A Blue Chicken and Some Sparkly Suits

Back in late July I made a purchase from "Erik's Fire Sales" on Twitter (@EriksFire)...well it was really a large quantity of very small purchases.  He was posting tons of cards for sale, and you could claim whatever you wanted.  Here are the highlights for my keepers...in addition to these, I grabbed some cards for the PCs of my frequent-traders.

Obviously, my stack would always start with Royals.  I love the red Guthrie, the green Holland, the Black Gold Montgomery, and an assortment of unusual Salvys.

Here are some Basketball Coaches.  This is a VERY minor, back-burner PC of mine, but I grab them when I can.  However, I've got to say something about the Panini photo selection here...is this the best you can do??  Coaches just standing there - arms crossed or hands on hips?  Do these guys actually DO anything?  Can I get a pointing and a screaming coach, please?

On the plus side, it's not every day you get an X-Fractor of a guy in a suit.

 I grabbed a few football cards:

1. Kurt Warner - my favorite player ever.
2. David Johnson - another UNI alum and prime contributor to my Fantasy Football success in 2016, so I have a small PC of him.
3. Alan Page - Just in case anyone doesn't know his story, the guy had a Hall of Fame football career, got his law degree while he was still in the NFL from the University of Minnesota, and THEN became a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court.  What a life!  

Brush with Greatness:  When I offered to pay my dime for the Alan Page card....his wife liked my Tweet.  :-)
https://twitter.com/DenHartogJ/status/1016475151372836864

This blog is called "Royals and Randoms" for a reason...I do like my oddballs. The chicken is a blue parallel and my sons are trying to get me to trade it to them.  I like that I am developing two oddball collectors.

His prices were quite reasonable...I don't think anything you will see here was more than 50 cents --  the Luminescent die-cut was the most expensive.  He hasn't run a sale in the last month or so, but he's definitely worth following on Twitter for some good cheap pickups next time he runs a sale.

Which of these cards was your favorite?

20,000 Cards - Box 1, Layer 2

As I hinted in my last post, the 2nd layer of Box 1 looked to have much more variety than the first layer.  Boy was I right!  This layer had just over 1,000 cards in it, and you can see how many different unique piles we needed to account for all the different sets.

This time I was able to pull a big stack for my own PC.  I do not normally collect basketball cards, but this (near) set was from 2003 Upper Deck.  It has the LEGO Sports branding on it, and some of them are gold parallels.  We are pretty LEGO-crazy in this house, so I will save this for my boys (or for myself?) for later.

On the left is a picture of the "vintage-est" card that has come out of the box so far -- a 1981 Donruss Ron Cey (happy birthday, Ron!).  Anybody need it?  The card on the right is a lenticular Beanie Baby card, from "Mary Beth's Bean Bag World."  It was the Beckett magazine of Beanie Babies.  I'm keeping it! :-)

Looking at some more cards that are for trade, these were all from 2003 UD Sweet Spot Classic.  This is a very well-designed base set, with gold foil at the top/bottom.  Altogether, there were around 50 of those.  Let me know if you have any needs here, and I can check the rest of them.  (Already pulled the PeeWee Reese for you, N.O.)  The Williams and Righetti were each Serial #'d.

Aloha!  Oddball alert -- I also got 13 cards from the 2004 University of Hawaii baseball team.

Some umpires.

2004 Gold Parallells.

Starquest.

3 Sakics and the author of "Cujo."

Old-style Archives.

These are LAPD Dodgers cards.  4 of the 5 are still attached -- accordion-style.

Here's where things get interesting.  I hit a little pocket that had TEN Starting Lineup cards in it.  I was pretty impressed and took a picture of those right away.  What a great find.  Until...

...I found ANOTHER ten on the other side.  There's ol' Javy Lopez on the Durham Bulls.  :-)  There were actually 11...including an Eric Lindros that I grabbed for myself. 

That's all the loose cards from that layer -- now for the boxes.

If you recall, in the picture I showed from the last post, there were 3 cardboard boxes shown.  1 was clearly labeled as 2001 Bowman Draft.  one we figured was 1987 Donruss: The Rookies, and the other one said it was collectible playing cards.  Well, the playing cards weren't baseball...they were football!

Here were a few of my favorites.  Any needs there?  The box probably had 80-90% of the full set.  Here's the checklist.

