The Sickest Ryan Braun Auto I Have Ever Seen

Oh.  You thought I meant that OTHER Ryan Braun??????   Sorry, pal.

 That was just a tease to show you something else spectacular.  Wes at Jaybarkerfan's Junk has been running a "Free Card Friday" contest for the past several weeks.  It's easy -- you comment and are entered. Sometimes you have to guess the # on a serial numbered card.  It varies, but it's never hard.  A few weeks ago -- I was the winner!  And not just the winner of a few cards....I won the "big lot."  It was 250 cards, six total hits, plus a little bag of Royals goodies just for me.  Wes packed a small flat-rate box full for me, and I'm ready to show it off.  If you aren't reading his blog yet....MAKE SURE YOU DO!  Everything in this post came from him.

In addition to the Braun above at the start, there were two 2011 Royals liquorfractors:

KC Minis.

Another "MINDS" insert for me.  He also included a Tesla one, too, but I didn't see that until I had already scanned everything.  I am making steady progress on this subset.

(Everything below this point is for trade if there is something that you want for your collection.)

FOUR Hits.  Dang...that is a LARGE autograph on the Bird card.  Brandon Phillips looks unnaturally happy.  Geovany Soto looks unnaturally small.

Here is a whole Mess-o'-Minis.

Here is a whole Shebang-o'-Shinies.

Diamonds and Die-Cuts.

And lots of everything else.  This isn't even 20% of everything he sent me.

Thank you so much, Wes!  This was incredible!  I showed them ALL to my wife.  She was shocked at how good it was.  Much love, brother.

1982

Journey with me now to the past.  All the way to the year.....1982.  Reagan was President, "Physical" and "Eye of the Tiger" topped the charts, and I was 3.  I don't remember much (ok, anything) from that year, but from the look of these cards above, I was definitely missing out.

I made a small recent trade with blog-reader Paul B.  He sent me this "Tour of '82" -- Kansas City style.  Fleer, Donruss, and Topps. You can't go wrong with guys named Renie, Rance, and Quis (among many others).  Thanks again, Paul!

Des Moines, Iowa Baseball Card Show

I was back home in Iowa in October to visit my parents and my little sister.  I knew I was going to be in Des Moines one weekend, so I just checked the Beckett Show Calendar to see if there were any card shows happening then.  It turns out that there was!  Here's what the listing said :

Urbandale American Legion Hall, 6805 Douglas Avenue, 8-3, 80T
Ryan Grother 515-491-8403 ryancardz@gmail.com

Based upon that, I was pretty stoked.  80 TABLES?!?  This thing is going to be massive!!!!  Well.........not so much. When I got there I counted 8 or 9 dealers (10% of the advertised amount).  I only had to go about 4 miles from my sister's house to this show, so it was no biggie for me, but if I'd made a longer trip based on that info I'd be pretty ticked.

However, this show DID redeem itself.  6 of the 8 dealers had either dime or quarter boxes to sift through, and I was able to find a bunch of "treasures" for myself.  Some of them were also willing to negotiate on bulk pricing on those dime/quarter cards, helping me to stretch my budget a little farther.  All-in-all, I came home with a 250-count box nearly full.  It was all cards I wanted for myself or for trades, and I think my total spending was under $30.

Here's a sampling of the stuff I picked up.

The greatest athlete to ever come out of Iowa State.

2007 Allen and Ginter - Cael Sanderson - #23

The last two "State" Royals that I needed from that Ginter Subset.  I am still looking for the Iowa card (Casey Blake) if anyone has that.

Three more MINDS.  Now I want to go do electro-magnetic experiments on a steamboat...

One guy there had a whole mess of Panini Americana.  He must have just busted a few boxes and was looking to dump cards.  He had Presidents with lovely facial hair:

A Married Couple (The Yale card will go in my wife's binder):

And some gentlemen with VERY unique leaping styles:

I always liked Barbara Bush.  She felt like "America's Grandma" to me.  She was the REAL Barbara Bush...not like that fake one.  :-)

Here were a few dime-box cards I grabbed for trade.  Do any of my Dodger-blogger friends need any of these?  The "Invincible" card is half-cardboard/half-plastic.  The Goodwins are minis.

