've honestly never looked at a checklist and have no idea how many duplicates I have. Either way, it's like Pokemon, gotta catch em all!

Also, does anyone enjoy the Tour De France? I am not a biker at all but I really enjoy the team aspects of the sport. It's quite interesting to me to watch how the racers help each other out and try and get their best guys forward before the end of each stage. 

Thanks for reading!

A Few Black Cards from 2011!

Everyday I search for Ryan Howard cards. I pick and choose deals of course (unless I hit the lottery then I will buy everything). If I find some low numbered parallels that don't pop up very often I will take a shot. I was able to snag these 2 nice cards from 2011.

 

The above card is from Topps Chrome! It's numbered out of 100 and a pretty nice parallel from that year. I believe I have the Sepia, Gold, Black, Purple and Blue. I'm not really chasing the rainbow (I'm sure the super is long gone) but if I get the rest I'm OK with it (the sacrifices I make!) 

 

This Howard is a bit rarer. It's out of base Topps and numbered out of 60. I was pleased to see this card available for a reasonable price after a few years. Usually if you miss out on these parallels early they take a while to pop back up and when they do they are way overpriced. Which is fine the seller can ask what they want.. I just won't pay ridiculous prices. 

On a happy note, crushed it playing poker last night, will be searching for a new TV this evening! 

Gint A Cuffs is coming soon! The only reason for me to buy A&G! (besides framed cards)

Thanks for reading!

A Little Late..

I haven't been opening much 2014 product this year. I always want to just don't have the funds to be purchasing box after box when it is much more prudent to just chase the one or two cards I want from each set. After getting back into collecting a couple years ago I was a bit aimless. I bought everything to see what I liked. Personally, Topps Chrome is my favorite, always a fun rip and can get some nice looking cards. I was never much for prospecting and playing the flipping game. High end stuff like Five Star and Museum, I definitely like, just too much risk versus reward. Right now I'm focusing on Ryan Howard/Frank Thomas and my Phillies Team sets. Dabbling in Vintage is fun, such history laced into the cards.

The reason this post is a little late.. This is a Topps Hanger/Blaster break from my fiance. (She was my girlfriend then). It was during the winter and I was super busy at work so they put us up at hotel rooms to make sure we could make it in the next day. She was kind enough to surprise me with some cards!

The Swisher has already been traded but it was a nice camo refractor! The Votto was from a blaster. It wasn't a bad break and it was nice to see the new cards at the time! Maybe I'll buy a case next year when its half price!

Thanks for reading!

What a Wonderful Weekend!

I had a very awesome baseball filled weekend. On Friday, I took my mom and my future wife to the Phillies game and fireworks afterwards. The Phillies unfortunately lost (in an entertaining game) but the fireworks display was quite impressive.

Also, at the Phillies game about 10 rows up I got to witness some fans go at it. That was interesting. The people all got booted by like 30 security people. A few innings after that, about 5 rows up from us a guy proposed to his girlfriend on the jumobtron (she said yes). It was fun to watch the Phillies but we got so much more then just a ball game!

On Saturday, 4 of us went down to Baltimore for a game! It was also a ton of fun. We stopped at the Lexington Market to get some Faidley's crabcakes for lunch. (Also, it was just like The Wire Season 1) Then we went to the game and got free T Shirts! Got a free poster and a bag for signing up for some sweepstakes! The Orioles lost to Tampa 5-4 but at least they made a good comeback. After the game my friend suggested we go to Korean BBQ for dinner! I couldn't say yes fast enough! Delicious!

All in all a fabulous weekend so far! Today we're entertaining some more people and it should be a good time. I'm going to need a vacation from my vacation!

And since this is a baseball card blog.. here's a cool card!

A pretty sweet Bowman Chrome card numbered out of 25. I like the action shot! I'm assuming Howard was safe on the play.

Thanks for reading and hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

A "Rare" Auto and a Trade!

I haven't posted much this month! Just been busy! Still love baseball and collecting cards! Excited for gint-a-cuffs! (waiting for the rules patiently!) I recently received a pretty sweet Ryan Howard auto in the mail. It was one I haven't seen up for bid before so once it came up I had to take a shot.

Here it is!

 

 A 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Ryan Howard auto! It's a sticker but I'm pretty sure its short printed. Also, packs of 2011 are crazy expensive so no chance I would be opening them. I already have the master set including short prints so it's nice to add a autograph!

 

Also, as the title of this post indicates, I completed a trade with Fantastic Catch! He inquired about a Cardinals card he wanted and we quickly came to an agreement (that's usually how it works around here)

 

He threw in a nice mix of Phillies. The Kenny Giles card is my first of him. He's the Phillies new fireball reliever who throws 100 MPH. I hope he develops into a power arm and sticks around for a while. It'd be nice to have our own version of Chapman at the back of the bullpen. The McGraw is a card I needed for my slow progress on collecting Phillies sets. Always nice to delete something from the ole want list!

The centerpiece of this trade is this nice on-card auto of Jon Pettibone. He's not exactly an ace but I didn't have an auto of his so there's that. I hope the Phillies can turn it around this year. Never know! That's why we play the games.

Happy Fireworks games everyone (they are today and tomorrow at Citizens Bank Park, I will be attending tomorrow)

Thanks for reading!

A Trade with a reader!

I recently completed another great trade with blog reader Scott! We've completed several trades now and they've all been real easy and quick. He decided to help me out with one of my main PC guys! Much appreciated!

 

A whole lot of Frank Thomas! The etch a sketch card is pretty cool.  Also, Tom Selleck with The Big Hurt in the background is interesting.

Always appreciated to add some new cards to the collection. All the Frank's are in the same place just not 100% organized. We shall work on that in the future. Thanks for the trade!

Thanks for reading!

Topps Redemption Mailday!

I've had good and bad experiences with Topps regarding redemptions. I've never asked for a replacement because of all the crappy ones I've seen. I've stayed patient despite ridiculous wait times. I waited 2 years for a Bryce Harper Topps Chrome auto. (which is awesome!) I waited a few weeks when I redeemed the Xfractor sheets (currently hanging on the wall behind me). I wasn't sure what I was doing when after I cracked the Topps Chrome case last year and got a few redemptions. I was tempted to sell a couple (I didn't) or trade them (traded one or two) but ultimately after I saw a lot of them going live, I took the risk. I redeemed them and within 2 WEEKS, I receive them from Topps. All individually sleeved and top loaded, so this was a good experience.

Check em out!

The Fernandez is the refactor version. He was doing quite good this year til his elbow got hurt. Hope he recovers and we see the same type of pitcher. Even though he plays for the Marlins it's neat to see a guy so young be that good. The Cingrani is black out of 100 he's been decent this year. Nick Franklin needs to get his act together some and start hitting to get called back up the majors. The Gyorko is nice to see because I traded the other auto I had of him about a month ago!

Thanks for reading!