Card Shop Pick-Up: Brandon Webb Auto

I picked up 3 cards a week or so ago at my LCS. The cards were in a case that all cards were 3/$10 so I got each for roughly $3.33. First up is a 2010 Upper Deck Signature Sensations Brandon Webb Autograph. I was excited to add another Webb auto to my collection and for the price I couldn't pass it up.

Trade with Tomahawk Chopping

Derek, of the blog Tomahawak Chopping - Cardboard & More! recently posted about some extra 2012 Topps cards that he had for trade. I contacted him about the D-Backs and we arranged a D-Backs for Braves trade. Derek said he had 6 D-backs cards he would be sending and I assumed they would all be base cards, but I was wrong. There were 4 base cards, 1 parallel and 1 insert. Here are my favorites. Thanks Derek!

2012 Topps - 2011 NL Wins Leaders featuring Ian Kennedy - I would love to see Kennedy on this card again next year and think that he will have a good chance!

2012 Topps Stephen Drew Gold Parallel

2012 Topps Golden Moments Justin Upton

Blog Milestone: 500th Post

This is my 500th Post. I started my blog on June 19, 2009. Almost 3 years later I'm still going strong. Thanks for reading! In keeping with a 500 theme, did you know there is/was such a thing as a $500 bill? So just for fun, if you had a $500 bill, what cards would you buy (maximum of 5 cards)?

Here's what I would get. That's right, just one card. The 1997 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Game Jersey card. Griffey is my favorite player of all-time. I have multiple Griffey jersey and bat cards, every rookie card, an autographed jersey, ball, mini-helmet and 2 different autographed cards, but this is the one card of his that I covet the most. If I had an extra $500 to spend on cards I would get this card. It rarely shows up on eBay and when it does it commands a large price tag, but $500 should ensure that it would be mine.

TTM Success: Hall of Famer

I got this TTM request back on 2/22/12, just 14 days after sending it out. It is from Hall of Famer, Goose Gossage. Gossage had an amazing career and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. I am really excited about this autograph! Thanks Goose!

TTM Failure: Stan Musial

Back in 2009 I sent a ttm request to Stan Musial and recieved a signed postcard from him. You can see it here. I noticed that he changed the postcard that he is sending out now, and I liked the new one much better than the one I already had so I sent another request. It was a fairly quick return and I got the new postcard, but it wasn't signed. I might try again to see what happens.

eBay Pick-Up: 1988 Topps Traded Robin Ventura OLY XRC

I was watching a show recently on the MLB network where they provided a list of the top player at each position from the 1990's. Here's the list.

LF- Larry Walker
CF- Ken Griffey Jr.
RF- Barry Bonds
3B- Robin Ventura
SS- Barry Larkin
2B- Roberto Alomar
1B- Frank Thomas
C- Mike Piazza
P- Greg Maddux

During the 1990's is when I really started following baseball and collecting cards, so I remmber all of these player extremly well. After watching the show I decided that I wanted to get each players key Rookie Card and figure out a cool way to display them all. I already had the Upper Deck Griffey and the Bowman Piazza, but I need everyone else, so I put together a list and will start to chip away at it. My first acquisition was this 1988 Topps Traded Olympic XRC of Robin Ventura. I got it off eBay for $0.99 shipped.

TTM Success: Don Baylor

On 11/21/11 I sent a ttm autograph request to Don Baylor. I recieved my card back, signed, on 2/23/12 - 93 days later. Well worth the wait! Thanks Mr. Baylor!

Trade with Padrographs; Abner to Zimmer

Rod from the blog Padrographs; Abner to Zimmer, recently posted about a stack of Arizona Diamondbacks cards that he had up for trade. I contacted him and we worked out a deal. I got my cards in a couple days ago. Thanks Rod! Here are a few of my favorites.

2011 Topps Stephen Drew - Not sure if Rod realized this or not, but this was the last card I needed for my 2011 Topps D-Backs team set, so this was great to see! 

2011 Bowman Platinum Justin Upton - Awesome looking card!

2011 Bowman Josh Collmentor Blue Parallel RC - numbered 014/499

2011 Bowman Chrome Trevor Bauer Refractor - The 3rd overall draft pick in the 2011 Draft and one of the D-Backs top pitching prospects!

 2011 Bowman Archie Bradley - The 7th overall pick in the 2011 draft and another D-Backs top pitching prospect!

 1999 Flair Showcase Row 1 Matt Williams - numbered 1692 of 6000

 2007 UD Masterpieces Randy Johnson Green Parallel - I love these parallels!

Trade with Scott Crawford on Cards and ALL TRIBE BASEBALL

I started working on a couple of trades with Scott from the blog Scott Crawford on Cards and Jack of the blog ALL TRIBE BASEBALL at about the same time. My portion in each trade was the 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary D-Backs Team Set. Both trades took place and I ended up with two D-Backs team sets, which I am excited about! Thanks Scott! Thanks Jack! Jack included a fe other D-Backs cards for me as well. Several of which are shown below.

2011 Topps Update Henry Blanco -  One of the last cards I needed for my 2011 Topps D-Backs team set.

Brad Creese - I needed this for my card of every Diamondback collection

This Gonzo card will look great autographed. I need to send Luis a ttm request soon, so this will get sent.

