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.

$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.

Dealings from Dallas

Dallas is my old stomping grounds. Well, not really "stomping," but more like shopping and working. My wife and I moved there after her residency, before kids, and stayed there for four years. We are Northerners at heart, though, or "Yanks" as they would say there, and we missed our families, so we moved back up North in 1999.

But I would never doubt the generosity of people from Dallas. It rubs off, whether you are really from there or are a transplant, like many of the people in Dallas these days. (If you want to find real Texans, go to Ft. Worth.) So I was not surprised at all when reader Brian sent me two big packages in short succession. They were jammed full of Indians cards that I needed. In fact, there were so many that I've forgotten which ones some of them are. I'm sorry, Brian. However, I did manage to label a few of the scans I got from him with his name, so I know those for sure, and a few others I'll guess at.

At the beginning of August, Brian sent me a bunch of Thomes, Vizquels, Sizemores and a few 07 Goudey mini redbacks, plus a few other assorted cards. The Thome Power Corps cards are interesting, though I don't understand the numbering on them, with a Technology, Set and Subset numbers. For instance, the gold card below has Technology RB54 Set 234 Subset PC84 on the back. What does all that mean? I guess I could look it up somewhere.

Have I mentioned ever how much I love Masterpieces? The Sandberg is a GREAT card! And the Finest Vizquel is a refractor numbered to 499!

Then at the end of August, when I came back from vacation, there was another package from Brian with a plethora of Goudey mini redbacks from 2007, plus a surprise Indians card:

A nice collection of Goudeys. I'm still trying to finish off this set!

The Topps Tek is a really interesting card, too. I love the design. It has a strange "7-9" embossed on the back. And the Vizquel Team Checklist card is a Press Proof numbered to 10! The 1998 Donruss Thome is a Silver Press Proof die-cut print-numbered as "1 of 1500." The 1996 Pacific is all predominately in Spanish, and is a special "Momentos del mes de Octobre" insert.

This was the surprise. A Kenny Lofton relic. I haven't had any Lofton relics or autos until this one, and my heart is still in the 90's with those powerful Indians team. I can still remember when my friend told me about some center fielder that the Indians traded for from the Astros who was going to be their CF for a long time. Some guy named Lofton who used to be the point guard at Arizona State. He was right.

Thanks for all the great cards, Brian.

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.