Quickly, eBay, Some Explanations

I've been quiet, lately.

Spring is usually a busy time for me, so I'm used to mailing in on my hobbies this time of year. In high school all I knew in spring time was pitching (I sure as hell couldn't hit until summer). I didn't care about my academics then, and until I got my lovely dogger, I didn't have much else to care about then.

In college, well, the first four years, anyway; I spent all of my time doing geology (as the field season kicks off, it is rather impossible to find a geologist indoors), as well as playing (both) indoor and outdoor soccer at to different schools for three different teams, along with pickup wiffle, softball and hockey games.

Now that I am out of college I thought I'd be more prone to outdoor activities such as fishing and running and rock hounding. But with fishing season not open until May, running without the fear of having to remove a four-banger Ford from my rectal cavity, and rock hounding impossible to schedule while trying to get everyone involved, I have pretty much succumbed to substitute teaching and watching Frazier on Lifetime from 10-11 every morning.

I meant for this to be a quick post, but it wasn't. Sorry. Here's what (I guess?) I was leading up to.

New Dustins!

2004 Topps Chrome Traded
Dustin McGowan X-Fractor Box Topper
SN: #16/20

This is my new lowest numbered card. That's right, I have no 1/1s, nor do I intend to chase any gimmicks such as printing plates, unless they're Dustin McGowan.

Another first as of late is this one:

2009 Topps
Silk Collection
SN: #19/50

Another first. A guy at work in AUGUST told me about pulling a silk from '09 Topps. I played along like I gave a shit/knew what they were. Now I have one, and, to an extent, appreciate them. I have no interest in them other than getting any McGowan, Marcum or Romero, really. They're a nice idea, but they should stick to The Flagship, and stay the hell out of my Ginter. By the way, 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter's and 2009-2010 UD Champs are the only sets I plan on collecting this year. And since almost everyone wants to collect A&G this year, I believe it should be easy for everyone to do so with box breaks, trades, and genuine blogger generosity.

Aaaand that's it, I guess. More McGowans later this week. I have found a great ebay seller who sent me a nice email saying he's got a bunch of him and a bunch of Jays and he'll list 'em for me if I want 'em. Refreshing to find an ebay seller who would rather have your business repeatedly than just rail you in the ass with shipping.

Reserve NOT Met...

...and it does not surprise me. While jumping around eBay a few minutes ago, I decided to see if any 2009 Topps 206 Carolina Brights had hit ebay within the past who knows when.

Well, one did. And it's a big one.

All the back of the card preludes to is a Mariners player, and card #129. Well here's the from, too:
Glorious. I'm not a big fan of foil on my 206's, but I haven't pulled a Carolina Brights, and , well, I don't plan on it I would love to acquire one eventually, hopefully a Halladay or Rookie Romero (life=complete), but finding that one person on the planet with that card, and then matching their price, I am sure is near impossible.

So if you're feeling frisky and want to blow a good amount of bills (I'm guessing this goes for $300 or so), give this guy a bid.

Ultimate Wish List Card #5

2009 Topps 206
Old Mill Framed Bat Relic
#FR24

Why:
A) Jackie Robinson
B) Collecting Anything 206
C) Old Mill Frames are the Best Frames
D) Jackie Robinson

2009 Topps T206 Want List

This is rather premature, but I have had a few requests to post it. I am looking for everything from this set except Bronze parallels, though I will take them. Bronze is just the lowest priority right now.

So, without further adieu, The List.

NOTE: The base set is a NEED list, the inserts are HAVE lists. This way required less typing. Eventually, it will all be NEED lists.

Mantle Checklists: 3


Base Set:
NEED: 2, 3, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28, 30, 33, 37, 41, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 58, 60, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 72, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 83-86, 81-86, 88, 90, 95, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 113, 114, 118, 121, 122, 123, 126, 129, 131, 132, 135, 138, 139, 141, 142, 144, 146, 147, 149, 150, 154, 155, 158-160, 165, 167-170, 172-174, 177, 180, 181, 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 190, 193-195, 202, 205, 206, 207, 210, 215, 221, 223, 225-229, 231, 233, 234, 237, 238, 239, 241, 243, 247, 249-253, 258, 264-268, 271, 272 274, 276, 280, 281, 285, 286, 287, 288, 291, 295, 297, 299, 300.


Base Set Doubles: Mantle #2, 5,8, 50, 96, 125, 145, 191, 201, 218, 236, 245, 255, 259, 264, 265, 275, 296, 296


NNO Short Prints: Too early, need 44. Have: Ichiro, George Sisler, Rick Porcello, Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, Walter Johnson, Albert Pujols, Fernando Martinez, Derek Holland, Michael Bowden




Minis Have List (Cards I own): *Not Updated
Piedmont - 15, 18, 31, 74, 108, 122, 151, 155, 191, 194, 212, 239, 240, 243, 294
Polar Bear - 89, 102
Old Mill -
Cycle - 64



Bronze: *Not Updated
Have: 53, 61, 65, 125, 137, 177, 180, 183, 201, 213, 240, 245, 250, 254, 258, 265, 274, 288




Framed Autographs:
Have: Josh Outman


Framed Relics:
Have: Miguel Tejada

2009 Topps T-206 Blaster

A little story. As you read this post, you will eventually notice a *** in the Good Doctor's segment. This is where I copied and pasted the entire html script from where I realized I was accidentally posting this on another blog, A Pack to be Named Later.

