It's like heroin

Not that I know what heroin feels like or even looks like. Honestly.

However, I know an addiction when I have one. I rarely have them. I think I was addicted to Cool Ranch Doritos once upon a time. I might have been addicted to redheads at one point, but I have been happily married to a beautiful brunette for sixteen years now.

So what is this addiction?

2009 Sweet Spot.

I can't help myself. The boxes were LOADED this year with great hits. Not just rookie autos and autos on baseball leather, but patches, bat barrels, bat autos, glove autos, and a great design. I probably have bought 10-12 full boxes of the stuff over the last eight months, at an average of $24 per pack, six packs per box, so that is almost $1500. Wow! To see that in writing scares me. The price also continues to rise, but I still quiver when I'm in my favorite store, itching to get my hands on "The Sweet Spot" auto from each full box. (That's one sure sign of addiction.)

I can guess pretty well as to where the Sweet Spot is, but sometimes get fooled. Luckily, I have only once come across a box without a Sweet Spot auto or Classic Patch. That was a bummer of a day.

I have pulled some amazing cards from 2009 Sweet Spot which have probably made up for most of the cost of all these packs, including:

• Ralph Kiner Classic Bat Barrel Nameplate #1/2
• Catfish Hunter Classic Patches #/27
• Nolan Ryan auto on glove leather
• Robin Yount redemption auto
• Ken Griffey, Jr. auto on bat
• Derek Jeter auto on ball leather
• Dick Allen auto on bat
• Tommy Hanson RC Silver auto
• Tommy Hanson RC auto
• Rick Porcello RC Silver auto
• Ryan Perry, James McDonald, Donald Veal, David Price, Bret Anderson, Everth Cabrera, James Parr, Shairon Martis, Phil Coke and Elvis Andrus RC autos
• Nate McLouth, Cody Ross, Hanley Ramirez, Ken Griffey, Sr. and Jamie Shields Sweet Spot autos

I'm sure there are a few other hits that I've forgotten about. But I've done pretty good so far. At least I thought so until last Friday.

That's when I stopped in one more time to check out the $2 autos box. However, a brand new box of Sweet Spot was sitting on the shelf calling my name. I opened five packs until I got the Sweet Spot of Nate McLouth, my second one of his. I did get the Parr RC auto and a Sweet Swatch patch of Dave Winfield. A little disappointing.

Then I spied a second box. Since I had taken five of the six from the first box, they opened the second box, and I was able to pick my pack. Luck would have it that I pulled the hit on the first try for this box. However, I wasn't expecting something as spectacular as I got:

Derek Jeter Bat Barrel Nameplate #6/6!

I nearly dropped the card. I was shaking with nerves! The owner's daughter, who is a BIG Jeter fan, immediately said, "Daddy! That's the card I want! I want that one!" Yeah, well good luck!

I haven't decided what exactly to do with this yet. I know I won't keep it. Jeter is a great player, but not my absolute favorite, and this would go a long way toward getting my some of the cards that I have on my fantasy want list. So I will let everyone know how I will be selling it, whether eBay or The Bench or private auction.

I do know, though, that this card is worth a lot. A LOT! A similar Alex Rodriguez card from 2002 Sweet Spot is on eBay for $3,000 BIN. I'm thinking that I may get near that for this card. Maybe I'm crazy, but a person knowledgeable in such cards suggested that to me. It will be worth a try. If anyone is interested and wants to preempt any public sale by offering me a king's ransom, please email me.

UPDATE: I heard from an eBayer who said that the other five have already been up on eBay and sold to collectors. That makes this the last one of the six available.

Attention all Braves fans

I have had amazing good luck with 2009 Sweet Spot. I have basically figured out where, in a fresh box, the Sweet Spot and the Sweet Beginnings autographs are, so I have been able to pick up quite a few autos. In fact, I picked up my second Tommy Hanson auto from the set, this time a Silver auto numbered out of 65.

