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.

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

Cards found on the side of the road...

...well not really. Today I got three packages, er..down the road. The one which I will showcase tonight is a solid package from Duane at Democratic Roadkill. I want to thank you, Duane, quickly, before I get to the loot. Duane came to me saying he had a good amount of cards from my '07 Fleer Ultra want list, and some '06 Fleer Traditions. Without giving him a rundown of a return package, he sent these awesome cards my way. Don't worry Duance, I'll cook something good up for you, though it may take a while.

First up, one of the greatest players of all time from one of the greatest sets of all time:
What a great card. He sent a bunch of these, all Jays save for the Junior Griffey, including the flowing golden locks of a one Kelly Gruber:
Awesome. Gruber is letting everyone in Major League Baseball know right then and there, who finished first in 1992. And will again in 1993. And 2014.
Currently the oldest Jays card in my collection. Boomer's 6'5"/218 frame dominates his panel. He might be average by today's standards.

I juxtaposed these on purpose. Why? A couple reasons. One, The pose is very similar. I'm assuming Topps did not do this on purpose, because they hate the Blue Jays, but also because these cards are 200 apart in the set.

The real reason they are juxtaposed for me is that this way, we can symbolize the passing of the torch. My favorite Blue Jays traded away for some baby birdies, the ringing in of the new ace and my favorite player, as well as my #1 Personal Collection player. Dusty, it's time to be a man.

Now for some more '08 Allen & Ginter's (I need to get a want list up for these) of Mr. Joe Baseball himself:
Love the state cards, pissed that my state is represented by a complete shithead.
'08 Ultimate Collection Joe Baseball. Didn't think much of these from randoms I have seen on eBay, but these are pretty solid for high-end (limited to /350) base cards.
As I mentioned above, got some '07 Ultras in this package. This was the one that stood out most, only because of that hat. I really dislike the Padres, but that hate is awesome. WANT.
Weee. Another Soria, for my paltry Soria collection. I haven't heard of anyone else who collects him, but someone mentioned it on their blog recently. I dig this card. Someone else sent me a Seth Smith of the same variety. I really like how UD did this set.

Well, thanks for the awesome cards, Duane. I will get a package out to you soon. I hope you'll be as pleased with it as I am with my half. Awesome.

Go check out the trader's blog, Democratic Roadkill.

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.

Friday Rock Out: Catch-22

9MM And a Three Piece Suit

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.