The Donruss:The Rookies box was <insert sound of a sad trumpet>.  Half the cards were gone...all the good ones.  Best players left were Chris Bosio and Mike Greenwell....  Moving on.

The last thing was a little box of 2001 Bowman Draft, claiming to have the complete base set.  It was packed tight, so I'm guessing it did, but did not verify.   I pulled out what I think were the best players from that set:

That's a Chase Utley rookie, and a rookie of "Covelli" Crisp.  He wasn't officially "Coco" yet!

When I bought this lot from the guy, he said that it didn't have any jersey or autograph cards in it.  That's fine with me...I'm all about that base.

(sorry)

So much to my surprise, when I opened that Bowman box, these guys were in the back.

A red Futures Game jersey of Brett Myers and an on-card auto of Bobby Bradley.  Bradley may not have been the world's greatest pitcher, but that is a NICE signature!


So that's it.  Below I will post a quick summary of what came out of that layer.  Enjoy these while you can...the next layer looks more junk-waxy than this one.

To help make my future posts on this better, What was your favorite card from this post, and why?  Thanks.

Layer 2 Summary:

Baseball	2001 Bowman Draft	110
Baseball	1989 Bowman	83
Baseball	2004 Cracker Jack	80
Basketball	Misc. Basketball	66
Baseball	1990 Topps	51
Baseball	2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic	49
Football	1992 NFL Star Playing Cards	48
Football	Misc. Football	39
Baseball	2002 Upper Deck 40-Man	36
Baseball	1987 Donruss:  The Rookies	32
Baseball	2002 Bowman Heritage	29
Basketball	LEGO Sports	23
Baseball	1999 Upper Deck Century Legends	21
Multi-Sport	Starting Lineup	20
Baseball	1990 Donruss	18
Baseball	1994 Upper Deck	18
Baseball	2002 Donruss Diamond Kings	18
Baseball	1999 Upper Deck Collector's Choice	17
Baseball	1989 Donruss	14
Baseball	1989 Topps	14
Baseball	1999 Fleer Metal Universe	14
Baseball	Royals	14
Baseball	1998 Pacific Omega	13
Baseball	2004 University of Hawaii - KKEA	13
Baseball	1998 Skybox Thunder	12
Baseball	Logo Stickers	12
Hockey	Misc. Hockey	12
Baseball	1991 Upper Deck	11
Baseball	2003 Donruss Champions	10
Baseball	1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice	9
Baseball	1988 Topps Big	9
Baseball	1998 Upper Deck Collector's Choice	8
Baseball	2003 Topps	7
Baseball	2004 Fleer Authentix	7
Baseball	1998 Fleer Ultra	5
Baseball	2002 Flair	5
Baseball	1999 Topps	5
Baseball	2004 Topps	4
Baseball	Barry Larkin	2
Multi-Sport	Other	116

Reminders of My Youth

Iowa has cold winters, but no mountains.  That means from December-March you aren't doing too much stuff outside.  Growing up there, that meant watching a lot of college basketball during those cold, dark months.  My Dad was an Iowa State alum, so we cheered hard and loud for the Cyclones all those years.  One of their best players during m Junior-High/High-School years was Loren Meyer.  From Ruthven, IA, Meyer would go on from Iowa State to play three seasons in the NBA with the Mavericks, Suns, and Nuggets. 

Imagine my surprise when this came up on Listia recently.  It's my first Loren Meyer auto, and the only one I have ever seen. I got it fairly cheap, since most people have no idea who he is, and most who know don't care.  :-)

1995-96 Classic - Autograph Edition - Loren Meyer

The guy guarding him is "Big Country," Bryant Reeves of Oklahoma State. 

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!!! 

My Kind of Basketball Players

In May I offered up a bunch of NBA cards for trade.  Roger from Cool Breeze Baseball Buzz wanted some of the Shaq's and Dwight Howards that I had.  He hooked me up with some Royals, a bunch of Iowa State Cyclones basketball, and my mid-childhood man-crush, Mark Price.  He was a great free-throw shooter, you know.  All the kids LOVED him. 

Here's Mark...being the Mark-iest that he can be:

Mark Price

The Cyclones are here...being all cold and Upper Midwest-y:   We've got Victor Alexander, Jeff Grayer, Kelvin Cato, Loren Meyer, Fred Hoiberg, and Jeff Hornacek.  I think Roger was reading my Want-Lists!!!  :-)   -------------->

Iowa State Cyclone Basketball Alumni

Thanks for the great trade, Roger!

