Please Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

More Luke Jackson color:

Gold auto #'d /50

This card was in the #1 spot of my Top 5 list. Only two more cards left!

Blue refractor #'d /250

Orange paper #'d /250

Blue paper #'d /500

My progress on this project has slowed. It has led to me to consider where to take my collection next. It seems that I have bottlenecked (and I'm okay with that) and decided that Bowman has my primary interest. I also enjoyed picking up all the base autos from the Rangers in this year's set, so I wondered what I could do next?

Well, I guess I could collect all the base autos from all the Rangers prospects throughout the Bowman products.

Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

So I'm officially on the path to picking up the base autos of all Ranger autograph through the Bowman and Bowman Chrome lines. I've put together what I assume is a "near" complete Needs List for this project. I say "near" complete because it is difficult to find accurate lists for some of the older sets. So, if you look at the list and see something that I overlooked, let me know!

So check out the list and let me know if you have any of those cards available for trade! It will be much appreciated!

I Know That You Have Cards You Want Graded...

I'm sorry that I keep bothering y'all about sending in cards for grading. I promise, you won't hear anything about it after this week.

However, I need to get a FIRM headcount by tomorrow. Here's what I have so far:

- Me = 10 cards (possibly 12)
- Raz = 4 cards (possibly 5)
- Nate = 2 cards (possibly 3)

And that's it. If I don't get a minimum of 25 cards, then the deal is a no-go.

So please join on and help me out!!! Comment below if you are interested!

Same Color, Different Cards

Two more additions to the Jackson Rainbow:

Black wave refractor, not numbered.

Black refractor, numbered 65 of 99.

This all just seems redundant.

Random Stat Of The Night

This is so epic, I had to share. 

Joey Gallo, one of my PCs, has 89 professional home runs since being drafted in 2012. 

He also has 89 singles during the same time span. 

WHAT?!?!?! 

(Mind.....Blown)

Calling All Bloggers

I'm going to send some cards to Beckett for grading later this week. I've mentioned it in the past, but I want to make the offer one last time. 

If you have any cards that you would like graded, I can get 10 day service (two weeks) for $11 per card (or $12 per certified auto card). This is a helluva deal, but I only get it if I send in 25 cards. 

I've got 10 cards that I set money back to have graded. So, I need 15 more to accompany my order. 

If anyone is interested, please comment below! Leave your email address so that I can get back to you with my address.

Thanks!

Can I Ask A Favor?

I don't have it in me to go out and buy packs of 2014 S2. I hate the design of the product and nothing excites me about it. However, part of my collecting goals include completing the flagship set every year.

So I need to ask a favor. If you have any duplicates, I would appreciate them. I know that I've made some trades wityh the stipulation that I will receive some "cards to be named later," so this is a good opportunity to complete those trades! I don't care what I sent you - I will accept S2 base as trade!

So please, help me out!

Here's what I need.

My Secret Quest For A Card That I Wasn't Sure I Could Find

On occasion, I like to do tings on my own, with little to no help. Think: cardboard detective. I have a few cards that I want that I look for on my own, without posting about them on the blog or hitting up trade partners to see if anyone has one. This post is about one such card. Behold:

A 1979 TCMA Asheville Tourists Team Set Andy Tam. Talk about a card that is hard to find...I've been looking for months. I called cardshops near Asheville and no one had one. I scoured message boards and obscure trading sites. Still no one had one.

I almost gave up looking. Then, as if to make me feel bad, one popped up on eBay. Seriously? All this time spent looking and one shows up on the most obvious place to look?! Whatever. So I bid on it and - shockingly - I was the only bidder.

Tam was an 18th round pick of the Rangers in 1978. Originally from Idaho, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to play college ball at Texas Wesleyan. He would pitch for the Rangers minor league affiliates fpr the rest of 1978 and into 1979 before tearing up his elbow in the '79 season. The injury would end his professional baseball career.

Now I'm sure you're wondering why I was looking for this card of this player. Well, it's the only card Tam has, that I know of.

And it just so happens that he is my best friend's dad. He bet me that I couldn't find one of these cards.

Well, I did.

