Another Mailday

A quick post today, as I just wanted to share a couple cards I received in the mail. 

First up, another addition for the Anthony Ranaudo PC:

This is the base version of Ranaudo's Jumbo Unity Relic/Auto, numbered to 99. Gotta love the jumbo white swatch Topps selected (that was sarcastic).

I also got this card for an absolute steal:

From 2015 Bowman's Best, this is the base auto of Dillon Tate. Tate was the number 4 overall pick in this past season's draft. He has a Chrome auto in '15 Draft, but it is running $15-$20. However, I saw this card pop up for a Buy It Now price of $2.95. I couldn't hit the BIN button fast enough.

Okay, that's it for tonight. Trying to get a million things accomplished. Hope everyone is well!

New Cards!!! (And Some That I Didn't Know I Had)

Today, I finally got a card that I've been waiting on for a while. I ordered it a bit before the massive snowstorm hit the East Coast. Naturally, that storm delayed mail. I could go into along tirade, but that is a blog post for another day (or for never).

Anyway, here's the card I was so anxious to get:

From the 2015 Topps Chrome Future Stars insert set, this orange parallel is of one of my PC guys, Anthony Ranaudo. This particular card is the orange refractor parallel, numbered 18 or 25. The reason I was so excited to get it is because I paid a fraction of what these normally sell for. It's the little things that make us happy, right?

I also snagged this card:

2015 Topps Triple Threads Jumbo Unity Relic Sepia parallel, numbered 30 of 75. I am pretty sure I grabbed this one for less than $2.

But that isn't all. I have been trying to clean out the excess cards that I have. I have actually run across a few for my Ranaudo and Joey Gallo PCs that I didn't know that I had. Here they are: 

Nothing terribly special, but cards for the PCs nonetheless. Since I found them this year, I'm going to treat them as if I acquired them this year. My damn blog, my damn rules. Hahaha!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

"My Mom Threw Out My Cards"

It seems the origin of the greatest collecting horror stories begin with, "My mom threw my cards away..." This is semi-true for me. My mom didn't throw out my cards. I left my cards with my grandparents, because they are the ones that helped me collect when I first got into the hobby a long time ago.

However, my grandfather's mother did throw out his cards, the night he got married and moved out of the house. I've heard the story millions of times, but, in short, here it is for you: he gets married and he and my grandmother move to a small cabin at the back of the ranch (this is the late 50's - my family has always lived on this ranch). A couple of days later, he comes to his parents' house for breakfast before beginning work with his father training horses. He notices that his room is completely cleaned out, and his entire collection of cards - including some Mantles and Ruths - are gone, thrown in the garbage...which is already gone.

My heart breaks every time I think about it.

Why do I bring this up? Well, when I posted about my collecting goals for 2016, JayP, the great mind behind Cards My Mother Didn't Throw Out commented that he would like to help me out. And help out he did!

He sent a huge stack of cards that will be more than useful for my Rangers Team Set Project, but he also sent a few cards that nailed some spots in my player collections.

He included these four Rusty Greer beauties:

First of all, these are all awesome cards. However, how badass (pardon the language) is the last card?!?!?! It hails from 1998 Stadium Club. I can only hope that he caught that ball...being a road game, you know he got booed to high heaven if he did! Amazing shot!

There were also a couple other cards in the package that fit into a player collection I have been thinking about starting:

PUDGE! These from Stadium Club and Finest. Both cards are beauties, and there's just something awesome about older Chrome cards with the film still intact! 

Thanks again, JayP! I love the cards and can't wait until our next trade!!!

I Finally Decided Which Vintage Set To Work On

I've been taking some time trying to determine which vintage set I would like to tackle, and I'm pretty sure I've figured it out.

1969 Topps Baseball. 

After looking at endless amounts of data, it seems that 1969 isn't too big and it isn't too expensive. Yes, there are expensive cards in the set, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as other sets. It also helps that I had a handful of '69 cards that I purchased a couple years ago.

I started an eBay search for the set, and found a couple cheap additions that had also been graded by PSA. If you know anything about me, it's probably that I'm a sucker for slabs. So, for under $5 shipped, I added these two to the collection:

Card #24 Walt Alston. I already had a copy of this card, but like I said, I'm a sucker for slabs and this one was very affordable.

Card #319 Ken McMullen. I did not have this card. The really interesting thing about this card is the back:

Do you see it? The error, that is? The statistics headings are for a pitcher. This is just one of the many errors (both corrected and uncorrected) in the 1969 set, which is just another sign of character, if you ask me. 

So there ya go, my first additions to my quest to complete the 1969 Topps set. If you have any extras sitting around, let;s work out a trade!!! 

New PC Additions!

I'm not sure why, but I've been a fan of Anthony Ranaudo since the Rangers acquired him last year. Last month, I decided to start collecting him because a) he has a ton of cards already, and b) those cards are usually pretty cheap.

The first two Ranaudo cards of 2016 came to me today. I'm pretty stoked about them, because they are both pretty unique.

