You Complete Me is back again...again, Part 4

Just one YCM envelope today, but as you'll see shortly, it was a doozy!

Envelope #1 (SportLots):

Just a pair of '02 Totals, which is considered a break from those around here.  A sextet of '09 Topps makes for a decent change-of-pace, including a still-weird Maddux Dodgers card and Birther/idiot Luke Scott, and those leave me needing just a pair!  Today's trio of '10 BowChro prospects is Ranger Tommy Mendonca, Yankee Slade Heathcott, and Braves future star Julio Teheran; a trio of cards, though not from SportLots, will sew up that set.  Today's final baseball offering is a 2012 Topps Archives of Mike Schmidt, and on that HOF note I can complete my first set in this series of posts!  Thanks again to all of you who helped me complete the vast majority of that set through trades, I appreciate it as always.

Moving on to football, this package added four more cards to my 2006 Bowman tally, shorting me just a base of Aaron Rodgers that I didn't pick up on SportLots due to undesirable pricing.  Those four are joined by six more from 2008 Topps (home of my constantly-mentioned favorite draft class of all time), including the oft-overrated Tony Romo and another pair of RCs from a New York Team.  Hmmm, wait a minute, according to my wantlist, I needed six cards from 2008 Topps...hey, cool!  That set's complete now!

This definitely had to have been my most productive package, which included cards from all six sets I decided to attack, and completed two of them thanks to my completely arbitrary order of posting.  One SportLots package remains, along with COMC set to swoop in and save the day soon after!
# of cards:  22

# of sets added to:  6

# of sets completed:  2

Stats for the day:

• Packages:  1
• Total cards:  22
• Sets added to:  6
• Sets completed:  2

Total You Complete Me stats:

• Packages:  9
• Total cards:  60
• Sets added to:  6
• Sets completed:  2

You Complete Me is back again...again, Part 3

It's been a few days since I last posted, but I'm back with two more SportLots packages for you this evening, putting a dent in a few more of my sets:

Envelope #1 (SportLots):

First of all, sorry that there's even more 2002 Topps Total today, which is hard to avoid since they were part of just about every one of my packages, but we're getting there!  I didn't plan on the pair in this package being Rockies, that's just how it worked out.  The '09 Topps pair of Lincecum and Fowler (another Rockie!) almost put that list on life support.  The pair of unscannable 2010 BowChros today is Met Eric Niesen and Tigers pitching prospect Adam Wilk.  From '08 Topps football the VY is a timely card as he just won the Green Bay backup QB job with a very nice pre-season so far.  Finally, 2012 Topps Archives makes its debut in these posts with this quartet.  I wonder if Vance Worley signed off on that inset photo?  Anyway, I'm now down to just ONE card needed from that set!

# of cards:  12

# of sets added to:  5
# of sets completed:  0

Envelope #2 (SportLots):

Blah, it's four more cards from 2002 Topps Total.  With their addition (and the ones above) I'm down to 14 cards needed, so like I said, we're getting there!
# of cards:  4
# of sets added to:  1
# of sets completed:  0

Stats for the day:

• Packages:  2
• Total cards:  16
• Sets added to:  5
• Sets completed:  0

Total You Complete Me stats:

• Packages:  8
• Total cards:  38
• Sets added to:  6
• Sets completed:  0

2013 trade package #19: I'll buy that for a dollar! Another trade with SCFtDS

Another trade package that graced my mailbox last week came from a familiar location in Canada:  more cards from Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!  These cards represent my third trade with Doug over on this blog, and fifth over on TMM.  For the bulk of the package, check out this evening's post at Too Many Manninghams.  But while you're here, take a quick gander at a small but useful number of cards relevant to this here blog:

I don't know how many copies of that Fleer sticker I have, but I'm always happy to take on more of them.  More importantly, Doug threw in a quartet of 2012 Topps Archives needs from my wantlist.  As is one of my favorite customs here, first take a look at the list before:

and after:

Woohoo!  Down to just a literal handful of cards to get that set completed.  Once again, this one will be very satisfying since I'll have completed it almost entirely thanks to the generosity of people I've traded with.  This one will get done soon, you can count on that!

Thanks again for yet another exciting trade package, Doug!  I'm actually very close to being able to send you a nice response, and I'll make sure to let you know when it ships.

Readers, as always, please get yourselves over to Doug's blog and get to trading with a guy who knows his way around a Loonie, eh?

2013 trade package #17 : cool stuff from the Hot Corner

So way back at the end of March I received a great Tigers package from generous Red Sox trader/blogger DocHoloday.  I'd like to emphasize the "generous" part since another blogger and I both made a claim for his Tigers pile, and Matt split them in half yet still found a way for both of us to get fantastic stuff.

