Sunday, August 31, 2014

Football is in the air

A few posts back I mentioned I bought most likely my final baseball pack of 2014.  Football is upon us and so are the Topps release of their football cards.  I think this is the last year of their football license, which is good and bad in ways.  Topps releases the best sets, but they also have 9000 variations of the same card.  They have survived in the past, and they will again.  I expect they will have a license to for the NFL in a few years.  Maybe this will allow them to focus on MLB a bit better.

Anyways, I bought some NFL cards a couple weeks ago and never posted them.  I thought I would share today.






I will start with the jumbo pack.  Not sure how I want to do this but I won't scan every card.  I think I'll tell you what I got and a couple pictures.

Let's begin with some cards that I deemed not worthy of being scanned.  Not that they are bad, just as I said I don't want to scan every card.

Nate Washington
Andre Brown
Antonio Cromartie
Joe Haden
Joseph Fauria
Kendall Wright
Louis Nix *ROOKIE*
Ra'Shede Hageman *ROOKIE*
Garrett Graham
Robert Mathis *ALL-PRO*
Gerald McCoy *ALL-PRO*
Sammy Watkins *ROOKIE*
Jarvis Landry *ROOKIE*
Lache Seastrunk *ROOKIE*
C.J. Fiedrowicz *ROOKIE*
Logan Thomas *ROOKIE*
Steve Smith
Cordarrelle Patterson *ALL-PRO*
T.Y. Hilton
Marvin Jones
Brandon LaFell
Carson Palmer

and the following team cards:
Minnesota Vikings
Denver Broncos
Carolina Panthers

Some nice cards there, and some good rookies like Watkins.  Not bad for a $5 pack.  But I still have cards I did scan.


Peyton Manning, Jamal Charles, and Richard Sherman cards?  Yes please.  In addition is a Kony Ealy rookie card that is a current photo.  Who cares if its from the combine, at least its not from 2011.  Maybe my favorite card from the pack since I can add it to my Mizzou collection.

Next we have inserts.I like the Tom Brady card, though I'm not a fan of him in particular.  I like the 1000 Yard Club card of Vincent Jackson too.  If I had this card last year I would add it to my Buccaneers collection, but with working on other teams and sets I think I am going to phase out my Tampa collection.  It's perfect timing since I am not a fan of their new uniforms, and I spend most of my NFL Sundays rooting for the Chiefs.

As good as the 1000 Yard Club cards are, the 4000 Yard Club cards are bland.  The remind me of an old set Topps did in conjunction with Sports Illustrated for Kids.  It doesn't help, that I'm not a fan of Philip Rivers. Finally is the Play 60 card.  I'm not sure what to make of this.  I like how they aren't popular names in the set, but the idea is kinda blah, and the design is kinda crappy too.  The play 60 almost takes up half the card and Morgan is just standing there. Not exactly "playing" or even being active which is the idea of Play 60.

Wait, there's more:


Here is a J.J. Watt mini card.  I can't complain a lot,  not a fan of the design, but when you go for a design from earlier years, you run out of years at some point, so I can live with it.

We close out the pack with 2 more base cards.  The Wes Welker on the right is good, even though he plays on Denver.  Finally in the middle is the first Jared Allen card in a Bears jersey.

Wait. he never played in a game in a Bears jersey.  This must be an airbrush.  That makes me a bit mad, because like many, I don't like airbrushes.  I still think they should make a series two and include players on new teams in the second series.  This one looks ok I guess, but I never understood why they could just keep the players in their old jerseys and show the new teams logo on the card.  They've done it before.

I was going to include the box in this post too, but think I will show it in a second post.  Thanks for reading.

More 2014 Topps football

My last post I showed off a jumbo pack of 2014 Topps football cards.  This time I will show off the box I got.  They had 2 options, one for $10 that had some blue border cards, or for $5 more you could get a box with a guaranteed relic card.  I opted for that, because I don't really need parallel cards, and plus it was still cheaper to pay $20 for this box and a jumbo pack then getting the bigger box that would have less cards.


YAY, I'm learning how to move pictures around.  I'm starting to get the hang of this!



With a lot of cards, I won't scan them all, so like last time I will list the unscannables.

James Jones
Julian Edelman
Sebastian Janikowski
Anquan Bolden
Janoris Jenkins
Antoine Bethea
Jermaine Gresham
Kiko Alonso
Tyrann Mathieu
Jay Cutler
Joique Bell
Cameron Jordan
Brent Celek
Reggie Bush
Matt Prater
Brandon Marshall
Haloti Ngata
Paul Kruger
Matt Ryan
Greg Olsen
Torrey Smith
Nick Perry
Justin Blackmon
Andre Brown
Nate Washington
Andre Ellington
Terrance Williams
Sam Shields
Lamar Miller
David Wilson
Brett Keisel
Golden Tate
Mike Williams
Stephan Gostkowski
Terrell Suggs

THREE KICKER CARDS!  That has to be some sort of record.  I like the Matty Ice card, but wish it wasn't horizontal.  Like I mentioned about Tampa cards in my last post, I am also phasing out my former Miami Hurricanes cards, so the Greg Olsen card while nice, isn't needed anymore.

Ok, there's more, the following are all rookie cards:
Timmy Jernigan
Devin Street
Josh Huff
Jalen Saunders
Bradley Roby
Davante Adams
Xavier Grimble
Marcus Roberson
Shaquelle Evans
Trent Murphy
Scott Crichton
Arthur Lynch
Troy Niklas

Not bad, but not big names.  I might keep the Roberson one because I collect a few Rams cards.  Though I have no plans to collect a lot of them.

