Last trade post of April is Spastik-Fantastic

Continuing my decent success with trade bait posts, Tim (a.k.a. SpatikMooss) of the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame and I agreed to our third trade.  From this post I sent him the Joel Hanrahan and Duce Staley (a favorite of his) autos, along with a couple other odds and ends (such as some Josh Cribbs, another Tim favorite).

In return, I got the following package today:

Some Tigers playing cards, a cool oddball Cecil Fielder and a nice serial-numbered Tom Terrific insert.  Tigers+Wolverines (+ what I'll show in a minute) = a great trade package.  Here's a closer look at the Fielder in pop-up book mode:

I have to admit I hadn't seen these before, so this is a pretty cool addition to my Tigers collection (despite my lactose intolerance).

And now for the two highlights of the deal:

A Braylon 2007 Leaf R&S Crusade jersey.  While I've said before that Brown's not my favorite color, it sure beats plain white jerseys, and this is a solid Braylon relic (#d to 250).  Interestingly enough (to me, only, I'm sure), this is currently my only 2007 Braylon hit.

And a Braylon-Derek Anderson 2008 Leaf Limited Team Threads dual prime jersey.  Tim smartly picked this up on the cheap despite the fact that it's #d to 25.  While I don't usually collect multiplayer cards that include non-Wolverines, this is my second such card, and the other also features Braylon (and a different Browns QB, Charlie Frye).  I like that while both jerseys are deemed to be "prime", Edwards' is more deserving of the moniker, being multicolored and all.

So that's two new Braylons for the ol' PC and another great trade with Tim.  While he's still reloading after his epic trade bait draft, he frequents the BlowoutCards forums as much as I do for great PC and trade bait fodder, so get to trading with the guy already.

Thanks, Tim!

Welcome to another edition of "Oh yeah, I bought that, didn't I?"

So I opened up my mailbox today and found a small package that immediately stumped me because, as we've established, my memory sucks for someone who hasn't hit his 30s.  It was from one of my favorite Blowout sellers, Underwood4.  I've bought cards from (as far as I can tell due to the first name) her three times now and she's always given me more than a fair deal on price.  Shipping usually takes a little longer than I'd expect considering they're coming from Illinois (hence my always impersonating Forgetful Jones </old school Sesame Street reference!>) when I buy from her.

Anyway, this time I got another deal I liked.  For $25 dlvd I picked up these three beauties:

Braylon Edwards 2005 Leaf Limited Phenoms patch/auto/RC (#083/100): You'll have to take my word for it that this one's a "beauty" because cards with a foil mirror finish don't really scan well, now, do they?  The seller noted the minor damage to the patch window (upper left corner) but I can't say I really cared--I'm not exactly going to get this graded by BGS (it would only garner, what, a 9.5 by their rigorous standards?).  I can't believe a couple months ago I had zero Braylon sigs and now I have four. 

Jake Long 2008 Leaf Limited Spotlight patch/auto/RC (#18/49):  I'd seen this in the hands of plenty of sellers but never had a chance at a deal as good as this.  The patch is an excellent mix of colors; I just don't understand why Leaf felt they had to cover up the player with the sticker when half the card is taken up by a patch that needs not even 1/3 of the space.

Mario Manningham 2008 Leaf Limited patch/auto/RC (#63/99):  Same complaints as above in terms of design, but overall I like having this upper-tier patch/auto/RC in my collection.  It's not as good of a patch as the long, but I got a little color and some stitching, and as usual I'm more interested in the autograph anyway.  Any Super Mario is a good Super Mario.

If you happen to see more threads from this seller in your occasional Blowout forums perusal activities, keep in mind she has my endorsement on reliability and price!

The wait is over, the wantlist is smaller

As I promised and overhyped and promised some more, the stragglers of my set completion bonanza arrived today.  Here, then, is a look at what a few hours on Sportlots, COMC and eBay did to significantly shrink my set wantlists, as I finished the following sets:

*NOTE:  some sets are accompanied by scans, but they may not include every card I needed, just a select few

Baseball:

1996 Sportflix:  well, it only took me about 15 years to put this one to bed....
1996 Ultra Series II:  I bought a box of these way back and, again, it took me a long time to get it done.  No plans to build Series I--I'll either buy a set or get rid of Series II.
1997 Fleer:  Just a fantastic looking set, definitely one of my favorites.  Hooray for a new Tram!

