Nachos Grande

Trade Stack 36: An Allen & Ginter Mini Short Print Begins a New Stack

2012-01-27T18:00:00.000-05:00

Every so often (i.e. whenever I feel like it), I will add a card to a "Trade Stack". Whenever the stack becomes appealing enough to someone, that person needs to comment on the post saying they'd like to claim the stack AND tell me which card they are sending off of my want list. That's all you have to do - trade me ONE card (or more, of course) card from my want list for the entire stack of cards that I'm offering. Each time, it will be first come, first serve...so act quickly (unless of course you are a gambler and hope to wait it out until there are 10+ cards in the stack that you want in exchange for a single 2004 UD Vintage card that I am looking for)!

The Trade Stack:

Last update: 1/27/12

It's time to begin the 36th edition of the Trade Stack! As is my custom, I like to try and mix it up a bit with what I feature in my stacks, so how about if we start off with an Allen & Ginter mini short print card from this past year's set? I don't know who is trying to collect the mini set (or maybe a Royal's collector will jump on this), but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the ?? 1-card trade stack claimed!

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter:
Mini:
Short print:
332. Luke Hochevar - Royals

Want the card(s) in the stack? Act fast - tell me which card you will send me off my want list in the comments below! You must leave a comment on the trade stack post in order to claim the card - no more claims via email! If no one claims this card within a reasonable amount of time (a few hours up to a few days, depending) - I'll add another card to the stack and the process will start again!

Previously Claimed Trade Stacks:

Stack 01: 2 cards by dayf
Stack 02: 8 cards by Justin
Stack 03:  17 cards by Cam
Stack 04:  4 cards by Cam
Stack 05:  9 cards by Daily Dimwit
Stack 06:  4 cards by The Lost Collector
Stack 07:  1 card by Baseball Dad
Stack 08:  1 card by M. Spiegel
Stack 09: 6 cards by bwsmith25
Stack 10:  6 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 11:  1 card by Patrick
Stack 12:  5 cards by Matt B.
Stack 13:  4 cards by Steve G.
Stack 14: 3 cards by ShaneK
Stack 15:  7 cards by Ryan G
Stack 16: 1 card by longlivethewho
Stack 17:  4 cards by hiflew
Stack 18: 4 cards by Potch
Stack 19:  2 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 20: 5 cards by by Play at the Plate
Stack 21: 5 cards by BA Benny
Stack 22: 1 card by IkesCards
Stack 23: 8 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 24:  1 card by BA Benny
Stack 25: 2 cards by Jeff P.
Stack 26:  10 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 27:  1 card by BA Benny
Stack 28: 7 cards by ThingsAreFunnerHere
Stack 29:  3 cards by TheBrooklynMet
Stack 30:  4 cards by Adam C.
Stack 31:  10 cards by Play at the Plate
Stack 32:  8 cards by Josh D.
Stack 33:  6 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 34:  1 card by Potch
Stack 35:  9 cards by Cool Breeze
Stack 36:  ?? by ??

Barry Larkin Collection 117: 1994 Bowman's Best #95 - Mirror Image

2012-01-27T13:00:00.015-05:00

Barry Larkin and Derek Jeter
Year: 1994
Brand: Bowman's Best
Subset: Mirror Image
Card number: 95

The Mirror Image cards were seeded 1 per pack in Series 1 of the 1994 Bowman's Best set. Although inserted at a special rate, the cards were numbered as part of the regular base set (which is a confusing base set - two versions, one red and one blue - each number having two different players associated with it, one for each color). There was only one version of the Mirror Image cards per number at least.

The front of the card features a bit of shiny gloss and a fairly solid design. The back of the card, however, is horrific. I don't know what type of drunk monkey thought it would be a good idea to simply slap text down on the card and orient it any which way, but that monkey ought to have been fired long before he or she had access to card development plans. Yikes!

PWE Week: This Card is Indeed Cool!

2012-01-27T08:30:00.004-05:00

I hope PWE week was as much fun for you as it was for me. Ok, I'm guessing it was a lot more fun for me since I ended up with all the cards - but still, hopefully you enjoyed a slightly new twist on the classic trade post.

For today's post, the final envelope is courtesy of Ryan (This Card is Cool)who is halfway around the world right now. I'm jealous of that because as you may know (my longtime readers probably remember), I like origami A LOT which is much, much more popular in Japan than it is here.

