It's Been There Awhile

Yesterday, I was going through my regular eBay check. I have a handful of saved searches that I look at a couple times a day to see new postings of cards I want. I had an itch to buy something, but none of the new listings jumped out at me. So I flipped over to my Watch Items folder.

As I scanned through it, I realized that a couple cards had been in that folder for a while. A while as in years. These cards, for whatever reason, have never sold and are continuously re-listed. Let's take a look at a couple.

First up is a rookie variation of Yu Darvish from 2012 Topps. I know Cubs fans probably hate him, and a lot of Rangers fans were disappointed by him, but I'm still a Darvish fan. This card features Darvish throwing left-handed - something he's good at. Reports are that he can throw in the low- to mid-80's with his left hand. I've always thought this was a cool shot. 

I saved this listing when I first saw it at least three years ago. I'm on a budget, and rarely do I go out of that budget to get a card. I have waited for the price to come down, but it hasn't. A cursory search for the card on eBay now shows the cheapest listing at $12 or best offer, with $4 shipping. Maybe I'll swap out listings.

The next long-tenured card in my Watch List is this dual auto featuring Eric Campbell and my primary PC guy, Matt Harrison. Unlike the Darvish, the reason for not buying this card isn't money. while I think the price could be cheaper, I do think that the asking price here is fair. I just don't like this card. I think it might be one of the ugliest cards I've ever seen. So, since I know that I need this card for the collection, I drag my feet when it comes down to buying it. 

Lastly, the longest-watched item in my list. This hails from 2013 Triple Threads, featuring three nice patches from Harrison's All Star uniform. Unlike the last card, I think this card is a beaut! Like the Darvish, my problem here is cost. This card has been listed for $57 and has been for almost five years. I've tried emailing the seller to see if we could work out a deal for it, but I never hear anything back. So, the card will sit in my Watch List until it does get cheaper or I find another copy for less.

This leads me to what I believe is an interesting Blog Bat Around question: Which card(s) have been your Watch List the longest and why have they been there so long?

Wait, What Happened To 2018? (OR, Blaster Madness 4: 2019 Elite Extra Edition)

Back in December, my scanner went bonkers. At least, I thought it did. Last week, I was working on my dissertation when my laptop started going crazy. It turns out that my laptop was the problem, as it was creating issues by misreading external hardware code...or something like that. The repair guy tried telling me, but I openly admit I don't speak tech.

What I do know is that I had to get a new laptop. Late last week, I did just that. I hooked the laptop up to the scanner and everything seems to work!

I scanned in some cards and then opened Blogger...and realized it has been more than two months since I last posted. Wow. Granted, I was having issues scanning, but if I'm being honest with myself and you, I must admit that I didn't have the motivation to blog, anyway. Last year was a tough one for me. I won't re-hash everything that made it that way, but I am glad it is over. One of my personal goals for 2019 is to work harder on being more optimistic and to not let minor setbacks turn into major roadblocks for me. Part of being more optimistic and happy means spending more time doing the things I enjoy. So, today I write.

The fourth blaster of my Blaster Madness series features two blasters of 2019 Panini Elite Edition. This is the first Panini baseball product of the year (I believe) and features many of last year's drafted players, most of the various USA National Team players, and many unsigned foreign (specifically Latin American) players. Each box contains five tota cards, two of which, on average, are hits (autographed, memorabilia, or autographed memorabilia cards). 

I snagged two looking for a specific player, but more on that later. For now, let's see how I fared.

Each box also contains one exclusive pink parallel. One of my pink parallels was of Rangers' prospect Juan Pablo Martinez. Sadly, this was my only Rangers card. Martinez was signed early in 2018 - with money the Rangers tried to give to Shohei Otani before he signed with the Los Angeles Devils - and was MLB.com's second-ranked international prospect going into the 2018 season. He split the 2018 season between the Rangers' Dominican Summer League team and the Spokane Indians.

This is the only numbered parallel in either of my boxes, and it happens to be the die-cut version numbered to 99. Appearing on the card is Cristian Santana, international free agent, not to be confused with the man of the same name in the Dodgers organization. I couldn't find much info on this Santana.