After that I was just looking to pick up miscellaneous Royals cards.  Neither of these gents are with KC anymore, though. 

Some randoms....Bo Knows Archery!  Don Denkinger is the favorite umpire of all Royals fans everywhere. 

Finally, I grabbed a card off my "Most-Wanted" list for just 10 cents.  Justin Maxwell taking BP in the construction site.

2008 Upper Deck - Justin Maxwell - #326

Just think what I could have come back with from an 80-table show!  Probably 10 of each of those cards above....

The Best Baltimore Orioles Card

New Kids on the Block Card - NKOTB

WHAT!!!??  That's an Orioles card, isn't it?????  :-)

Nobody NEEDS an Angel Berroa card

2004 Upper Deck - Angel Berroa

As I was opening up my package from Spankee's most-recent Moneyball Group Break, (he's a NEW DAD, btw) I was showing the cards to my wife.  At first I excitedly said "Here's an Angel Berroa card that I still need!"  Then I came to my senses and realized that, as my post-title implies, nobody needs an Angel Berroa card.  I complained a lot about him during his time in KC, so my wife would prefer not to have anything in the house by which to remember him.

2009 SP Authentic - #23 - Zack Greinke

SP Authentic was one of my favorite recent sets.  Clean design, white base stock, very nice.  This Greinke is a great example of it.

Here were a few more prospect beauties.  Although Salvy is up in the bigs now and doesn't look like he's going back to the minors anytime soon.

1983 Topps - Paul Splittorf

I don't know why this was in the group break.  Maybe it came from one of those "oddball" repacks or something...I doubt Spankee was opening a 1983 wax pack.  Anyway, I still love it.

2002 Donruss Super Estrellas #39 - Carlos Beltran

Jardinero!  Jardinerrrroooooooo...........!!!!!

What's this junk?  An expired code to go to the 2008 All-Star Game?  I think that game has already occurred.  After all that good stuff at the top, Spankee, I think your break is really going to the dogs.

2012 Allen and Ginter - Man's Best Friend - #2 - Dalmatian

Yeah.  It's DEFINITELY going to the dogs.  No way this break can be redeemed now.  :-)

2007 Topps Chrome Autograph - Angel Sanchez

Consider yourself redeemed!  This was a throw-in from our gracious host. I didn't know this one existed, so it was super-fun to see this come out of the envelope.

Indeed I do, Sad Harry Potter clone!  Indeed I do.  Thanks, Spankee.

Butlers, Lemons, and South Park

That's pretty much the best "Certified Auto" I've ever seen.  No, it's not actually from the 1987 set (I knew you were wondering).  It was on top of the latest trade package I received from Rosenort at the Condition Sensitive blog.  He had already posted the stuff I sent him.  However, everything he sent me wasn't just "Terrance and Phillip"-style Glamour Shots (unfortunately).  He also included some real cards, and they all hit my want-lists, too.  Among everything he sent me, I had a few favorites...

Like this.  These guys are Iowa State alumni.  That initial Skybox set was OUTSTANDING.  I remember those and the "computer generated backgrounds" so well.

This guys is an old, odd-looking, Royals manager!  Everything I am looking for!

1971 Topps Bob Lemon

A few miscellaneous cards for my burgeoning Brookens collection.

And the whole reason we kicked off the trade...the Billy Butler Gypsy Queen relic card. 

2012 Gypsy Queen Relic Jersey Card - Billy Butler

Thanks so much, Rosenort!!! 

The Listia Hall of Fame

Listia is a good place to get rid of stuff you don't need and pick up stuff you do.  I picked up this card on there recently.  It obviously fits in well to my Iowa State collection, and is an on-card auto, which is very cool.  But who was the seller?  None other than noted blogger and Seneca super-collector "SpastikMooss" of the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame blog!!  We've dealt with each other before, so it was nice to give him a little business and hook him up with some credits (not that he needs any more :-)).

I'm Thankful...

....that the elections are over. 

Especially the '88 election.