Finally in the list of unscannables are the All-Pro cards:
Mike Tolbert
Richard Sherman
Ryan Kalil
Peyton Manning
Earl Thomas

and also the team cards:
St. Louis Rams
Indianapolis Colts
Philadelphia Eagles

Some nice cards there.  Doubles of Peyton and Sherman, but still not bad. I remember when it was tough to get the bigger names, I'm glad to see they are more available.  If I never complete this set, it would be nice to at least get all the team cards. Never really tried to in previous sets, but already have a few to work with at least.

I think I will mention some of the inserts too instead of scanning.  If you saw the last post you saw some of the designs already.

4000 Yard Club: Drew Brees
Power Players: Jermaine Gresham
Play 60: Torrey Smith
PP&K (Punt, Pass & Kick): Jason Alani *IT'S SOME KID*
1000 Yard Club: Vincent Jackson *another double*
Play 60: Kenneth Lorenzo *ANOTHER KID*
Unleashed: Earl Thomas

I don't get why they are putting kids on ball cards.  There are players in the NFL that don't get cards, yet some kid can be on a card?  I will say I like the graphics on the PP&K card, but there is no need for this set or anything that is showing kids on cards.

The Torrey Smith card is a better Play 60 card than from the last post because at least he is do exercises in the photo.  The Power Players card has the same front as the base set, but with a Power Player logo on the front.  Seems like a waste to me.




I like the picture on the Dez Bryant card. Wish it was a little zoomed out though.  Not a bad card of Blake Bortles either. The Dwayne Bowe card I can add to my Chiefs collection.  No big plans to expand it, but I have gotten a few in the last year.  Finally are a pair of Rams cards. the Michael Sam card I can add to my Mizzou collection, it will look nice with the Ealy one I got earlier.  One of the few Rams I really like is Zac Stacy.  So this was a nice addition.  I'm not going to rush out and buy all his cards, but this is a good one to have.


Here we go with the final cards.  First is another mini, this time of Andre Williams.  Still not a fan to be honest. The Fantasy Focus is ok, but again, I'm not a fan of it.  I just don't care for the design, and I'm not a big fantasy football guy.  I don't think focusing on fantasy football will interest ones who do participate to buy cards if they didn't already (much like the sabermetrics stats and sets in baseball).

A.J. Green is the focus of another Fantasy subset (odd both of the fantasy cards I got were of Bengals).  I like A.J. Green, and this design is much better, but still don't card for the insert.

Finally is the relic card.  I had not huge expectations, so I wasn't let down.  I don't know a lot about Ka'Deem Carey, but with a couple cards I got between this box and the pack, I hope he does well.

Overall I think I got my money's worth, I can't complain getting a couple Mizzou players and a few players I like.  I might just stick to seeing what cards I really want and getting them as opposed to completing the set.

I hope you enjoyed reading and have a great day.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Black & Gold Saturday

My original plan was to skip posting tonight.  However, certain things came up last night, and I missed writing yesterday.  Therefore I decided to post something tonight.

It was a busy day today as I went to what is likely going to be my only college football game of the year.  I am a diehard Mizzou fan, and got the chance to see them play today against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.  This isn't a recap of the game or anything like that, if you are a fan you saw the game at the Faurot Field or saw it on ESPNU (or whichever one it was on).

After I got home today and checked my mail, I got something.  I got a plain white envelope, my second one from Listia, which things are going great so far.  The card I got was of a former Mizzou player and current Carolina Panthers (2nd Round 2014) Defensive End- KONY EALY!

I met Kony a couple years ago, before most people heard of him.  I told my friend, "you are going to hear his name a lot this year".  He had a good year.  Last year I told my friend "he has the potential to be better than Aldon Smith (who also went to Mizzou)".  While Ealy hasn't proved that just yet, he didn't disappoint last year either.  As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for some guy named Michael Sam, Ealy could have been a household name by now.  Or without either one, neither would have had a great year.

Anyways here is the card I got today.


2014 Leaf honestly is horrible.  No license for starters, but also the design is very lackluster.  A photocard would have been better.  At least it has the name and position of the player.


How about the back.


Equally as bad, but at least it has height and weight and a short biography.  Though it has the same picture on the back as the front.  That's a bit outlandish.  They couldn't have taken at least two pictures from the same game?  I took almost 100 pictures today, and I was sick, and could have taken at least 200 if I felt good, also if I had press credentials.

But wait a minute.... something is amiss....  That jersey isn't right.

ITS NOT EVEN A PHOTO FROM LAST YEAR!  WHEN WAS THIS PHOTO TAKEN?

WAIT, I REMEMBER THIS JERSEY!  MISSOURI LAST WORE IT IN 2011.  Well, if you count their spring scrimmage, which this photo is not from, it was 4-14-12.

Why do I have that date etched in my head?  Two reasons, first it was the day that Mizzou announced their new uniforms for all sports after they would join the SEC on July 1st, 2012.

The second reason I remember that date:


THERE I AM STANDING NEXT TO KONY EALY... in April.... of 2012.... with the OLD jersey being worn for possibly the final time.

So not only is Leaf making crappy cards, they are using old photos.  I can sometimes look past the no license, but horrible designs and old photos gives me more reason to stop buying these cards in the future.