Why is this card awesome?

Why is this card awesome?

Comment below.  I will send something to the first person with the "CORRECT" answer.  :-)

EDIT:  Rhubarb_Runner finally came up with the correct answer.   This card is awesome because it is an "Orange Julius."   Now I'm thirsty...anyone want to join me at the mall?

Quick Basketball Auction Plug

I was finally able to get rid of all the basketball base cards that I had offered for trade previously.  Two 11-year old boys came with their Dad to pick them up after I listed them for free on Craigslist.  They were very happy and I'm glad the cards found a place where they would be appreciated.

I still have a few inserts and serial-numbered cards that I am trying to get rid of on Listia.com.  It's like a big swap-meet with people giving stuff away.  You start off with 400-500 free credits to spend, so go get some and use them!  :-)  I have posted before about some of my free Listia gets. 

Here is the stuff I have posted there....1) A lot of Serial #'d cards  2) A lot of NBA insert cards  3) A gold Lebron James Parallel

more free stuff on Listia

Check it out and go bid -- I would love for some of this to end up with one of my blog readers.

Berroa, Thy Pants Aren't Argyle

Angel Berroa - Hot Materials Relic - Future Swatch

Back in January (yikes!), I made a trade with Greg Z. from Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle.  He was the prompt-posting half of this trade...posting what I sent him in February.  I sent him a Poker auto + Dodgers + Phoenix Suns.  Here's what I got in return.  The Berroa card above Greg was HAPPY to part with, and I was happy to get it.  I figured it was a jersey/shirt relic...until I looked a little closer - "Spring Training Pants."  I like to think that the card company had him changing in and out of pants all morning so they could make more of these.

Run your sprints...change your pants.

Take some BP...change your pants.

Hustle down the line....


...Change your pants.

The other relic I got out of this trade was a nice blue Brandon Marshall relic from the Broncos.  Yeah, that was 2 teams ago for him, but it's still a nice card.  

Leaf Rookies and Stars Relic - Brandon Marshall

 I like the weird stuff, too.  One of my fun collections is "Grumpy Coaches."  Greg was more than happy to oblige me with some NBA guys, a Zen-free Phil Jackson, and old Tommy Lasorda. 

 We also got an example of some fine NBA fashion.  Rec Specs + KJ's Bow-Tie.  SWEEEEEEET.

So which of these is your favorite??

Thanks, Greg!

Last Call for Basketball

Howdy all,

This is the last call for basketball cards.  If you are a team or player collector, please head over here to see what is still for trade:
http://royalsandrandoms.blogspot.com/2012/05/does-anybody-collect-basketball-cards.html

I have finished sorting all the commons into teams, so anyone who wants to trade for a team will get a pretty nice-sized stack. If you already commented on the previous post or emailed me, your stuff is in the packing process.

Lots of guys still available:  Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Yao Ming, Patrick Ewing, Tracy McGrady, etc.
Most teams' commons are still available, too.

Respond by the end of this week (Saturday 5/19), or else it will be gone to Craigslist.

Does Anybody Collect Basketball Cards?

UPDATE:  (6/20/2012) All of the base cards were given away free on craigslist. Two 11-year-old boys came with their Dad to pick them up.  They were very excited.  :-)  I think all those cards found a good home.


Dwight Howard - SPXcitement



I need to get rid of my basketball cards.

As I've mentioned before, I love buying card lots on Craigslist and at Garage Sales.  You get a lot of variety that way, and it's fun to sort through them and see what you got.  However, with that variety, you find that there will be stuff that does not suit your collecting goals, and it just ends up taking up valuable space.  That is where I am with basketball cards.  I have not paid attention to the NBA in years (since the early 90s), so the whole thing doesn't do much for me anymore.  My focus is narrowing to certain players (as seen on the sidebar to the right--->), so anything I have bought in these lots that is basketball needs to go. 



Lebron James - Phenomenal Beginning - 2003-04

I WANT TO TRADE THESE TO YOU.  I have pulled out all the "stars" (or at least those I considered to be stars) and serial-numbered cards and listed them below.  If you are a player-collector, LET ME KNOW.  I also have several boxes of mid-level players/commons.  If you are a team collector, HIT ME UP.  I'd be happy to sort through and pull out all the Denver Nuggets or Philadelphia 76ers (for example).  If you collect guys from a certain college....give me a list of names and I'll take a gander for you.  These mostly range from the early 90s through about 2007.  It is primarily base cards, but there are some inserts and serial numbered ones, too.  No relics/autos here. 

