One More Down...

2000 Metal Base Shredders
NNO Todd Helton
$2.50 Shipped

Still need Tony Gwynn, Vladimir Guerrero, Erubiel Durazo, Eric Munson...maybe more.

Here are the ones I have so far.
Mo Vaughn/Todd Helton
Troy Glaus/Matt Williams

Base Shredders were seeded 1:288 packs back in the day, so they were more than a case hit. Four Base Shredders would have taken 1152 packs. Not a whole lot of staying power in the price/card range. None of these has cost more than $4 off of eBay, though I can usually only get one every month or so.

New Additions and a Bold Claim

First, the claim.
Give this maybe 2-3 months. I've been seeing a trend in conversation, facebook comments, news interviews and so on. First off, it was kind of funny. Then it was being taken slightly more seriously...

But here it is. By the end of the summer,

ascots will be IN.

__________________________________

Anyways. The extreme lack of new options (in the North) in baseball and hockey cards (the newest release up here is '10 Heritage Baseball.) has me doing pretty much nothing but sniffing around for some more trades and snapping up singles off of eBay. I did purchase a blaster of '09 T206 today, but it was a waste.

As many/none of you may know, I am working on putting together one of the hardest memorabilia sets of all time (seeded 1:288 pack back in the day); 2000 Metal Base Shredders. If you're unfamiliar with the cards, they're fully holo-foiled out game used base pieces of players who "shred the bases". And no, it does not mean fast players. Apparently it was a set more for hitters, and, well, Eric Munson.

For $2.24 Shipped, I picked up this beauty:
Big Mo Vaughn. Rumble, rumble, rumble. How sweet would a patch card be made from that jersey?

Next up, everyone's favorite 20-something who has not pitched in the Bigs for almost 2 full years, Dustin McGowan. The only reason McGowan is my #1 collecting interest is, well, Shaun Marcum's cards suck. Poor photos (except '06 UD), only 2 autos with a few variations, and pretty much allllll base cards. Just not worth the effort. Maybe if he wins 15 games this year that will all change.

First up, 2004 Bowman Autograph:
Not bad. But green? Maybe the Oakland cards looked good in '04.

Next, 2006 Topps Chrome Red Refractor s/n #30/90. Nice, rare, refractory goodness.
So that's red, blue and black complete for this rainbow. Still need base, refractor and xfractor. Doable.

And now, what you've all been waiting for.
My new favorite card.
All the glory of the CN Tower.
Bright eyed and bushy-tailed young Blue Jay form Georgia.
Oh, and inked:
What a glorious card.

**There is currently 0:35.8 second remaining in the Eastern Conference Finals. Mike Richards, the one player I would rather have on my team than ANY other NHL player, just set up a tap-in for Jeff Carter. This team is nasty, nasty, nasty. Chicago is gonna have a bit of a challenge on their hands.

eBay Scores: Week of 2/18/2010

Still trying to get used to writing 2010.

Anyways. Now that the whole applying-for-graduate-school fiasco is over with and actually had a semi-positive result, I'll be back and more active in posting, rather than just quick Matt Wieters posts and three-weeks-delayed trade posts here and there.

I'll start off with some eBay pickups (which were from last week, but arrived today.)

First and ABSOLUTELY most important, Number 2 in my Base-Shredding Saga: Troy Glaus!
What a beautiful foiled beyond recognition, well-used rubber (gross) piece of cardboard. This is my second of the insert set, which in 2000 were an about every 5th case hit at 1:288 packs. They're still hard to find, but with a $.50 price tag (not including shipping) they're very attainable - when you can find 'em. Vladimir Guerrero and Tony Gwynn are both hanging out on eBay right now as well, listed @ $9.99 BIN. Also, Eric Munson is on there too, at a staggering $3.99. I wouldn't pay $3.99 for an Eric Munson if he hand made the damn card.

A new Delgado relic. Sic mosh, brah. I've built a steady collection of Delgados so far, and man, this one looks awesome in the preview with an all-white background. Unfortunately, it won't show up that way in the actual post.

I'm getting close to completing the 2010 Jays bullpen and rotation relic/autograph set right now, and Accardo is the newest to join in on the custom-book party (more on that at another time). These Ultimate Collection cards are incredibly beautiful. There's a slight tint to the sticker so it doesn't blend as well into the card as this one:

Eugenio Velez is not a Blue Jay, Rockie or a player I collect of any sort. I bought this one because the shipping was only $1 added on to the initial $3.00 for the previous three cards, and this is probably one of the best/worst autographs I have ever seen. Ever.

You can look at this card and guess his named would be spelled "E L V Gamma B/R". Still, he's faster than a flushed grouse and it's a sick card. Worth $1.35 plus shipping.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, and really, why the hell should you have, these are the mystery cards from this post on the Thirteenth of this month.

A quick review: Somehow, without trying, the cards listed there are the same order that they show up here: Troy Glaus Base Shredders, Delgado uni, Accardo ink and Velez ink.

How many of you knew Accardo saved 30 games for Toronto in '06?

Next, and last package.
A $.99 lot of 2008 Topps Chrome Refractors! By far the best deal so far, got 19 of 'em for $3.49 with shipping. If you've got any you want to get rid of, let me know. Trying to piece together 225 refractors is proving pretty tough. I'll take all colours, too - Red, Copper, Regular or Blue. Blue and Red are the best.

And, just for fun, here's my dog covered in snowballs: