2009 Goodwin Champions Night Variations

While going through hours of debate, and never even posting or letting anyone know I was working on it, I compared and contrasted the popular vintage sets of 2009 - UD Goodwin Champions, Topps Allen & Ginter's, Topps T206 and UD Goudey. It was very easy for me to decide my favorite, which was far & away Allen & Ginter's. I hated Goudey, enjoyed T206 greatly and remained incredibly frustrated with my awful pulls in Goodwin Champions...but knew that the potential was there for them to be great.

Researching Goodwin on eBay showed me some slick pulls - on card autos featuring Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter, and, well that's about it. The Memorobilia Series is dreadful, bad swatches of either white or gray jerseys, no patches, poor checklist.

But when it came to variations, Goodwin got my attention, and still does. Why? The Nighttime variations. These cards are amazing. It's kind of lame that all 15 in the set (why not all cards, and why not on mini's?) have the same background, but still, these are art. It's a refreshing change of pace from bleached-out daytime photography of most sets (I'm looking at you, Topps flagship).

However, I still have questions about these nighttime variations. I thought all of the cards in the GC set had Night parallels, and I was wrong. I snagged a checklist off of Collector's Universe forums, a site which I do not frequent, but just happened to come up in a Google search. (Google doesn't show up underlined in red, is it already a true "word"?)

Here's the '09 Checklist:

1 Ken Griffey Jr.
7 Ryne Sandberg
20 Grady Sizemore
44 Barack Obama
56 Ozzie Smith
65 Tiger Woods
69 Ichiro
74 Gerry Lopez
87 Andy Pettitte
101 Cal Ripken Jr.
106 Ryan Howard
115 Smarty Jones
126 Troy Tulowitzki
132 Chien-Ming Wang
140 Gordie Howe

They picked some solid gamers here. So far I have only seen evidence of a few of these - Wang, Tulo, Ripken, Pettitte, Ichiro, Tiger, Barack. I am debating if I want to put forth the capitol to chase these 15 cards. The only reason for this desire, other than the sleek look of the cards, is that the checklist has some of my favorites - Tulowitzki, Griffey Jr, Wang and Ichiro. Maybe I'll just chase those, but I've seen no evidence of a Griffey, yet.

Oh, and if you think I should write up a post or series of posts on the Vintage Wars as I like to call them (the Goodwin Champions vs. Goudey vs. Allen & Ginter's vs. T206) I will do so. Anyting for the...fans?

Gettin Milestoned

It took me about an hour (half of the second period, the 2nd intermission, and the first 5:03 of the third period of Maple Leafs @ Devils game), but I have recorded, collated and scanned the THREE trade packages I received today. The first, and girthy-est of the packages came form Dinged Corners. Now, I don't precisely remember what I did to earn this package, some sort of contest I think, but nonetheless, there it was, and here I am smiling about it.

Inside was a total of (I think) five loaded team bags, and in this case, aptly named team bags. I know when I throw team bags into a trade, it usually involves about forty cards of mixed players and teams with absolutely no pattern, unless there's a relic, and in that case I make sure it's sandwiched warmly between commons and, if necessary, a bip blanket...

On to the cards.

DC sent me loads of Blue Jays and Rockies, included a load of Moments and Milestones. Hence the post title.

Text, from here on, will only involve the cards. No more mindless scientist chatter.
Dave Stieb Diamond Kings. Very cool. I believe I used to own this, but if I did, it is nowhere to be found. This is probably my favorite DK set, aside from that one year that the cards had a canvas/UD Masterpieces feel to them.
Shaun Marcums: Always welcomed here at the Paper Chase. Or A Paper Chase. I don't even know, I don't like the title, and hey, it might even change eventually.
First CarGo card. I'm not an '09 Topps homer like so many others out there. It's a good set, but hey, I loved 2008 and everyone seems to hate them.
DC really kicked my Halladay collection in the ass, and with some good ones, too. This is a Bowman Heritage from 2007. It's shinier than the side of a rainbow trout (I didn't know there would be fish jokes...) and I dig it. Is this a parallel? I don't know anything about 07 Bowman Heritage, and the three she sent me like this, were all rainbow-trout foil board. (That's going to be my new thing. Rainbow Trout cards...)
Rarely do I have trades without Tulos. However, the next two I will post have no Tulos, but that's just fine. This is a nice one. There was a healthy amount of these M&M cards, which 've never purchased, but seem like the biggest pain in the ass to collect. Ever. But I was sent two which were #'ed/25, which are now tied with my Mauer Jersey card for for lowest numbered cards.

