O Yes! Another Ryan H trade package, or, Wisconsin, please don't sue me

Some good news:  I've been keeping up with several of my resolutions, and this week that definitely paid off in the form of a bunch of trades.  With lots of stuff going on I'll be jumping around in terms of how I post them, but if you sent me stuff I promise I'll get a trade post up very soon.

Today's comes to me from Ryan of "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog.  When I threw up this post last Sunday about wanting to get rid of a lot of my set-fillers, Ryan asked for some of my Bowman Chromes, which I knew would help him towards some of his sets, so this was already destined to be a pretty good trade.  I also kicked a few Orioles cards his way for fun, because, why not?

Ryan sent me one of my favorite things to get in return:  major wantlist help.  Because I didn't want to go imageless in this post, here's my favorite from the group:

This is former NC State/Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson's 2010 Bowman Draft Prospects card, the one that caused some controversey because, bah gawd, King, he's a student-athlete!  Anyway, here's how much Ryan was able to help me with this one trade package, You Complete Me-style:

• 2002 Bowman:  17 cards, down to 27 needed
• 2004 Bowman Draft:  3, need 36
• 2008 Topps II set 2:  2, need 13
• 2009 Bowman Prospects:  1, need 5
• 2009 Topps Update:  3, need 1
• 2010 Bowman Draft base:  15, complete!
• 2010 Bowman Draft prospects:  17, complete!

Total cards:  58     Sets added to:  7     Sets completed:  2

This is very exciting for me because, not only did he complete two of my sets--which were up to this point the newest ones on the list--he put me within five cards or fewer for two others, which makes it that much more likely I can knock them off via Sportlots very soon.

A big thanks again to Ryan who put together an excellent and VERY useful trade package for me, and I hope we can deal again soon, especially if it means more chipping away at my incredibly shrinking wantlist!

Dude, whoa. Whoa, dude.

Dude.  DUUUUUUUDE:

Whoa.

+

+

=

This is simply insane and I don't have any idea where Detroit came up with the money.  It was very clear we needed a replacement for the year due to V-Mart's unfortunate injury, but...DUDE!  It'll certainly be interesting having Prince back in Detroit mashing balls into the upper deck again, this time for reals.  Whoa.  

Blogger league...ASSEMBLE!

So once again I'm crowdsourcing some information I don't have handy--I'm working on selling some of my trade bait that's just kinda been sitting there so I get some use out of it and don't feel so guilty about spending as much as I do on cards.  While I don't bow down to the holy Bible of sports card pricing, Beckett, I'm out of options here because I can't get market value prices from COMC or completed eBay listings.

SO, the question is, do any of you have a subscription to either Beckett Baseball or Football, or the OPGs?  I'm really just looking for prices on two cards:

Mikie Mahtook/Brian Johnson 2010 Bowman Sterling Refractor dual auto

C.J. Spiller 2010 Press Pass Wal-Mart Exclusives auto #d /25 (bottom middle)

I know the Spiller might be too rare to be priced, which is fine.  But if any of you can help me with prices on either or both of the cards, I would very much appreciate it and could make it up to you in cards or assistance to be named later (answering computer questions would probably be my most valuable non-card service I could offer).  So if you can help, please let me know.  Thanks in advance!

Seeya in Indy

What has two thumbs and is going to Indy in two weeks?

THIS guy (Brady, not me, of course).  It was by no means Brady's best playoff game, and the Pats won largely thanks to their kicker, RBs and a surprisingly good defense, but that doesn't matter because New England will be facing the winner of the Giants and 49ers in the Super Bowl, and either matchup promises to be very exciting.  Either the Giants head to Indy for a rematch in which the Pats try to avenge their lost 19-0 season, or the 49ers, another team that knows a little something about winning, complete their stunning turnaround under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh.  I'm excited either way, and I hope many of you are as well.

Sunday fun: last call

"Sunday fun" is a bit of a misnomer today, but this is something I've needed to do for a while.  You see this here box?:

This box currently contains all my dupes from over the years that I've hung onto and kept sorted by set in case someone needed them to hack away at their wantlists.  What I'm using it for more often right now is to supplement trade packages--each time I send out stuff from someone's favorite team, I make sure to flip through this box in case I have more team base cards to add to their haul.  It's a nice source for doing something like that, but I've been wanting to consolidate and get rid of a lot of my non-essential stuff.

