Domo Arigato: Spiegel @ Nomo's Sushi Platter

I know that this is the season of "giving"... however the past few weeks all I've been doing is "receiving".  Hopefully all of you generous bloggers out there don't think that I'm the type of guy who "takes", "takes", and "takes".  Although right about now... that's exactly what the evidence points to.

I'm just asking for a little more time.  I figured I'd have some free time now that I'm on Christmas break, but the holidays are kicking my butt.

As soon as I get a chance, I'm going to get some San Diego Padres cards together for Mr. Comatoad over at Bleedin' Brown and Gold.

Mr. jacobmrley a.k.a. Mr. Starting Nine... I've pulled a few cards out of my Black Friday boxes that fit your player collections.  I just need to package them up and ship them out.

And today I received a package from Spiegel over at Nomo's Sushi Platter.  He sent me some cards for my Oakland A's collection...

And this nice memorabilia card for my Japanese PC...

And a large stack of cards for my students which I'll pass out to them when we get back from break.

Thanks Mr. Spiegel.  You've been added to the list.  I'll definitely get something out to you (and Comatoad and jacobmrley) by the first week of January at the latest.

Have a happy holidays... and sayonara!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Back in the 90's... when my cardboard addiction was bad... real bad.  I'd bust a box at the shop and if I didn't get anything good... I'd bust another.  And sometimes I'd keep going and going and going.

Like I said... I was addicted.

It happened again Wednesday evening.  I came home from dinner and decided to open my 2006 Upper Deck Future Stars that I bought from Blowout Cards on Black Friday for $24.95.

Each box was suppose to contain 5 autographs, so I grabbed it, because I felt the price was right.  I figured it was worth the shot at a Justin Verlander or Matt Cain signature.

Unfortunately... I ended up pulling these guys instead:

Along with an expired redemption card:

It's hard to see... but it's for a Clear Path To Greatness autograph of Martin Prado... which would have been a pretty cool card to have.

Thankfully, at least I was able to pull a few cards for my PC:

Unfortunately... these six cards just weren't enough to satisfy the cardboard craving I felt that evening.  So I grabbed the next box on the shelf... my 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom:

I'm not a huge fan of the base card design, but I've gotta admit I like the cards embedded with authentic ticket stubs.  Each pack came with at least one insert or parallel, but I didn't pull anything too significant in that area.  So I'll just get straight to the point and show off my three hits:

2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom "Autograph + Relic"" #TSAR-JCC (#'d 182/489)

Let's go ahead and get the autograph out of the way.  Hmmm... Mr. Cueto.  I guess he's not the worst person I could have pulled.  Hopefully he'll stay off the DL next year and regain his old production numbers.

2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom "Dual Relic + Ticket Stub" #TSP2-42 (#'d 115/126)

Okay.  Now that's what I'm talking about.  I know that he's a cheater and a liar... but the card itself is pretty cool.  It contains a ticket stub from a game against the Astros in which Braun went 4 for 4 with a home run.  I wonder if this is just a coincidence... or if Topps planned it this way.

2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom "Relic + Ticket Stub" #TSP-64 (#'d 03/90)

This is by far the best pull of the box (in my humble opinion).  At first, I was confused by the date on the ticket stub.  Then after some research, I discovered it's a stub from the 2009 WBC Final between South Korea and Japan.  Here are some highlights from that game:

It's a shame that Fukudome didn't play in that game.  But no biggie... this card is a huge addition to my Japanese Athlete PC.

More importantly... it was a big enough pull for me hold off on opening the final two Black Friday boxes.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

C'mon Guys... Keep It Safe.

Safety in sports has been the hot topic the past few years.  And in the past few weeks, it seems to have heated up a few degrees.  Crown of the helmet hits in football.  Home plate collisions in baseball.  Employing enforcers in hockey.

I've heard plenty of comments from players, announcers, sports analysts, radio hosts, and fans on these topics... and I continue to see both sides of the arguments.  I completely understand trying to keep athletes safe.  The last thing any of us want to see is a player suffering permanent, life threatening, sports related injuries.

On the other hand, we've been seeing hard hits in football, plays at the the plate in baseball, and hockey fights for years.  And I can't speak for anyone but myself... but it's part of what makes each of these sports interesting and entertaining.

Anyways... I'm not here to campaign for either side.  But if you're not a fan of hockey fights... you probably want to skip this post, because things are about to get bloody.

Still here?  Okay... then let's get on with it.  A few months ago, I finished my 2013 Topps Archives Fan Favorites autograph set.  I enjoyed the challenge of building this set, so I set my sights on building another autograph set.