So I'm going to share this photo of him as my form of victory dance. Behold, blogging community, the greatest baseball picture of all time:

Pack Searchers, Shady eBay Deals and Stupid eBay Functions

Yesterday, I stopped at a Walmart in a different city to see if they had any 2014 Bowman. Though my set is complete, I still have the urge to open more. My Walmart sucks and doesn't have any new packs - no Archives, Bowman or S2.

This particular Walmart only the had the hanger packs - you know, the package that has 3 packs and three purple parallels. They had just been hung by the woman responsible for stocking the section, so I grabbed the front two packs and tried to get out of her way. I had taken two steps when I heard her yell over to me, "Hey, c'mere for a second."

I walked back to here and she grabbed the two packs from my hand and squeezed them on the sides. I cringed, thinking of the damage she was probably doing to my cards. She grabbed another pack and squeezed it, then handed it to me along with one of my original packs.

"That one has something in it," she said, pointing to the pack she handed me.

Naturally, I then tried squeezing the two packs but could tell no difference. So I tore a corner from the pack she prophesied about and paid for my items. I quickly walked to my truck and proceeded to rip open the pack that supposedly had something in it.

Well, I'll be damned....

This was int he very first pack. How in the hell did she do that?

Anyway, it's going on eBay. The moral of the story is this: next time you see someone stocking the cards at Walmart, ask them to pick the packs for you.
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I mentioned yesterday that I am trying to grab a purple Luke Jackson auto. Yesterday, I noticed that the seller of the card had it listed twice: first as a BIN and second as an auction. He had the card listed for more than a week as a BIN, so I assumed he got tired of not receiving any bids and had decided to relist it as an auction, forgetting to end the original auction. I thought I would try to help out and save him a little grief by letting him know that it was double listed.

Needless to say, I got a message back that just said "Thanks." Thirty minutes later, I received another message from the seller:

Okay, so he's got a friend that is a dummy bidder trying to drive up the price. What an a-hole. So then I politely replied that I already have an orange auto and that all I need is the purple, red and superfractor. A few minutes later, he responds:

Now I'm curious. the /10 autos are purple, not orange. The prospects do have orange wave autos, but those are numbered to 5. So I ask the guy to send me a picture of it.

I never received a response.

Sellers like this ruin it for the rest of us. I hate these guys.
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In my last Luke Jackson color post, I mentioned that I was waiting on the USPS to get me my card. Well, it appears that the card is lost after being "missent." Here's the card I was waiting for:

It's the White Ice 1/1. Naturally, if it is lost, it can't be replaced. But here's the bigger issue.

I went to eBay to contact the seller and let him know what was going on. I clicked the "Contact Seller" button. I was then prompted to furnish a reason for contacting the seller, so I selected "I have not received my item." It then gives me a long-winded and useless generic answer, followed with "Does this answer your question?" It didn't, so I selected "No." Finally, it allows me to send the seller a message.

So I wrote my message in the box explaining that the postal service appears to have lost the item and that if I haven't received it by the weekend or gotten word back from the postal service about its whereabouts, I would need to work with him to get my money back. I didn't want to blindside him and open a case out of nowhere because I didn't want to piss him off. It really isn't his fault, but as the seller, you assume all responsibility for the item until it is delivered. That's eBay's Buyer's Guarantee.

Well, lo and behold, when I hit send, eBay automatically opened a case against the seller. Not what I wanted to do. Then I get an angry note from the seller wondering why I had opened a case against him.

Effin' eBay...as if I'm not stressed enough.

Help A Blogger Out

So, in this seemingly never ending pursuit of the Jackson rainbow, expensive cards are going to come into play at some point. It appears as though I have reached that point.

I don't need many autographs, but those I do need are a bit pricey. I've decided that if I can grab one of the purple refractor autos (numbered to 10), I will be satisfied. No need for a red or the superfractor.

In order to get that card, I'm going to need funds. This is where you come in.

At first, I considered a Kickstarter campaign, but that seemed a tad unethical. So I did what any card collector does periodically: I went through my collection and listed a bunch of cards I can live without on eBay.