So, in a lot of cases I don't have all that many cards left when it comes to some of these sets.  When I finally decide to do so, I'm just going to sort what's left of those into my box that's full of trade package material sorted by team.  But I figure while I have these sorted as they are, I should see how much they can help some of you.  So here's the deal:  I'm going to list all the sets I have in that box, and if you're working on one or more of them, leave me a comment or shoot me an email with your wantlist for however many of them you'd like.  I'll then send you whatever I have that you need in return for future considerations; remember, I'm doing this to clear space above all (though I'm happy to help people with set collecting, one of the purest activities of the hobby) so if I never see a return on doing this other than freeing up space, I still come out ahead.  Got all that?  Good, now here's the list:
Note:  few refers to an eyeball estimate of less than 100 or a relatively small amount relative to the size of the set.  Lots refers to more than that.  Tons refers to way more than lots.  Vague, I know, but this is just to give you an idea of what to expect, not to discourage you from sending your lists.

• 2000 Stadium Club (few)
• 2000 Topps (lots)
• 2002 Bowman (few)
• 2004 Bowman (lots)
• 2004 Topps Chrome Traded (lots)
• 2004 Topps Traded (lots)
• 2005 Donruss (some)
• 2005 Topps Chrome (lots)
• 2006 Topps (tons)
• 2007 Topps (tons)
• 2008 Donruss EEE
• 2008 Topps (few)
• 2008 Topps Co-Signers (few)
• 2008 UD Heroes (some)
• 2009 Bowman, Prospects, WBC and Chrome versions (lots)
• 2009 Topps (few)
• 2010 Bowman, Prospects and Chrome (few)
• 2010 Bowman Draft (few)
• 2010 Topps (few)
• 2010 Topps Traded (few)
• 2011 Bowman, Prospects and Chrome (few)

So help yourself while helping me out and take a bunch of these off my hands as you work to fill your sets!

Dealing with the offseason blues with a new Freehan

It's been a busy week for me on the other blog due to lots of relevant incoming stuff, but I wanted to take a moment to post one card from that package that applies over here, especially for those not following that blog:

This is Bill Freehan's 2001 Topps Archives reprint autograph.  It's one I've wanted for quite some time, and it was on my singles/player wantlist for that very reason.  Well, one of the two sellers from whom I purchased stuff on COMC has it, and despite his relatively steep asking price, my overall total was reasonable enough that I felt I could treat myself to a card I'd wanted so much.

It bugs me a bit that Topps blew up his part of the four-player RC, seen here,

because that doesn't really make it a reprint, now, does it?  Other than that, it's a fun idea having a player sign a reprint of his RC, and at that time, Bill's autograph was one of the better ones you could get since it's fairly legible compared to many of today's stars who basically sign their initials.

I didn't pick up a lot of baseball stuff in my latest bunch of acquisitions, but this is a Tigers card that sort of helps break up the doldrums of the off-season before spring training starts next month.  It's also my fourth overall Freehan autograph and second Topps reprint signature.

Sunday fun: completed sets: 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites

I promised a while back that I would show off this set that I completed not too long ago, so here it is:  a much-anticipated look at 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites.

Unlike the Topps Archives sets of a couple years prior, ATFF didn't simply reprint old Topps cards--they took a group comprising HOFers, stars, "fan favorites" that were generally loved only by their teams' fans, managers and GMs, umpires, commissioners, idiots (Rudy Giuliani and Joe Buck, for example) and more, then printed their cards using designs from the last 50+ years of Topps sets.  It was actually a fairly cool concept and worked pretty well, as you'll see in this post.  So here they are, all 150 cards from 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites!  (sans comments for your viewing pleasure and my sanity)

2012 Group Break #1: Daily Dimwit

Everybody's favorite Texabama man, Sam (Daily Dimwit), held a group break over the weekend, and his expedience in shipping things out (very commendable, sir!) caused my cards to arrive to me not on Friday as expected, but this afternoon instead.  I know!  The USPS exceeded expectations!  Anyway, hit the link up there for an entertaining video that encompasses all three boxes that comprised the break:

• 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts
• 2009 Upper Deck Piece of History
• 2009 SP Authentic

As you can see from the results, most of us pretty much subsidized the Pirates and especially the Marlins, but I still had a great time, and my haul wasn't all that bad.  My two chosen teams were the Tigers (natch) and Mariners (hoping to snag a Griffey or King Felix), and randomization earned me the Brewers and LA/A/A/LALA/AALA Angels, which netted me this stuff:

All Tigers (Sheffield is #d 242/999) and a Guererro/Ortiz insert #d 154/999

Best of the Brew Crew and Ms

Weird stuff randomed to me from Piece of History

 

 

The strangest thing by far was this Mike Myers Austin Powers relic from Piece of History.  I actually laughed out loud after Sam randomed it off to me.  Also, yes, I now see there's writing on the penny sleeve, but I don't feel like scanning it again.  Anyway, that's up for grabs if anyone has any interest in it.

All in all it was a fun, if not lucrative, way to start my group-breaking year, and Sam does a bang-up job of running breaks, so I'll be more than happy to join another of his in the future.