I decided to go with 2011-12 ITG Enforcers for a few reasons:

A.  They're affordable.  Most of the cards I've purchased have been $2 or less shipped.

B.  The 85 cards will pose a challenge... but it's not to the point where it's unrealistic.

C.  I like the overall card design and how ITG makes the most of a sticker autograph.

D.  And most importantly... I collect hockey enforcers.

It started out with three large autograph lot purchases on eBay.  Then I targeted a few of the cheaper autographs on COMC.  And by last weekend, I had more than half of the set completed.  Out of the 85 cards in the set, I only needed 39 more.

So on Monday, I decided to bust open the box I picked up on Black Friday to see if I could lower that number.  Each box contains 12 cards:  5 base cards, 2 memorabilia cards, and 5 autographs.  Here's what I ended up pulling:

Base Cards

I wasn't too impressed with the Tale of the Tape subset cards, but the Bloody Battles subset is awesome!

Memorabilia Cards

My Hockey Enforcer PC only has a few memorabilia cards, so these two will make fine additions.  And finally the five autographs:

I already had these three guys... but was stoked to add this pair to the set:

That leaves me with only 37 autographs left...

Any of you have any of these laying around?  I have a bunch of doubles available for trade if you're trying to build the set too.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Tuesday Night Thank You's!

Where the heck should I begin?  It seems every time I check my mailbox there's another package sent from one of you guys.  I'm starting to lose track of who (or is it whom?) I owe cards too.

In less than a two week period, I have receive packages from The Junior Junkie, jacobmrley, Comatoad, and Mr. Zippy Zappy.

The Junior Junkie got things rolling when he sent me a few cards that were part of a giveaway he held in celebration of Ken Griffey Jr.'s 44th birthday.  One of them was this sweet Mike Mussina from the 1995 Donruss Mound Marvels insert set:

If you're not familiar with these acetate inserts, you're missing out.  They come with a protective peel, which I immediately removed so I could enjoy the portrait photo.  Thanks T.J.!

Next up was a package that got me a few cards closer to completing one of the greatest sets of the 80's.  Remember that 1984 Donruss baseball set that I'm building?  Well thanks to jacobmrley, I'm down to needing only one card:  #178 Jim Sundberg.

He hooked me up with these four cards:

But that's not all.  He also sent these two Gwynns:

I was stoked to find out that I needed both of these cards for my Gwynn binder.  Isn't that Goodwin card gorgeous?  And the amethyst card numbered to 650 isn't exactly an ugly duckling.  Thanks Max!

Today, I found out what it feels like to get Zippy Zapped!  He sure got me good.  He sent four vintage Padres along with a pair of Oakland and San Diego prospects.

Thanks Zippy!  I'll definitely keep you in mind if I come across any Eric Jagielo cards.  And by the way... when are you going to join the fun and start a blog?

And last... but certainly not least... I'll wrap things up with this autograph of the Oakland A's pitching ace:

Fellow Padres fan and author of Bleedin' Brown and Gold sent me a nice Christmas card that included the above Parker.  I'm ashamed to admit that I still haven't paid you back for the first package you sent earlier in the month.  I guess I'd better get my bottom moving.  Thanks Duff!

Seriously... words can't express how much I appreciate the awesome generosity that flows through our blogworld.  My holiday break starts on Friday, so I'll try to get your packages in the mail by then.  Thanks again you guys.  I hope all of you have a safe holiday season.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Glovin' Me Some Gwynn

If I had to use one word to describe our hobby during the 90's... I'd say "innovative".  Card companies were constantly coming up with new ideas and technologies to compete with each other and entertain collectors.

One of my favorites were laser cut, die-cut cards.  I know that card companies had been creating die-cuts for decades, but in the 90's the precision was taken to the next level.  Check out these two Tony Gwynns I recently had shipped to me from COMC:

1998 Paramount Fielder's Choice #14

1999 Paramount Fielder's Choice #16

Pacific inserted these into their Paramount boxes at a rate of 1 per 73 packs, so they were fairly tough pulls.  Throw in the fact that there are 20 cards in each of these sets and the odds of pulling a specific player are insane.

When these cards first came out, they were pretty expensive.  Unfortunately... they're losing the war against time.  Every year that passes, more and more collectors lose interest in their older inserts in an effort to keep up with the Joneses (including myself).

The good news is that since demand is dropping... prices have dropped too.  A few weeks ago I picked up the pair for $5.15, which probably seems expensive since it doesn't contain his autograph or a swatch of his jersey.  But one look at these cards in your hands and you'd understand my purchase.

Happy Monday and sayonara!