The only autograph appearing in either blaster is of another international free agent, Luis de la Cruz. It's autographed and it's legible, so it is automatically better than 95% of current autos, though it still isn't impressive. Again, I couldn't find much info on this player.

My first relic appears as a quad relic of Shane Baz. Baz was a first round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017, going 12th overall. He was traded to Tampa Bay last year as a PTBNL in the trade that sent Chris Archer to the Steel City.

The second relic I found featured two swatches from Kyle Lewis. Lewis was the 11th overall selection in the 2016 draft, going to the Mariners. Can we talk about these swatches though? How often do you see a card numbered to 49 have such amazing swatches? Beautiful!

The last hit left that sinking feeling...

Womp womp womp. 

So there it is! I've decided that I am going to give away the points AND the Lewis relic. All you need to do is post about your favorite memorabilia card in your collection and then post a link in the comments below. I'll create a recap of the posts and then select a random winner from the comments! Don't have a blog? No problem! Tweet about your favorite memorabilia card and post a link to the tweet in the comments! The contest runs until February 22 at Noon central time. Ready, set, go!

Blaster Madness 3: 2018 Bowman

Naturally, something goes wrong when I try to get back in the habit of posting. This time, my computer has decided not to recognize my scanner anymore. It's okay, though, as I still have scans to work through.

The third installment of Blaster Madness focuses on 2018 Bowman. Bowman products essentially brought me back to the hobby, but the growing price (along with a growing number of parallels) has forced me to keep my distance the past couple of years. 

This year, I bought a single blaster of Bowman. In it, I found three cards that I wanted to share. Let's take a look.

First up is Kyle Cody's First Bowman card. The Rangers snagged Cody in the sixth round of the 2016 draft out of Kentucky. For Cody, this represented a drop in his draft stock, as he was selected 73rd overall (third round) by the Twins in the 2015 draft. Cody missed the majority of the 2018 season after having Tommy John surgery.

This is one of the few Chrome cards in my blaster. Ronald "The Condor" Guzman. Guzman is tall with an incredible wingspan, which earned him the nickname. Guzman spent most of the season at the MLB level as the club's primary first baseman. He seems to be a solid player that could have a decent career. The highlight of his season came against the Yankees in the Bronx, as Guzman crushed three homers in a single game, which also happened to be the first professional game his parents were on hand for. 

The last card I pulled would be the "hit" of the blaster. This gold shimmer refractor of DJ Peters is numbered 11 of 50. I don't know much about the card, other than I really like the gold shimmer. I'll hang on to this to see if Peters does anything with his career.

That's it for the third installment of Blaster Madness! I hope everyone is enjoying the end of the year!

Blaster Madness 2: 2018 Bowman Platinum

For the second installment of Blaster Madness, we take a look at 2018 Bowman Platinum. In terms of number of Ranger cards pulled in a single blaster, this has to be one of my better boxes. Let's take a look.

First pack Gallo mojo! When I first saw the cards, I thought I really liked them. Now that I've had some time to see them, I'm not sure I really care for the design. What are your thoughts?

Bubba Thompson was a 2017 first-round pick for the Rangers. I don't know much about him, but the talking heads that do know their stuff seem to think he will be a very important part of the Rangers' future.

Speaking of Thompson, he is featured in the Prismatic Prodigies insert set. I actually do like these.

Willie Calhoun was the key player the Rangers acquired from the Dodgers in the Yu Darvish trade. He hasn't really produced for us yet, but hopefully more time in Triple A will cure that. This is a cracked ice parallel.

I also pulled this purple parallel of Dee Gordon numbered to 250. I like the color more than I like the plain black, but that isn't really saying a lot. 

Overall, I do like this set. I'm excited to pick up the remaining Rangers!

WWE and a Group Break

A few weeks ago, I went to a local WWE house show here in Lubbock with a classmate and her husband. House shows are events that occur during the week and are "dark" - that is, they aren't broadcast on television. I've never been to a WWE event, though I have watched plenty of wrestling. Who cares if it's fake? The performers are all incredibly athletic and the show they put on was great. 