One of my goals for the year (that I didn't think to add to my New Year's Resolutions explicitly) is to show off a bit more of my origami. I'm guessing I won't get a chance to do that before my teaching responsibilities are done for the semester but hopefully during the summer I can make that happen (before Ginter madness preferably)!

Anyhow, back to the PWE. Ryan found a Jay Bruce Topps Finest refractor #308/399.

As someone who doesn't collect Topps Finest, this is a great addition to my personal collection as it's one that I'm positive I don't already own!

Thanks for the card Ryan, and enjoy your time across the sea! For anyone else, if you want to trade - check out the want list and make an offer!

PWE Week: How Many Cards Can a Dimwit Fit in a PWE?

2012-01-26T20:30:00.001-05:00

First, I think Sam over at The Daily Dimwit has one of the most fun blog titles to work into trade posts. Anytime I get to use the word dimwit, I'm excited (unless I need to use the word to describe my students' efforts on the latest exam or homework assignment of course).

Today's envelope was actually mailed way back in the year 2011. Sam and I have completed a number of trades though this one was one of the easier ones since it was a Gypsy Queen for Gypsy Queen swap.

Here are the cards that Sam sent my way - and all of 'em in a single PWE!

First up, one of the few remaining base cards that I needed.

Actually, I lied - I still need a whole bunch of regular base cards (plus a few of the short prints). If anyone has any that I need lying around, let me know!

Next, one of the Home Run Heroes cards.

Thanks to Sam, I'm now only missing seven of the Home Run Heroes cards.

That may not sound impressive, but trust me, I'm happy that it's finally down to that number...will I ever finish the set? I don't honestly know - but it doesn't look promising does it? In case you are curious but don't feel like clicking on over to my want list, here are the missing Home Run Heroes cards:

HH-2, 4, 5, 10, 13, 17, 21

Along with those, Sam managed to find five different Great Ones insert cards that I needed!

Of those, I think the Mantle is my favorite - but only because of the sheet amount of flying dirt in the picture!

Finally, the best card in the package!

A Sticky Fingers insert card of Brandon Phillips.

I love, love, LOVE the Sticky Fingers cards - I think the honeybees and the honeycomb put the card design way over the top and I'm happy to acquire the lone Red in the set (at least I think it's the lone Red in the set).

Thanks for the trade Sam - and as always, if anyone else wants to trade check out my want list and make an offer!

The Barry Larkin Card Experiment: Round 2 is Live!

2012-01-26T13:00:00.001-05:00

Although Round 1 of the BLCE isn't quite completed, it's time to put the poll up for Round 2. If I don't stagger the polls a bit we'll be here for much too long before we get to the more interesting rounds (winners versus winners)! Since I rather arbitrarily decided to "seed" the first round in the exact order that I posted the first 100 cards in my Barry Larkin Collection, there isn't a lot of variety quite yet. That will change though fairly soon as I quickly gave up on the idea of posting cards in some sort of order and instead started posting whichever card I felt like writing about on that given day. For now though, the sequential order is maintained - so enjoy four cards from the turn of the 80s-to-90s and then remember to vote for your favorite.

As before, the top two from the group move on to the second round.

1989 Score

The 1989 Score set was fun because it had color photos on both sides of the card (Upper Deck wasn't the only set to do that)! It was also fun because it was colorful - though those colors weren't always selected with a lot of foresight. Take this Larkin card for example, green border, baby blue baseball field, yellow and white lettering...and then a Reds player? It's like someone threw up Crayolas on a baseball card.

1989 Topps

If I were the sole vote in the contest, it would be awfully hard for me to pick against the 1989 Topps card simply because this is one of the first Larkin cards that I remember actually owning. I didn't get his 1987 Topps rookie card until years later - so for me, this was his "old" card during the early part of collecting years.

1990 Donruss

Cursive names sucked as an eight year old boy...heck, cursive still sucks. On the bright side, the card features a whole lot of red - and it looks much, much better in that sense (especially compared to the Score card above).

1990 Fleer
I have no idea why the 1990 Fleer set doesn't get more credit. Sure, it's a bit bland and the card stock sucks - but the set design itself is solid! The front has a nice picture bordered by team colors. The back has a lot of statistics, plus "vital signs", and an interesting bio.

Unlike the first round in which I was almost 100% certain the 1987 Topps rookie card would reign supreme, I have no idea whatsoever which card will win this round. Even more mysterious to me - which card will be second and how close will the vote be? It's in your hand now my dear readers, don't screw it up.

