Moby Dick Ain't Got Nothin On Me!!!

Don't you hate when people alter lines from movies in an attempt to fit their situation? I do, and yet I tried it there. Denzel would probably slap me if he ever saw that.

Anyway, the Moby Dick reference was thrown out there to tie together the post with my newest eBay addition. I caught a whale. A white whale to be exact.

I have one of the four printing plates (a.k.a. white whales) for the 2013 Triple Threads Nellie Cruz "Boomstick" card. Last week I posted about the ruby parallel 1/1 I got of this card, now I have another 1/1 for it.

Believe it or not, I'm not rolling in cash. Someone said it seemed like that might be the case with my last post, but I assure you, I am pretty frugal. haha I browse eBay, look for bargains on cards that end at a weird hour, such as this one. I got ot for $28 shipped, all because it ended at 3 a.m. (ish).

If that doesn't work, I search for cards/auctions that have ended with no buyers, in which case I send a note to the seller and offer a certain amount for the card. Sometimes they take it, sometimes they don't.

Lastly, I look for "Or Best Offer" deals. Sometimes, I may submit a lowball bid, but I back it up with numbers and prices of similar or same cards that sold and the price that was paid for them. Often, the seller will come down quite a bit on his price and either accept my offer or throw out a reasonable counteroffer.

Anyway, I don't know how this got turned into a post about my frugal shopping habits, so I'm going to stop talking about it.

Hey, check out my first white whale above!

I Got The Box Of Mystery!!!!!

Last week, I read Tom's post about "The Box of Mystery." In case you haven't read it (and you refuse to click the link you just read over), Tom has decided to pay some good card collecting karma forward by randomly sending the box filled to goodies to one of his trade partners.

And he chose me! How freakin' cool is that?!?!?!

So, what was inside, you ask? Well, let me show you...

First was this sweet Kinsler relic from 2010 A&G. I love these relics - I can never decide if they make want to be on a beach watching a sunset or locked in my room trying acid and mushrooms for the first time. Seeing as I am too pretty for jail, I'm leaning toward the beach idea.

He was also kind enough to include some cards for my Cruz and Harper player collections. These are all very much appreciated, as I didn't have a single one of them.

But the kicker was this card:

This SP Winning Materials dual relic card of who I think is arguably one of, if not the, greatest catchers of all time, Pudge Rodriguez. Side note: it still seems odd to me to see his cards with "Ivan" Rodriguez. I don't know that I have ever referred to him as anything other than Pudge (even though I knew his nae was Ivan).

So now it is my turn. One lucky trade partner will receive the box of mystery from me, just as soon as I find the right cards to send. Tom's package was a tough act to follow!

Thanks again, Tom. I really appreciate all of this!

Some Catching Up To Do...Part 2

The second half of my post about Christmas cards begins with 2013 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects. I was fortunate to receive a hobby box of the said product, and it didn't disappoint.

The second pack I opened had this Aaron Sanchez red ice parallel, numbered 6 of 25. I don't know much about him, but this is the first red ice I have pulled. I like these cards a lot.

I also pulled this green refractor parallel of Austin Nicely. I believe it is numbered to 75, but I'm not completely positive (I left the cards at home - I'm currently at my office).

The auto from my box was also of the green refractor variety:

Mr. Ryder Jones (cool name, numbered 69 of 75. This and the Sanchez are currently listed on eBay. But, as with the other cards I have listed, if they don't sell, I am more than happy to trade them!

My last box was the jumbo Bowman Chrome. It promises three autos. First, let's see the color that was included inside:

Edwin Encarnacion purple, Jered Weaver Blue and Melky Mesa black refractors. All currently available for trade.

And now the moment you have all been waiting for....

Three prospects who I have never heard of. Two Tigers and a Padre. And a scanner that can't pick up names, making me look stupid in the process because I can't remember their names. Awesome. Anyway, they are all available.

I have a couple more things to share, but they will have to wait until a later date.

Happy New Year everybody!

Some Catching Up To Do

I posted last week about a couple eBay pickups I had for my player collections. I ended that post with "I'll post about my Christmas tomorrow." Well, I didn't. The fact is that I was supposed to be off all of last week and ended up working three days. So, beginning Thursday night, I just stayed at home and relaxed.

So here I am, finally getting around to posting about Christmas. After I graduated high school, the gift-giving part of Christmas in my family disappeared. That was fine by me - I've always enjoyed the being with family part of Christmas more than the gift giving part. However, this year, my mom decided that she wanted to give gifts, so when pressed about what I wanted, all I could think about was baseball cards.

So that what I got.

She surprised me. I was thinking a couple blasters from Walmart. Instead, I got hobby boxes of 2013 Heritage, Heritage Minor League, Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects and a jumbo hobby box of Bowman Chrome.

Awesome Christmas gifts. I feel bad because I didn't get her nearly enough in return.

Anyway, let's get on to the highlights of the boxes.

Right on top was the box loader of the 1964 Ken Johnson card. Awesome that it's a true '64, awesome that it's from a player from the Colt .45's. Not awesome that Topps ruined it by stamping it in gold foil celebrating their 50th anniversary.

After opening everything, I found a total of eight short print cards. I'm putting together the set, but I highly doubt that I am going to go after the short prints. Gypsy Queen and A&G killed me on short prints. I just don't have it in me. So if you need any, let me know soon. I'm considering throwing these all on eBay as a lot and seeing what I can get for them.

My one guaranteed hit came int he form of a Mike Moustakas relic. Gee, thanks Topps. If you want it, it's yours. Let me know.

I pulled one Venezuelan back card of one MLB's biggest stars, Steve Cishek. I'll only trade this for a 50's Mantle. 

I'm kidding, of course. Definitely will move it for next to nothing.

I also pulled this Heritage Chrome Chase Headley. It's numbered, but I don't remember the numbers. Anyway, I know there are a couple Padres guys that read, so this is going to one of them, free of charge. Whoever comments first gets it.

Lastly, there were a couple "exciting" cards in the box. When opening packs, I found two that had  asingle card reversed in the pack. Since I opened very little Heritage earlier, I had no idea what this meant. Come to find out, these were photo variations:

Pretty sweet. I have no need for them, however. The Jeter already sold on eBay for $15. The Hamilton can be yours though, just make me a trade offer.

Keeping with the Heritage theme, let's look at the Heritage Minor League Box. I got a few good cards in the box.

In the first pack was a Venezuelan back for Rock Shoulders, the guy with the best name in all of professional sports. 

I also pulled a black parallel of Keury de la Cruz. It's numbered, but once again, I don't know the numbering.

Once again, the box gave me a numbered card, this one being a relic numbered to 50 of Twins prospect Alex Meyer.

Lastly, the two promised autographs come from Cardinals (gross) prospects. Never heard of either one.

The relic and the autographs I have already put on eBay. The relic has a bid, so it will be sold. However, if the autos don't sell, they will be up for trade.

I'm going to make another post with the remaining boxes of Chrome because I don't think that anyone wants to read a post as long as the Bible.

It's Been A While...

...Since I posted anything. I grabbed a few boxes for Christmas, but that is another post. Today, I want to share some eBay acquisitions.

First up, for my Anthony Rendon PC:

It's the beautiful silver on black auto from 2013 Chrome, numbered 25 or 25. I was looking for a copy, but none was posted. So, I searched for completed items (which included items that did not sell) and found this guy from seller dotheritethang. He re-listed for me and I bought it immediately. There were some problems via the USPS and he went way out of his way to get some answers. By far, the best seller I have encountered on eBay. He doesn't currently have anything up for sale, but keep an eye out. He's pretty awesome.