1997 Score Premium Stock/Hobby Reserve:  Bought a couple boxes of these back in the day, never had the motivation to finish it up until now.
1998 Pinnacle Mint Bronze Cards:  I only needed one freakin' card (Jose Cruz Jr.) but I had a hard time trading for it anywhere, so on my wantlist it sat.
1998 Score Rookie Traded:  Same as Pinnacle Mint, different player.
1998 Studio Portraits 8x10:  No scan of the last four I needed (which started this whole process, actually) as I'm going to do a gallery of them soon!  I originally was going after these with my eBay bucks, but Google searching led me to SportLots and the rest is history.
1998 Upper Deck:  A spiffy looking set that lacked only four cards, but included some of the more expensive needs on my list.  A couple of those came from COMC.
1999 Skybox Thunder:  I randomly won a box of this set from Beckett way back, and for some reason, though I didn't care for the look, I chased it anyway.  I just probably wasn't motivated to finish it thanks to its lack of appeal.

1999 Stadium Club:  Another hard-to-find single card!
1999 Topps Series II (set 2):  I think I got an extra box of just Series II a while back, or had a bunch of doubles or something because I had most of a Series II set.  Of the pair of cards I needed, the Sosa was definitely more expensive.  Remember when these were huge?

2000 Bowman:  One of the few I needed in this set was former Mariners bust prospect Ryan Anderson.  Remember him?  Man, these sets make me all nostalgic....
2000 Fleer:  Just needed the Big Hurt, no problem thanks to Sportlots.
2000 Ultra:  Kind of a cool looking set, if not much of a standout for me.
2000 Upper Deck MVP Set 2:  I'd needed this Richie Sexson forever but just couldn't find it easily until now.  Good riddance.
2001 Donruss Retro 2000:  You either love it or hate it.  While it didn't make for an easy-to-complete set (along with the Retro 99s), I thought it was a fun idea.  Of course I still needed the Ripken.

2001 Fleer Triple Crown:  Add this to the "bought the box, nothing special, chased the set anyway" pile.
2001 Upper Deck:  One of my favorite UD sets for some reason.  Definitely a good rookie year (Pujols and Ichiro, of course).
2002 Donruss Rookies:  I needed a scrub and...Cliff Lee.  COMC to the rescue!  I love Donruss' rookie sets, and I'm glad to have this one done.

2002 Topps Archives:  I enjoyed some of Topps' reprint offerings, until they offered them ad nauseum.
2002 Topps Total Award Winners:  The base set was fun to chase so I busted a lot of packs and of course pulled a ton of the various inserts.
2002 Topps Total Total Topps:  These too.  I think in doing so I'm working on a master set, but I could be wrong.  I do still need help with the base set!
2004 Bowman:  A year or three ago I found a guy on eBay that wanted, I think, $1 for a pair of these (why would I want two?) plus a ridiculous shipping fee for two cards.  Screw that!  SportLots gets another one done.
2004 Fleer Hot Prospects Draft Edition:  Got a load of mid-'00s Fleer packs on eBay a few years ago, which covers the next few sets as well.  I liked the look of this one for sure and now I'm rewarded with another completed set.
2005 Flair:  Not quite premium but not plain either--just right.
2005 Fleer Patchworks:  Solid, if unspectacular, base set.
2005 Skybox Autographics:  The facsimile sigs are kind of cool.
2006 Topps:  I either finish Topps flagship sets quickly or let them linger for a long time--no middle ground.  Hooray Rich Hill rookie!

2006 Ultra:  A group of blasters and packs didn't get it done but SportLots did.
2007 Topps:  Willie Randolph completes this set for me finally!
2010 Bowman:  A pair of cards put this one to bed--now on to the Prospects, Draft and stuff!

Football:

2001 Topps:  Yeah, that took quite a while considering I did buy the box that year.  I slowly chipped away at it, but it still took a while.  A-Train RC!

2005 Topps:  A set whose design I liked and whose packs I liked more (rack packs!).  I needed a few more here, but surprisingly, only Cadillac Williams among the RCs.
2007 Bowman:  Interesting note here:  this set is the reason I went back for seconds on SportLots--I thought I had included Le'Ron McClain's RC in my first purchase, but I missed it.  So I went back and snagged it, and since I needed to make shipping and the overall purchase worth it, I completed a few more sets, which worked out nicely.  Breaston RC!

