XFractor Question

So I've been wearing the invisibility cloak of late - have you noticed?

Been busy working with the small streams and riparian zones/wetlands that make springtime so great. Also spent some time in Baltimore drinking green beer and in Oneonta (NY) playing some vicious footy games.

Long boring stories short and concise, I haven't been around much lately. I still have to post trades from Jason and the Baseball Dad, and need to send two thank you packages out. I'm also in the middle of about 3 offline fantasy baseball drafts and multiple payoff pushes for fantasy hockerinz.

Anyways, last night I did my typical load-ebay-and-type-in-Dustin-McGowan thing, and found the mother lode. Well, not really. But I did find a seller with two much needed Dusty autos for cheap with combined shipping. Score (hopefully, I'll find out later tonight).

And then I found the card at the top of this post. I did not know this card existed. I'm not a fan of 2004 Topps. I figured they had ignored McGowan in this set, until this one popped up. There's still 5-6 days left in the auction, so I am not getting excited about winning just yet, but still have a question.

Are these really numbered to /20? I did some searching for other in the set, and apparently they are ox toppers. It just strikes me as odd, as the colorless XFractors are #ed/20 and the red XFractors are not serialed.

Has anyone else seen these?

Catching up on Trades: Quest for 80's ness

I appologize to those of you who I have completed trades with recently. With travel, prepping of a new life and some quick-and-dirty research, I have pushed the blog back just a bit.

This is a three-parter of recent trades, and this solid package came from John at Quest for 80's ness. Very excellent. John sent a small box of cards in exchange for some Goody Champs, which will be in England...eventually.

On to the cards:

The Gruber. Mandatory acknowledgment.
The Big Cat. In tremendously shiny glory.
Skinny, well-shaved Todd in all of his 1996 BB Rookie Card awesomeness.
Big thanks on this one.
Who doesn't love Shawn Green?
Aside from those who've thrown down $80 for a one-hit box and pulled Green relic.
But not me.
Turkey-flavored Dexter Fowler. Super neat.
'09 Upper Deck sans foil Fowler. Is there a point to First Edition?
And no, making the Starquest foil a different color is not a legitimate answer.


Thanks for the Trade, John. Goody Champs and extra BoSox coming your way soon.

Friday Rock Out: Flobots

Need to Post Something

So here's some eBay scores. All four cards, less than $15.

Patric Hornqvist - 08/09 UD Ice Double Jersey.
Matt Stajan Auto #1
Matt Stajan Auto #2
Aaaand....awesome. First Hat Logo card...and for about $7. Decent. These were going for $35 in February.

I have a ton of trades to post. 9 cards each, and good ones. A new Dusty Lambchops (and a silky on in the mail!).

I am pretty close to broke after Baltimore. Thus, no cards for a while. Trades, sure. Don't plan on buying anything until A&G anyways.

The GSA got my geology legs kicking again. So expect more posts here rather than here.

I might have funding to return to Alaska. Amazing.

Friday Rock Out: Thursday

Thursday. Understanding in a Car Crash

Ultimate Wish List Card #6

2005-2006 UD Ice Glacial Graphs
Alexander Steen

Not an extremely rare card, nor is Alex Steen a phenomenal player. However, he's my favorite. No longer a Leaf, but, such as it goes in the NHL with the salary cap. However, this card has a ton of things I love:

• Alex Steen. Duh.
• Colors. They're pretty awesome on this one. Sometimes, blue autos, as dull as they can seem sometimes, look great on a card.
• GLACIERS!
• The Glacial Graphs inserts are just plain awesome. I really want to buy some of this stuff, and hey, maybe I'll grab this beauty.
  

Five Days in Baltimore

Updates: Very possible to reach 4000 hits on this blog tonight. This is really great, since I have only been writing since late November or early December.

Wednesday Greetings, Readers.

I thought I'd quickly toss together a custom I just made of Orioles RFer Nick Markakis. (Quickly has been my downfall lately, as I completely mailed-in that 09/10 UD post last night. All apologies.) I'm really into making these Night Shot/Skyline customs right now, so if you want one made of your favorite player, let me know.

I chose Markakis because I'll be spending Friday-Tuesday in Baltimore, Maryland for a geology conference. If you give a damn, check it out. Needless to say, I'll be out of touch until Tuesday night probably. I originally intended to fire up the ol' To-Shi-Ba laptop, but then realized it's a flaming pile of refuse and decided against torturing myself. So instead, I wil entertain myself by eating out, generic hotel cable television, and fo course, the geologist's pastime, bar hopping. Oh, and listening to 20 minute speeches from 8AM until 430PM every day, nursing the free coffee.

On my way back, on Tuesday, I plan on driving through Cooperstown, and devestating every bargain bin I can find...while trying to boost my player collections.

So without further adieu, here's The Stick:

Oh, and if anyone has any restaurant dive bars in Baltimore you think we should check out, let me know.

Maybe some planned posts while I'm away, but unlikely.

Two Packs of 2009-2010 Upper Deck Series 1 Hocker

I always have better luck with hockey. Better players, better quality, etc. However, being home-based in Central NY, hockey gets no attention. Where you find 3-6 brands per football, baseball and even basketball (sickeningly), there MIGHT be one, or on a good day two, hockey brands available. Since my room is currently haunted by UD Collector's Choice throughout the years, I dare not ever pick up another pack of the stuff.

Well, today, aside from UDCC, there were packs of 2009-2010 Series 1 & 2 Hockey at Sprawl Mart. I grabbed two retail packs. Here is what I received:

Marty.

Punch-and-score-y.

Paille. Nice shot.

The enemy. Most Leafs fans hate the Sens. I hate the Bruins more.

Love the 'Yotes unis. If you move to Hamilton, keep the mascot.