Next up, a piece for my Nelson Cruz PC:

This is the Ruby "Boomstick" parallel, numbered 1 of 1. Pretty stoked to add a 1/1 to the collection (though I feel like there may be more in the future). I'm trying to put together the Boomstick rainbow, I think. Sadly, it appears as though my Cruz PC will end with 2013 cards, since the signing of Shin Soo Choo pretty much kills any chance Cruz may return tot he Rangers.

Well, that's it for now. I have more cards to show, but they will have to wait until tomorrow or later. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Under Construction!

I'm going to apologize in advance.

This coming week, I'm going to be making some changes on this blog, specifically to my player collection pages. So there may or may not be a bit of post flooding on your homepage timeline.

Also, I've got tons of singles from 2013 Topps (S1, S2, US), Allen & Ginter, Gypsy Queen, Bowman, Bowman Platinum and Bowman Chrome, as well as 2012 A&G, Bowman Draft Picks and a few others, that I am looking to get rid of. If you have needs, please link to your needs page in the comments and I will do the best I can to work on knocking some of those out.

Finally, if there is a change to this blog that you would like to see or that you think would be beneficial to me (especially if it makes the blog ore efficient - I'm an efficiency nut), PLEASE let me know! I'm always trying to make this blog better, and your input is the key to that!

If I don't talk to you before then, Merry Christmas everyone!

I Busted Three Boxes Today...

I went a bit overboard today at my LCS. I had a little extra cash in the form of a Christmas bonus, and I decided to share it with Jimmy, my LCS owner. In all I busted one box of 2013 Topps Chrome and two boxes of 2013 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects.

The box of Topps Chrome was pretty uneventful. I landed two parallels:

Blue Sapphire parallel, 98/199

Sepia parallel, 35/75

Both of these are up for trade. The two autos from my box can also be yours (for nest to nothing, really):

My scanner makes the cards look like black parallels, but, in reality, they are base autos. Make me an offer. It doesn't have to wow me; let's face it, these two are bottom of the barrel autos (no offense).

Sadly, the other guy in the shop opened the last box of Chrome after me and pulled a Starling Marte printing plate in the first pack, along with a redemption for an Avisail Garcia refractor auto and a Dylan Bundy base auto. I was not happy with my box selection.

My Second box of Draft Picks and Prospects wasn't incredible as I hoped it would be (more on the first box in a moment). The auto was a base auto of Red Sox pitching prospect Trey Ball. I didn't scan it in because I already put it on eBay (more on that in a moment, as well). There wasn't a lot more excitement from the box, and what color I did pull, I've already set aside to send off to some of you.

My first box of DP&P, however, was a pretty good one. After opening 23 packs, I still hadn't pulled the auto. I was beginning to think that perhaps my box failed to get it's guaranteed autograph, but the fourth card in the final back was this beauty:

Okay, I know it isn't a Yasiel Puig auto, but Meadows is the cover boy for the product. This redemption card is going for more than $100 on the Bay. So, naturally, I put mine on there too. (Sorry Nate) I've had a couple extremely lowball offers for it, but once I get something relative to what the others have sold for, mine will be on its way.

Now, I feel obliged to explain myself and my eBay habits. There are two cards in particular that I want to add to my player collections. They are both out of my normal price range, so selling the hits I pull that don't fall into one of my collections are going to eBay. I swear I'm not in this for the money, but I do use some of my cards to attain other cards I want more.

Anyway, that's my story of the day. If you get a chance next week, visit your LCS and buy a few packs - shop owners are a dying breed and we need to help them out as much as possible!

Nelson Cruz Player Collection

2013
2012
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2005

Evidently, My Boss And LCS Owner Are Brothers...

...because they both really know how to give gifts.

A little while back, I posted about the Nelson Cruz bat my LCS owner gave to me for helping him with some oil and gas work. It was incredible.

Today, my boss upped the ante a bit. He's flying out to Vegas tomorrow and we are closing the office next week, so he gave us Christmas presents today. He started out by playing to the food snob in me with this:

The pepper jelly is delicious with the crusted Brie, trust me. Try it sometime.

Then he got down to business with the gifts that were really awesome.