It is up for sale on eBay now, ending today, as is a Kenshin Kawakami auto.

Too bad I'm not a huge Braves fan. Between them, the Cardinals and the Braves, I seem to be getting a lot of their autos.

If you are interested in trading for some of the Sweet Swatches, they are on my Autos, Relics and S/N'd cards page, in the column to the right.

Even MORE Card Shop Booty

Wow, has my luck been red-hot lately.

Today is Trade Days, and I go early so that I can get some trading done. Unfortunately, nobody showed up for another hour, so I spent time, and money, in the store. Fortunately, I've become pretty good at picking the Sweet Spot out of new boxes. The first one I get is a Clay Buchholz jersey, but the second one is the Sweet Spot:

This is one of the two autographs I have been dying to pull since I came back into collecting, and started drifting toward high-end autograph hounding. The other is a Jeter, which I happened to get my grubby little paws on today, too:

A friend and fellow trader had an "extra" Sweet Spot that he was willing to sell. Not cheap. But worth it. So I got both of my white whales in one day!

In the meantime, I also did a bit of trading. I swapped the Ryan Braun SP Authentic By the Letter auto for this HOF autograph plus a rookie card of a future HOFer:

I also won the raffle of three packs of cards, including a Sweet Spot, so I was fortunate to get another HOFer jersey:

The Yaz is available for trade, but the others aren't. If you are interested in the Yaz, or any other auto or relic I have here, email me.

All in all, not a bad day of trading and pack-busting. I'm happy.

More Card Shop Booty

No, not THAT booty. Like pirate booty. Treasure. Trinkets. Valuables.

These valuables came out of more of the half-price packs that were on sale, in order to clear out inventory. This time: 2009 SP Authentic. Almost all of the packs were still in the box, and I'm allowed to hold the packs, though I don't do "pack-searching" by any stretch of the imagination. I tried that once, at Tar-jhay, and it was a complete failure. But with the SP, I thought I could distinguish between the dummy cards, which are getting thicker and thicker, and the By-the-Letter autographs. So, out of seven packs, I came up with these three finds:

Pretty good haul, I'd say. AAARRRR! Um, sorry. I couldn't resist. A Trevor Crowe BTL autograph, a Ryan Braun BTL autograph, numbered 10/10!, and a redemption for a rookie BTL autograph of David Patton of the Cubs. I'd say I got my money's worth!

Weird thing about these BTL autos, though. What do they spell. I now have two Crowes, a "U" and an "S", neither of which is in his name! I think that the higher-numbered versions spell "SP AUTHENTIC," but what about the Braun? "R" is in his name, so maybe the lower-numbered versions spell the names.

Additionally, there is no mention in the Beckett guide (sorry, but I use it for trading) of a lower-numbered version of the BTL autos. The Braun listed is also out of 65, I think, so what is this version? It is gold-trimmed, but there is no mention of it.

Post-Holiday Shopping Spree

I had some cash burning a hole in my wallet, so I wandered on down to the local card shop, where the owner was trying to clear out some older packs so he wouldn't have to inventory them come the first of the year. Just my luck! Lots of stuff half-price!

Here's a sampling of what I came up with.

2009 Sweet Spot Sweet Beginnings Gold Tommy Hanson auto 135/199 (this was the only full-price stuff I bought - $18 per pack - I'm hooked on it!)

2008 SPX Carlos Zambrano patch 17/50 - $10/pack (usually $20)

2009 UD Icons Everth Cabrera Rookie Signature 293/600 - $5/pack (usually $10)

2009 UD Icons Letterman Joe Nathan 03/45

2009 UD Icons Letterman Kent Hrbek 50/50

2008 SPX Ken Griffey American Hero #KG91 1/1!

Nice take for only a few packs. OK, so there were more than a few packs, but not a case. Busting packs and getting this many things is not normal, at least not for me.

I also ended up taking the last five packs of 2009 Goudey at $2.50 per pack. Great price! Better than Tar-zhay and Wally World. And what do you know, I ended up getting three SP's and one 4-in-1 that I needed, on top of the base. Plus two blue-back minis. I'm very happy with the SP's on those packs. I would normally pay $3 for each of those short prints, so this was a great deal.

There are a few other things I got that will all being going on my Picasa trade page (see the links to the right, under "Give & Take"). If you want something, make me an offer. My email address is also in the right-hand column.

More Holiday Thanks

When of the best parts of running a blog is the semi-unsolicited offers from readers to send cards from my wantlist. Everyone who does this turns out to be good traders, people who are in it to help others finish their sets and fill out their collections. That is why I am in it, too, so it there is a connection immediately to these friends who I would not otherwise meet. (It's almost like eHarmony for baseball card collectors!)

So it was no surprise when I received a nice package from Scott in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. I mention the location because it is one of the oddest names of a town that I've ever heard. Why not just call it Croton? Was there another Croton nearby that it had to be differentiated from? Interesting!

Anyway, Scott runs the newer blog Mr. Scott's Baseball Cards, and has made few trades already with the likes of Sooz and Play at the Plate. He sent me a stack of '09 A&G minis which I need, a Thome bat relic, a 2004 Donruss autograph of a long-lost Indians prospect and some Indians cards from 2009.

The A&G's still really interest me. Did you know that Beardy's idol Burke Kenny is a member of Beard Team USA? Did you know there actually IS a Beard Team USA?!!?! Jason Motte, who I just pulled a Sweet Spot Rookie auto of that is on my trade page if you are interested, pitched 164.2 innings, struck out 217, walked only 56, but still had enough time to let up 153 hits? That's a busy 2008 minor league season!

He also sent a stack of those weird 2008 UD Documentary cards. Looking at them, I understand why they are so reviled in the Hobby. They are boring, have the same picture on various cards of different games, and don't feature a picture of the player being highlighted in the blurb. I don't want to encourage it by even showing the pictures. Let's hope it dies a quick death and goes the way of some of the other Frankenstein products that have been put out over the last ten years.

Thanks, Scott, for all the great cards. Yours are on the way.

Holiday Thanks

Thanks to Jack, a.k.a. Baseball Dad, sent a nice holiday treat to me, and probably many others. Mine was a very cool 2001 Topps Archive Larry Doby card:

Not enough was done to honor Doby for being the second African-American in MLB, and first in the A.L., to break the "color" barrier. He was not necessarily the most gifted, but like Jackie, could withstand the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" better than most. He quickly made a name for himself as a ballplayer and a gentleman.

Daniel from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop sent along my half of a trade in which I sent him a Micah Owings autographed card and a Brandon Webb jersey relic. He sent me the last card I needed for one of the 2008 A&G insert mini sets:

That was a VERY difficult insert set to finish. I'm glad that one is done. Now, only a few more minis and one World's Greatest Victories insert card. If you have any....

Daniel also sent a few Propaganda Posters and Turkey Reds from this year's Topps, a few other 08 A&G cards, and a few Sabathia and Sizemore cards. Great trade! Thanks Daniel.

2009 Bowman Chrome

So, my local card shop owner suckered me into buying a box, minus one pack, of 09 Bowman Chrome for $40. "Below cost!" he said. I thought my son is collecting that set, but later found out he is only collecting the base non-chrome set. #%(##(_%#&_!!

Se we bust it open for fun, and what do I get?

I don't know this guy. Hmmm, a Yankee. I can probably trade it for something half decent. Then my son tells me, "He's the guy who can pitch both righty and lefty!" I look on the back, and sure enough, check out the "Throws:" stat.

"BOTH"

That is something you rarely see. Pretty cool.