By which I mean the 1888 election.  (Sorry, Grover)

2008 Topps Campaign Matchups #1888

(this came to me via trade from Zistle User AAB in exchange for a few Vikings cards.)

Fear the Beard





1988 Topps - Jeff Reardon



SuperDuperTrade

I am once again WAY behind on trade posts.  These things tend to come in waves, plus I've been trying to spend more time with my little son and get to sleep at a reasonable hour.  That said, if you have sent me something in a trade....I'll get to it eventually.  :-)

Today's trade is from SuperDuperMan at the blog Fantastic Catch.

This card is Super.

This card is Duper.

This card is a Man.

 And these guys are playing a Fantastic game of Catch.

Andruw Jones Game-Used Bat

I'm really starting to question the authenticity of the bats they are putting in these cards...

Associative Baseball Trivia

Ken-to-the-Jennings

Ken Jennings runs a weekly trivia contest on his blog.  Today he asked this question:

What unusual distinction is shared by all these baseball players?  Wade Boggs, Rick Burleson, Ron Cey, Frank Crosetti, Andre Dawson, Ralph Garr, Rich Gossage, Joe Medwick, Phil Regan, Tris Speaker

I got it pretty quickly.  Can you?  Answer in the comments.

Most Wanted - 1976 Topps Vada Pinson

Have you seen this man???

1976 Topps #415 - Vada Pinson

I'm heading on a little mini-vacation this weekend which will involve a card show.  I was trying to get my want-lists together, and noticed that I only needed ONE MORE Royal to have the 1976 Topps team set completed.  It's good Mr. Vada Pinson above - Card #415.  I am making him Target #1 for this weekend.  However, if I don't end up with him via purchase -- would any of you have him for trade?

I'll post anything else notable when I return.

What the heck are you DOING? Sketchy or Classy?

Whenever you book a hotel online in a strange city, you never really know if it is going to be a gem or if it is gonna be super-sketchy.  You might be right by the museums, shopping, and fine restaurants -- or you might be by the all-night liquor store with a view of the sewage treatment plant and the red-light district.  

It's the same with card trading.  Whenever you get a trade package, it's tough to know if it is going to be a high-class trade, or a super-sketchy trade...or both.

I just made another zistle.com trade -- this time with a user named jkgrice.  In exchange for a bunch of Tom Glavine cards and some miscellaneous Ginter, let's take a look at what I got.

1996 Pinnacle Bob Hamelin

WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME OVER THAT SIGN, BOB HAMELIN????  Could you BE any more creepy about it?  And why do you even need a sign?  Anyone should know that that is Bob "The Hammer" Hamelin.  They should just give him a hammer to take to all photo shoots and then he could carry that around, and he wouldn't need to look up and show his chubby, bespectacled face to the rest of us.*

Maybe we can find someone else to make this a little less sketchy.  You there!  Good sir!  Ahoy!  Please let us see if you are a distinguished gentleman...

1982 Fleer Dennis Lamp

Biker 'stache......check.
Tinted Aviator sunglasses.....check.
Satin Jacket....check.
Van behind the drugstore where he offers kids free candy.....check.
 I love Dennis Lamp quite a bit....but if we're looking for "classy," he ain't it.

What about this young man?  Just a Rookie!  Surely he is not yet jaded by the world. 

1996 Score Mike Sweeney Rookie

I love the baby-face there...so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Speaking of babies, Mike Sweeney's newest baby fits inside a baseball glove:  Nothing says highbrow like a baby in a baseball glove.

Well....we're definitely getting more classy as we go along.  Is there anything else we can add to spruce this place up?  Add a little glitz?

Yes.  ROYALTY.

2011 Allen and Ginter - Royal Wedding - Price William and Kate Middleton

All of a sudden I find myself craving crumpets, listening to the BBC, and wanting to invade the Falklands.  WE JUST GOT CLASSY UP IN HERE.  Despite Kate's recent troubles with the French media...everything around here just got fancy-fied.  I guess I have jkgrice to thank for that!  :-)

* I can say things like this because I am chubby and bespectacled.