Anyways, hope you all have a great holiday weekend (not sure if it is a holiday weekend in Poland where apparently I have some people who read this,thanks!), and thank you all for reading.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

2014 is coming to a close

Maybe there are still a few months left of 2014, but as I prepare for baseball season to end and football season to begin, I bought what was likely one of my final packs of Topps baseball cards today.  I was at a my local Casey's General Store (for those who don't know what a Casey's is, its like a 7/11 or BP) and looked to see what kind of cards they had.  I think I might be the only one who buys cards from there, but sometimes others must, because there were only 3 packs left today and I haven't been there in a while.  The only reason I buy cards there is because sometimes I need a fix, and they are the only place in town that sells any.  The selection is poor as you would expect from a general store, but I but a pack here and there.  They usually have a box of some gaming or My Little Pony or whatever kids would get (sometimes they have Garbage Pail Kids, but I never got into them).  I pass on all that.  They usually have at least a box of baseball and a box of football, and probably thanks to me, they carry WWE cards (I skipped most of them this year because I hated the Best of 2014 cards and boycotted them).

So I thought I'd share my results.  I had no expectations really, but have been lucky and pulled some good cards in the past, so who know, maybe I could find something good.







First off, you'll notice that these aren't even the update series but series two cards.  Since I have all the Royals cards from series one and two, maybe I could get an insert that I don't have.  Anyways, lets begin.





I've said this before and I'll say it again- 2014 might be one of the best sets in years.  I love the design.  Anyways, so far the cards are good.  At least I have heard of all of them.  It's weird seeing Cruz in an Orioles uniform. 

OK, what else?

Ok, I heard of these guys too.  Not really a bad pack, just not any I needed.  Eric Young Jr. is another player whose father played in the majors, I just didn't include him in yesterday's post.

I really like the Justin Masterson card.  It's not everyday you see the batter in the same card as the pitcher delivering the ball.


Ok, so we got through the base set cards, its time to see if I got any million dollar cards.  Well, make that five dollar cards.  Alright, see if there are any cards that make the pack worth buying.







Not a bad Hamilton card, and yes it is a base card.  I always liked the Angels, and sometimes I root for them especially since they have Pujols and Freese.

The Juan Uribe card is ok, I'm just not a fan of the SaberStars insert cards.  I like the design, but not a fan of the whole "sabermetrics" stuff.  Don't get me wrong, I love stats and strategy and all that, but in the end, the game is played on the field, I don't want too much strategy and stats clogging up my enjoyment of the on field product.  Leave that to the managers and GM's.

The last card in the pack is a Rick Porcello gold insert.  The gold cards always look good, but I never got why the gold cards were #'d so much higher than the other ones.  Plus I liked it better when there were only gold and maybe red and blue variations, I don't need 15 different cards with different borders.


It is nice to see such a low serial number though.  I'm sure it would look nice in someone's collection of Tigers cards.  Overall the card is pretty nice, so I'm not disappointed.

The pack overall was a pretty nice one, I'm not sure what the insert rates are per pack, but it was nice to get a couple inserts in the same pack.  Since I didn't have such high expectations for the pack, it satisfied my itch to open a pack.  That itch won't be too bad for a while with Topps NFL cards out now, and I'm not sure what cards I need to add to my wantlist.

Now I just need to see what Royals cards are in the update series and finish that set, then maybe work on the other variations, specifically the blue ones.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great evening.  As a heads up, I may not post in a couple days.  I am gearing up for the NCAA season and going to what will likely be my only Mizzou game of the year Saturday, and depending on how tired I am when I get home, I may not have time for a post.




Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Man I'm feeling old

The Kansas City Royals have 3 nationally televised games this week.  Two have already happened, and one more is this Sunday night.  Monday they played the Yankees and it was blacked out on my TV (I assume the regional broadcast was showing it too, but I don't get that channel where I'm at).  Last night was another another game I missed because I don't get the channel.  Luckily I have grown quite fond of the radio broadcast of the games, as it reminds me when I was a kid and I never got to see the Royals on TV period.  I was able to hear an amazing call by Denny Matthews telling us "if this is your year, then this is where you do something, if it isn't your year, then you don't."  Right after he said that Alex Gordon hit a two run walk-off home run to give Kansas City the win 2-1.

Usually after the games I will go to tunein.com and see if any of the minor league Royals teams are still playing, or sometimes listen to the San Jose Giants play (I've known Chuckie Jones my entire life and rooting for him to make it to the majors).  Anyways, I will hear names I don't know and some sound familiar.  Not because I have heard of them, but because I remember their dads when they played.  That makes me feel old.

So I decided to show some players who currently play in the majors or the minors who you may have heard their names before.  This isn't every player currently, just a few that I found.  Thanks to Trading Card Database for all the cards I'm about to show.

First one I'll show is one everyone should know:

Prince Fielder is the son of Cecil Fielder.  I remember Cecil and for quite a while, he was one of my favorite players (non-Royals that is).  I like Prince a lot too.


Tony Gwynn Jr. has had a rough year.  His father, Tony Gwynn Sr., passed away, then about a month later, he was released by the Phillies organization.  I don't really know much about him, but it seems like a case of never being able to get out of his father's shadow.  I hope he can latch on somewhere and make a name for himself.

I've heard a lot about Kyle and never really realized he is the son of Doug Drabek.  I remember when Doug pitched in the majors, and its nice to see his son is doing well in the majors.

I've head about Scott for a while now, but have yet to see him play.  I always liked his father Andy, and if what I hear is true, then Scott has a chance to be better than his father.

Tim Hulett has a son in the minors?  Cool!  Tim isn't a household name, and the only reason I remember him at all is because I used to like one of his old cards (I think it was his 1991 Topps card).  While looking for generational players I came across Tug.  I know nothing about him, but I wish him well, and hope he makes it to the majors because MLB can always use another guy named Tug.


