Shifting [P] Collection Priorities A Bit

Card Purchased via eBay

Dear Mutton-chopped One,

In 2000 (yes, one decade ago), you were drafted by my beloved Blue Jays.

"He's the next great arm" they'd say.

"His stuff is unbelievable/unhittable/etc...."

Now, the only disbelief is in yet another set back in the continual struggle to keep one the best right arms the Jays have seen in decades healthy. See you in Spring Training 2011, maybe.

Sincerely, Despair
____________________________________________________________

What this comes down to is a shift in priorities of my collecting life. Dustin is obivously not going to put out anything more thana few base cards and (maybe) a lucky autograph here and there (such as the ghastly Peak Performance insert from Topps.)

On the other hand, my man Vernon Wells is shortening the life span of AL pitchers while crushing almost everything he sees now. We're talking 2006+ numbers, and likely career highs in...everything. I don't like the idea of him in the HR derby, leave that to J-Bau.

Collecting Vernon has been fun over the years. He was always a highly touted prospect for the Jays, so from 98-00 his rookie/prospect cards were amazing, in the modern era peak of rookie card-dom. Didn't have to worry about 1/1 Magenta Pringting Plate Game Used Jock Strap Sticker Auto Rookie Superfractors then. Simple cards: skyline of Toronto or a sweet swing, an airbrushed white space, no sticker-autos, simple.

Needless to say, there are many, many more Vernon Wells cards than Dustin McGowan/Shaun Marcums, and they're often much, much better. I have also noticed throughout our blogging community, Vernon is not a highly sought after player. That's one thing I love about being a Toronto fan - not a whole lot of competition for trades.

So, send me your Vernons. I know you have some. He's been filler (base cards, parallels) in almost every trades I've put together here. Also, any doubles I accumulate will go to another Jays collector/blogger.

Card from Cameron at Cardboard Heaven

Also, I plan to still collect McGowan and Marcum. I still find myself outbid on McGowans here and there, so the chase is still fun. But the lack of game-used and autographs (moreso of Marcum) is pretty discouraging, and the stacks are pretty much just refractors and other parallels.

Card from Chris at On Card Autos

Cards from the Friendly Confines

...of On Card Autos! I'll take this opportunity to thank Chris of the aforementioned blog for banging out an epic trade here.I arrived at the post office yesterday to ship out another trade package, and the annoyed clerk handed me three packages, one of which was a box (yes, a box, not a padded envelope) stuffed with 9 team bags of Rockies and Jays from Chris. Awesome trade. Well worth the Aramis Ramirez jersey that left sunny NY. Enough smalltalk, let's get to the cardstock:

The highlights -
I first saw '05 in a pack rip by Beardy, and I wasn't impressed. This card, however, is awesome. The scan doesn't do it justice. The blue is a nicer, lighter shade. The insert name is terrible, however.
Josh Newman auto, via '08 SPx. I've been offered this card a couple times. Josh Newman is, well, hasn't yet been successful, and this card doesn't carry much "resale/book/Beckett" value, but whatever. I like it. I love autos. It's on a sticker, but hardly noticible. Nice card, but UD didn't pop out all the cardboard in the bottom triangle of the "X".
My new favorite Ubaldo. Sometimes the blackout cards work better than others, and for teams like the Rockies and Jays, they work perfect. Might make a run at both team sets. Also got a Barmes throwing a big "Westsiiiide" motion up but forgot to scan. It will make an appearance soon enough.
Antoher Ubaldo. This time, a Rookie. I like the rookie card logos. Especially the new ones. Except the Upper Deck ones. Bad, bad Upper Deck. They got their comeuppance (here, here and here.) (I didn't know that comeuppance was a real word.)
Lifetime gold-glover and HOF snub, Robby.
Stieb, straight outta my birth year set. Neat. Gotta put this set together, really.
Big-game Stieb.
After every Romero win this year, expect a "RICK ROLLED!!" post. You've been warned.
Keeping with the '10 Topps theme, here's Ryan Spilborghs. My favorite from this set so far. Blacked out, this would be epic. I love cards that feature emotion on player's faces. I bet this was from a walk-off, as his pants are getting damn close to being completely undone.
I miss him already. Kick ass in Seattle, man. You deserve to be on a winning team through the arbitration years. League is often called one of the hardest pitchers to hit in the AL. Why? 96 MPH sinking fastball. No, you cannot hit it. Don't even try.
I selected this card for one reason: Robert's arms. Tats!
Bam. Silver Slugger. Once again Chris, thanks for the cards. I got lots of new Rockies and Jays...however, there was one thing...


