Saturday, March 16, 2013

Jaybarker Fan's Junk Mega-Post

As you may have seen, I've posted more in the last 2 weeks than I did in the prior 2 months.  Part of that has been catching up on the ever-growing stack of incoming packages on my card shelf.  Usually that means dealing with one package-per-post, but I'm not gonna do that when I have FOUR packages from Wes from Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  If you aren't reading his blog yet....HOW have you missed out this long?  He's a super-generous dude here in the blogosphere and has run some fun card-drafts, too.  I gotta post my favorites in honor of all he's doing out there for the people.

So here we go....the first (annual)
 Jaybarker Fan's Junk MEGA POST

NUMBER ONE
First package was one of his PWE BOMBs. 

Teahen looks downright regal in this card from UD A Piece of History.  I think he should be on the $2 bill or something.

NUMBER TWO
The second package was from one of his card drafts.


 I used my first pick on this Jay Buhner relic.  Not really sure why, but it was neat.  :-)  Anyone want it?  It's for trade.


Next, I picked up a few vintage Royals.  I'd never heard of Billy Sorrell, but that didn't stop me from pulling the trigger.  One of the nice things about cheering for a team that has only been around since 1969 is that you don't have to get bogged-down with all the old players from before you were born.  Just think if you were a team collector of the Yankees or Cubs.  You'd have to be on the lookout for everything starting with the turn-o'-the-century.  Not my problem.  I can mostly stick with the '70s and up.


 
TEBOW!  I'm pretty sure JBF just threw this one into the draft pile since he knew I would jump on it.  Love me some Tebow.

Here's a few "Propaganda Posters" that I grabbed since I thought they looked cool.  Any David Wright or Ichiro collectors need these?  They're for trade.


Here's a Deion Branch that I grabbed for my buddy, Raj.  It's X-Fractory.

Finally from this package, as my last pick I was able to grab a Rafael Palmeiro Pepsi card.  On this one, Pepsi is claiming to be the "Flavor of Baseball."  Call me crazy, but I always thought that the flavor of baseball was "Leather and Cork."  I guess we'll agree to disagree on this one.

(Oh yeah, this card is slightly wider than a regular card, so it doesn't fit in a penny-sleeve or page.  It is destined to live in a top-loader forever.)

NUMBER THREE
The penultimate package was ANOTHER PWE BOMB.  

This one had two more sweet cards I needed.  A Score Traded Buckner, and the Alex Gordon Masterpieces card.

NUMBER FOUR
The last package is from the "Oddball Draft."  Hey, I'm an oddball.  I like math and wear glasses and goofy band T-shirts.  I guess that means I should participate.  Oh, it was Oddball CARDS?  I misunderstood....

Let me take a look at what JBF is offering here....and I'll do my shopping.

CARDS ON MY HISTORY WANTLIST?????  Yes, please.  26 left on that subset to go.

Royals parallels? Throw those in my cart.

 History MINIS.  Last year when Ginter came out, I decided to look up who LL Zamenhof was since I had no clue.  Turns out he invented the language Esperanto.  Nobody needs to know that, right?  Wrong.  That little piece of knowledge won me a match in my online trivia league last season.  Yes, I am in an online trivia league.  And it is glorious.

 I had no idea this set existed.  I would have chased it.  Jared Ingersoll was a lawyer and VP candidate who signed the Constitution as a representative of Pennsylvania.

Finally....this appears to be my first "modern" tennis card.  I had to unlock the Tennis section in Zistle for this.

And.......Scene.  That's it!  Thanks for all of it, JBF!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Just Call Me "Josh Sr."

Right before the Super Bowl, Colbey at Cardboard Collections ran a Football Group Break.  That's something we don't see around here too often, so I had to jump in.  There's just one problem, I don't have one team that I root for, that is "MY team" like I have in baseball.  This is the result of growing up in a state with no NFL team and a father who was into college football way more than pro ball. 

Anyway, so I had to pick teams.  I decided I would try to get a Tebow (and grabbed the Broncos) or a Peyton Manning (and grabbed the Colts). 

No Tebow, but got 3 Peytons!  Here were my two favorites.

Peyton Manning
Here were my top picks among the other cards.  Got an Andrew Luck Score rookie, and a very sharp-looking Eric Decker.

It was a buy-one-get-one random team setup.  My random teams were the Falcons and Lions (not too shabby).  I got lucky and picked up a Lions hit.  Mr. Titus Young.


Or should I say "Titus Young Sr."  Why would I say that?  The guy is only 23.  "Sr." gets affixed to your name when you are in your 40's at the earliest, right?

Nope, Titus cared enough about naming his son Titus that he had the "Sr." put on his jersey last season. 


It's spreading!  Mikel Leshoure was doing it, too.  Oh, Detroit.


I doubt we'll be seeing much more of Titus Young now that his name is mostly seen in headlines like:
TITUS YOUNG SUCKER PUNCHES TEAMMATE and TITUS YOUNG RUNS WRONG ROUTES ON PURPOSE.  He doesn't get the privilege and opportunity that he could have had.  The Lions cut him after the season, he was picked up by the Rams, and then cut by them after nine days.  Have fun in the Arena League, Titus.  It's too bad....that's an awfully pretty card and blue swatch.

With that, my first football group break post is done.  Thanks to Colbey Hopper Sr. for making it happen!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Nothing Plain About These


I've got a few more goodies to show off courtesy of Roy-Z at "Plain Gray Swatch."  There's nothing plain about these, though.  It started off with an autograph of David DeJesus signing an autograph.  He is truly a class act -- graciously signed in-person for me once and tossed a BP ball to my wife before a game at Angels Stadium.  Just another reason why he's my favorite Royal.

And a few more that are NOT TOO SHABBY....Topps Chrome Purple!  Hosmer and Herrera.  Boo-yah.  These are very pretty in-person.


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Shiny Stuff from Sunny SoCal

2013 Topps Spring Fever - SF-21 - Salvador Perez
Look at that card.  Shiny.  Sunny.  Palm trees.  I can almost feel the ocean breezes wafting my way.  It must be spring!  Even though this card is of a Royal, it's definitely got a "California Vibe" to it.  That must have been infused by it's previous owner, Mr. ArpSmith.  He's a resident of Orange County (aka "The OC"), and even though he is in the Angels' backyard, he's a Giants fan.  Luckily for me, that means he has no use for any of these Royals...and two recent packages yielded these goodies.

That Salvy is the prettiest card he sent over.  The next best is this Aaron Crow parallel.  As always, the Wal-Mart blue borders look awesome with the KC powder-blue uniforms.

2013 Topps - Wal-Mart Blue Parallel - #213 - Aaron Crow
These emerald ones are weird.  Don't like the green + blue + yellow + white.  Yuck.  We've got Jeremy Guthrie for the next 3 years, so hopefully he can keep up the level of play to what it was in the 2nd half of last season.

2013 Topps - Emerald Parallel - #289 - Jeremy Guthrie
The last thing he sent me was the result of his question, "Do you need a Juan Gonzalez relic card?"  I responded honestly..."Nobody needs a Juan Gone relic card...especially one of him in a Royals jersey.  However, I do not have one."


I do now.  Thanks, Arpsmith!


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sea Shepherds, See Rams, No Seahawks

I love using Listia...as you can see from all my other Lista wins.  Everything I bid on is always free shipping.  That usually means a plain white envelope (PWE) with the card thrown in it.  Maybe a little note that says "Thanks for bidding" or somesuch.   However, in my most recent package, I got my card plus a little something... 


The seller included this sticker.  Sea Shepherd is apparently a group that tries to protect dolphins.  There was a little flyer in there about their work, too.  I'm trying to decide where to stick this.  Whenever I receive stickers in my trade packages (like I have from Spankee and from Nachos Grande), I always stick those to one of my trade boxes.  But this isn't really card related...If I had a punk-rock guitar case, this would look great on there.  But alas...

Oh, you probably want to know what kind of cards the environmentalists are getting rid of...

It's a 2012 Topps QB Immortals Insert - Kurt Warner. 

As always, if you have extra Kurt Warner cards, I'm your man!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Alive and Kicking

1999 Omega - Jason Hanson
Very occasionally, a baseball player will spend 20 years with one team.  Less-than-never does a football player do so.  Except that's what we have with Mr. Jason Hanson.  When this 1999 Omega card was printed, he already had 6 years with the Lions.  He is STILL their kicker.  All those years haven't helped his hairline.

Cards of kickers are fun fun fun.  Punters, too.

I pulled off another great Zistle trade with Steve D. (user SDre31 - go trade with him if you can).  In exchange for a whole mess of Yankees (who wants those anyway?) I got the Hanson card and all the following sent back to me.

2005 SPx Signature - David DeJesus - #29 - #'d/225
Beautiful!  It's a sticker autograph, but the card is great.  And one of my favorite players, too. 

It would have been a great trade with just one relic card, but Steve included this one, too!

2011 Bowman Sterling Rookie Relics - #MM - Mike Moustakas
That's some good stuff.  Here's a #'ed Guillen parallel, too.

And here is an example of how Zistle rocks.  When you are a collector of lesser-known players, it is pretty rare that someone will send them to you in a regular trade.  However, when they are on your Zistle wantlist, EVERYONE there will know that you want them.  So it's easy to make a match with their automatic system.  And that is how I received a card of Iowa State alum Loren Meyer (from Ruthven, IA, FYI). 
1995-1996 Topps Loren Meyer - #213


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Most Wanted: Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Pleading, imploring, inquiring, shameless begging....I'm not above any of those.