This is the printing plate of Ranaudo's 2015 Topps Archives 90's All Star insert. It's my first printing plate of Ranaudo. Pretty sweet, but it has nothing on the following card:

2015 Topps Museum Collection Patch Auto, numbered to 10. This is by far the coolest patch in my collection. The only way it could be better if it was a Rangers patch instead of the Red Sox. 

So there ya go - pretty brief, but I'm kind of in a hurry today. Hope everyone is well!

Mail Day!

I received my first cards of 2016 in the mail yesterday. It was a good day.

First up, I added to my 2010 Topps T206 American Caramel Framed Mini Auto project. I've been after this card since I began the project, but it always seemed to be priced in the $30-$40 range, far more than I was willing to pay. However, a couple days after Christmas, I saw it listed at .99 cents to begin the auction. A few days later and after a winning bid of $4.01, I became the proud owner of this guy:

Dodger legend Johnny Podres. His list of accomplishments includes many things, but perhaps the most impressive is his 2-0 shutout of the Yankees in the 1955 World Series, bringing Brooklyn their first (and only) World Series title. In the process, Podres became the first World Series Most Valuable Player.

If my mail day only had that card, it would be a good day. However, I also received a package from Topps, as one of my two remaining redemptions was fulfilled. You know I was excited for the Podres card, so imagine how I felt when I opened this guy up:

A 2015 Bowman Inception "Inception" auto of Joey Gallo!!!! These bad boys come one per case. When the product released in 2015, I bought a box at Duane's Sports Cards in Arlington (I was back home, staying with my dad in the hospital; I visited Duane's one day while my dad was undergoing surgery). While I didn't pull this card, I did pull a Luis Severino version:

Right off the top! Case hit! Luis Severino Inception auto! pic.twitter.com/rCop6YzLBM

— My Cardboard Habit (@cardboardhabit) July 26, 2015

I loved it. I watched eBay for months, waiting for a Gallo to be listed. After many failed attempts, I just happened to see a seller list the card for $8.99. I pounced! A large part of me was afraid that I was going to get an email from the seller saying that he had made a mistake in the listing process and refuse to send me the card, but those fears turned out to be unfounded. I received the redemption and entered it quickly, and then waited. And Waited. And waited. But it's here now, and I couldn't be happier! 

So there it is! An amazing mail day to start 2016! I hope everyone is well!

What I'm Looking Forward To In 2016

After lamenting about how much I disliked 2015, I suppose I should lay out my road map for 2016. Nobody wants to read a blog that is all complaining, right? Well, here are some of the things I would like to do in the coming year.

1. Get rid of excess cards. Beyond my personal collections and assorted trade bait, I have four 5,000 count boxes full of cards from assorted years and sets. I once hoped to list all of these for trade, but I haven't had anyone hit me up for base needs in a couple years. That's fine, but I just don't have room to keep cards that have no use to me. Living in a one-bedroom apartment with all of one closet makes storage an issue. I'm thinking of sending these to Signatures for Soldiers. This group works with athletes to get signed baseball cards and then sell said cards. One-hundred percent of the proceeds go to Military Missions in Action, an organization that helps disabled service members and the disabled children of active duty service members. That's a cause that I can gladly get behind.

2. Organize and catalog my personal collections and trade bait. My Matt Harrison PC is kept in a bind, but my various other collections and projects are kept in boxes. I need to go in and scan everything that I have for documentation and then store it accordingly. I must get organized. I'm tired of my desk looking like this:

The same goes for the trade bait I am keeping. I have everything housed in a box with no real rhyme or reason. It can be difficult to find what I do have. I need to make sure everything is scanned and listed because I want to be more active in trading.

3. Be a better trade partner. I know that I have talked to a few people about certain cards that I have. I have not been very good about following up or following through. Though the last year has been rough, that's not a good excuse. So I want to devise a way to keep up with all potential trades. This one will require a little thought, but it must happen.

4. Comment more on your blogs. Believe it or not, I read a ton of blogs, even when I'm not posting. I literally check at least once a day. However, I haven't been the best at commenting. I want to change that. I know I feel good when readers comment, so I need to be better at returning the favor. I have been making more of an effort lately, and I hope a few of you have noticed.

5. Pick a pre-1970 Topps set and collect 15% of it. I've wanted to start working on a vintage set for a while. However, I simply can't choose which one I want! I know that I don't want a massive set (1972, I'm looking at you), but I don't know enough about vintage to really jump in. I want a set the has a good mix of well-known players, but also won't cost an arm and a leg. I hope that some of you that collect vintage can help me out and offer suggestions. I would greatly appreciate it!

So there are my Five Main Goals for 2016. I tried to make everything realistic. I'm not saying I don't like a good challenge, but with limited time and money, I want to set goals that can be accomplished. But those aren't the only goals I want to accomplish. Like last year, I have a few that are nice, but not Top 5 worthy. For instance:

- Acquire a card of Mickey Mantle from his playing days.

- Gain 10 new followers for my blog.

- Find five new trade partners.

- Add 100 new cards to my Texas Rangers team set project.

- Incorporate more TTM requests into my collecting life.

And these are just a few. I am trying to learn how to still enjoy the hobby when I'm not ripping into new packs. I think this is a good start and will help me appreciate the history of the hobby. 

So there you have it, my goals for the coming year. I hope we can trade soon!