2007 Bowman Chrome:  Just the first series that came with the base set, not the whole thing, to clarify.
2008 SAGE Hit:  I'm not sure how I still needed one of these, but I was happy to knock it off the list for sure.
2008 Upper Deck Rookie Exclusives:  I almost bought another blaster of these, but since I only needed a handful, I just completed one set by hand instead.  Great looking photography, and I picked up a Jake Long I didn't have.

2010 Absolute Memorabilia Retail sets 2 and 3:  A bunch of stuffed rack packs plus a small set size equalled a few sets for me.  I'll be making my surplus sets available soon.

2010 Topps:  I probably could have had this done sooner, but whatever.  I spent my couple eBay bucks on the Suh, my only eBay contribution to this quest.  A nice pair of Lions RCs:

This has nothing to do with set completion, but it's an appropriate time to mention that along with my 2002 Donruss Rookies Cliff Lee from COMC, I got the seller to include this:

a 2006 Press Pass Jason Avant autograph.


In case you weren't counting, I completed 40 sets thanks to these purchases, which totalled about $80 shipped at Sportlots, $15 on COMC and $2 on eBay.  While I prefer trading and hope to complete some of my remaining conquests that way instead of throwing money at the problem, in this case, every penny was worth it.  This simply made an enormous dent in my wantlist and helped give me more focus on that instead of buying useless blasters/boxes.

Thanks for looking, and stay tuned for the aforementioned gallery of '98 Studio 8x10s, a trade package from Tim of the GSNHOF, and more.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have 40 sets worth of cards to put away in some sort of organized fashion....

BA Benny Trade Post #[insert_number]: [insert_noun] Boogaloo

My completed trades section on your right over there tells me this is trade #4 I've done with Mike over at BA Benny's Ridiculously Large Group Breaks and Compulsive Yankees/Mets/Jets/Giants/Saints Trading Plus Pictures of My Dogs Blog (later shortened to Baseball Card Buffet so it would fit on a bumper sticker when he sold out).  It sure seems like more, but that's probably because I've sent about 33% of my inventory his way over the course of just a few months.

Anyway, for the fourth straight time I was thrilled by a huge package from Mike--

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!

--which included all the stuff you see up there at the top:

• Sweet-ass bumper sticker and business card courtesy sponsor #1
• Pile 'o Tigers, group break and trade package-related (more below)
• Pile 'o Rays from the group break (no scans, nothing thrilling)
• Pile 'o birthday contest winnings (scans below) and a couple bigger pulls selected from the group break
• Pile 'o Wolverines (below)
• Pile 'o Dolphins, group break charity since I didn't have them (no scans, except for the Wolverines)
• Pile 'o Patroits, group break (some scans below)
• One hit from the group break along with a ton of hits from the trade package
• Pile 'o Lions from group break (highlights below)
• Not pictured:  1989 Fleer Fernando Valenzuela, included either just because, by mistake or due to brain damage caused by several years of close proximity to Rudy Giuliani

Ok, that's a lot to get through, so let's get started.

Some Tigers favorites, including an AJax Refractor, an old Gene Lamont and a JV Gold!

More Tigers faves.  The minis are great and I won the Fernandez/Ripken/Tram in a randomization during the break, which was sweet.  As for the Diamond Duos, I keep singing in my head, "They're Racist and the Drunk / They're Racist and the Drunk / One is from Georgia / The other's a punk...."  Finally, at least your name isn't Tom Bolton.  There was nothing wrong with it until that no-talent ass-clown joined the Tigers and started losing games!  (With apologies to Tom Bolton, who, in reality, was adequate and has nothing to do with "Office Space".)

The first six here are winnings from Mike's blog birthday contest thing.  Not bad considering I got the leftovers, I think.  The other three were picks from the group break randomization draft thing.  W00t Manny Machado!

Some Wolverines, including some charity Dolphins, since I didn't actually have them (Lions + Pats).  I can always use more of the '08 RCs, even if I have a ton.  MOAR!

Some Pats and Lions.  A nice group of Chrome RCs and a couple Bradys for New England, and a nice sampling of the best Lions stuff he sent.

A 2009 Team USA By the Letter patch/auto of Brian Ragira, my pick in the hit randomization draft portion of the break.  This may find its way back to Mike, stay in my collection or get sent elsewhere, I don't know, but for now, it's pretty cool.