I've heard about this Mike for a while, but didn't realize until recently that he isn't the other Mike's son.  They are related, so I guess it still counts, but it is a bit funny seeing a Piazza pitcher and a Piazza catcher.  I guess you could say the same about Tony Pena Sr, and Jr (which I didn't include because I never remember Sr playing).

I always thought Delino DeShields had a cool name, I still do.  Its great to know there is another one that I can see play.


Adalberto also goes by Raul Mondesi, just like his father.  I have heard many great things about him (especially since he is in the Royals minor league system), and hope he is as good as his father.  I just hope he has a longer career.

Finally I must mention Dee Gordon.  This man has killer speed.  He's like the Flash.  Or son of the Flash.  Dee is the son of Tom "The Flash" Gordon.  Tom had a long career but I remember his stay in Kansas City most.  I have seen Dee play a few times and have liked what I have seen.  Out of all that I mentioned (besides maybe Prince) I think Dee has the most potential out of all of them.  I can't wait to see him develop into an all-star.

Like I said I know there are others, some I didn't mention because I don't remember their fathers play, or some I just didn't include because I can't mention everyone.  Looking at the ones I did pick, I notice a lot of them have ties to the Dodgers.  I guess that is cool, but if I was a Dodgers fan, I would likely be bound to put too much pressure on them to succeed.

That's it for tonight, thanks again to everyone who reads this, I am really loving writing this each day even if some of my posts are a little lite.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Flea Market Finds

In the past couple years I have gone to flea markets and various junk stores or non-profit type stores.  I've always been a fan of going to garage sales but as I got older and had a job I always worked weekends, so I never got to go to any.  So stores have taken their place.  Even with going to the stores, there still isn't a lot of options.  There is a small store about 15 miles away I go to at least a couple times a month, it is all donations  so sometimes the same stuff is on shelves for months.  The bulk of the store is clothing, which doesn't interest me much.  Sometimes I will find something, but the prices on the clothing is a bit steep to me, and I have enough clothes.  My main interest is the knick-knacks and the CD's (yes I still buy music on a disc, sometimes I even buy vinyl).  I have found a few things in the past, but for the most part, I only buy stuff about once a month or two.

Another place I go to is a little further away, but it is a massive flea market.  It was featured on the Travel Channel show "Truck Stop U.S.A." (or some other name, they renamed it a couple times).  I buy more stuff there, but usually nothing I really need.  I have been fortunate enough to buy some lawn darts (the good kind with metal tips) still in the box before, and found a few other gems, but as far as sports cards, it is limited (except last time which had some as I mentioned in an earlier post).  I can spend a few hours there, and in a way I feel like Brodie in the movie Mallrats.  I can spend hours there, and always find new things.  I only get to go there every couple months.

The other day I went to the small goodwill shop in the next town (its called Savvy Seconds by the way), and outside of an extremely large amount of Christmas items, nothing really caught my eye.  However, by the time I left, I did find $1.50 worth of stuff that I bought, so it wasn't a wasted trip.


On top is a D-ring binder.  It seems every couple months, one will pop up, and I snag them up.  This is one of the better ones I've found there, no holes or marks on it.  I also like that it is black, I just like black binders.  I think I have enough of them now, but at 50 cents, I will never pass them up.  Now if I could only find more card pages cheap so I can't put more cards in the binders.

Behind the binder is a nice blue shirt.  I know I said I never buy clothes, but I was with my mother and she does look at clothes, so instead of standing waiting for her to get done, I will look at clothes or bags.  The always have the same bags, so I looked at clothes. This powder blue shirt was just hanging at the end of the rack, I just happened to catch it out of the corner of my eye.

I looked at the size, and I could fit into it (maybe a little tight, but motivation for me to lose some weight), and then saw the price- $1.


The size, color, and price all made it a steal.  It might just be my new shirt when I go to Royals games.

Overall not a huge load, but still not bad.  I really just wanted to make a post about this and hope to have more Flea Market Finds in the future.  There aren't any card shows or card shops nearby (the closest card shop is actually inside a flea market), so this is all I have when I need something different to browse and shop when I'm not in the mood for buying cards at Walmart.

Thanks for reading, and have a great evening.


Monday, August 25, 2014

Listia... uh... maina

I mentioned recently that I had just started to dabble in the website Listia and won a couple auctions.  Today I finally got my first package from them.  It was actually the second auction I won and the second auction from the same seller (I think I screwed up on the first auction, but working on hashing out the problem now).

I first heard about Listia last year, but never really checked it out much until this year.  After I did, before I knew it I had close to 4,000 credits, and initially my plan was to just use them up and stop visiting.  That proved a bit tough because I was being outbid on a lot of stuff.  Then things started to go my way.  Anyways here is the auction I won:


As I opened the plain white envelope, my first thought was "Gavin wouldn't be happy."  Gavin is from Baseball Card Breakdown and he just finished Pull Tab Awareness Week.  As I opened this up, the card started to slide out of the plastic holder.  No pull tab. No tape at all.  I'm fine with that this time because honestly, I just wanted to get the card, plus luckily it wasn't damaged.

About the card though.  This is the Hunter Dozier card I referenced a few posts back about being one that I had won.  It is a Hometown Heroes Bowman card, which is a bit different from previous years I think.  The flag in the background seemed to be zoomed in more.  This is now the second Dozier card I have, and I think I have more on the way thanks to COMC.