I should also mention that he sent me a card in trade that'll be posted over on TMM shortly, in return for something coming in my soon-to-be-shipped COMC monster lot.  Thanks again, Sam!

Sweet surprise

The "sweet" in the title refers to the player on the card that arrived in my mailbox today; the "surprise" refers to my disbelief that it actually arrived to me safely, three whole days after it was actually SUPPOSED to arrive.  Thanks, USPS--I'm sure people will line up in droves to pay you more to work less.

Anyway, this card is one I've been dying to show off since I grabbed it from the usual place--the BlowoutCards forums.  A guy had busted a ton of 2011 Leaf Ink, a product wherein you get slabbed, certified autos on buyback cards from different brands.  The years, players and sets that comprise the checklist appear to be fairly diverse.  In my case, one card caught my eye, and a quick Paypal purchase later netted me this sweetness:

It's an autographed 1983 of Sweet Lou Whitaker, my favorite Tigers 2B of all time.  Whitaker was well established before I was born, having won the 1978 Rookie of the Year, so he was a Tigers stalwart by the time I was old enough to follow Detroit in the late '80s.  From then on he may have been my #1 Tiger, topping a list that including Alan Trammel and Kirk Gibson.  Tales of the magical Whitaker-Trammel double play combo will be passed down to future generations, and besides his defensive prowess, Sweet Lou could get on base, run and score with the best of them, not to mention provide a bit of clutch pop when the occasion arose.  Hell, if you watch highlights of the '84 World Series season, pretty much every game starts with Whitaker leading off, getting on base, stealing second or moving up on a Trammel hit, then being knocked in by Kirk Gibson.  Detroit will never experience another home-grown, lifetime star second baseman like Whitaker, but at least we Detroit fans have our memories of Sweet Lou.

The card itself is kind of goofy--a mugshot of Lou hanging out watching batting practice and apparently being surprised by the photographer--but I know his autographs are pretty much few and far between, so it's nice having a certified one (even if it's Beckett, a group of people who'd certify an auto of a made-up guy named Otto Pen) to go along with my non-certified version I picked up last year.  I'm happy that I'm continuing to add to my Tigers PC and I'm especially happy that the HOF-dissed 2B is today's subject; may there be many more such posts in my future.

Stay tuned for a combined Blowout/COMC blowout (most of which will end up on TMM due to the players involved) to rival last year's, plus my results from Sam's latest group break--the first one I've participated in for a while and hopefully the first of several this year in trying to keep one of my New Year's promises.

Sunday fun: first trade post of the new year

So my first real post of 2012 is an excellent occasion:  my first trade of the young year.  Kevin of the excellent Mojo Beard and a fan of all things Minnesota was interested in the Joe Webb auto I pulled from my plethora of 2010 Press Pass PE blisters a few weeks ago.  That led to a trade wherein I received the following:

An old Tigers hero and a new one; I'm curious to see what happens to Young and whether or not the Detroit playoff slugger will stick around.  Add to that the linchpins of the Lions' offense and one of the best WR-QB combos in the whole league--Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford.  I haven't seen a Calvin Jr. this good since some guy named Ripken manned SS for the Orioles.

And then there was this card, which was the main reason for the deal as far as I was concerned:

Alphabetically the first card in my Tigers PC, it's an Al Kaline 2005 Donruss Champions bat.  This is my first relic of Mr. Tiger and I'm absolutely thrilled to have something this nice of the Hall of Fame Detroit legend.  When you consider what I gave up (which, hopefully Kevin will show off after it arrives since it took me longer to put it together than it did for Kevin to get my stuff to me) I thought it was very generous on Kevin's part to send this my way, so I really appreciate it!

There was one more card in the package, to but to see it you'll have to head over to my other blog, Too Many Manninghams.

A big thanks goes out to Kevin for starting off the new year with a bang thanks to a great trade.  Make sure to keep following one of the top-notch card blogs there is over at the Mojo Beard.

All the cool kids are doing it

I don't want to fall behind on the trend of bloggers listing their goals for 2012, and I'm happy to say I had no problem thinking of a few for myself, though many are admittedly stolen from said bloggers.  So here they are in no particular order (and this list goes to 11):