PWE Week: The 2008 Upper Deck Comeback? Plus a poll.

2012-01-26T08:30:00.001-05:00

Here's a quick trade post (after all, that's fully in the spirit of plain white envelope week)! This one comes from Jordan:

In exchange for that shiny 2008 Upper Deck card, Jordan ended up with one of my trade stacks (#33b if you are really curious). Why #33b? Well, it turned out that two people claimed the stack in two different ways - luckily I had duplicates of all the cards in that particular stack (a rarity I might add) so I was able to acquiesce to both parties requests. And yes, I just went (almost) Pirates of the Caribbean on you.

In another strange turn of events, a strange tide if you will (I crack myself up), this is the second time 2008 Upper Deck cards have been a part of a trade for me in the last week. I'm sending a stack of about 20 cards from the set out on Friday... Does anyone else need any 2008 Upper Deck cards? I have a few Series 1 remaining and quite a few Series 2 cards as well. Let me know!

Finally, a quick reminder to check out this entry and then vote in my poll on the side of the blog. As of the time that I wrote this post, the 1988 Fleer card had a one vote advantage of the 1988 Topps card for second place (I don't think any card will usurp the rookie card in this round). I'm rather disappointed by that vote but I'm sure the late voters will make the correct decision.

Thanks for the card Jordan - and if anyone else would like to trade, you know the drill. Check out my want list and make an offer!

Image source:
http://content7.flixster.com/question/38/70/98/3870985_std.jpg

PWE Week: Knock Another Heritage Card off My List

2012-01-25T20:00:00.003-05:00

The other day, I bought a few of the 2011 Topps Heritage short prints that I still needed from an eBay seller. I also asked that seller if he could throw in an extra base card of #31: Ozzie Martinez as that was the one common that seemed to elude me all year.

If I had been more on top of the mail I've received over the last two weeks, I wouldn't have had to beg for the card - I had it sitting in my pile of plain white envelopes all along!

Kyle, from Juuuust a Bit Outside and I recently completed a nice little swap - he got a Hunter Pence card and I got a card from my want list. Well, as you can guess, that card ended up being the Ozzie you see below.

Thanks for the card Kyle - I appreciate the help in inching a bit closer to finally completing the Heritage set. Now all that stands in my way is a bunch of short prints!

Trade Stack 35: A Prince-ly Addition.

2012-01-25T13:00:00.005-05:00

Here is how this works:

The Trade Stack:

Last update: 1/25/12

In honor of the big guy leaving the NL Central - today's addition to the trade stack is the newest vegetarian to join the Detroit Tigers: Mr. Prince Fielder. Good luck AL Central, this guy is a beast (in every way). In related news, how about the new-look NL Central? The Brewers lose Fielder, the Cubs lose Pena, and the Cardinals lose Pujols. That's about 125-150 home runs removed from the division!

2011 Topps Lineage:

1999 Topps Finest:
88. Sean Casey - Reds

2009 Upper Deck:
279. Justin Duchscherer - Athletics

2010 Bowman Platinum:
3. Felix Doubront - Red Sox

1994 Bowman's Best:
20 (red): Steve Avery - Braves

2011 Topps Lineage:
33. Tony Perez - Reds

2011 Topps:
247. Starlin Castro - Cubs

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter:
209. Alex Gordon - Royals

I don't know why some cards refuse to sit on my scanner bed in an orderly fashion.

2009 Upper Deck:
Star Quest:
Blue Uncommon
SQ-15. Jose Reyes - Mets

Previously Claimed Trade Stacks:

PWE Week: How to be a Hero to Another Blogger (Plus Greece!)

2012-01-25T08:30:00.044-05:00

One of the great things about blogging is all the trading that I get to do. However, despite all that trading it's still a monumental day whenever I get to finally cross that last card off of a specific set want list.

While you may imagine that the only way for something like that to happen is for someone to send me a burgeoning package of cards, I am here to assure you that a little, innocuous plain white envelope can also deliver that exhilarating experience.

*My apologies for the SAT word laden sentence. I'm a math guy so it's safe to say sentences with that many syllables are few and far between.

Blog reader Adam (still no blog as far as my records show) sent me three cards that completed two different sets!

First up, the last two 2009 UD Spectrum cards that I needed for the set.

