Listia Goodness

I was browsing for Ryne Sandberg cards on Listia last week and came across a ten card auction of some pretty notable figures at a very reasonable price.  506 credits and a week later, here's what I can add to my collection and/or trade stacks:

 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier of "The Kid" on the left and a 1992 Leaf card of Barry Bonds on the right.  Owners of two of the sweetest left-handed swings the game has ever seen.

Here's a pair that drove Cubs pitchers crazy for years, Barry Larkin (.317 BA) and Jeff Bagwell (37 HRs):

Above, we have a 1992 Fleer Ultra All-Star insert of a recent Hall of Fame inductee.  To the right is a 1991 Donruss Diamond King of a guy with the weirdest lower-half of a batting stance I've ever seen.

Hmmm...  I only paired these two together because they were both horizontal cards.  Yep, nothing cool to comment on, except...

 Oooooh!  Shiny!  ('94 UD Mickey Mantle Cecil Fielder)
... and ... 
the Say Hey Kid! ('93 UD Baseball Heroes)

Um, much less excited about these two:

 1989 Fleer Roger Clemens and a 1994 Triple Play Bomb Squad insert of Juan Gonzalez. The sepia color and beige border do nothing for me in the Juan Gone card. Meh.

Even still, I'm thinking about chasing this set:

 Until then, I can sleep easier knowing that I have a card of the Stolen Base King to help me get started on that '87 Topps set.

Here's the card that brought me to the above lot:

Unfortunately, I already have this one in my Sandberg collection. No matter, the other cards were a pretty sweet find!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I got Hinkled tonight.

I went to what will probably be my last minor league baseball game of the year this evening.  Things are winding down for my local team, the Peoria Chiefs, but that doesn't mean I still can't have fun at the ol' ballpark!

One dollar hotdogs, ice cream sandwiches, and fountain drinks...  Nice!

My friend Jim, who was celebrating a major birthday, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.  Low and and inside, but it caught the corner.  What a professional.

Select items were 50% off in the gift store tonight and I walked out with four baseball card sets for $10. 

 

Three of the sets are prospect sets from past years in the Midwest League (low-A) and the other is the Chiefs' team set from last year which features Javier Baez. Who's Baez?  Cubs fans know.  He's a beast.

Lastly, we decided to cheer for Wade Hinkle. 

Why cheer for Wade?  Well, because I remembered his card from this year's Bowman set.

Additionally, even though they are the home team we don't usually cheer for the Chiefs.  We're still a little bummed that they're affiliated with the Cardinals now after losing the Cubs.  Bleh.   So Wade, a visiting player, received our adoration this evening.

He was playing first base and batting clean-up for the Burlington Bees, an Angels affiliate.  We chanted his name in the fifth and he singled to right.  Wade received a nice standing ovation from my little group.  Then he caught a pop up for the last out of the 6th and he tossed us the ball on his way back to the dugout.  I was the lucky one who got to take the ball home, which I'm pretty happy about. 

I think I may need to send one of his cards off to see if I can get it autographed.  He seemed like a pretty good dude.

Thanks for the ball tonight, Wade Hinkle!

My Cardboard Habit Delivers!

Judson, of My Cardboard Habit, put together a 2013 Allen and Ginter's break of two boxes.  I ponied up for the Cubs and they arrived the other day.

The Casto, Rizzo, Banks, two Williams, and Fergie will all find places in my mini player collection binder.

This one will be added to the Sandberg binder:

That's a great looking shot of Sandberg.  I'm really happy to add this one to my collection.

Additionally, each participant of the break was awarded a random team, and I was handed the Angels.  I didn't mind, because I figured I be granted a card of Mike Trout, but somehow I missed out. (Hehe... that rhymed.)

Besides Trout, I'm missing Rod Carew and the Tommy Hanson SP from the team set.  Hmmm, what to do with 75% of a team set?  Any suggestions?  If nothing else materializes, at least I have a pretty cool Jim Abbott card!

Either way, I'm pretty happy with my haul and I'd like to congratulate Judson on a successful break.  Maybe someday I'll try my hand at hosting a break!

The PWEs keep coming!

I love the Plain White Envelope.  During my experiences with them I've come to learn that the way I package them the postage is 66 cents, because they are not machinable.  I asked the post office lady the other day if they made stamps in that increment, expecting the response to be no...

Huh, learn something new everyday.  Don't we?

I sent a few cards to AJ of the well-written The Lost Collector blog the other day, but it was more of a "Hey, I bet he would like these cards" PWE rather than a "Let's make a deal" PWE.   Regardless, AJ was generous enough to send something back my way!

Let's take a look inside, shall we?

 Boy, do I love me some Kerry Wood goodness!  This is the 2009 Upper Deck Series 1 card of Mr. Wood.  The Series 2 version features Kerry in Indians' garb.  Bleck.  This one is much nicer!

A 2001 Victory card of Wood.  I've never purchased a pack of Victory before.  Actually, I didn't know Victory was even a brand until I started cataloging my Kerry Wood collection.

Mmmm...  The next one is a 2011 Topps Chrome refractor.

 I sure do love shiny!  That's a great looking card.  Too bad Mateo has battled injuries for much of the year.  The Cubs bullpen sure could have used his help earlier in the season.

Ahhhh... Vintage!

 A 1967 Topps card, in well-loved condition, of Jim Stewart.  I'm not familiar with Stewart, but I am familiar with what makes a great find in a PWE!  Vintage!

Thanks for the great PWE trade, AJ!

Stealing Home, a Trade Post

Going through my Ryne Sandberg, Kerry Wood, and Kosuke Fukudome cards during the last few months is really starting to pay off.  I was hoping a few bloggers would contact me and offer up some of their Cubs to yours truly.

Enter Oscar.  Oscar (aka Stealing Home) is the author of the blog All Trade Bait, All the Time.  He e-mailed a picture of some cards and asked if I needed any of the ones that were digitally captured.  Huh, I kind of like that technique.  Sure beats trying to figure out the make and model when you're not familiar with something.  Thanks for the idea, Oscar!

I sent some Dodger cards his way in a PWE and here's what arrived at my address a couple of days ago:

What a nice start: 2012 Gypsy Queen Ryno and a 2004 Upper Deck card of Kerry Wood.  Both new to me!  Oh, and the Kerry Wood is the 200th in my collection! Simply.  Awesome. 

Hey, we can't forget Fukudome!  

 Man, those chrome cards do not age well.  This one is severely warped.  Where's the telephone book?

How about new card of Billy Williams to add to my collection? 

 I'm not exactly sure what set this card came from, but it's a picture of Billy that I haven't seen before.  Thus, I'm a happy collector!

Shawon Dunston, he of the rocket powered arm and Energizer Bunny-esque hustle:

I have a mini player collection of Duntson (Sr. and Jr., for the record), and the '87 Donruss Opening day and '89 Bowman are both terrific additions to my collection.  I really like the maroon bordered '87 Donruss cards; the normal color (black) seemed to make the cards so dark. 

Here are the top three things that I look for when making a trade with a fellow blogger:
1. Cards agreed upon are hammered out in just a few e-mails during just a couple of days.
2. Some new-to-me Cubs are involved.
3. Cards are safely packed, yet easy to get into.

How did Oscar do?  He scored on all three items and it was done Plain White Envelope style.  Bonus Points for use of the PWE!