So go visit my seller's page. Most of the cards start at 99 cents! You can't beat that with a stick!

So thanks again for reading (and buying!)!

Hey Look, More Jackson Color

I'm running out of witty titles for these posts. I'm willing to take suggestions.

I received some more color for the Jackson rainbow:

This is the blue wave auto, numbered 12 of 50. Much more impressive in person, I believe.

I have more color to share, but the post office is stupid and "missent" it, whatever that means. So, I guess you'll have to wait a few more days for a new update on the project. Maybe you can give me some witty post names by then.

Update: Father's Day, Group Break And More, Oh My!!!

It's another Update Post! Get ready to cover a handful of topics that don't warrant an entire post by themselves! Let's get it started!!!
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I hope everyone had a good Father's day! There are a lot of dads that spend time with their sons (and daughters!) opening packs of cards, so I hope you took a moment to say 'thank you,' whether it by telephone, in person or in a prayer.

My plans for the weekend changed, so I didn't go camping...but I did take my dad to Cabela's to make up for it. I think he is okay with the trade.
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I have EIGHT (8) spots open for my 2014 Bowman Chrome group break. The cost is $80 per spot, and that gets you a team of your shipping, a randomly assigned team AND shipping! Go here to sign up! DO IT, NOW!!!
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Last week, I announces a new contest that involves TTM's. I know that I read a lot of blogs where people talk about TTMs that they get back in the mail, yet I've only had two people sign up. What gives? You will be getting autographs in the mail and get to share them with other people doing the same thing! There is no downside!!!! Go here to sign up. You can win cool stuff!
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Sad to see another Great One leave far to soon. I'm sure everyone has already heard about the passing of Tony Gwynn. Sad that he left us so soon. I hope people will begin to see the dangers of using tobacco products. Dip and chew seem to go hand-in-hand with baseball, but they never make your life better. If you use a tobacco product, I hope this will help you start toward the process of dropping it. You can do it - I did, and if I can do it, truly anyone can.

More Jackson Color (This Title is Becoming Over-Used)

By the time you read this, I hope to be in central Texas setting up camp with my dad for a weekend of fiching, drinking beer and sleeping outside: three things that I love to do with the my old man. So, while you read this, just picture me reeling in a massive catfish while drinking a cold Miller Lite. Ahhh, refreshing.

eBay once again offered me a bounty of Luke Jackson cards that I took advantage of. For now, though, I'll only be showing two.

First up, this guy:

The green paper parallel, numbered 99 of 199 (eBay 1/1!!!). That green seems a bit brighter on my computer screen than it does in person.

Next up:

The silver wave refractor numbered 6 of 25. I tried to get in on the red wave and green wave refractors, also, but those sold for ridiculous prices. This one (with the same numbering) ran less than what half of those were going for.

So there you have it. Nothing terribly exciting, but needed nonetheless.

A New Contest That TTM Collectors Will Enjoy

I can't express the gratitude I have for those of you sharing your condolences with me this morning in regards to my LCS owner Jimmy. It means the world to me. Thank you.

I've wanted to do a contest for a while, but I wanted to do something different. After reading through the message boards over at Freedom Cardboard, I think I found my idea.

Introducing, the 2014 MCH Heritage TTM Contest!!!! This is a contest that involves TTM autographs, so if that is something you have no interest in, you can stop reading now.

Still reading? Sweet! Let's get to it. The idea of the game is to send out some 2013 or 2014 Heritage cards in hopes of getting them back, signed. Cards are scored (you'll see the score sheet below), and when the regular season wraps up, the contest will too. The winner will receive a cool prize!