I distinctly remember buying a couple of blasters of UD Spectrum and then once I realized it was only a 100 card set figuring I might as well complete the set via trades. Who was I to know that the rest of you were smart enough to not bother buying much of this purple foil board set? No matter, now I am the proud owner of the complete set - even if 100 cards in a set still bugs me since I have to "waste" an entire 9-pocket page for a single page.

Finally, Adam managed to knock off one of my 2009 Allen & Ginter insert sets as well - this one being the National Heroes set.

I have two observations about Mr. Feraios.

First, what a pudgy face. Looks like he ate a few too many olives and drank a bit too much Ouzo.

Second, I freaking love Greece. I was there once and I can't wait to go back. I'm seriously considering putting together a travel class "History of Math" for my college students just so I have an excuse to get there sooner rather than later.

Here are a few of the memories from my trip to Greece back in 2009.

Downtown Athens Olympic Stadium

The Parthenon

Greek island of Poros

Greek island of Poros (again)

Theatre of Epidarus

Thanks for the cards Adam! And, as always, if anyone else would like to trade - check out my want list and make an offer!

The Barry Larkin Card Experiment: Voting Begins!

2012-01-24T20:15:00.002-05:00

In honor of Barry Larkin's upcoming induction to the Hall of Fame, I've decided to do something a little bit different than the usual "hooray!" post. I'm going to determine Barry Larkin's all time best baseball cards - or, more specifically, you are going to determine his all time best cards choosing from the cards that happen to reside in my (scanned and documented) collection. At the moment, that means choosing the best out of the 115 cards I've written about - but I'm sure that number will grow while the voting is happening.

Here's how this will work:

Each round will consist of a battle between two (or more) Barry Larkin cards. For simplicity, I'm going to seed them #1 - 100 based on the first 100 cards that I've scanned. Depending on how long this takes, I may include the next batch of cards or I may opt to wait until I have another large group of cards ready to go.

For each round, the winner(s) will move on and the loser(s) will be out - single elimination! As we progress, winners will be paired with winners until eventually we've determined the top few cards out of the first 100. Of course, that's quite the process. For the first round, the cards will be in groups of 4 with the top 2 cards moving on to the second round. This should help weed out the weakest cards immediately and then the real fun will begin.

How do you determine who wins? You vote! The winner will be determined by my blog reader's votes and my vote. In cases where my vote is in disagreement with the majority (which I'm sure will happen at some point), ties will be broken in whatever way I feel is fair (i.e. if 95% of people like one card better than I do, the 95% will win but if it's closer to 50/50 my vote will possibly carry more weight). Hey, it's my blog - I can do what I want!

Now, let's get the competition started! Here are the first four nominees. Remember, the top 2 from this round move on (the losing two are out for good). Please vote using the poll on the sidebar!

Round 1:

1987 Topps (Rookie)

The 1987 Topps card is probably Larkin's most famous rookie card. Of course, the 1987 Topps set is also known as one of the leading examples of the "junk wax" era... Will the junk wax status be enough to knock out his rookie card in the first round or will the wood bordered wonder prevail?

1988 Fleer:

The 1988 Fleer card is one of the more patriotic Larkin cards (more on that idea a bit later in the competition). It's hard to beat a posed shot in what appears to be a fishnet-esque jersey in front of a bunch of people at a spring training game.

1988 Topps:

The 1988 Topps card is one of my favorite Larkin cards - especially amongst Barry's early cards. Something about that all black background and all red foreground that makes Larkin pretty bad *ss. I'm not sure about the pink wrist bands though, that might be enough to send the card packing.

1989 Fleer:

In a nice bit of symmetry, the first round consists of two Topps cards and two Fleer cards - all from the late 80s. This particular card is full of gray and quite frankly, I'll be surprised if anyone votes for this card. However, maybe there is some unspoken love for ugly Fleer sets...stranger things have happened!

And there it is: The first vote in the Barry Larkin Card Experiment. Once again, vote for your favorite card in the sidebar. I hope to keep the polls rotating so don't delay in casting your ballot! This particular poll closes Friday evening at 6:00 PM EST.

PWE Week: Tristar Redemption!

2012-01-24T19:00:00.000-05:00

I've complained bitterly recently about Topps' redemption program - so it's fair to give credit to the program when it actually works well.