I meant to rotate Drew, really.

Perhaps if I had bought hockey in 08-09, this would be a Stamkos rookie. One can dream.

Late round bargain fantasy pick for me x5.

I don't like you, Bryan. I didn't in the blue & white and I sure as hell don't now.

I like Schenn, though. Sometimes.

I think I've heard of this guy before.

Unfinished Tulowitzki Custom

I like it.

Post 100: Allen and Ginter will once again Remove your Face from your Head

It's worth wasting post #100 on. I'm not much of a milestone man, anyways. This article comes from The Beckett Blog. I haven't read Beckett since Nomahhh was on the cover in a Cubbies uni, so believe me, I'm no Beckett homer.

The article shows what everyone knows about Ginter already, but check out the cabinet Tony Hawk card. SIC MOSH BRAHH.

Yeah, that's right. No pictures. Relax. I have about 30 to post later tonight from opening packs of 2010 Topps and 2009-2010 Upper Deck Hocker. Watch for the latter on A Pack To Be Named Later this evening.

Okay, maybe one picture...
I found this via 1 Blue Jays Way earlier today.

Dustin McGowan TTM Custom

So there it is. It only took about 1/2 an hour, and most of that was trying to teach myself Gimp 2.0. I still need to resize it, as well as possibly making the faded part for the auto less opaque. Click on the full size, and notice that I made the background oil-painting-ish. (?!)

I'd like to print this guy out and sent it to Dunedin, but I'm stuck as to what to do next, more specifically, what kind of paper to print it on. I think it would be lame to just put it on a letter sheet. Any suggestions?

Plain Beautiful Cards: Volume 12 - 1993 Score Jor Girardi #419

Disclaimer: Joe Girardi is an awful manager. I didn't care for him as a player and his managerial style (which is basically putting his team in position for walk offs) makes my lunch curdle in my stomach and rise up my throat. However, this card is excellent. Why? The Rockies in the background.

So to you, Joe Girardi - you're lucky I do not have a scan of the Garrett Atkins '09 Goodwin Champs card.

Check Out My Cards, eBay, and the Greatest Card Ever

I'll keep the comments short on these cards, this will mainly be a picture show. Stay tuned to see some of my new favorite cards late in this post. All of these were purchased for less than $25 cumulatively.
Second Good Doctor Halladay relic...1000x better than the shitty '08 Topps one, which is thicker than my Physical Hydrology textbook. ($1.75)
Been in love with these since I pulled my first one (Larry Wayne Jones) back in 2000. Now have 3/10, and the others should be easy to obtain. ($0.75)
Refractors never scan as good as one can hope. I actually took this and the following Dusty Lambchops cards outside to refelct to sunshine today. They came out ok. First Marcum auto. Big spender on this one. ($3.75)
Awesome. ($0.24)
This blue refractor isn't as nice as I'd hoped, but it's Dusty (favorite player), a refractor, and is going towards the 2006 Topps rainbow. Just need the red one and the base...were there XFractors in '06? ($0.75)

Quite possibly one of the greatest cards ever printed. My new favorite Dusty Lambchops. ($0.50)
Maybe you're thinking: "Booooo! Airbrushed!" or maybe "Booo....he's standing next to a Caribbean-themed Bowling Alley" or even "Booooo that auto sucks in it's tiny script and fine-pointed pen. Well, screw you, and flip it over to see (or not see in the terrible scan):
Hand numbered to /375. WIN. ($1.75)
Fun fact: Dustin McGowan in 100% torso. Look it up. Or down. ($3.00)
Another card for the 2003 Bowman rainbow. Need Refractor and XFractor. ($0.15)
You just got Rickyrolled. ($.99)

And now.

Without further adieu.

I give you...

The greatest card of all time:
Effing eh, man. Effing eh. ($1.25)

Five Years Ago Today...

My wonderful, beautiful dog Lily was born. I know this is a card blog, but Lily has been a huge part of my life ever since.

I was a senior is high school when my parents got her. At the time, I was not expecting a dog. I had been without one for over a year and had given up on getting on until after college and I would be on my own.

When they got her, I was in South Carolina playing baseball. The day she came home, I was on the mound, carrying my first ever no hitter into the fifth inning...and with two out gave up a bomb to Proctor's 1Bmen, and I was pulled from the game, but that's not important. What is important is that they never told me they were getting, or had taken her from her litter yet.

Anyways, a few days passed, and I returned home on or around the 9th of March. I got home at 3AM. I noticed my Mom was sleeping on the couch, which was a common occurrance with my parent's dueling snores.

I came in, my Mom woke up. It was still dark, but we all know where everything is in the house, and as I hugged my Mom I felt something warm and furry on the couch with her. The warm and furry turned into a licking, and eventually, a beautiful golden retreiver puppy was having a chew on my arm. I was instantly in tears with joy. It was the single greatest moment of my life.

While in college, the only thing that ever made me homesick (and I was only about 2 - 2 1/2 hours away) was Lily. Whenever I missed home, or was reluctant to leave, was because of her. I'll miss her when I head to Buffalo in August, but will be able to visit her whenever, as I'll (hopefully/finally) have a vehicle and will be able to come home when needed.

Bringing everything up to date: Last night I went to Target with my other love, Samantha, in hoped of finding Lily a present. I decided to grab her a Beneful meal, you know, those real swanky dogfood dishes that could feed a small child. I plan on mixing it with some dry dog food (as it's not a whole lot of content) and serving it in an iceberg lettuce-dish. Iceberg lettuce is her favorite.

Thanks for reading.

Friday Rock Out: Brand New. Again.

Enjoy. I have since '06.

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 206 Want List Posted

...however, since I started it yesterday, it didn't make it to the top of the blog. No big deal. Either scroll down, or click here.

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.