Trade with Get the bat off your shoulder

I recently completed a trade with Anthony of the blog Get the bat off your shoulder. He helped me out with some 2011 Topps D-Backs cards off my Want List and I was able to send him some 2011 Topps cards that he needed for his set. He threw in some other D-Backs cards and since I already put the 2011 Topps D-Backs in a binder, I'll show a couple of the other D-Backs cards that he sent. Thanks Anthony!

2005 Upper Deck First Pitch - This makes my 205th different Webb card in my Brandon Webb collection.

2003 UD Fourty Man Curt Schilling All-Star - I like All-Star cards in general and for some reason i really like the design of this card.

2003 Upper Deck First Pitch Byung-Hyun Kim -  Great shot of a big part of the 2001 Championship team.

Happy President's Day!

This weekend has been crazy busy. My mother-in-law got married on Saturday. We had a get together at our house Sunday morning for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their family who left later that day to move to Virginia. Sunday afternoon/evening was a BBQ at my boss's house. This morning I helped another brother-in-law move and this afternoon I am off to my parents house to do some yardwork. Here are a couple of former Presidents on baseball cards to help top off the weekend.

TTM Success: 'Hard Hittin' Mark Whiten

I got this TTM Success from Mark Whiten last Wednesday. He inscribed them to me, or at leat one of them was to me, Daniel. The other one is to Danien. Thanks Mark!

Wish List

I posted my first Want List just a few weeks ago. I figure I should also post a Wish List as well. My Wish List will be cards that I don't expect to own, but I wish I did. So here we go. In no particular order. I'll update this whenever I see a card that catches my eye.

1993 UD SP Derek Jeter RC
1994 UD SP Alex Rodriguez RC
Babe Ruth Jersey Card with pinstripe
Lou Gehrig Bat Card
Lou Gehrig Jersey Card with pinstripe
Joe DiMaggio Bat Card
Joe DiMaggio Jersey Card with pinstripe
1948-49 Leaf Jackie Robinson RC
Joe Jackson Bat Card
Randy Johnson (D-Backs) (certified) Auto
Curt Schilling (D-Backs) (certified) Auto
Michael Jordan (Bulls) (certified) Auto
Wayne Gretzky (Kings) (certified) Auto
Brett Favre (Packers) (certified) Auto

Card Shop Pick-Ups: Trade Bait

I picked up these cards at my LCS a week or so ago in hopes of trading them, so if you're interested let me know.

Card Shop Pick-Up: 500 Home Run Club/3000 Hit Club Bat Card

I picked up this 2002 Upper Deck Diamond Collection Rafael Palmeiro Bat card at my LCS a week or so ago for $1. At just a dollar I couldn't pass it up. Palmeiro is a member of the 500 Home Run Club and the 3000 Hit Club (no comment on how he got there), so this gives me a Bat Card for each of those collections. 

Trade with The Common (Card) Man

Tony, of the blog The Common (Card) Man, contacted me to see if I would be interested in a 2011 Topps Diamond Die Cut card of Chris Young. I quickly checked out his want/need lists and we arranged a trade. He sent me the Diamond Die Cut and a bunch of other great D-Backs cards including some 2011 and 2012 Topps cards I needed and a couple of Brandon Webb cards for my Webb PC, but I didn't want to take anything away from the awesomeness of this card, by posting pictures of any others in the same post. I removed the protective fil so it could be seen in all it's glory. Thanks Tom!

D-Backs Fan Fest Recap: Part 3 (Wow, I am blown away!)

So here is a video of me opening the package that the Diamondbacks sent me after my experience at Fan Fest this past Saturday. I was blown away with what they sent. I want to thank Eric George (Guest Services Manager) for taking the time to listen to our concerns and for going above and beyond in making it up to me!

D-Backs Fan Fest Recap: Part 2

In Part 1 of my D-Backs Fan Fest Recap I mentioned the frustration that I experienced trying to purchase autograph tickets. My buddy and I got up early and waited outside for over 3 hours and got nothing. I immediately started asking who I could speak to about the situation. I was referred to someone that was supposed to be on the field at a Customer Relations booth. When we got to the booth they didn't know where that person was so we were directed back up to the Customer Relations department in the actual stadium. I explained the situation to a couple of people working at the desk and one of them called a manager. We waited for him to arrive and then I explained my frustration with how things were handled. He apologized and said they would take my feedback and suggestions into consideration for next year. He actually offered us a couple of tickets to get Joe Paterson and Joe Saunders at 2:15 pm, but by this time we were not in the mood to wait another three hours so we declined. He then did something that really surprised me. He asked if there was a player that we would like him to get an autograph from and send to us. We of course said yes and he gave us his business card and told us to email him with who we would like and our addresses. I mentioned Justin Upton and he said that was fine. When I got home I sent him an email asking for either Justin Upton or Paul Goldschmidt. On Monday he responded to my email, thanking me for the feedback and letting me know that he would be sending out an autograph sometime this week. He didn't mention which player or what it would be, so I'm really excited to see what happens next. I'll keep you posted.