The back of the card is similar to the Butler card I showed yesterday, so not too much to add.  Sometimes the numbering of Bowman cards are a bit much.  They have so many subsets and insert sets that the numbers are like 51, BP51, BDPP51, BCP51, U-571 (oh wait, that isn't one of them).

As I said earlier, I expect big things from Dozier, but as a Royals fan, I can never put too much stock into minor league players because most never seem to pan out.

With nothing else to add, I guess this finishes up this post.  I do have more posts for this week, but honestly before I got this, I was planning on taking a day off from posting.  With ideas for the next few days, and a few more Listia auctions coming soon, I think I should have enough topics to last a while.  Thanks for reading and have a great night.




Sunday, August 24, 2014

Uh-oh, NOT AGAIN!

After my last post, I thought to myself "job well done, I finally finished showing off my first package".  Then I looked over and saw a card in a protector and thought "Oh crap, I forgot about a card."

Now I know your making this face on the thought of another post about ONE package.


Well I'm sorry.  I forgot all about it because it was the only card in a protector.  So I must showcase it, it's a rule in trading 101 (I think it is at least, I haven't been able to find all the rules just yet).

Anyways, the good news is that this post won't be too long today.

Here is the card:



This beauty is a 2013 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor of Billy Butler.  OH MAN I LOVE THIS CARD!  The blue border really makes this card pop especially with blue being one of the Royals team colors.  The shot is a nice one, it looks like he just hit a Billy Bomb.  The only complaint might be the placing of the team logo.  It looks like he just couldn't hold it in.

Since this is the only card I am showing, how about a pic of the back.


It's surprising that for being a power hitter Billy has never hit 30 or more home runs.  Though the team record for home runs by a Royal is only 36.  Barry Bonds hit twice that amount one year.

I like the back of the card, though I do wish they had complete career stats instead of just the recent year, but at least the card doesn't have any blank space.  The placement of everything is nice, especially the 216/250.  I've noticed a lot of cards (thanks to taking the COMC Challenge) has the #'d to in really hard to read spots (some over words even).  I like where you can see it plain and clear.

So, one final thanks to Pat over at Hot Corner Cards for all the awesome cards.

Before I go, I have a few good ideas for posts this week, including showing off some stuff I bought recently including my first look at 2014 Topps football.  Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend.



Saturday, August 23, 2014

My first package: Door Number 3

This is the final installment of the ongoing saga of my first package since starting this blog.  Again thank to Pat at Hot Corner Cards for the cards (I know it pains you to send me some of those "pesky Royals" as you put it in your email).  I still have to gather some Tigers cards to establish a trading partner.

Anyways, let's begin with the third pack included in this box.



Another A&G card, this one of Alex Gordon.  I actually like this card.  It reminds me a bit of the old Diamond Kings, but a less cartoony.  This is a nice addition to my collection.

Next is a Shane Costa SPX card.  I forgot all about him, and nothing sticks out about his career as a Royal, but this is a nice looking card.

The third card is Mike Sweeney.  Mike is one of the nicest Royals to even wear the uniform.  He had a solid career, but much like KC should do with Butler now, the team knew when to let him go. He played a few more years on the west coast, and now is back in KC as an ambassador for the Royals I think.  As for the card.  I like the design, but not too fond of the grey border.




Next is a trio of 2013 Topps variations.  The gold border cards always look good, and this Guthrie card is no exception.  I like the photo they used for this card.  I actually like it a bit more than I like Guts himself (I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he isn't exactly a grade A pitcher).

I have the base card of the Paulino, but I want to complete the Blue Borders of all the Royals.  Since it matches the team colors, it really pops.  Another good shot, though not as good as the Guthrie.

The Jake Odorizzi card is one I know I don't have.  I never make it to Target a whole lot, so I always welcome seeing them (same with the Toys R Us purple).  I like Jake and he is having a good year in Tampa, but I'm not too upset with the trade to sent him there.  Even if we lose Shields, I still say it was an even trade.




WOW!  Another card I have been looking into getting when I found it cheap enough, I was ecstatic to see this George Brett diecut.  While I'm not a fan of the diecut set in general, I was seeking this one out to add to my George Brett collection.  Now if I can get some of his older cards.

Here is a Turkey Red card.  Unlike the one I posted earlier, this one is an actual TR card.  You can tell by the feel and no gloss.  I like the portrait look of the sets, but I never went out of my way to get Turkey Red cards.  They seemed a bit too pricey, but I have a few of them now thanks to the random packs I get at Walmart.

This next card is a nice black border Gypsy Queen mini variation of Mike Moustakas.  #'d 85/199, maybe that's a sign the Royals are destined to win the World Series (their only WS win was in 1985 for those unaware).  Maybe I'm reading too much into it also.  This is a sweet card to add to my collection.



The Bowman Platinum cards don't scan too well, Though they do make the players stand out. This Billy Butler card is nice since the fact that Hosmer is their everyday first baseman, Butler doesn't play the field too often.  He has this year due to an injury to Hosmer, and its nice to see he still knows how to field.

I don't like the Triple Play cards that have been put out in recent years.  I bought a few packs at a Dollar Tree and never found a Royals card.  That's not why I'm not a fan, I'm just not a fan of unlicensed cards.  Plus when I think of Triple Play, I think of the early 90's sets.  If they looked like those, I would be more inclined to buy more.  The subsets of these new cards are also a bit crazy.  This one in particular reminds me of a TNA Wrestling Card I scanned recently on Trading Card Database:



I could put them side by side, but I'm not.  That could cause nightmares.

The next card is a 2014 Topps Archive card of Alex Gordon.  I really love this card.  I think I've said it 50 times already my love affair with the Archive set, but even the designs they choose stand out.  I was surprised I didn't have this card.





I don't think I ever seen this 1991 Topps card.  I am familiar with the regular set, but not the commemorative set this one is from.  I have put a bit more of an emphasis on collecting Appier cards recently, so this is a nice addition.  Among all the Royals pitchers of the 90's, APE was my favorite.

Next is a Johnmy Giavotella card.  Since he's not on the Royals MLB team, I forgot about him. He is a good player to have as a utility player, but I don't think he could be an everyday player.  However, if it was between him and Chris Getz, I would pick Johnny 9 times out of 10.  This card is ok, but has too much of a white border.

This Bowman Chrome card of Tim Collins is nice even though it doesn't scan too well.  Due to the solid pitching the Royals has (with exception to Downs and Bueno), Collins has spent the year in AAA. I expect him to be a September call up though.


ANOTHER DOZIER CARD!  YES!  I'm still looking to get all his cards while they are cheap,  and I needed this one.  I'm not sure if he hit a home run or not in this photo, but it looks like he went all out for that at bat.

To close out the pack, I think I squealed.  I'm almost positive I did. TWO JOHNNY DAMON CARDS!  BOTH AS A ROYALS PLAYER!  BOTH ONES I NEEDED!  YES!  I have over 100 different Damon cards, and I am adding more each time I can.  I was getting around to getting these, but now I don't have to.  I even got doubles of the second Damon card, both with the peel off still intact. I really can't describe my happiness.

I was a Johnny Damon fan since day one.  I remained a fan when he went to Oakland.  Became a bigger fan when he went to Boston (I am also a Red Sox fan), became elated when he won a World Series ring.  I groaned when he signed with the Yankess, but still supported him (much like I do with Carlos Beltran).  Then after he went to Detroit, Cleveland, and Tampa, I was hoping he would reach 3,000 hits (though not when he played KC).  I wished KC would have been able to get him back so he could reach 3,000, and then retire as a Royal.  He may not be a Hall of Famer, but he will always be one of my favorites.

That wraps up this package, and I think I got more than my five dollars worth.  In total I got about 100 cards, and the majority were ones I needed.  I cannot say enough about how excited I was when opening these, but as you could tell from the last three posts, I think I've said enough.

Thanks for reading.

Friday, August 22, 2014

My First Package: Part Two

Yesterday I posted part one of my first package I got in the mail.  Today I will show part two.  I'll break it down a bit better today and show each row.  More pictures is never a bad thing.


We begin with these 2006 Fleer cards.  I have quite a few cards from this set, but surprisingly, before I got these, I only had Emil Brown. I totally forgot Grudzielanek played for St. Louis before he came to Kansas City. I didn't know what to make of Runny when he was in KC, and still don't.  He wasn't bad, but he wasn't great. The same could be said for Berrora, but he sometimes show sparks of greatness.  For the record, I am not a fan of the grey jerseys they have sported in the past.  I am fine with the black hats though.




I have two Larry Gura cards, but not this one.  I like the 1985 Topps design, and I like this card.  1985 was the last year Larry played in the majors, and only pitched 4.1 innings in KC that year. He later pitched 20 innings as a Cub.

Tim Spehr had 3 stints with the Royals, and began and finished his career as a Royal. He wasn't a star player, but did a good enough job.  I like this Stadium Club card. 

Next is Kevin Seitzer.  I always liked Seitz, maybe because his name was etched in my head after hearing Denny Matthews say his name on the radio all the time growing up.  The Royals I think made a big mistake not renewing his contract as a hitting coach a couple years ago, and now he is the hitting coach for the Blue Jays.  The card itself is a bit bland, if Score was going to go with color borders at least use team colors.  Who collects purple cards?


Next up is Storm Davis.  This Stadium Club card is okay, but I don't like it as much. I do like how they don't use borders and have a full photo though.  Storm wasn't the greatest pitcher in KC, compiling a 10-19 record, though the teams weren't the best either.  He pitched his final game the last day of the 1994 season (the night before the strike).  I didn't have this card, so I'm happy I got it.

Next is Gregg Jefferies.  He came to Kansas City in a trade that sent Bret Saberhagen to the Mets. Yeah, not the best trade. He wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, it just seemed the trade heavily favored the Mets. He lasted one year as a Royal before being traded to the Cardinals, and immediately became an all-star.  I only had 2 Gregg cards from his stint in KC (there aren't too many to begin with), so I needed this one.  I like the photo, and as I've stated, I'm a sucker for black borders. 

The Ken Harvey card is a very nice card. Seeing many photos of Harvey, I can't tell if that is a painting of a photo of him.  I was just reading info about him, and was surprised to see he was an All-Star in 2004.  I guess everyone else on the team was abysmal so they needed someone.  He had a decent year, but only lasted 4 years in the majors. 


Now we have some current players.  This Archive set I didn't like that much.  The card seems incomplete without a border on the top.  Otherwise it was okay, but I also thought it was a little too glossy too.  I already had this card, but like his Hit it a Ton BBQ sauce, you can always have more.

Any time I can get a Salvador Perez card, I am happy.  Gypsy Queen reminds me of A&G, so I don't collect too many, but am glad I have this card now.  The Royals locked him down, and he could be the backbone of this team if he stays healthy.

Next we have this Mike Moustakas card.  The scan doesn't show how nice it looks.  I like almost everything about this card (maybe the logo could be a tad smaller), even down to the powder blue uniform.  A nice addition to my collection, and now I should look into completing the team set.



Next is a pair of Jarrod Dyson cards.  Dyson isn't a household name, but the hardcore Royals fan like myself know who he is.  The first card is from the 2014 Topps set, and with this addition, I am closing in on the Blue set.  I have all the base cards (with possible exception to the Update series), so this will likely be one of my next challenges.  I like this Topps set better than the last two years.  The second card is from Bowman.  Both cards have nice action shots, but I like the Bowman shot a bit better.  It shows more of his body, and actually shows the ball about to be hit.  Plus its a rookie card, so that's not bad either.

The next card is of Sergio Nunez.  Rarely going through Royals cards do I ask myself  "who is this?" but I did on this occasion. After a bit of searching, he only had less than 20 cards, and he never even made it to the Majors.  As a matter of fact he never made it out of AA.  It it a nice looking card though, and since I do collect minor league cards of Royals, this is a nice addition. 




Speaking of minor leaguers, here are a couple more.  I don't know a lot about Sam Selman but have heard his name mentioned a few times.  He made it to AAA this year, but spent most of his time in AA for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.  He's only 23 years old, so he still has a couple years to move up to the majors before people question if he ever will.

Cody Reed I have heard a few things about as well.  He is having trouble for the Lexington Legends of the single A Royals team, but at 21 he still has time to turn it around.  I actually bought this card a couple months ago off COMC, but who knows, he could hit it big and I could make a killing on it.

The final card of the day is the 2013 Topps card of David Lough.  2013 was probably one of the first sets in a long time I tried to aggressively complete (besides the 2011 set).  I already have this card, but I liked Lough so, an extra is always good.  I was upset when the Royals traded him to Baltimore last winter,  but grew to like the player we got in return, Danny Valencia, until we traded him to Toronto for Erik Kratz.  The circle of life of a baseball player.  A quick note- his last name is pronounced like LOW, not LOFF as MLB 2K14 says it.

That's it today, come back tomorrow for the final installment of the first package I got in the mail since starting this blogs, again thanks to Pat at Hot Corner Cards for the cards.  Also thank you to everyone who is reading this.





Thursday, August 21, 2014

Simpsons Mania! AYE CARUMBA!

I know I promised more details of my first package, but I wanted to post this real quick:


So as every Simpsons fan knows, FXX is showing EVERY SIMPSONS EPISODE EVER!  It's on right now.  It will be on in a week from now, it will go on FOREVER!  Well maybe not, but as a Simpsons fan, I wanted to point out that on Friday morning/afternoon (depending on your time zone), one of the best episodes ever will be on- HOMER AT THE BAT!

I loved almost everything about this episode.  For those unaware, the episode is about Mr. Burns signing a bunch of MLB players for his softball power plant team.  I don't want to spoil it if you never seen it, but I do urge you to check it out.

If you look online you can find a bunch of people writing about the episode (some aren't even sports fans), but my favorite I came across was Baseball Card Breakdown.  He goes into detail on each of the players Burnsie hires. He also has some cards on the posts I love.

Anyways you might ask who are the players?  Well here's a picture of all of them.






This episode came out in February 1992 (a week after I turned 10), so the star power may not seem as big as it did back then.  Obviously the Mike Sciosca card is after that time period, but oddly enough, Mike appeared on another episode later on (an episode called MoneyBART).








Like other fans of the show, I wondered who I would pick as my starting nine.  However I am doing it a little differently.  I'm going to  not do it from when the episode aired, but using today's players.

CATCHER:  My pick (because I am biased) is Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals.  When you look at Burn's squad, not everyone is the best at each position, but are still in the top ten.  When deciding catcher, I choose Salvy over Yadier Molina and Buster Posey because I can, lol.  I choose him because every team needs youth, and he not only is young, but he is mature.  He's a smart player and would cost less to acquire then some of the others.  Remember, Burns hired the big names, but he was also a penny pincher.

FIRST BASE: Albert Pujols.  Again I am a bit biased, but another essential to a team is experience and veteran leadership.  While Pujols wouldn't come cheap, he still has the talent to make it worth getting.  Though I must admit, I could change this pick to Prince Fielder as well, but I still want a veteran on the team.

SECOND BASE: Robinson Cano.  It almost hurts me to pick him, but my second choice would be Jason Kipnis, and I think its obvious who the better player is.  Again, another pricey pick, but I think it would be worth the investment.

THIRD BASE:  Miguel Cabrera. I'm not even going to think about anyone else. I'm not even sure who a second pick would be.

SHORTSTOP:  Troy Tulowitzki.  This was a little tough because I admit, I know all these players, but I don't watch the NL as much as the AL, and the NL has the best shortstops.  I pick Tulo over Hanley Ramirez or anybody else because of his veteran leadership.

LEFT FIELD: Yoenis Cespedes.  It is tough not picking Alex Gordon.  I really want to, but I don't want to have 2 Royals on this team.  Cespedes wouldn't be one of my top 3 or 5 outfielders, but I am going by primary position going into the year.

CENTER FIELD: Andrew McCutchen.  I know a lot of people would prefer Trout, but I prefer Andrew better.  However I am rethinking this because Burn's team did have Griffey who was a young kid. Eh, I still pick Andrew

RIGHT FIELD: Giancarlo Stanton.  Again, Puig could be a good youth pick, but he also makes a lot of mistakes.  Plus Stanton is only one year older than Puig.

PITCHER:  If this was writtern back in March I would have said Verlander or Scherzer for sure.  But it's written in August, and you have to go with who's hot, and that is Clayton Kershaw.

There is my team, you can make you on guesses on how they miss the game.  Pujols foot is ran over by a dump truck unloading all his money...Giancarlo Stanton is arrested for stolen identity....Salvador Perez is concussed taking the ice bucket challenge...whatever.

Thanks for reading, and the continuation of my first package will be posted next time.



My first package!

Before I started this blog, the mailman (or mailwoman as it is) hated me. I get a lot of magazines.  I only pay for two, but thought various survey sites, I sign up for a lot of them.  One day in the mail, besides regular mail, I got 2 newspapers and 14 magazines. IN ONE DAY!



Now that I started this blog, I don't plan on getting packages too often, but when I do I expect whoever is delivering my mail that day will not be too happy.  Luckily I let most of the magazines run out, so I don't have near as many.

On Monday though, I did get a package.  My first one since starting this blog.  After Hot Corner Cards made a post a couple weeks ago, I figured I needed to start somewhere, and I bought some cards.  Before I go on, I must say the transaction was very quick.  I really didn't expect to get it until later in the week, but I'm not complaining.




I couldn't wait to jump in. First I grabbed some cards not in a bag.


At first I was like, what the heck?  But as I started to look at them, some seemed interesting.  I've always liked advertising, so this was actually pretty cool to see.  I remember getting a lot of the Million Dollar Chase cards, and a few of the Spring Fever cards, but the rest weren't etched in my mind.  I never had a checklist for Topps Heritage, and while you can find a checklist on the internet, I always like holding them in my hand better.  I have seen some of the Stadium Club ads before, but don't remember seeing the BARS one.  I never buy A&G from packs, so it was cool to see that.  Finally the Upper Deck one on the bottom might be my favorite.  It might be plain, but all the cards I buy are retail since I have not card shops near me, so it was cool to see this hobby card.

Anyways, that isn't what I paid five dollars for. THIS IS WHAT I PAID FOR-


I won't show all the cards (I may show a few more at a later date), but I will show about 18 cards from each of the packs.  We begin with the red Justin Maxwell from 2014 Topps.  I love this card (I have the base card) because I remember watching the game that this photo was taken at.  It was one of my favorite Royals moments of 2013.  Even though he is in the minors this year, I expect a September callup.

The Alex Gordon A&G is good because as I mentioned, I don't buy A&G.  I just don't care for the design, but will gladly get the Royals and other players I collect. I just have no plans to set build them.

The Billy Butler is a 2010 Bowman card.  Bowman is another set I don't get a lot of (because I'm cheap), but I like their designs.  I am in the minority that like the black border cards, and since I didn't have this card, I am glad I have it now.  I may have to seek out other cards from the set.

The Dick Howser card I was happy about as soon as I saw it because it was actually one I've wanted for a while, but never got around to getting.  This is the first Howser card I have, and I like the design of the Topps set.

The Quisenberry card, what can I say?  I like his look on his face, and I can never have enough cards of Quis.

The Mike Boddicker card may not seem impressive, but 1993 was around the time I started to know more of the other Royals players besides George Brett.  The 1993 Donruss set was also a set that I really liked back then, and still like it somewhat today, but other Donruss sets would be placed higher now.

I laughed when I saw the Hunter Dozier card.  I have been looking into getting some of his cards, and right before this package came, I bought one of his cards.  I had to see if this was the same one, thankfully it was different.  Dozier is moving up quite nicely in the Royals farm system, and while more players the Royals draft are busts, I expect him to be a major star on the team in the next few years.

Next is Bruce Chen.  A fan favorite of all, even Paul Rudd, Rob Riggle, and Will Ferrell!  For some reason, I didn't have this card either, but I believe I should have almost the entire team set now.

COME ON CHEN!

Finally is Joakin Soria.  The OPC cards always interested me so this was a nice addition.  Kansas City has had quite a few successful closers (at least when they were in KC).  Jeff Montgomery, Mike MacDougal, Joakim Soria, and now Greg Holland all have the ability to close out games for KC when were we in position to win at least.


Side two of the pack begins with a few 1992 Fleer Ultra cards.  More were included in the packs, and I now have a healthy jump on finishing the team set.  Ultra was another set design I liked, and I remember all of these players.  I also like the David Howard rookie as I also have a couple of his minor league cards.

The Eric Hosmer chrome card is next.  I think I already have this card, but I can never have enough of them (well, maybe two IS enough).  Despite not being the most solid player, I still expect him to have a solid career.  He's still young enough to keep building to successful career.

I think I also have the Luke Hudson, but I still like it.  The design is basic, but sometimes I wish there was less flash on the base cards, it makes the insert look better.

When I saw the Hochevar card, I was a bit confused.  I never saw a glossy Turkey Red card, but then I realized I think it came from the Topps set, and remembered I might have a few of them.  After a career rebounding year in the bullpen in 2013, Luke got injured in spring training and had to be shelved for the entire 2014 season.  I hope when he comes back he can maintain the momentum he had in 2013 (even if for some reason he isn't in a Powder Blue uni).

Finally is a Mike Moustakas mini. Modeled after the 1987 Topps set, this is a nice addition to my collection.  I wasn't on board with the mini craze, and until I get some pages to fit them, I may not still be on board.  However, I still like this card.  Unlike Hosmer, I'm not sure if Moose will pan out, and some have already jumped off his bandwagon (that happens when you are hitting .200 over a full season), I hope for his sake (and the Royals) he learns how to hit, and becomes a big star.

THAT WAS ONLY ONE PACK!  I will post the other two packs over the next couple days, but what a tremendous start, and I can't wait to show off the other cards.

Thanks everyone for reading.