It seems, and Chris may not have even noticed this when throwing this package together...I have been stealth-bipped by the worst closer in baseball, Brian Fuentes:
Eep. Three 2007 Upper Deck, Four 2007 Topps, four 2008 Topps. Way too many dots and circles. I won't forget this. Bip abides.

Still, awesome trade. Hit Chris up at On Card Autos.

Cards from Fans of Red Teams

That's right. Fans of the blasted Red Sox and the "who knows how they'll be this year" Reds. Seriously, how the Reds will fair one year to the next is always a mystery to me.

Anyways, let's start with some goodies from fanofReds over at Nachos Grande. Sadly, no nachos were included. I flipped him a Gallardo relic for a near-impossible task of putting together the '09 A&G relic set, along with some Larkins, and he was kind enough to send these my way.

First up is a V-Dub spectrum jersey:
Nice, healthy card. Spectrums do not scan well, but they're a treat to look at. Also the jersey cards seem pretty common, I am currently sitting on a Brandon Webb who will probably go visit someone's pseudo-card shop in Arizona in the future.

Chris sent some Jays to boot:
Greatest Blue Jay of All Time, Roy Halladay with painted-on eyes...
Gruber!
And something else...
...this makes me happy. Apparently I wasn't the only one who spent $.99 of 16 of these suckers back in '00. (This card is 10 years old...yikes.)

Thanks for the cards Chris, they're good ones.

Next up, Adam at Thoughts and Sox. I contacted him a week or so back (this package got here quiiiick), and proposed Jays-for-Sox. Unfortunately, he had sent all but a few Jays to another blogger. Aww shucks, but I collect Rockies too! Well, add another blogger to the list that cannot wait to drop his Rockies off on another. Adam sent a 100-count box over here to NY, filled with mostly Rox, but a few, very quality Jays mixed in.

First: some Baby Jays:
These are beauties. You can probably pull my fingerprint from the Aaron Cibia if you feel like incriminating me. Hopefully the Jays won't give up on these guys.
'08 SPx Halladay die-cut. Are these all die-cuts or is this a parallel? Either was, I cannot believe it scanned so well. Adam also sent a Todd Helton. Fellow bloggers have been exceptionally generous in sending me Heltons. Adam sent 15. Wow.
Adam - when you were putting this package together did you know this would be my favorite? Probably not, but Dusty Lambchops is my favorite Jay now that Shawn Green, Carlos Delgado, Orland Hudson and Brandon League are gone. I am actually thinking of starting a Dustin McGowan collecting blog, as other have for Carl Crawford, Brian Roberts, and other players.

Here's the bad news for Adam, though. I haven't even started putting the package together yet! I apologize deeply for this, but things have been a bit hectic lately, and I'm out of packages. I'll put the cards together tonight, so hopefully you can expect them by the end of next week. Once again, sorry for the delay.

On to an eBay score...

This is the best deal I have ever received on eBay. Two autographs, a Tejada pants relic, and an Ichiro SSP from '09 Topps 206.
I'm leading myself to believe that the seller had no idea that he was sitting on an Ichiro short print. This is one of my favourite cards ever, at least in my Ichiro collection. What a great card.

Also, for $.25, Miguel Tejada's pants!:
I picked this up since shipping was cheap past the first card. For two autos, Miggy's pants and the SP, the order cost $4.75 or something. STEAL.

Ultimate Wish List Card #4

2000 Pacific Crown Royale
Sweet Spot Autograph
Vernon Wells