And now, my favorites of the package (none of which were break-related):

A JV 2008 UD APOH Stadium Scenes jersey.  Here's the start of me breaking some of my trading rules because Mike's cool and sent me so much great stuff (I usually don't go for single-color jersey swatches, especially white, but I need all the JV I can get).

A 2008 UD Spectrum Swatches jersey of Miggy:  This one doesn't even picture him in a Detroit uniform, but it lists him as a Tiger, and I definitely needed a Cabrera hit.  A nice start and another good reason to make an exception.

Lou Whitaker and Sparky Anderson in-person autographs:  Mike found these at his LCS, and I'm not one to question authenticity in a deal like this--I'd like to believe both are real, and therefore I'm thrilled to get not just one, but two Tigers legend signatures, especially Sparky, now that he's gone.  These were the highlight of the package for me and I can't see getting another chance at something like these anytime soon.

A 2008 UD Baseball Heroes Black jersey of Rich Hill, which I finally acquired after Mike accidentally poached it from me during Tim's trade bait draft.  I guess I wasn't clear enough that I'm a fan of UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ATHLETES while writing on this here blog.  Anyway, it's another step towards a potential Hill rainbow, a fool's errand I took over from Tim thanks to this generous donation from him a while ago. 

And we close things out with a pair of Michigan football jerseys--Chris Perry's RC from 2004 Bowman's Best and a Dolphin Green swatch of Jake Long from 2008 Stadium Club.  I'd actually been after the Perry for a while so this was a great opportunity to snag one.  And all I can say for the Long is one more on the pile!

The preceding was a a fraction of what I got from my favorite New York trader but I hope you enjoyed a look at what still took me a couple hours to present.  Because three times wasn't enough, I'll remind you to trade with Mike, especially before he acquires even more sponsors and turns into Skynet (just connect the dots, people) or at least starts ignoring the little people like us.  Thanks again, Mike, and I hope you enjoy your swag enough to put this much effort into blogging about it or I'm never trading with you again.

Coming soon, the much-hyped set completion post of celebration and exultation.

Back From Hiatus

I'm not really one to announce on something as public as a blog that I'll be away from home for a few days (HEY!  My house is currently unoccupied--would you like a code to the door?), hence the dearth of posts for a few days.

Well, I'm back from Rochester/Niagara Falls (both of the New York variety), and with my cousin heading back to Italy today, I'll again have more time to catch up and, you know, post stuff.

Because of a couple delays, screw-ups on my part and I'm sure the usual amount of USPS incompetence, I still don't quite have 100% of what I wanted to show in terms of set completion stuff; I'm still pretty sure I'll have all of that later this week.

In the meantime, I did get my group break haul and yet another impeccable trade package from BA Benny, and I think I'll have that posted in the next day or so.

If I owe any of you some emails I'll do my best to get on those shortly.  I'll also try to get my comprehensive list of trade bait items put up in the next couple weeks.  Most importantly, right now I'm trying to get all my wantlist cards in, knocked off the list and put away.

For now, I don't know what you're talking about, so here's a picture of a pink waterfall:

Yesterday's mail = today's blog fodder

Incidentally, "blog fodder" sounds like a terrible internet parody of a certain Mario Puzo series....

Monday was a very big mail day for me, but I didn't have time to blog about it until today.  You'll see that it was worth the wait, though:

More Sportlots:
You'll recall that Saturday produced my first set completer from Sportlots.  Or, if you don't believe me, click on the link.  So if you're counting at home, that's one completed set (2008 SAGE Hit football).  A bunch more envelopes put me that much closer to a few more sets (some of which were completed totally).  I want to wait for more to show up before I give you a recap, but rest assured, it'll be great.

More Blowout:


First, for $4 delivered I grabbed a Brandon Graham I'd been trying to get for a couple weeks.

Welcome to the fold, Brandon Graham #8--a 2010 SP Authentic auto/RC.  Michigan uni, RC/auto, love it.

Moving on, I saw a guy who was somewhat desperately trying to unload the remainder of a lot of baseball autos (mostly) and relics (a few), plus a couple numbered parallels.  I talked him down to $50 dlvd and got the following:

This was the keeper of the lot for me, a 2009 Bowman Sterling auto of Tigers Ryan Perry and Cale Iorg.  Perry, of course, has made it to the majors as a pretty good reliever after being drafted in the first round.  Iorg hasn't done as much to live up to his prospect status, but he at least has a cool connection to Detroit:

Yep, Cale's the son of the guy in the upper left, who shared a RC with legendary Tigers 2B Lou Whitaker.