That's all I'll post for this package. Much thanks to Dinged Corners. If you've never check them out, please do so. They were one of the first card blogs I discovered, and have been a constant source of cardawesomeness these past two months (really...I've only been here since December...)

Friday Rock Out: Bayside

I sniped this idea from both Tao of Stieb and DJF, but they're tough Canucks so they can get over it if they're pissed. Were all Tank Nation fans anyways.

So here it is.

Paper Chase's version of the Friday Rock Out.

This video kind of sucks, kind of an Alkaline Trio (Stupid Kid) ripoff, but the song rocks my ass purple and was featured in EA Sport's MVP NCAA Baseball '06, the greatest baseball game for PS2, Ever.

Here it is- Bayside's Devotion and Desire.



Hopefully I'll dish out a trade post or four by this weekend and within a week "The Plan" will fall into place...

Ultimate Wish List Card #2

2002 Stadium Club
World Champions
(Regular Season Worn Jersey)
Al Leiter

Office Bipping

CarGo Custom

Jesus Wansa Bip You

2010 Upper Deck First Looks

Awesome, really. From the limited number of inserts (almost no base cards) listed on eBay, this is a pretty solid release. Here's some highlights:
Decent. Ramon Vazquez is one of the only base cards I could find...the rest had "Star Rookie" logos on them. I think due to the lawsuit, UD also cannot use the RC logo on their cards, so they designed their, own, and it's kind of obnoxious, but whatever. This Vazquez is actually a gold parallel /99.
Holy Fleer Ultra circa late '09's. These are siiiick. Die cuts are back with a vengeance...and Joe Mauer dons this one. Absolutely awesome insert, saw some others with Pujols and other stars, looks like a legit checklist for a sweet die-cut set. Very cool, will be collecting all of these.
So after seeing the Mauer and promptly jumping up and down (both for the return of die cuts and, let's face it, FLAMES!) this set stunned me equally. Perhaps it didnt need to be die-cut, but it's still really badass and features one of my favorite parts of the game, it's World-Wide reach (I'm a WBC homer, too, want to fight about it?!) This insert is a great cool-coloured answer to the too-hot-to-handle Pure Heat inserts.
And lastly, the relics. I am yet to see a patch or a multi-colour patch, but they're okay. The big portrait on the right is great, but instead of the small action photo on the left, I think they should have transferred the patch to inside the diamond and rid the card of a busy, second photograph. I'm so tired of circular patches, it's a waste of a swatch seeing as ~20% of the swatch ends up between cardboard.

I dig 'em. What do you guys think?

Excellent

From ESPN's Streak for the Cash game:

eBay Scores and the Beginning of my Chad Jenkins Collection

So, I'm pretty happy that I socred these three beauties (and when I saw beauties, that's an understatement) from eBay on, oh, Thursday or so. Today, on Monday, I already had them. Pretty solid. Each was $.99, and all three shipped together for $3.00. That's right, three Prospect autos for less than $6.00. I think I made out pretty well.

First up is Rinku Singh. You may remember a few days, maybe a week or so ago I posted how much I loved Rinku's inks. I posted the Bowman '09 Auto, which isn't nearly as attractive as the Bowman Sterlings. I had already purchased this one, so I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

Next is Dinesh Kumar Patel. Patel finished second in the Million Dollar Arm contest, but ended up being the more successful pitcher this year in this summer's Pirates Florida League teams. Mechanically he is mroe sound than Singh, but Singh also has the magic ability of being able to throw with his left arm.

Finally, Chad Jenkins. The back of the cards details a bit about the our newest baby Blue Jay (1st Round, 20th Overall in 2009) saying that he never intended to play professionally, just wanted to play some ball at Kennesaw State and get a Business Degree...then he won '09 Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, going 8-1 with a 2.54 ERA. Welcome to the Jays, Chad.

Play at the Plate Contest!

So my man B-Snide over at Play at the Plate has a groovy contest going on right now, named after Groundhogs Day, I suppose, but this has nothing to do with PETA's latest ridiculousness.

Over at Play at the Plate, 30 packs were opened of new 2010 Topps, and 66.7% of the set (220/330) was completed. Now, 25 more packs have been purchased, and you have to guess what percentage of the set will be completed...the prize? More 2010 Topps packs! And extra goodies involving whoever your favorite team is.

I suggest ya'll act on this one, its open until Wednesday I believe. Also, Play at the Plate is a fantastic trader and all around solid gentleman. Follow his blog and try and work out a trade!

Bonus: I just turned my calendar over to February, only to a smiling Dachsund staring back at me. Good start to the month right there.

