Stephen Gostkowski - Net Fusion

One of my goals to fill out my collection in the future is to expand my collection of NFL Kickers and Punters.  When I saw last Fall that Pacific was coming out with an insert set of ALL kickers, I knew I would have to get part of it.   Kickers + "Net" Manu-Relics???  I'm IN.   I was all set to get it...until I saw the prices.  They were WAY too high - at least for my taste. 

During a recent Ebay scouring, I saw this guy -- Stephen Gostkowski of the Patriots.

2011 Crown Royale Net Fusion - #15 - Stephen Gostkowski

I ended up with this for $4 + shipping, which was finally within the "reasonable" range for me (that's still the 2nd-most money I've ever spent on a card).  It looks sweet.and will feature prominently as the centerpiece of my kicker collection for the immediate future. 

The Yunicorn

2011 Topps Yuniesky Betancourt - #289

I don't like the Yunicorn.  HE CAN'T HIT.  I was happy when the Royals traded him (although I was less happy we had to part with Greinke to get rid of YB).  However, he's back with the Royals now as a free agent signing, and he's back in my collecting life.  I got him as part of my second successful trade on Zistle.  I picked up a bunch of 2011 Topps Royals, including the Billy Butler CYMTO I still needed:

2011 Topps CYMTO - #60YOT-113 - Billy Butler

Warner on the Way

Kurt Warner - 2011 Topps Super Bowl Legends Giveaway Die-Cut - #SB-29

I GOT HIM!

For those unfamiliar with Topps Football Cards, Topps has been running the "Super Bowl Legends Giveaway" this year, which was somewhat similar to the baseball Diamond Giveaway (aka, the Transmogrifier).  The die-cuts are all of Super Bowl Legends (obviously).  I had several code cards from the hobby box I opened at the beginning of the season which I finally got around to entering. 

Most of them were duds, but one of my last codes yielded this guy:

Ottis Anderson - 2011 Topps Super Bowl Legends Giveaway Due-Cut - #SB-25

Ottis was cool...but probably not cool enough for me to spend the $2.92 required to ship him.  So I tried trading him.  I wanted one card.   Kurt Warner.  So I figured it would take me a few trades to get to that.  Nobody was biting on Ottis.  I was resigned to my fate. 

But this week...what should appear in my inbox but a trade result.  Not only had I traded Ottis for SOMETHING...anything!...I traded him for MR. KURT WARNER HIMSELF.  1-to-1.  Straight up.  I was ecstatic.  So ecstatic that I requested shipping right away.  He will be mine!

So that is the end of my transmogrifying for this year.  Hopefully Ottis will find himself a loving home...

Dodgers Trade Bait

When Spankee ran his big Group Break awhile back, in addition to picking up the Royals, I decided to buy in for the Dodgers, too.  I figured one of three things would happen:
1) I would get something I really liked and wanted to keep.
2) I would get some cool trade bait.
3) I could give the whole stack to some local fans (there are LOTS of Dodger fans here in the LA burbs).

Well, I got a bunch of cool stuff, but nothing that jumps out and says KEEP this, so everything here is for trade.  There were a bunch of other base cards from the break that I would also happily trade, so if you are looking for anything from the packs that he busted, let me know.

Here was my Dodger hit.

2008 Baseball Heroes #94 Relic - Chad Billingsley - #013/125

 Some Gypsy Queen:

2011 Gypsy Queen Green Paper Paralle #59 Duke Snider, Great Ones #GO17 Pee Wee Reese

Campanella:

2009 Topps #PR-14 Roy Campanella, 2011 Topps T60 #T60-59 Roy Campanella

A few oldies:

2004 Donruss Studio #100 Duke Snider, 1988 Stadium Club #361 Adrian Beltre

Chrome and Refractor:

2011 Bowman Chrome #BCP80 Dee Gordon, 2010 Topps Chrome Refractor #20 Manny Ramirez

Clayton Kershaw:

Clayton Kershaw

Other Dodgers:

Dodgers

In addition, there were a few other non-team-specific cards that came my way.  The first one is a 2009 Goodwin Champions on-card auto of poker player Evelyn Ng (#A-EN).  The second one is the 2011 Gypsy Queen "Levitia" (#GQ10).  Finally is a Kenesaw Mountain Landis Obak mini (#13)

Evelyn Ng, Levitia, Kenesaw Mountain Landis

If you see anything there that tickles your fancy, please leave a comment on this post or send me an email. Thanks!