To celebrate my jackassery: Brand New!



I. Love. This. Set.

Why?

Simple design. Unique backgrounds (examples: Ichiro and McCutchen (the good one)). Rookies, and lots of them. Legends, and few of them (only 13 I believe). Minis. The best minis in the business (well, baseball anyways, 08-09 UD Champs Hocker were pretty fantastic.) Short prints done right.

About the only thing I don't like about this set is that the price hasn't come down on blasters yet. This one was $20. But really, I haven't even come close to having a bad pack of this product yet, over 9 months into it's life.

Anyways, on to the box. I bought and ripped on Saturday out searching for a desk for when I move in August. So of course, I bought cards instead. I am young, and I will continue to not spend money correctly. Deal with it.

On to the highlights:

I didn't get any "hits" of the relic or auto variety, but this does not concern me. I have already lifted a sweet Josh Outman auto way back in one of my first ever posts, you can glance at it here. The relics aren't worth much anyways, as I snagged a Tejada pantaloon relic off eBay for a cool quarter dollar.

Best-looking Card of the box:
Maybe I'm partial to the Pasty White Hope. Who apparently has to "earn his spot on the roster" this season. Which means, of course, he will have to hit better than...Jose Bautista and Joey Gathwright?! Dear Cito, thanks for the early 90's. Now kindly screw off.
There were*** a fair amount of Jays in this box. Three of 'em! That's GREAT for a Topps product. Topps hates Canada.

What would a Topps T206 post be without some....Dial 9-1-1 Shorty Fire Burning on the Dance Flooooooor...Whoaaaa (Short Prints):

Two bad one is a radical dork and the other is a raging, yet entertaining douche bag. Apparently, "douchebag" is incorrect. It's two words. Learn something every day.

Rookies!
And good ones, too. Zimmerman, sadly is going to be out all year with TJ surgery. McCutchen, however, will be knocking NL Central pitchers senseless. Not like there's any good ones, anyways. Ok. Maybe Carpenter and Wainwright.

Bronzies!

Awesome. Wish they would have done a better job on the Romero, but whatevs. I pulled two Coghlans, This and a base. Terrible photo. Almost as bad as the Kinsler others seem to like, I don't care for it much. I plan on collecting everything but the bronze cards from this set. So if you want some...

And of course, the Mini Page!

These were not all pulled from this box. The Soria came in a trade, and is ultra-rad, Blanks and Konerko came in a two-pack, or a diet fat pack. The Ubaldo, however, did come from this box. It was also the hardest to come by in the box, as it's a Polar Bear.

In conclusion, I love this set. I want to put it all together, but I'll need some help. I probably cannot afford to keep snagging $20 blasters and $75 hobby boxes, so please, trade me your extras. I'll take minis of any variety.

Snappy sign-off line!

The Great Pasty White Hope Says:

Blaster Box Breaks: 2007 Upper Deck Series 1 & 2 plus 2009 Topps T-206 coming soon!

I will not let myself near the internet until tomorrow, as the USA/Canada Gold Medal game is tonight, and I have to DVR it. No spoilers! Will hopefully get to watching the game tomorrow sometime, and I plan to at least post the T-206 break at that time.

Go USA.

2009 Topps T206 Jumbo Pack Rip

Solid pack. Steep in price, but the quality was premium. We'll start with some solid base cards...

Card 1 - Mickey Mantle Checklist 2 of 7
Card 2 - Todd Helton #200

Card 3 - Tommy Hanson #262 (Rookie Card)
Card 4 - Derek Holland #61 (Rookie Card)
Card 5 - Roy Campanella #224
Card 6 - Derek Lowe #45
Card 7 - Luke Scott #152
Card 8 - Alex Gordon #256
Card 9 - Cy Young #143
Card 10 - David Ortiz #24
Card 11 - Troy Tulowitzki #293 (Added to Player Collection)

And Now for the HITS. Yes, HITS. Although this was a jumbo pack, and I never expect to pull much out of them, this one had two solid hits within it.

Card 11 - Josh Outman Framed Piedmont Autograph

I've got a few autos lately, mostly from ebay bargains (see: Dexter Fowler, Jesse Carlson) but I haven't seen a good on-card auto in a long time. Outman has a solid, legible auto, as you can see in the scan, and the sunset background goes well with the blue framed border. Though I had been a fan of Allen & Ginter's Framed sets prior to this pull, I have to side with T206 here, again, as their mini doesn't rattle around inside and worry me of corner dinging.

Card 12 - David Wright #171 CYCLE Mini #/99.

Very solid pull. I was wondering if there would be minis or bronze/gold parallels in the jumbo packs, and now I know they at least have minis. Pulling my first mini T206 short print was great. Now I want more.