Ultimate Wish List Card #1

2009 Bowman Sterling
Black Refractor
Dexter Fowler /25

What Bothers Me About Topps Unique

This.
Here we have the Joakim Soria "Game Used Button!" relic, serialed to only /6. My first thought, of course, was: "I can haz button shirt cardz?". At the time, it was affordable. I am probably watching it, but lost faith in the card after some good thought.

First off, this is anything but Unique. Why? The usual reasons: Sticker Auto, bland Topps design. Of course, Joakim could sign a cantaloupe and I would throw down some bills for it. [By the way, Google Image Search "Hits until porn" game revealed pornography on the first page of images. Beware, kids.]

Also, a button is part of a uniform. Why completely remove the button from the jersey and make them two different cards? Thickness, obviously, is one concern. This card would probably be 3x as thick and a regular relic card. The only other reason I can think would be that they never thought to use the buttons until this year, and for some reason, besides the reason that Joakim "Blue Flame" Soria wore them, so they were kept.

On a side note...anyone who was ever a hard-nosed player in high school or American Legion baseball will realize buttons are readily losable when diving. When you think of how many jersey cards are out there, or at least when I do, I think 'why so many'? I figured it's probably because of instances like losing buttons, or ripping the ass out of the back right leg of your uniform stealing second. One of the fiercest competitors I ever had the pleasure of sharing a uniform (not literally, we were teammates for 2-3 years) with would go through 4-5 pairs of pants in a season - which brings me to my next though. So many cards say "game-used/worn Uniform" on them...some say "jersey", and rarely do they ever say "pants". Why not? Jersey implies a top, pants is explanatory, but "uniform", I believe, is intentionally left vague.

Tangent number #18 for this post: New Idea for Topps Unique.





Game used pants zippers. Eh?

Holyhellofalotofhockernews = Maple Leafs Acquire Dion Phaneuf

Alexander Steen - Gone
Nik Antropov - Gone
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Still Here?
Matt Stajan - Gone
Ian White - Gone

Well. 80% of my favorite Leafs, all time, gone. Alexei is next, and probably within the afternoon.

It's rough being a Toronto fan right now. Maple Leafs now have the devastating pair of Phaneuf and Kaberle on the blue line, but there is no longer any more front line. Kessel is in trouble up there right now without Stajan...and Bozak is hot but is he ready? We'll have to see. Christian Hansen will be a force soon enough.

Who's next?

Jason Blake? I sure hope so. Overpaid albino...

Hagman is gone, Ponikarovsky might not make it to dinner time.

Fredrik Sjostrom? I remember him from the Rangers, but he's not worth losing White and Stajan, even if we do get Phaneuf. This looks purely like a getting something for nothing, in terms of long contracts versus impending free agents.

My thoughts are all over the place right now, I appologize and promise better writing in the future. I'll leave you with this, my favorite card of all time, which has just lost a ton of meaning to me:


UPDATE 1:17PM

YESS! BLAKE IS GONE!! REJOICE!!

Toskala too?! No shit!

What?

We got a warm body in return? No way! He was a Stanley Cup winning goalie?! Hot damn!

New Guys:

Dion Phaneuf
Fredrik Sjostrom
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Keith Aulie

Old Guys:
Vesa Toskala
Ian White
Matt Stajan
Jamal Mayers
Jason Blake

Good. Blake and Toskala are gone. We've got someone to protect the Monster along with Kaberle. But we may never score a goal for the rest of the season...


...playoffs!

Custom Base Card Attempt #1 - Brandon League

So, some of you may have seen the JD Salinger custom I showed the other day. Some of you may have not, but how would I know, there were no comments.

I decided, since there are hardly any cards of possibly one of my favorite all-time players, I would just go and make one me derned self.

So here it is, 2010 APC #1 - Brandon League.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

And by the way, I like the Mariners, but it killed me to put that "S" logo on there. I did it to spite Upper Deck. I'm sure they'll notice.

Trade with Reader Jon (And, "It Was Bound to Happen")

So the mail came in today, and I saw what every collector loves, the beautiful goldenrod packet which can mean one thing (well, it can mean many things, but these "things" are much better than other "things".) New cards! I noticed right away that the package was from reader Jon, and ripped in. (The only other pieces of mail was a credit card app from Chase and a W-2. Those were quickly ignored.)

Right away, I noticed a note in the bag...and knew exactly what it was going to say. Protecting the inner contents sandwiched between two top loaders were what could only be late-80's brown-edged Topps. You know, h said he had some '88 Jays minis to send...but these cards are standard sized....Hmm.... A Cubs player to boot...I don't have any Cubs on my "Want" lists...uh...uh....oh no.