Here are the rules:

1. There are 10 participants. First to sign up, first in. Cut off after 10 participants.
2. All participants will be entered into the Randomizer, the list will be randomized 13 times (my lucky number).
3. Based on this list, Player #1 will pick 10 cards from 2013 & 2014 Heritage to send off for TTM. Each participant is responsible for obtaining the cards you select (I'm fresh out of cards to send out so I have nine). 
1. One card must be that participant’s favorite player; participant will have to identify player when selecting cards.
4. After Player #1 selects his 10, Player #2 will choose 10 (and so on and so forth)
1. If two participants have the same favorite player, they can both select that card.
5. A card can only be chosen by one participant! (unless that is another participant’s favorite player, then he can choose that player as well)
1. However, if a player has a card in both the 2013 & 2014 sets, both can be chosen. A participant cannot select a card for the same player from both sets.
2. If a card is chosen that features two or more players, the participant can score more points if both/all players sign the card. (i.e. a "League Leaders" card)
6. Cards cannot go out in the mail until June 21.
7. When a card is returned, it will be scored. (See scoring chart below) The participant must scan the card and email it to me at judsonmeeks AT gmail DOT com. I will then post the card on the official contest page along with the points scored for that card. Participants are encouraged to post returns on their blog as well.
8. Last day of scoring will be September 28th, 2014. (Last day of the regular season)
9. This is a winner-take-all contest. Second place gets you nothing!!!
1. Winner receives a blaster -OR- $20 toward an as-of-now unannounced group break (more details on that in the coming months) -AND- something else that is nice.
10. As commissioner, I will not be participating in the contest. I will be the final arbiter of all conflicts.

Here's the scoring breakdown:

          First signed return in the contest = 6 Points

          Multi-signed card*                    = 5 Points**

          Base signature                           = 3 Points

          Favorite player                          = 2 Points

          Inscription                                 = 2 Points

          Bat on shoulder                         = 1 Point

          Facial Hair                                = 1 Point 

*The multi-signed card must have signatures from ALL players featured on the card in order to be scored. 

** Five points will be awarded for each player signature on the card (2 players, 10 points; 3 players, 15 points. etc.)

If this sounds like something you would like to participate in, sign up below. I know I said above that the contest is limited to 10 players, but if more than that want to play, then I am willing to add more. In other words, just sign up below in the comments if you want to play.

I would like to have everyone signed up by Monday so that we can "draft" our cards beginning next week.

If you can think of any changes or positive additions to the contest, let me know.

Well, that's it! Get signed up!!!

Rest In Peace, My Friend

This is going to be the hardest blog post I've ever had to write.

Yesterday, while returning from meetings in Dallas and Southlake, I stopped by my local card shop Hometown Sports in North Richland Hills, to pick up some supplies. When I got there, the shop was closed and there were flowers on the door. Immediately, I began to fear the worst.

I sent a text to Jimmy, the shop owner, before leaving just to say that I hoped everything was okay.

Sadly, I received a call from his wife this morning. Jimmy had passed earlier in the week.

I sat in my truck and cried for 20 minutes. I'm not ashamed to admit that.

I've always considered Jimmy a good friend, but I don't think I completely understood how good of a friend he was.

Our friendship started in 2012 when I visited his shop for the first time. I had decided that I wanted to get back into card collecting, but I wanted more than what the shelves at Walmart had to offer. So I hit up the Topps Store Locator and saw that Jimmy's shop was closest to me.

I made the hour and a half trek and walked in, immediately greeted with a "How's it going?" He asked what I was looking for, to which I replied that I had no clue. I explained to him that I was just getting back into collecting after 20 years of being away. About that time, the other gentleman in the store pulled an autographed card out of a pack of football cards and started shouting with excitement. I mentioned that I had never pulled an autograph, so I was envious.

Jimmy heard this and grabbed an unopened box of 2012 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects. He explained what the product was and then told me to start opening. Without asking questions, I started ripping. When I got to the 14th pack, I pulled a blue refractor autograph and started grinning from ear to ear. Jimmy charged me $4 for the pack that had the auto. Then, with the humor he always had, Jimmy said, "Now you've pulled an auto. Stop complaining about it!"

I would pull many more autos in that shop in the two years since first visiting. Jimmy would become more than my LCS owner; he was my friend. When he became interested in selling some minerals he inherited, I stepped into help him sell them. I expected nothing for doing so, but Jimmy insisted that I accept a game-used and autographed Nelson Cruz bat as a token of his appreciation. He would always let me know if the box he had opened behind the counter still had the auto in it. If it didn't, he would open a new box just for me, every time, without fail. He always wanted me to have the best experience I could have while visiting his shop. And I always did.