D-Backs Fan Fest Recap: Part 1

My buddy and I arrived at the D-Backs Fan Fest on Saturday, February 11th at about 7:30 am. We were prepared to wait 3+ hours in line in order to purchase autograph tickets for some of our favorite D-Backs players and coaches. We were probably around the 30th people in the general public line. Tickets were suppossed to go on sale to the general public at 10:30 am or whenever the line for Season Ticket Holders was complete "whichever comes first". The part in quotation marks is from the flyer that was handed out by D-Backs staff around 8:30 am. 10:30 am came and went and the Season Ticket Holders kept coming. The Season Ticket Holders were allowed to completely finish purchasing autograph tickets before the general public was allowed to purchase any autograph tickets. By the time we got up to a ticket window almost all the tickets were sold out. We had waited for over 3 hours and ended up not getting a single autograph ticket. Needless to say I was extremly frustrated and I voiced my concerns over how things were handled. I will keep you posted as to the results. We entered the stadium and got out Subway gift cards (I still haven't checked to see how much is on mine - it's somewhere between $1 and $500 - I'm guessing mine will be $1). We went down to the Yard Sale and I did purchase a few items including these three autographed 8 x 10's of former D-Backs. I got them for $2 each. I also got a $2 Augie Ojeda bobblehead that I did not have yet.

Kelly Johnson

Brandon Allen

Clay Zavada

Ryan Roberts Collection

One of my 2012 Card Collecting Goals: Ryan Roberts Collection - Ryan Roberts had a breakout year in 2010 and is definitely a fan favorite here in Arizona. I met him at the All-Star Fan Fest and he is a super nice guy. Because he was not an everyday player until this last year he actually has very few cards. He was included in the 2011 Topps Update Series and I collected as many of those parallels as possible. I haven't seen any of the 1/1's aside from two of the Printing Plates which I was able to get. I have a feeling that he will be included in a lot more product in 2012, so I definitely want to increase my collection of Ryan Roberts cards and so without knowing exactly how many cards he will have in 2012, I will set my goal at 25 unique Ryan Roberts cards for 2012.

2004 Auburn Doubledays

2006 Topps '52 #185

2006 Topps '52 Chrome #TCRC47 serial numbered 0993/1952

2006 Topps '52 Chrome Refractor #TCRC47 serial numbered 437/552

2006 Topps '52 Gold Chrome Refractor #TCRC47 serial numbered 06/52

2006 Upper Deck #1209

2008 Topps 2007 Hightlights Auto #HA-RR

2011 Topps Update #US237

2011 Topps Update #US237 Blue (Wal-Mart)

2011 Topps Update #US237 Red (Target)

2011 Topps Update #US237 Diamond Sparkle

2011 Topps Update #US237 Cognac Sparkle

2011 Topps Update #US237 Gold /2011

2011 Topps Update #US237 Hope Blue Diamond /60

2011 Topps Update #US237 Black /60

2011 Topps Update #US237 Magenta Printing Plate 1/1

2011 Topps Update #US237 Cyan Printing Plate 1/1

2012 Allen & Ginter #323

2012 Allen & Ginter Mini #323
2012 Allen & Ginter Black Border Mini #323

2012 Allen & Ginter Gold Border Mini #323

2012 Allen & Ginter Mini A & G No Number on Back

2012 Topps #173

2012 Topps #173 Pie Variation

2012 Topps #173 No Name On Front

2012 Topps #173 Gold

2012 Topps #173 Blue

2012 Topps #173 Red

2012 Topps #173 Purple

2012 Topps #173 Black /61

2012 Topps Mini #173

2012 Topps Mini Gold Parallel #173 serial numbered 25/61

2012 Topps Mini Platinum Parallel #173 serial numbered 1/5

2012 Topps Mini Gold Parallel #173 Yellow Printing Plate 1/1

2012 Topps Opening Day #123

2012 Topps Opening Day Blue Parallel #'d to 2012
2012 Topps Update #US307 Blue
2012 Topps Update #US307 Gold Sparkle
2012 Topps Update #US307 Gold #'d to 2012
2012 Topps Update #US307 Black #'d to 61

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen #29

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Sepia Mini #29 #'d to 99

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini #29

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Red Back Mini #29

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Straight Cut Mini #29

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Green Mini #29

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Black Mini #29

2012 Topps Sticker #260
2012 Panini Prizm #106
2012 Panini Prizm #106 Green
2012 Panini Prizm #106 Blue
2012 Panini Prizm #106 Red
2012 Panini Prizm #106 Gold #'d to 10

2012 Panini Prizm #106 Finite Black 1/1

2012 Panini Prizm Auto #RR
2012 Panini Prizm Refractor Auto # RR #'d 10/25

2013 Topps Update #US65 Red

2013 Topps Update #US65 Gold #'d to 2013

2013 Topps Update #US65 Camo #'d to 99

2013 Topps Update #US65 Black #'d to 61

2013 Topps Update #US65 Pink #'d to 50

2013 Topps Update #US65 Yellow Printing Plate 1/1

2013 Topps Update Silk #'d to 50

2014 Choice Pawtucket Red Sox #21