That second blogger was Pat from the Hot Corner, and he and I decided to do some further Tiger trading since we're both Detroit fans (and about 45 minutes away, though he's too close to that school that's overly fond of cows and grass--BOTH kinds).  I sent him a nice fat box, and this afternoon, my mailbox held a similar nice-sized package, discretely wrapped in brown paper.  But you guys probably don't care about what was in THAT, since I also got some cards from Pat!

He promised me a bit more help with my 2012 Topps Archives wants, and he certainly disappoint there, including a total of seven new ones for me:

That means I now just need the following:  28 29 43 81 88 93 178 188 195.  That's right, I'm now in single digits on this wantlist!

The bulk of the package, though, was Tigers.  I'd seen a chunk of them before because I think they're kind of making the rounds in trade packages between Tigers collectors, but that's totally fine.  And more importantly, I got a lot of great NEW stuff, including (but by NO means limited to):

There was a nice amount of 2013 Heritage in here, which is great since I wasn't gonna buy any packs of it.  I'll have to see how close to a team set Pat got me, but regardless, I appreciate as much as he sent.

My favorite here is the Turkey Red Granderson up top (natch), but the 80s cards on the right are cool because they're actually O-Pee-Chee.  There's another Heritage card right in the middle, which might be my first Tigers card of Hunter (though I may have also said that on this very blog recently!). 

More good player variety, including a nice group of Trams.  Meanwhile, Tettleton gives you readers TWO TICKETS TO THE GUN SHOW.  And that Verlander mini is just a teaser for the next scan... 

...which includes three more, keeping the Heritage train rolling.  Pat specifically pointed out the error on the '90 score Cuyler (you're right, I don't think he played 990 games that season either, but his stats would have been the same--let's be honest).  I was exited to see a couple Garcia pickups too, especially the Heritage multiplayer RC (I sometimes sorta like those).

Pat included so many nice vintage cards that I took the time to do two scans worth.  Here you see some '74s and '75s.  The Freehan's my favorite of the bunch, and though I already own one, I'm happy to let this one reside with the Tigers PC.

The last of the bunch includes '72s, '73s, a '78, and best of all, a Terry Fox 1962 Topps, easily one of my oldest Tigers period.  Pat didn't stop there, though, and made sure to include some nice '80s stuff as well, including some more O-Pee-Chee.

This was an excellent trade package highlighted by a nice old vintage card and the Verlander Purple Refractor, not to mention more great vintage stuff and most of my Tigers favorites all at once.  Thanks again for an outstanding trade, Pat--let's do it again soon!  Those of you reading this should get your Motown on over at Hot Corner cards.

2013 trade package #16: 2x3 = original 6

Well, after all the confusion earlier this week with ALL THE JEFFS, I received my end of a trade with Jeff of 2x3 Heroes, whose cards are likely en route from South Dakota even as we speak!

Here's what various Chicago teams fan Jeff W. sent me:

These are the best of the 11 2012 Topps Archives set wants Jeff sent my way, and there's some very good players here.  I included Ruiz because his nickname is "Chooch," and that's just awesome.  Hunter is a new Tiger and deserves some TMV love.  Brett, Smith, and Ruth were obviously pretty good players in their day.  And Darvish is a pretty significant RC, especially after the way he was flat-out DEALING earlier this week.

Here's the damage to my wantlist, before,

and after

The 11 new ones get me down to a paltry 16 needed, with more on the way in another pending deal.

Like yet ANOTHER Jeff, this one is a White Sox fan, so he probably held his nose and averted his eyes as he packaged up these cards of the team that's a million times better than his:

The Verlander is fantastic because it's new and a Verlander, but I'm most excited about the Scherzer because I loves me some Heritage Chrome (#d 760/999).  That gives me an idea for a future post, so we'll see if I ever follow up on that.  Cabrera had a huge day at the plate against the Yankees this afternoon, by the way, reaching base all five times, like the #1 hitter in the AL that he is.

I don't know what Jeff's feelings are towards the Tigers, but he made his hatred of my local hockey team (which, again, is better than his, no matter what this year's standings say) totally clear in our email exchange, plus this note he threw in with the package:

Here's what was included:

Cheveldae and Chiasson take me back to my days of playing NHL '93-'95 on my Sega.  As big as the Mule is, Franzen's size can't match up to the oversized PowerPlay cards!

Datsyuk-Franzen-Kronwall-Zetterberg-Lidstrom-Howard 2011-12 Pinnacle Starting Six Threads 6x jersey 

This is the card I saw in Jeff's trade bait that spurred the deal--he couldn't wait to get rid of it when I informed him of my interest!  Those are six outstanding Wings (three of which come with the trademark red sweater), five of which are still with the team since Lidstrom retired.  Getting this card finally inspired me to get up a Picasa album for my Wings hits, and I'll work on adding more soon.  By the way, here's the back, which has the same exactly look as the front except it spells out each player's position.

Henrik Zetterberg-Johan Franzen 2012-13 Artifacts Tundra Tandems dual jersey

This one was s surprise throw-in since I don't believe Jeff mentioned it during negotiations.  I'm very happy to have it, though, as these two guys, along with Pavel Datsyuk, are the offensive stars of my favorite NHL team.  Again, I get one really nice red swatch from a set with an alliterative name I can laugh at now that winter is all but gone here in Ann Arbor.

Riley Sheahan 2012-13 SP Game-Used auto RC

Finally, Jeff added this auto he pulled from a pack he busted last month (which also included the above Franzen base card).  He was none-too-pleased to pull a Wing, but I'm happy enough to have it, even if I bear some dislike towards the Notre Dame alum whose college team was a former CCHA rival of my alma mater.  A 2010 first-rounder, he's still an intriguing prospect, though, even if he got pulled over for drunk driving while wearing a Teletubby costume.  It's not like he's ever gonna live that down--I mean he just got called up to the big club today and this is the Fox News article about it.

Well, Jeff, I must say you did an outstanding job putting together a very enjoyable Detroit trade package, and I give you bonus points for sending them to the correct address on the first try, which definitely puts you ahead of me as far as that goes.  I'm thrilled to add another new trade partner, especially one who'll help keep the Wings-Hawks rivalry alive.  I hope you enjoy the stuff I sent you (whenever you get it!).

Everyone should head over to Jeff's blog and get to readin' and tradin' so he has something to do when the guys above beat his favorite guys.

2013 trade package #13: Chipp 'n' Dale chips in some Archives

Before I get to today's awesome mail day, just a quick note that's relevant to a few of you:  I finally hit the "ship" button on my latest COMC package, meaning I'll be able to send out a few trades very soon.  Sooner than usual, in fact:  my 75-plus purchase this time qualified for a Spring Cleaning promotion of free Priority shipping (normally $7.99, vs. the Standard $3 fee), which means they'll be packed within a business day and shipped via USPS Priority Mail.  They could get here very soon!

So as I mentioned, today was a fantastic mail day.  My mailbox was stuffed with four packages:  two were eBay purchases, one of which you can check out over on TMM later, one was an expected blogger trade, which you'll see in the next day or two, and the last was a total surprise from another blogger.

I previously traded with James of Chipp 'n' Dale last month and received some excellent Tigers and Griffeys, plus an autograph of Michigan TE Jerame Tuman that kicked off the deal in the first place.  I meant it when I said I hoped we'd trade again soon--I just didn't realize that he'd take that literally!

Out of the blue, today I received an envelope from James stuffed with 46 new 2012 Topps Archives needs for my set!  Here's a few highlights:

There you have some blogger favorites (whom you probably all know by now) plus a few legends mixed in.  Don't forget to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day on April 15!

So needless to say, it was fun getting these without expecting anything, and even better to see how much damage they did to my wantlist:

Before

After

Well, once again I'm indebted to a great blogger and trader.  Thanks, James, I promise I'll get you back as soon as I can dig up more cool Braves stuff for you!

2013 trade package #11: muchos Archives from Nachos Grande

Ok, guys, pop quiz:

Who can tell me what this is?  Want a hint?  Take a look at the title.  Read on to get your answer.

So up until recently I had never traded with Chris over at Nachos Grande.  I'm not really sure why--we're both big Barry Larkin collectors, and I'd set aside a pretty nice pile of Larkins and other Reds to send his way at some point, but for whatever reason, we hadn't worked out a deal.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago when we hammered out a trade I think we were both happy with.  Chris split his haul into three posts, which can be found here, here, and here.  I'm dumb and took much longer to show off the fantastic box he sent back to me, mainly because I was catching up on some other great trades. But today I'm finally getting around to showing just how great of a trader Chris is.

A couple things spurred this trade, and those were a pile of Larkin doubles Chris knew could help my Barry PC, plus a new J.J. Putz for his collection.  You can check those out over on TMM at your leisure.

But the other trade bait that piqued my interest was a fat stack of dupes Chris had available from a certain set--namely 104 cards from 2012 Topps Archives.  That's exactly what you see at the top of this here post. The stack represents every card he had that I hadn't acquired from a rack pack or two plus several trades, and that shows just how generous he is.