My favorite part of the event, however, was watching the seven-year-old boy in front of me with his dad. It was clear that they watched WWE regularly together. I found out it was the boy's first live event and he was hoping to see his favorite wrestler, Randy Orton, that night. When the next-to-last match was set to begin, Orton's music hit and the kid went crazy! He brought a sign that he made and held it high, jumping up and down and screaming Orton's name. The dad watched with a huge smile on his face, clearly enjoying watching his son enjoy the moment so much. The match lasted about 10 minutes, and when it was over, I heard the kid say to his dad, "That was the coolest thing I have ever seen!" The little guy literally had tears in his eyes. 

Maybe this world doesn't suck all that bad, after all. 

When I got home, I jumped on YouTube to watch the video recap of a case break I was in. A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I participated in a break with Hawks Breaks, and that is who was running this one also. If you are interested, I suggest joining his Facebook group, as he often posts his breaks there first and then puts the leftovers on Facebook. Pricing is about the best that I have found, so joining is a great idea.

Anyway, back to the break. The case featured eight boxes of 2017 Bowman's Best for a total of 32 autographs. This particular break was a team break, so I purchased the Rangers. My spot pulled two autographs. First:

A Christopher Seise base auto. Seise is the #9 prospect in the Rangers organization after spending his first "year" in at Low-A Spokane. He was drafted 29th overall in the 2017 MLB draft, where he was considered one of the best shortstops available (though that particular draft was a bit thin at that position). 

My second auto was familiar, yet different:

Seise again, but this time was the gold refractor version. This card is numbered to 50!

The best part was that I got both of these cards for a team spot that I paid all of $10 for!

Well, that's it for this post. I have more scans in the folder that need to get published, so keep an eye out for new content coming soon!

All of You are Good People

First, I must say "thank you" to those that offered kind words and words of support after my last post. I was and still am in the dumps about the whole ordeal, but after your comments and watching one of my best friends defend his dissertation and becoming an "official doctor" today, I'm inspired to get back to the grind. Sometimes, people are just obstacles that need to be hurdled, so that's how I will treat my committee. (I think that sounds worse than I intended, but oh well)

Beyond the nice words, I've come to learn that cardboard bloggers/collectors are also some very, very generous people. For example, Kin Kinsley - the man behind the blog I Feel Like A Collector Again and the @beansballcards - sent me a bubble mailer full of great oddballs!

I know what you're saying, "These are scans of oddballs!" Oh, but they are! What you can't tell from the scans is that these are 5" x 7" cards! 

Clearly, the Greer falls nicely into my PC of the player. The Gonzo and Pudge are also welcomed additions!

Not seen in the scans are Topps Chipz Kin sent, along with a few other minis and PC cards that I excitedly logged into my collection on Trading Card Database and put away into their new home. All of these additions were a surprise that came at a time when I needed an awesome pick-me-up! Thanks a ton, Kin!

More eBay Pickups

Okay, it's starting to become extremely noticeable that I'm targeting cards for my Yu Darvish collection. I honestly don't go out of my way to grab his stuff, but it is happening. I'm blaming separation anxiety. Darvish needs to just re-sign with the Rangers and stop making me feel this way.

Anyway, I've picked up a few cards over the last couple weeks. Let's take a look.

First up, this is a photo varitaion of Darvish batting from 2015 Topps. When this card came out, it easily sold for $10 or more. Patience paid off - I snagged this guy for less than $2.

While we're on the topic of photo variations, here's the 2016 Topps Update photo variation that features Darvish in a Dodgers uni. This is my second card of him pitching for LA. Still don't care for it. This card was also had for less than $2.

This is a red refractor from the 2017 Update Chrome set. It's numbered to 25. I don't really know what else to say about it.

That's it for now. We'll see if I keep subconsciously snagging Darvish cards in the future. 

Is there a player that you tend to unintentionally collect more than others?

Some Sparkly Gold Darvish!

In my post yesterday, I mentioned my love of the 2012 Topps set. That's the year I began buying cards again, so that set will always be one of my favorites. (Though, I have to say that I love 2013 Topps flagship just a tad more)

At one point, I had the gold sparkle parallel of Yu Darvish's rookie card. However, back then I wasn't terribly interested in keeping parallels. Needless to say, I no longer had it in my collection.

