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.

Engagement Pictures and Aquatic Exploration



1997 Fleer Metal Universe - #91 - Johnny Damon

Why is Johnny Damon being attacked?  By a MOLLUSK?!?!  The scan does not do this bad-boy justice.  This is a picture of JD with a diving helmet super-imposed over his head while the squid tries to take out his legs and drag him back to the sea.  Oh, Fleer Metal -- you were awesome. This (along with everything else in this post) came from Jaybarkerfan's last card draft. 

The main reason I had bought-into this draft was for this guy:

2002 Topps Gold Label - Frank White Relic - #ACR-FW

I was the #1 overall pick...and it was MINE!  Frank White in the baby blues.  It's a shame how the KC front-office has treated him lately.  He was always one of my favorites, and loved his commentary during the TV broadcasts. I used my next set of picks to get this one:

2004 SPx Autograph Relic - Justin Huisman - #183 - #/799

I could tell Huisman was a Royal, but I did not remember him AT ALL.  So I went to do a little research on him, and the first thing that came up were his engagement pictures:

She seems nice. 

Justin's MLB career consisted of 25 IP over 14 games back in 2004.  He's now the coach of the "Northwest Indiana Oilmen"...a collegiate team.

Ginter Minis - Rasputin, Robert E. Lee, Alex Gordon

I got 3 Ginter minis, including one of Rasputin -- Russia's greatest love machine.  I cannot make an adequate statement about the relative love machine greatness of Lee or Gordon.


1972 Topps Leo Durocher, 2002 Fleer Platinum Wheelhouse Ichiro

I picked the Durocher since he looked a little crabby.  I picked the Ichiro because it had gears on it.  Turns out that one is embossed, too.
Wes threw in some more goodies for me in addition to the formal picks.


2011 Topps Lineage - Billy Butler Mini and Base

Billy Butler was the ONLY Royal on the Lineage checklist last year, and now I've got his mini and his base card.  Sidebar Rant:  When people were doing Lineage group breaks last year, I asked a few of them how much it would be to get the Royals.  They said it was the same price as any other team.  I pointed out to them that it was only these cards, but they didn't budge.  Needless to say, they didn't sell the Royals because you would have to be an idiot to pay the same price for the Royals that you would for the Yankees or Dodgers.  Many people who run group breaks do a good job of varying the prices based on the team and the checklists of the boxes they are opening, but if you are running group breaks where you sell all single-team-slots for a flat price, you are severely under-charging some people and over-charging others.
  

1997 E-X 2000 - Jermaine Dye and Johnny Damon

Last but not least, these two are from the 1997 E-X2000 set.  The sky/clouds piece is a translucent plastic so that you see that part better when there is a light behind it.  These are super-fun.  I got the Barry Bonds from this set, too.  

I like the looks of these.  I only wonder how much more Fleer Metal could have improved these...maybe have a giant hawk in the sky shooting lasers at Jermaine?  Maybe have Johnny trying to hit a jet fighter with his bat?  Some sort of DRAGON?

I think more cards should have a dragon...or at least a leviathan.