Allan Houston - Topps Chrome Black Refractor

Here's the list of stars along with the # of cards I have for each one.  If you want more information on what I have for a particular player, let me know.  None of these are high-dollar cards, but there are some with  COMC prices of $2-$5, so it's not all junk.  I would love to get KC Royals back in trade.  If that's not possible, I would take football or any of the basketball players shown in my want-lists.  If you wanted to do Paypal to cover shipping/supplies instead of a trade, we could probably work that out, too. Anything not spoken for will be disposed of in some as-yet-undetermined fashion. 

First Name	Last Name	# of Cards	Notes
Kareem	Abdul-Jabbar	1
Shareef	Abdur-Rahim	12
Ray	Allen	15
Tony	Allen	1	incl.1 SN#
Carmelo	Anthony	7
Gilbert	Arenas	8
Ron	Artest	10
William	Avery	1	incl.1 SN#
Charles	Barkley	8
Shane	Battier	9
Mike	Bibby	16
Chauncey	Billups	8
Larry	Bird	1
Andrew	Bogut	2
Carlos	Boozer	1
Chris	Bosh	7
Elton	Brand	12
Kobe	Bryant	5
Marcus	Camby	1
Vince	Carter	13
Sam	Cassell	3
Derrick	Coleman	3
Sasha	Danilovic	1	Sticker
Baron	Davis	14
Vlade	Divac	2
Clyde	Drexler	7
Joe	Dumars	5
Tim	Duncan	9
Mike	Dunleavy, Jr.	7
Patrick	Ewing	13
Michael	Finley	4	incl.1 SN#
Derek	Fisher	5
Steve	Francis	10
Walt	Frazier	1	incl.1 SN#
Kevin	Garnett	16
Pau	Gasol	15
Manu	Ginobili	14
Drew	Gooden	3
Anfernee / "Penny"	Hardaway	10
Tim	Hardaway	9
Grant	Hill	19
Kirk	Hinrich	2
Allan	Houston	12	incl.1 SN#
Dwight	Howard	5	incl.1 SN#
Juwan	Howard	3
Kris	Humphries	1
Zydrunas	Ilgauskas	2	incl.1 SN#
Allen	Iverson	10
Jim	Jackson	5
Lebron	James	6	+ Opened "Phenomenal Beginning" Box Set
Antawn	Jamison	4
Marko	Jaric	2	incl.1 SN#
Richard	Jefferson	13
Joe	Johnson	13
Larry	Johnson	15
Kevin	Johnson	14
Magic	Johnson	2
Michael	Jordan	13
Shawn	Kemp	16
Jason	Kidd	15
Andrei	Kirilenko	12
Toni	Kukoc	18
Christian	Laettner	3
Dan	Majerle	3
Karl	Malone	10
Moses	Malone	2
Stephon	Marbury	15
Shawn	Marion	4
Kenyon	Martin	15
Jamal	Mashburn	5
Tracy	McGrady	11
Darius	Miles	3	incl.2 SN#
Reggie	Miller	10
Andre	Miller	1
Yao	Ming	12
Eric	Montross	3
Alonzo	Mourning	25
Chris	Mullin	11
Dikembe	Mutombo	13
Steve	Nash	2
Dirk	Nowitzki	8
Lamar	Odom	9
Hakeem	Olajuwon	12
Shaquille	O'Neal	15
Jermaine	O'Neil	14
Robert	Parish	3
Tony	Parker	18
Chris	Paul	3
Gary	Payton	20
Paul	Pierce	13
Scottie	Pippen	17
Michael	Redd	16
Mitch	Richmond	9
Glenn	Robinson	3
Dennis	Rodman	5
Detlef	Schrempf	3
Steve	Smith	3
Latrell	Sprewell	3
John	Stockton	15
Peja	Stojakovic	18
Isiah	Thomas	2
Nick	Van Exel	3
Keith	Van Horn	5
Dwyane	Wade	9
Antoine	Walker	3
Rasheed	Wallace	4
Ben	Wallace	1	incl.1 SN#
Chris	Webber	25
Delonte	West	2	incl.1 SN#
Dominique	Wilkins	7
Deron	Williams	2
James	Worthy	2

Teams Claimed
Chicago Bulls
Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats
Miami Heat

Teams Available
Everybody Else