No.

Say it ain't so, Jon!

I open the note...

"Roy, Hope you enjoy the cards. I also Bipped you..."

This is where the embarrassment sets in. Doug Dascenzo. Bipped. Descenzo'd. Chicago Cubs. I had to look this guy up. It's kind of funny. With all the '89er Topps I have, no Dascenzos. I've never seen this card nor even heard of the player in my life. And I know wayyyy too many players.

So Dascenzo facts (KNOW YOUR BIPPINGS!):

Career AVG of .234
5 HR, 90 RBI and an OBP of .293 (who the hell walked this guy?!)

Kind of sounds like 3 average Gregggggg Zaun seasons rolled into one career.

But here's what makes Dascenzo a gem of a bipping:

5.0 IP, 2 K, 2 BB and a zero ERA. This guy was LIGHTS OUT when it comes to relief pitching. Maybe he'll get a call this year from the lowly Cubbies.

Another fun fact, from Wiki, of course:
Dascenzo began his Major League career by playing in a then-National League record 241 consecutive games without making an error. The streak spanned from his debut in 1988 to the 1991 season when he committed his first error in a game on August 25. Very Nice.

Now, on to the object of the trade... Jon had a Tulo Jersey card to send me in return for an Adam Dunn jersey card. Sounds like a fair deal, my favorite for your's, and it went down smoothly.

Here's the Tulo:

Bonus Tulo! Triple Play Tulo!:

A Joakim Soria Piedmont Mini from '09 T206:

I'll get up to posting my Soria have list eventually, but the past three online trades have pumped my PC so much I'm totally lacking (Yes, I believe she said something like that...)

'88 Tom Henke Mini, but Bigger than the Soria:

And the Griffey '08 UDX:

This is by far the best looking card in this set. Something about the Red/White/Black (err...let's ignore that those are Nazi party colours for now) scheme makes this Griffey particulary eye-catching.

Thanks for the awesome cards, Jon. Your's will probably get into the mail Tomorrow morning (hopefully). You should have a healthy Adam Dunn boost soon enough. Other readers: I also have two more packets that will probably go out. A 500 Clubber caught in a Webb, and some Te-xas Rangers that I don't have a good pun for. Also, payment for Collective Troll's Group Break and Carl Crawfords "TBNLs" are still being put together, so remain patients, Rays fans.

And for those of you sick enough to want to see this:

Double Take

2009 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects #BDP18 Mat Latos

2009 Topps T206 #296 Mat Latos

WIN.

So why do I love this one and not the Eatons? Well, for one, the others were Adam Eatons. Curious how all four were Padres cards....Padres games must be so entertaining that they cannot keep a photographer there for more than one shot. Reason two: Mat Latos. I'm a big fan, and this Bowman DP+P was my third RC logo card of Latos. He killed for me down the stretch in fantasy ball, so that helps.

I've had the T206 for MONTHS but never noticed that sick wrist tat. It is more evident in the T206 than in the Bowman. But still, he's got nothing on my main man Brandon League, and never will.

JD

Don't ever tell anybody anything.
If you do, you start missing everybody.

JD Salinger, dead today at 91 years old.

Super Awesome Autos - Rinku Singh

In 2008, Indian television (not exactly Baliwood or Slumdog Millionaire) ran a Reality/Contest TV Show aptly named "Million Dollar Arm". The program, brainstormed by JB Bernstein, was aimed to find the one Indian who could throw the hardest and most accurate fastball. Rinku won the contest out of 37,000 contestants by throwing 87 MPH. Singh later tried out for 20 MLB teams and was eventually signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates while reaching 92 MPH on the gun.

Singh struck out one batter on July 13th, 2009 and became the first Indian-born baseball player to win a professional baseball game.

Fellow Indian Dinesh Patel also was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was runner-up in the MIllion Dollar Arm contest.

Spelunking along on ebay for a Dinesh Patel auto, I came across Singh's 2009 Bowman Auto. I thought it was one of the greatest autos in a long time, mainly because:

• Singh's first language, and script, is not English. Most International free agents that speak foreign languages usually have to learn just the language, however for Singh and Patel, they had to learn to write the language as well.
• All of the letters are printed and rarely touch.
• Some letters, such as the "g" in Singh, are above other letters, very cool.
• Originality! Probabl moreso due to Singh's language and script, but this auto is very refreshing and original, more enjoyable than the cursive letter-LINE cursive letter-LINE autos so many baseball players feature now.