Until earlier this week. I found one on eBay for a reasonable price and decided to pull the trigger:

I love it. It just pops. 

I haven't been doing it intentionally, but it seems that the only cards that I have been picking up are of Darvish. 

I know not everyone is a big fan of parallels, but I know some of you are. If you are, what is your favorite parallel and from what year/set? 

If you aren't a fan of parallels, which ones do you especially dislike?

A Gift from Daniel

Last month, Daniel of It's Like Having My Own Card Shop and I made a deal to fill in a few set needs for each other. I was late sending my end of the trade his way, so I wanted to make up for it by including something for one of his collections.

Last week, I received another package from Daniel as a thanks for the card I sent him. I wasn't expecting anything, certainly not anything this awesome!

First up was this purple refractor from the 2012 Topps Chrome set. The 2012 set gets a lot of flack from collectors, but I loved it!

Next up is this Yu Darvish blue parallel from 2013 Topps Museum Collection! My scanner stinks and didn't do a great job of picking up the numbering, but this guy is numbered 1 of 99!

This may have been the biggest shock. Again from 2012, this is the platinum parallel from the Topps Mini set!

And it's numbered 2 of 5! Sweet!

Daniel also included a handful of other cards, but naturally, I put them away before thinking to scan them.

Thanks again, Daniel! I truly appreciate it!

A Matt Harrison Update

Last week, I posted about three new cards for my Matt Harrison PC. At then end of that post, I teased about another low-numbered Harrison that I won but hadn't yet received.

Well, I've received it:

This comes from 2013 Topps Tribute. I love the image on the card: throwback uniform and Harrison is clearly looking to chase down a popup...which must be very, very shallow (as in, between the pitcher's mound and catcher).

Yup, I'm a fan.

I Got The Group Break Bug

I'm so far behind that this post is about the release of Bowman Chrome which, at this point, has to be months ago. 

I couldn't sleep one night so I decided to watch some group breaks on YouTube. As I watched, I decided that I needed to get in on a Bowman Chrome break. After checking out prices on eBay, I realized that I couldn't afford the entire Rangers team in a break; rather, I took the player break route and purchased a couple of Ranger players. I selected Jose Trevino and Andy Ibanez. The best part about the break, however, was that the breaker made this a "keepers" break, meaning that you could purchase the same players for the same price for the following two breaks. I was in.

(After reading all of that, it sounds a little confusing, I think. Apologies if I lost anyone).

Anyway, after the breaks were all said and done, I ended up with six autos total. 

I got a redemption for a blue refractor of Andy Ibanez. Not pictured: a redemption for Ibanez's base auto.

Speaking of base autos...

I snagged three base autos of Jose Trevino. I'm pretty stoked to get these. Trevino is the Rangers catcher of the near future, and he's a pretty good defender behind the plate. He has quickly become a fan favorite and was the Rangers' Minor League Player of the Year this year. 

This was the best card I received in the breaks, though:

I believe this is called a "blue mojo" refractor. Whatever it's called, it's a good looking card!

Have you been in any breaks recently? What was your best "hit"?

I Got Zapped!

I feel like this title has been used many, many times before I put it up there. As I am certain everyone knows, getting "zapped" means that you received a crazy good package from one Mr. Zippy Zappy. Before the holiday, I was zapped for the first time.

A while back, I pulled a rainbow variation of Luis Torrens' 2017 Topps Update card. I finally got it in the mail to Zippy earlier this month. I had no expectation of anything in return - I was happy to help out a Torrens collector.

But Mr. Zappy would have none of that.

I received several repacks - all of them amazing! Let's have a look at the highlight of each pack.

For the record, these came from the same pack and I couldn't decide which I liked better, so I chose to share both. I'm really starting to fall in love with non-Topps minor league cards. The Alfaro is a 2013 South Atlantic League All Star card. Love it! I also love these Gallery of Greats inserts and did not have the Beltre, so this was a welcome addition! 

You can never go wrong with a Pudge card. I haven't bought much Bowman this year, so this was definitely on my list. I love old school Upper Deck, mainly because the photography was great. Here, we see Kenny Rogers catching the pigskin. I'm certain Nolan Ryan threw it a year before. (See what I did there?!)