The rest of these cards are up for grabs with the rest of my trade bait.  I'll eventually have everything scanned and labelled and stuff for easier trading, but for now here's some group scans for you guys to pick through:

Leave me comments/shoot me emails with trade interest or to ask questions about one or more cards.  Not a bad investment for $50, no?

More Sportlots celebration to come soon, I promise!

April Card Show Report: Trade Bait Edition

Yesterday I showed off my PC additions, so once again it's time to get to the part that will be of the most interest to y'all, the trade bait I picked up.  Unfortunately I didn't find most of what I was looking for based on the couple requests I got, but I still picked up some fun stuff that I think some of you may want:

Baseball:
Only a couple teams represented here, and a large amount of the stuff will probably go towards BA Benny, but it's all available for now!

• Brandon Jones 2009 SP Authentic By the Letter patch/auto "J" #24/30 (Braves)
• Chin-Lung Hu 2008 Topps Chrome auto/RC (Dodgers)
• Phil Humber 2007 Bowman auto/RC (Mets) (traded:  BA Benny)
• Prentice Redman 2003 Bowman SOTF auto (Mets) (traded:  BA Benny)
• Joel Hanrahan 2003 Bowman SOTF auto (Dodgers)
• Jonathan Albaladejo 2009 UD Ballpark Collection Swatch Auto jersey/auto (Yankees) (traded:  BA Benny)

Football:
Group 1, AKA the BA Benny Collection, and group 2, for everyone else.  All are available to everyone except the Staley, which is set aside for Tim (GSNHOF).  Clearly I had just a few of you in mind, but I did my best.

• Sinorice Moss 2006 Topps Chrome auto/RC (Giants) (traded:  BA Benny)
• Rhett Bomar 2009 Donruss Threads Rookie Class letter patch/auto #033/175 (Giants) (traded:  BA Benny)
• D'Brickashaw Ferguson 2006 Upper Deck Rookie Debut Signatures auto/RC (Jets) (traded:  BA Benny)
• Ramses Barden 2009 Bowman Sterling jersey/auto/RC #580/600 (Giants) (traded:  BA Benny)
• Aaron Brooks 2001 Topps Gallery auto (Saints) (traded:  BA Benny)

• Ed Dickson 2010 Sweet Spot Signatures manu-helmet/auto #102/350 (Oregon/Ravens)
• Dwayne Jarrett 2007 Donruss Gridiron Gear Rookie Gridiron Gems pullout auto/RC (Panthers)
• Keary Colbert 2004 Sweet Spot Rookie Signatures manu-helmet/auto #242/699 (Panthers)
• Duce Staley 2001 Fleer Autographics auto (Eagles) (pending to Tim)

Please send me some offers if you see anything you like.  Again, right now everything is available except the Staley, so make me some offers.  As usual, my preferences are:

• Autographs, then relics (to a lesser extent)
• Michigan football and baseball players (especially Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Mario Manningham, Jake Long, Adrian Arrington, Braylon Edwards, Brandon Graham, David Harris, LaMarr Woodley, Steve Breaston, Tom Brady, Barry Larkin, JJ Putz, Rich Hill, Ryan LaMarre, Zach Putnam, Clayton Richard)
• Detroit Tigers, mainly Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Jacob Turner, Nick Castellanos, Austin Jackson, Miguel Cabrera

So let's get some more trades done!

April Card Show Report: PC edition (and quick mail update)

First, the quick mail update:

I went a little overboard last week, starting with a couple random Blowout purchases, followed by an extremely productive few hours on Sportlots, capped off by a couple COMC grabs and an eBay win.  If USPS stops randomly stealing some of my mail, all of that will get posted when it starts arriving next week.

This was actually my first Sportlots experience, and while I'm not 100% happy with the workings of the site, I'm thrilled with the results.  I won't reveal just how many of my wantlist sets I completed amongst all the purchases I mentioned above until I've received everything, but needless to say, I think you'll be impressed.

One of my Sportlots purchases actually arrived already today, which is awesome considering I just ordered it Thursday!  A 2008 SAGE Hit football card of Paul Raymond, #71, completes that set for me.  It's a slow start, but I promise you I'll finish with a bang!