1. MOAR TRADING:  From the time I started this blog in late 2010, I've added a ton of stuff to my collection, but too much of that came from purchases instead of trades.  While I've got a nice list of trade posts going along the sidebar, it's time I put more emphasis on trading both to save money and get more out of the hobby.  My experiences in trading with other bloggers and readers has been 100% positive so far, and I have no doubt that will continue.
2. Post more trade bait:  While I finally got off my ass this year and got my trade bait page up, it's really only a small portion of what I have available.  I have plenty of other good stuff sure to please other collectors in addition to what's already up there--hits, rookies, bigger inserts, etc.--and I'm betting I can fuel more trades by listing more stuff.  That especially includes my piles sorted by teams--ever popular in trade packages--complete sets, piles of themed inserts, and more.
3. Comment more on blogs I read:  I follow quite a few of you, but I admit I don't comment as much as I should, especially since I've found that's a big incentive for me to keep my own going.  I appreciate a lot of what gets posted, and I promise to show that more this year.
4. Respond to comments I receive:  I'm actually pretty good about this, even if the comment is something like "Nice card!"  But something I'm going to try to do more is respond to the person who made the comment with an email (as I usually do, whenever possible) AND in the comments section so it doesn't appear to everyone else that I'm ignoring you.  Related note:  whenever possible, please comment using an email address so I can respond to you easier, especially if you're inquiring about a trade; I hate trying to respond to something and having the address come up as "noreply-comment@blogger.com" because I can't be sure you'll see my reply in the comments.
5. Manage two blogs:  Have I mentioned Too Many Manninghams, my Michigan-centric new blog?  The support I've received so far has been outstanding, especially thanks to Jeff's (My Sports Obsession) impending contributions, but I really appreciate everyone who's already following and encouraging me.  As I've already pretty much explained, I'm hoping that blog draws interest to the stuff I'm most interested in covering while people continue coming here for mostly baseball-related posts, most of which I'm sure will revolve around my personal collection.
6. Post quality content:  With all of the Michigan stuff separated out, you won't see any more game day posts over here, but I hope to provide entertaining and insightful content that keeps people coming back.  More of the aforementioned trade posts should help, and I plan to continue features on new acquisitions, You Complete Me and completed sets for sure because those seemed to be liked by some, plus I'll continue my pursuits of Bill Freehan's player collection and the Rich Hill Heroes Rainbow.
7. Group breaks:  Two sides to this one:  first, I'm going to try to participate in more group breaks others run.  I'm sometimes leery of joining in on some of them because the return doesn't seem as ideal as I'd like, but there are many run by excellent and trustworthy people, and I plan to devote some of my spending to them.  On a related note, I hope to run another group break or two myself because I've really enjoyed that in the past and each time I've had some outstanding participants that made things successful.  I'll try to come up with ideas that work for me, but if you have any suggestions, please feel free to throw in a comment because I'm happy to run one of these having done it a few times now.
8. Spend less on useless crap:  First of all, retail pretty much needs to go out the window for me because that's useful money that I'm often essentially wasting.  Also, boxes and packs in general are a waste of my money AND my closet space and I plan to drastically cut down my spending and purchases of these.  I'll let others play the box lottery and pick up the cards I really want at bargain prices.  Besides PC stuff I hope to continue my new trend of picking up cheap vintage, a new addition to my collecting pursuits.
9. Complete some more sets:  2011 was a banner year for me completing my baseball and football sets thanks to a ton of quality sources, many of which I learned about thanks to bloggers and readers like you.  Trade packages were a boon, as was finding out about COMC and Sportlots, and thanks especially to these three sources, my wantlists have shrunk by an amazing amount.  I want to keep up this trend of finishing what I start so I feel less guilty about spending time and money pursuing other interesting projects.
10. Get more organized and get rid of unwanted stuff:  I've already made some strides here thanks to some of the previously mentioned work I did, such as posting trade bait and sorting stuff into piles for trades.  Still, I have a lot I really don't need that's taking up space in my card closet, and thanks to online trading I have a good way to distribute it to a good home instead of just chucking it for a couple bucks.  I know this is a pretty standard resolution-type thing, but I'm hoping it's something I can get done while I'm suffering through another cold, gray, football- and baseball-less winter.
11. 400/100/50 and beyond:  400 refers to getting to 400 unique Michigan hits, and I'm only 12 away from that, so it shouldn't take long; 500 by the end of the year wouldn't be a ridiculous goal at all.  100 refers to the number of Michigan baseball hits I hope to get to very soon as I continue to build on that collection.  And I'd love to hit 50 of any player in those PCs, though whether it'll be Rich Hill, Chad Henne, Jake Long or someone else, only time will tell.  Stay tuned to Too Many Manninghams for news on those goals.

I think 11 goals is enough for now and should be more than enough to keep me busy all year.  Good luck to everyone else who took the time to set their own goals and have a great year of collecting!

Happy new year! Please check out my new blog

I hope everyone has a safe but enjoyable New Year's Eve/Day!  Also, just a quick note that those of you who read this blog and like all things Michigan, please check out my new blog--Too Many Manninghams--and start following it for some Wolverines-specific goodness.  Those of you who don't, or were sick of Michigan-centric posts, well there's some good news for you:  this blog will now focus mainly on baseball and football.

So here's to a new year of collecting, trading, box busting, COMCing and putting up with Topps' shenanigans.  Happy new year, everybody!