Here's some highlights of those 104 new cards:

Former Tiger and blog namesake Granderson; ZACK GREINKE WILL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!  (seriously, has this guy EVER taken a good picture?  He looks like he Angry Video Game Nerd!); Tim Hudson because I like him; a trio of Tigers; and a trio of blog favorites:  Kershaw (Plaschke), Upton (MCM), and Hudson (My 2008 Topps Set Blog)

And here's nine legends/retired (suck it, Straw), including a favorite of yours truly, Cal Ripken Jr., with a photo likely taken before the NES became a thing.

When I combine these with the other few I had lying around, I now own 127 of the 200-card base set, which is awesome.  I'd considered purchasing a complete set at one point, but as usual, trading is much more fun, and I hope some of you reading this can chip in some cards from my wantlist as well--you know I'll make it worth it for you!

Thanks for a fantastic first trade, Chris!  I look forward to more deals in the future, especially if we can continue swapping extra Larkins so we can both grow a nice PC of his stuff.  Readers, please head on over to Nachos Grande to enjoy a blog that excels at both quantity AND quality!

Where it's at (I got two packs of Archives and no microphone)

Today I brought back some bottles and cans (and just clap your hands and just clap your haaaaaannnnds) to Meijer and had exactly enough for two more 2012 Topps Archives packs, so that's what I got, just for fun.  I figured I did decently well the last time I grabbed a pack, so why not?  The results:

Base:  Ichiro, Albert Pujos, Miguel Cabrera, Zach "Faces of Meth" Greinke, Ryan Zimmerman, Derek Jeter, Clayton Kershaw, Giancarlo "It's-a Me!" Stanton, Chipper Jones

Not pictured:  Jay Bruce, Carl Crawford, Brett Lawrie, Buster Posey, Brian Wilson, Mark Reynolds, Mat Latos, Tim Lincecum, Lucas "Camptown Races" Duda, Matt Holliday, Jason Heyward, Justin Masterson, Yovani Gallardo

More base:  Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb and Gary Carter.  Inserts:  Robin Yount Reprint (1:4), Chase Utley Gold parallel (1:12), Orlando Cepeda Deckle Edge (1:12)

One minor downside was too many doubles from my last pack (Pujols, Ichiro--which I had traded to Dustin, so that's cool--Cabrera, Brian Wilson and Buster Posey.  Other than that I'm pretty happy since I pulled two 1:12 inserts and got some nice stuff that'll at least turn into good trade bait.  I'm probably done with these so I can try to buy a set on the cheap sometime, but it's actually been fun busting these, and that's not something I've been able to say too often about Topps recently.

Also, Topps just needs to stop making Zach Greinke cards, because the faces he makes in photos are the stuff that nightmares are made of.  I'd rather have this guy back,

GAH!  KILL IT WITH FIRE!

If you want anything you see here, please leave a comment or shoot me and email and we'll kick off some trade talks.

Pack break: 2012 Topps Archives baseball

I've largely stayed away from retail purchases, packs and Topps (in that order), but after last week's show, Dustin and I hit up Meijer because I had a ton of Memorial Day party bottles and cans to return, which meant more money to blow on cards!  We each picked up a jumbo (I still prefer "rack") pack of 2012 Topps Archives baseball, 14 cards for a bit more than $5.  Here's a quick look at how I did:

Not pictured:  an Ichiro that I flipped to Dustin and a Paul Konerko that's headed to Jeff.  A few more of these will more than likely end up in trade packages too, but feel free to ask for any except for the Cabrera.

For all my (justified) ragging on Topps, these are very cool.  Despite the fact that within five years Topps will begin reprinting reprints of reprints (not a joke) I do like what they did here for the most part because, as a guy who has some (if not a lot) of some of these sets, I enjoy seeing new players on the older designs.  In that, Topps definitely succeeds.  And for the price, if you're just picking up a couple of these, I think you do fine.  I do consider the hobby box prices typically absurd considering how rarely one can pull a good auto (think "fan favorites" which means a niche market for most of the players) but I'm not the type to pursue that kind of thing anymore anyway.  I think I'd like to pick up a set of these when prices come back down to earth because I'd be more than happy to have them in my collection.

My only real nit with this pack:  the Strawberry.  I hadn't realized it was a Reprint insert because it has the original back.  It's not that I confused it with a card from 1986, but the only differentiation from the base set is the Archives logo.  The numbering on the back of these is stupid, but then again, from the people that brought you "BDPP111" and so on, that's no surprise.

So if you're strolling down the card aisle looking to drop a few bucks on a pack with no set commitments and low hit expectations, I'd definitely consider grabbing one of these just for the fun of seeing some of your favorite current stars on some excellent Topps designs.