Ok, card show report, personal buys:

Dustin and I hit up the card show this morning/afternoon, and it went pretty well, although I didn't find as much stuff for my PC this time.  I did do fairly well in terms of grabbing even more trade bait stuff, though, and you'll see that in a post in the next couple days.  Here's what I grabbed for myself:

Not pictured:  an opened box set (sans autograph, probably of a scrub) of 2010 Donruss Rated Rookies football.  I've wanted one of these for a while, and a seller (from whom I grabbed a couple other cards listed below) wanted $5 for it.  Sold!

Rich Hill 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Destination Stardom Memorabilia jersey

Rich Hill hit #17 (which I think I bought from the Rated Rookies set guy above for like $2), a decent jersey with the positive distinction of having a Cubs pinstripe.  Not too shabby.

Andrew Cogliano 2010 SP Game-Used Edition Authentic Fabrics jersey

My first hit of Cogs, a star forward for two years at Michigan (24 goals in 2006-07!) who unfortunately bolted early for the NHL after being drafted 25th overall by Edmonton (by the way, my first Oilers hit too) in 2005.  A solid Oilers jersey card that I snagged for $2.

Brendan Morrison 2007-08 Be a Player Signatures auto

I'm surprised this is my first Morrison hit because I'd swear I had another one; I guess not.  Anyway, the guy was a stud at Michigan, and just about nobody was better than him except Marty Turco.  He netted a ridiculous 284 points, won the Hobey once and brought the word championship back to Michigan in 1996 with a game-winner against Colorado College in OT.  He was drafted by the Devils at #39 overall in '93 and has played for six different NHL teams.  While he hasn't been quite the star in the NHL that he was in college, he's enjoyed a very nice career, and he'll always be a legend here.  As Brendan did, I hope talented Canadian scorers continue to flow to Ann Arbor instead of wasting the opportunity for a great education (while receiving quality NHL preparation) in the junior leagues.

Steve Shields 2002 Be A Player Signature Series auto

It was a day of hockey firsts, so why not?  Shields is, for some reason, my second favorite Michigan goalie that I never saw in-person (#1 being Turco, of course).  I honestly couldn't tell you why, but regardless, he was a great goalie here, and after being drafted by Buffalo in '91, he played for a total of six NHL teams until retiring in '06.  This was a fun pickup for me--yet another Michigan hockey player I didn't have, and it was a good auto from a well-liked brand.  Although he's not among the active group, I also want to mention that (seemingly as usual) Michigan leads the NCAA in terms of hockey alumni in the NHL.

Adrian Arrington 2008 Bowman Sterling Gold Refractor auto RC

So this one scanned better than I'd hoped.  I've got so many cards with this image I no longer feel like linking to each of them, so check them out here.  For a ridiculous $3, I got the Gold Refractor version of this card, and it's the good old eBay 1/1, #1/25.  It's a good way to start my small football haul, although I sure hope you like Arrington because

Adrian Arrington 2008 Playoff Contenders auto RC

Here's #2.  Got this one from the same guy and for roughly the same price, I believe.  It was a good day for buying Arringtons from that guy, such as

Adrian Arrington 2008 Press Pass Signings auto

I already had a Press Pass Arrington auto, but not this one--a nice, simple design with AA in his Michigan uni.  That goes well with the last one I grabbed,

Adrian Arrington 2008 SAGE Red auto

I cheaped out on this one and got the  Red version, not so much to save the $1 over the bronze (which the guy also had) as because I liked the red look to the card.  I think I like it because it goes with my Arrington-Henne auto from the same set.

Braylon Edwards 2008 Finest Finest Moments auto

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!  Yep, the only other Michigan football card I grabbed today was a Braylon Finest autograph for $10, a price I was willing to pay for my 3rd Edwards autograph.

So, not a huge haul, but I did break the 250 football hit mark, made it to 16 Arringtons and Edwardses each, plus hit my 17th Rich Hill and 12th hockey hit.  That's a pretty good day by my measure.  I'm pretty sure Dustin had a good time, too, and I know he'll be showing off his loot pretty soon--he seemed pretty proud of what he snagged, and I think he should be.

Coming up in the next day or so:  trade bait results from the card show (hint:  even more than last time).  And after that, hopefully, some set-finishing mail days.