Spankee, Sweeney. Sweeney, Spankee.

I had left the box from Spankee's group break unopened for some time.  Not because I didn't want to open it, but I had other stuff going on.  Besides, it was a group break - you already know what's in there, right?

Wrong.

There was no Royals hit in the break, but unbeknownst to me Spankee tossed this gem into my pile.

2007 Upper Deck Game Materials #MS - Mike Sweeney Jersey Relic

Dude....I LOVE Sweeney!  Thank you so much - that was incredibly generous.

Sewing Machine Guy HOOKED ME UP - Baseball Style

Still not the "Real" Sewing Machine Guy

Like said in the last post, Sewing Machine Guy hooked me up plural.  (Btw, stay off that ankle and Get Well Soon, man!!)  I showed off the football cards already, but there was a STACK of Royals baseball that he included, too.  I have neither time nor space to display them all, so you will get my favorites here.

First off, some oldies but goodies -- One for my managers collection and one for the KC collection:

1969 Topps #547 Billy Martin

1972 Topps #205 Dick Drago

Three Generations of Ginter:

Allen and Ginter - 2007 #34 Mark Grudzielanek, 2008 #347 David DeJesus, 2009 #337 Billy Butler

SHINIES!  Shiny Royals!!

2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary #244 Mike Aviles, #658 Mitch Maier

More Shinies!  Well....Chromies.  The purple on the Espinal is sweet.  The George Brett might be my new favorite card -- the chrome on it looks AMAZING. 

2010 Bowman Chrome Purple #BCP84 Yowill Espinal, 2001 Topps Archives Reserve Chrome Reprint #9 George Brett

SMG hit a bunch of my favorite players, too.  I love cards of Mike Sweeney when he was still a catcher (played 1B and DH for much of his career).  Billy Butler is my favorite current Royal, while DeJesus is my favorite Royal period.  The DeJesus card is a perforated parallel - designed to look like a ticket on the top and bottom.

1999 Stadium Club #178 Mike Sweeney, 2011 ToppsTown #TT-37 Billy Butler, 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom #10 David DeJesus

SMG, these were awesome.  He included one other Royal I wanted to show off. 

Oh well.  The color scheme is still good.  :-)  I guess that one must have fallen into the trade box by mistake.

Sewing Machine Guy HOOKED ME UP - Football Style

Not the "REAL" Sewing Machine Guy....

Late last year I responded to the Want-List of the Sewing Machine Guy and sent him a Jason Castro along with a miscellaneous stack of Tigers, Lions, and Pistons.  I sent about 2-3 team bags worth of stuff to him.

So then I got a package back from him.  It was a BOX with six team bags worth coming back to me.  He hooked me UP!

It's too much stuff for one post, so I'm just posting the football here.  SMG paid very close attention to my want-lists (on the right ------->).

He started off by showing me some Kurt Warner love:

2006 Score, 2006 Topps, 2006 Heritage Kurt Warner

 Then TEEEEEEEEEEEEEBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!  That Topps Magic set is sweet.

2010 Upper Deck, 2010 Topps Magic, 2010 Topps 52 Insert Tim Tebow

A couple of Iowa State alums...

2008 Topps Sage Rosenfels #29 and 2007 Topps Seneca Wallace #40

Men of the Foot!

Chip Lohmiller, Neil Rackers, Matt Bahr, Sebastian Janikowski

And 3 (ex-) coaches...The Mike Smith card is way thick.

Tony Sparano, Mike Smith, John Madden

These were exceptional, SMG.  I am SOOO happy.  There's still a huge stack of baseball to post....but those will have to wait until tomorrow.