In a post in January, I figured out what was the lowest-numbered card that I didn't have a Royal for.  Turned out it was #320.  I said "gimme, gimme, gimme."  Well, not really, but asked if anyone had it.

You probably guessed how this ends.  A PWE shows up in my mailbox.  Says "GCRL" in the corner.  I slice it open and this guy pops out.

2002 Upper Deck 40-Man - #320 - Roberto Hernandez
Another generous gift from Jim!  Please go check out Garvey Cey Russell Lopes if you don't read it on a regular basis.

So that takes care of #320.  Next up on my Royals list is #388.  1992 Stadium Club - Tom Gordon, baby!!!! (or 1983 Topps George Brett All-Star.  I'm not picky! :-) ha ha)

Saturday, March 9, 2013

How does it make you feel?

How does it make you feel when someone sends you something off your want-list?

Thanking the heavens!

2004 Upper Deck - Mike Sweeney

Below is one (of many cards) that I needed which Roy-Z from Plain Grey Swatch sent my way last October.


2012 Allen and Ginter - Historical Turning Points - #7 - Printing Press

This was part of my "History Want List."  I am still looking for the balance of those inserts from that set and from "Minds that Made the Future."

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

I Got a Cookie in the Mail

 Not this:

But this!
1971 Topps Cookie Rojas - #118
That flying Mr. Rojas (and all the cards in this post) came to me from Joe at The Sandlot.  We'd been working on a trade for awhile...he sent me the cards last fall(!!!) and I am just now posting them.

Cookie was the main thing I wanted from him, but I ended up with a bunch of other stuff I wanted, too.

The scan doesn't show it well, but this is an acetate card.

2007 Upper Deck Elements - #103 - Mark Teahen
This is a metal card
1999 Skybox Molten Metal Explosion - #126 - Jeremy Giambi
This is Jeff Montgomery shooting his arm as a gun.
1997 Metal Universe - #95 - Jeff Montgomery
And this is Keith Lockhart getting attacked by a ginormous spider and some vines.  Oh Metal Universe....how I love thee.
1997 Metal Universe - #94 - Keith Lockhart
Here's Greinke with a nice blue border.
2009 UD A Piece of History - #43 - Zack Greinke - Blue Parallel - #/299
And a couple of old guys:
2007 SP Legendary Americana - #62 - Jefferson Davis
2007 SP Legendary Americana - #68 - Samuel F.B. Morse

That Samuel F.B. Morse was quite a looker (and so many medals!)  Anybody know morse code?  I've got a hankering to go buy a telegraph machine now.  My first message will be:
"SOS - I AM A ROYALS FAN - PLEASE HELP"

Does anyone else have any "Legendary Americana"?  These are actually pretty neat.

Thanks again, Joe! 

Monday, March 4, 2013

My Episode of the Game Show - "The Experts"

I'll have you know....I'm kind of a big-deal.  :-)

Not only do I have my VERY OWN BLOG (super-rare), but I'm also a huge star on the internet.  What's that?  You haven't seen me there?  That must be because you haven't watched my new episode of the YouTube game show called "The Experts."

In "The Experts", every episode pits three players against each other who are experts in various areas -- and you only answer the questions in your topic.  Previous matchups have included things like "USC Football vs Friends vs The Oscars" and "Harry Potter vs. Parks and Recreation vs. Robots" and "Game of Thrones vs. NSYNC vs. The NFL."  I decided to try my hand at it in the epic match-up of:

STAR WARS vs. DEXTER vs. THE NEW TESTAMENT

<cue dramatic music>

No dramatic music?  OK.  You'll just have to watch it in the clips below.  Let me know what you think in the comments.  I'm "Josh", but you probably already figured that part out.

Round 1:  The Lightning Round (ka-chow)!


Round 2:  Play or Pass?



Round 3:  Right or Wrong?



Round 4:  Betting!



Round 5:  The "Expert of  Experts"


Saturday, March 2, 2013

The King of Diamonds -- Better Late Than Never!


Is there a statute of limitations on how quickly you have to blog something before it is "stale"?

NOT ON THIS BLOG.  Back in November I entered a card-draft on "The Diamond King" and Kevin sent me a bunch of good stuff.

Here was the reason I bought in:

2003 UD Patch Collection #128 - Seneca Wallace
This is my first Seneca patch (well, manupatch)....the scanner couldn't figure out where to focus, so the face just looks like a mess, but it's pretty neat. 
We've got Craig Biggio in Airline Miles form....

1998 Dugout Axcess Frequent Flyer - FF6 - Craig Biggio
 This is a slabbed, uncirculated Cadillac Williams relic from Topps Pristine.  It's #/100.

2005 Topps Pristine - Uncirculated #113 - #038/100 - Cadillac Williams

In one of the bonus rounds I picked up these old Lakers.

Funny Thing is, they put the guy who plays Murdock onto their card.  I wonder why they have an actor on there.


The rest of this stuff is FOR TRADE.  If any of it interests you, please let me know.