Then I check it out on eBay. It is selling for $30-40! Well, since I'm spending WAY too much on the SI autos and other things, I figure I need a little cash to replenish the Paypal account and keep my wife from being too suspicious of things coming in and not going out. So, if you are interested, I'm selling this card on eBay. Here is the link:

Pat Venditte blue refractor auto

As for the rest of the box, I really like the simplicity of this year's design. Easy to read, good pictures, excellent quality. I'm a bit sick of WBC stuff, but it doesn't detract from the rest of the set since the design is identical to the base, except for the WBC logo.

The rest of the "hits" include another blue refractor, an orange refractor, an X-fractor, and 4 regular refractors (Kinsler, Cueta, Javy Vazquez, Kuo). Not a bad haul. No superstars, but a decent crowd. If you are interested in any of them, email me and let's work out a trade.

$3 Autogamer bin find

For only $3, who couldn't resist a relic of a HOFer? Not me. I must say that I would not have bought it if it was a plain white relic. At least I (sorta) know this came from a Cubs jersey.

First look at 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights

I got my jumbo box of 09 UH, and now have the complete base set. All I need to work on is the inserts. I will have my wantlists up soon, but if you need some base, I'll try to get that in a post real soon.

As for the UH set, it's (yawwwwwnnnn) more of the same. (Excuse me, I'm very sleepy all of a sudden.) Nice base cards with great photography. Legends of the Game. (I do like Frank Robinson in a red Indians uni.) Ring of Honor. (Ho hum!) Gold parallels. Platinum parallels. Turkey Red. ToppsTowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

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Huh? Oh, sorry, I fell asleep on my keyboard.

Ahem, where was I? Oh, yeah, 09 Topps Updates inserts.

The autograph cards have been neatly reordained as "Career Quest" I guess for those minor leaguers looking to make a career out of baseball. Wahoo. The All-Star Stitches cards are pretty neat, with workout jersey relics nicely inserted under the Gateway Arch. A Topps Chrome Refractor as a box-topper. Another Legends Team Letter Patch, this one of Roy Campanella. Not bad.

Two variations, with gold lettering to differentiate this time: Reggie with the A's, and The Bambino with the Boston Braves! The Yankees go 0-for-2 on those!

Oh, yeah, this should keep me awake. The newest insert. The Victory series, done by artist Chris Speakman. These are very, very cool! There are four different types that I've seen so far: Victory is Imminent, Serve Proudly, Lead us to Victory, and Always Ready. Outstanding!

Overall, I'd give the base set 4 stars, the inserts 2 stars for being repetitive and boring, except for the Victory series which gets 5 stars! Go get your hands on some today!

Grass is always greener...

Duane, from Democratic Roadkill, made some real roadkill of my wantlists and sent me several dozen cards from '08 Goudey, '09 Goudey and '08 A&G. The grass (Duane knows what I'm talking about) is definitely greener on his side of the collection table, and he is willing to share some sod with me. He has been a great trade partner, so check his blog and wantlist out.

He also killed off what I thought was the last card from 2008 Masterpieces, #96

I still need 104 (Mattingly) and 106 (Berra), so if you have them, I'd like to trade for them. I must have sent them off in another trade to get something I wanted more, though I don't know what I could want more than to finish off this set. I regret the UD did not see fit to release it again this year.

Duane took a big chunk out of my Goudey wantlists with many short prints, so many that I'm embarrassed that I might not be able to keep up with his generosity. The '09's he sent include some Sport Royalty, which are a difficult catch and a few other straight SP's.

The '08 Goudeys included more Sport Royalty and straight SP's, as well as some presidents and Play Ball cards, but also included the rest of the Hit Parade of Champions that I needed. Great! Another list completed! WOW!

When I fist saw the Pujols, I thought it was C.C. There is a bit of a resemblance. And the Staubach is interesting in that his helmet has a funny red-white-and-blue design that I had never seen on the Cowboys helmets before. Any clues?

He also threw in a few A&G minis from 2008, including two that I have been chasing out of a subset for quite some time now. They are very difficult to obtain, so I am very grateful to Duane for the Baseball Icons that he sent of Cobb and Ott.

Man, Duane do I owe you or what! Thanks again, my friend.