This book was printed in 1955, giving short biographies of the game's greatest players. It's pretty incredible.

While A-Rod isn't even close to my favorite players list, it is still pretty awesome to have an authentic MLB jersey autographed. My boss won this at a silent auction at the Ballpark way back in 2001 and decided this year that I should have it.

That would be a killer present from a boss if it ended there. 

But it doesn't.

He also gave me this ball. He bought it at an estate sell. It belonged to a woman's father and she had no idea who it was, so she sold it to my boss for $20. He couldn't make out the signature, but gave it to me in hopes that I could figure it out.

I knew I had seen this signature before, but I couldn't place it. So I sent a picture to my LCS owner to see if he knew. His response?

"Dude, that's Willie Mays."

So I went to the Internet to compare:

It's very close. Some parts are different especially the first letters (my ball has more elongated letters). So, I am going to send it off to be authenticated. Hopefully, it will be real. 

Which would make these the best Christmas gifts I ever received!

A Couple Of Trades With Chavez Ravining

Lately, I've pushed Alex and his blog Chavez Ravining quite a bit here in my Daily List (which I think I am going to change to Daily Notes). He's an awesome dude and fun to trade with.

Well, we've worked out a couple trades lately, and I want to share with you exactly how good of a trading partner here is. Here is the first package.

That's a pretty ridiculous stack of cards. They all either fit into a player collection, a Rangers team set or a current set that I am building, and I needed every one of them. He even sent along some of the Topps Chipz, of which I have none.

Then I contacted Alex about a Chrome Darin Ruf auto he had. I watched Ruf quite a bit while I was at Creighton, so it's pretty cool to have one of his cards. Alex also sent along a few other cards and more Chipz.

Out-f*cking-standing! Sorry for language. Today has just been an AWESOME day for me. But more on that in my next post.

Thanks again, Alex!

New Trade Bait!

I finally decided to update my trade bait. I'm including some manufactured patches from Topps flagship and some autos from Ginter.

The Daily List - December 16, 2013

1. This is my first "offseason" in collecting, so to speak. With no new (affordable) products coming out, I feel like I'm just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Fortunately, my mom decided she wanted to do the gift-giving thing for Christmas this year (we haven't exchanged gifts since I was in high school, so I told her I just wanted some baseball cards. I will have some boxes to break next week!
2. Seriously, if you haven't got in touch with Alex over at Chavez Ravining for a trade, you are doing yourself a serious disservice. We ironed out a trade last night in less than 30 minutes. The guy is crazy easy to work with, and he gives out points for various things that go toward prizes. Why aren't you in on this yet? 
3. Speaking of Chavez Ravining, he's woking on an ambitious project - to put together the 2013 Topps Chrome rainbow for all Dodger players featured in the set. If you have any, help him out.
4. Speaking of Rainbows, you may have noticed I created a post for my 2013 Topps Chrome AJP Rainbow. I've decided that since he's a one-year wonder in Texas, this would be the extent of my PC for him. I have the atomic, red, gold, sepia and XFractor refractors. I have the black, blue, purple and base refractors on the way. That means I just need the superfractor (yeah, right), the pink, camo and orange refractors to complete the rainbow out. I doubt anyone has the super, pink or camo, but maybe you have the orange. If so, let me know. I'd love to take it off your hands.
5. By the time I finished typing that paragraph, I won a camo refractor for my rainbow. Nice!
6. Georgia isn't on my mind, but I want to share the song with y'all anyway. My weekend was very slow and full of great music, including listening to some Ray Charles. It's good for the soul.

2013 Topps Chrome A.J. Pierzynski Rainbow

Atomic Refractor - 6/10

Camo Refractor - 12/15

Red Refractor - 11/25

Gold Refractor - 50/50

Sepia Refractor - 56/75

Black Refractor - 14/100

Blue Sapphire Refractor - 183/199

XFractor

Retail Orange Refractor

Retail Purple Refractor

Base Refractor 

Base