Zippy even included an auto! This one comes from 2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks and features Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez. Chi Chi was cut and re-signed with the Rangers earlier this offseason. He's a first round pick, so hopefully he can put something together. The Bell hails from the 1983 Topps All-Star Set Collector's Edition, the first of it's kind in my collection.

Lastly, we finish up with a Sega CardGen card of Michael Young. This, too, is a first for my collection. I've been wanting one for a really long time (I've had a Matt Harrison Sega card in my eBay watchlist for a year or more).

I was unaware that these were Topps products. It's cool to see everything written in Japanese!

Zippy, thank you for the cards! They are truly appreciated!

I'm Starting To Fall In Love With Oddballs

When I first started collected, oddballs were just that to me: odd. I didn't know what to make of them. At some point, I decided that I didn't care for them.

However, as time has passed, I've found myself being drawn to oddballs more frequently.

For instance, I just picked this up:

I tried multiple times to get a scan of the other image on this coin (Bell's face), but evidently I'm not talented enough to do that.

This coin is form the 1984 7-11 Super Star Sports Coins set. I don't believe any other Rangers were featured in this set, unfortunately. That doesn't matter though, because I dig this one.

I think oddballs are really becoming some of my favorite pieces.

A New Addition From '16 Heritage

I've always been fascinated by the coincidences in life. There are so many that, when you really think about them, life becomes really interesting. Naturally, since I'm talking about it, I can't think of any general examples. 

One coincidence that I can think of occurred yesterday. I purchased my two boxes of 2017 Heritage and had a pretty decent haul. Once I got back to my apartment, I found a package in my mailbox. When I opened it up, I found this:

This is a gold parallel Clubhouse Collection relic of Cole Hamels from '16 Heritage High Number. What makes this a coincidence is that I thought this card was lost in the mail and had essentially given up on ever receiving it. However, I got it today.

Okay, so maybe that isn't a huge coincidence. But I needed something to say other than "Hey, look at my card!" Regardless, I appreciate you sitting through all of this and bearing with me. I hope all is well!

It's That Time of Year: My Annual Collecting Crisis Has Arrived

In what seems like an annual event, I once again find myself in a collecting funk, so to speak. I honestly don't know what is to blame for it this time because there are so many possible culprits. For instance, I have been at school studying, teaching and conducting research until at least midnight on an almost daily basis. I'm finishing up coursework this semester and will begin my dissertation in January. I'm trying to figure out if I want to teach or consult, or perhaps a combination of both. Beyond that, I still stress about my father's health. Speaking of stress, this election didn't really help. The campaign was truly divisive, and what's going on in the streets is just as, if not more, concerning. So yeah, I have a few things on my mind.

But I find myself now evaluating what I want to get out of collecting. I know I really enjoy sets like Heritage, Allen & Ginter and Stadium Club, so I think I want to continue building those. But other parts of my collection are no longer interesting to me. For instance, I think I am ready to jettison my Joey Gallo PC. Also on the chopping block:

My Texas Rangers Stadium Give Away (SGA) bobblehead collection. For whatever reason, I just lost interest, almost overnight. Another odd collection that I am ready to get rid of?

My Funko Pop! Marvel bobbles. No. More. Interest. I know these aren't baseball related, but they were definitely part of my collecting habits.

I don't want this to seem all doom and gloom for me. While I may have lost the itch for a few things, I have found myself enjoying different parts of my collection. For instance, I have been attempting to scan, front and back, every Ranger card that I have with the hopes of have a "Ranger Cardboard Encyclopedia," of sorts. This project is definitely fun, but it involves a lot of work. It makes me realize how many cards that I don't have. 

Furthermore, I also enjoy getting my sets into binders. It definitely makes my OCD more at ease when everything is in order. As I am learning for myself (but I've been hearing from y'all for a few years now), pages and binders can get pricey. But it feels that the project is well worth the work and cost.

I also feel excited to continue building my Rusty Greer and Matt Harrison PCs. 

So there's my crisis. I am looking to jettison some things and add some things. I guess I just need to figure out where to start. 

PS - If you have any interest in the above-mentioned items (Gallo, bobbleheads, Pops!), let me know. I'm ready to move 'em out!

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.