Our friendship grew to the point to where I would make the trek to his shop just to chat. Like me, he was beyond upset that the Rangers hadn't re-signed Cruz. He was no fan of CJ Wilson, and had no problem telling anyone that would listen. He was an avid collector of Roger Maris, but was more interested in finding cards for other people's collections than he was of finding cards for his own. I can say this without hesitation or doubt - Jimmy was the reason that I renewed my love of cardboard.

Rest in peace, my friend. I can't wait to trade cards with you in Heaven.

"It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies." 1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Adding to the 2014 Bowman Jackson Collection

First: Only EIGHT spots remain for my 2014 Bowman Chrome Case Break! Learn how you can win $20 to go toward your spot here!!!
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With my collecting interests...narrowing...I've been spending less on eBay. Outside of a new Tom Grieve card, I've been focusing on putting together a complete rainbow from 2014 Bowman. For no particular reason, it seems as though I have been focusing that effort on Luke Jackson.

Here are my latest additions:

First up, the orange wave refractor. A lot of people think the wave refractors are cheesy, but I really like them. Don't ask me why, I couldn't tell you. I guess that I just find it pretty. And if you tell anyone that I called a baseball card pretty, I will hunt you down.

This is the black paper parallel, numbered 25 of 99. Ignore the white dots, those came from my scanner. But I do have a bone to pick with this card (and many that Topps has put out this year): the centering is HORRIBLE. I read somewhere that when Heritage released, Topps blamed the poor centering on their new printer, who had little time to work out the kinks before the product needed to be printed. They've had plenty of time now to fix this issue but haven't. I'm starting to think that Topps really doesn't give a crap about collectors.

Anyway, enough with the rant. Thanks for reading!

New Cards From A Crappy Weekend

This weekend was by far one of the worst I've had in quite some time. Without going into a lot of detail, my aunt passed away and my best friend is having marital problems that appear to be leading to divorce. I'm extremely family and friend oriented, so both of these were pretty tough on me. That sounds incredibly selfish, but it's the truth.

However, before things went downhill Saturday morning, I made a visit to my LCS Friday afternoon. I bought a few packs of 2014 Bowman...then I decided to buy the whole box. This is a problem for two reasons. First, I pulled the auto in the first stack I purchased. In case you didn't know, the autos in this product are always in the top-right six packs. I don't know how or why Topps let this happen or why they haven't corrected it, but it's pretty much guaranteed that if you open a new box the auto is in that particular stack.

Second, I've already completed the 2014 Bowman first run set (I don't know what the real name is, but that's what I call it). Adding 240 more cards to my duplicates box isn't helping me. It's taking up space. But with no other product out that I'm interested in, this was my option.

I was lucky this time, I pulled a couple of nice cards.

This is a Bowman Top 100 die cut insert of Red Sox prospect Henry Owens, numbered 87 of 99. I'm not a Sox fan, so I have no idea about this kid. This is, however, this first die-cut that I've pulled. It can be yours, just make me an offer! If you have one of the Rangers die-cuts (especially the Gallo), I would love to work something out. If you don't no worries - just make me an offer with that you do have.

The auto I pulled is pretty awesome:

A Taijuan Walker blue refractor auto, numbered 171 of 250! If I would have pulled this card last year, I could have sold it for a fortune! However, after missing all of the season this far with an injury, his value has dropped. No problem for me - I really like this card! While his signature isn't really legible, it is very interesting. The card itself is pretty immaculate, no real defects other than a thumb print (no idea how it got there). Anyone know how to "clean" a card? I want to get rid of the print before I send this one in to be graded?

I also added a card to my Tom Grieve collection:

I have quite a few Grieve cards (I will scan them in at some point), but this is the first that is a "food issue." From the panel of a 1977 Hostess product, this card was cut out and kept in really great condition. I especially like that it features those wonderfully awful baby blue jerseys with the goofy font. Add those in with the busy sideburns and you have a card that features everything wonderful about the 70's.

Well, there you have it. My latest additions. I hope you enjoyed reading about them!