About a week ago, I entered the redemption code for an autograph that I pulled in one of my Topps Lineage boxes. Flash forward to yesterday, and I had this PYE waiting for me (yes, Y is for yellow go watch Sesame Street if you missed that).

Sweet on card autograph with the rookie cup logo no less. I'm pretty much a fan of this card all the way around - thank you Topps for getting this one right!

Barry Larkin Collection 116: 2000 Pacific Omega #36

2012-01-24T13:00:00.001-05:00

Barry Larkin
Year: 2000
Brand: Pacific Omega
Card number: 36

The Pacific line of cards was probably best known for their crazy inserts. However, the folks at Pacific also experimented quite a bit with their various base card designs (such as with the 2000 Omega set). If you look at the front of the card, you'll see it appears Larkin is trying to run his way over metallic crystals that just so happen to have his name and team name on them (along with his image).

As for the back of the card, well, there's a minimal amount of stats, a brief bio, a large mugshot of Larkin, and then a fairly large Reds logo surrounded by an even larger outline of home plate. Depending on the day, I'd either tell you this design works despite being weird or that it's works because it's weird. I'm not exactly sure which it is, but I do know this is another nice addition to my Larkin binder.

PWE Week: Cardboard Collections Holiday Treats!

2012-01-24T08:30:00.011-05:00

Colbey, from Cardboard Collections, sent me a couple of Barry Larkin cards for the holidays. Of course, I didn't get around to scanning the cards until now...but that's the beauty of PWE Week!

What's better than getting Barry Larkin cards in the mail?

Well, for starters, getting a pair of Larkins that I don't yet have cataloged in my Barry Larkin Collection!

Thanks for the surprise cards Colbey! And if anyone else has some Larkin cards floating around (or anything else from my want list), shoot me an email and make an offer!

44 dollars and 75 cents later... (Plus a question)

2012-01-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

That's right, $44.75 later I have all the group break packages mailed out. I think I severely underestimated the sheer quantity (and thus weight) of all the cards in the break this time around! Oh well, nothing that I can do about that now. Anyhow, if you were in the past break just know that your cards went into the mail this morning (and so for some of you, you might get 'em in your mailbox tomorrow depending on how quick the post office is)!

On a completely different note, does anyone use the site goodreads to keep track of their books they have read? My wife convinced me to use the site but I'm finding it kind of boring without having other people with which to compare books (and in my case, get reading ideas from)! I know there are a lot of you out there that read - heck, you are reading a blog right now so I know you aren't a bunch of no good illiterates (you might be no good, but at least you can read)!

PWE Week: A Pile 'o Larkins from Ryan

2012-01-23T18:00:00.001-05:00

My loyal blog readers will know that last semester I tried my hand at graduate school. While it didn't work out quite as I had hoped (13,000 miles is too much driving for a single semester), it wasn't all bad. One of the good things that came out of it was that I didn't have much time to sort through cards...why is that good you ask? Well, it provides me with some surprising fodder for my Plain White Envelope week now!

Tonight's envelope isn't actually pure white. Someone at Lowe's would probably call this bleached canary or something (though I'm guessing bleached canary isn't an acceptable name amongst PETA activist circles). No matter, here's what was inside (9 of the 10 anyhow):

A bunch of Larkins - ten different ones in fact. Even better, Ryan managed to find some that I didn't previously own!

Each of the above Larkins will get their own post at some point, I'm way behind on adding cards to my Larkin Collection but I WILL get more additions up before long. Heck, maybe even this week since I did finally scan another batch of cards and add them to my Larkin folder on my laptop.

Thanks again for the cards Ryan! And, as always, if anyone else would like to trade (no matter how big or small the swap), check out my want list and make an offer!

PWE Week: Random Reds from Royals and Randoms

2012-01-23T08:30:00.009-05:00

Welcome to the inaugural post for PWE Week. The week that celebrates the little white envelope that could. For today's edition, I present a PWE from Josh over at Royals and Randoms.

Josh claimed one of my trade stacks - plus a Gypsy Queen insert. You can see his end of the trade here. In return, I ended up with the following three cards:

2011 Gypsy Queen:
124. J.J. Hardy

This was the card that Josh used to claim the trade stack - not bad for either of us... I ended up with a card from my want list, and he ended up with an eight card stack!

However, Josh was kind and also threw in a trio of 1991 Classic cards, including a Barry Larkin!

Thanks for the quick and easy swap Josh! And as always, if anyone else wants to trade - check out my want list and make an offer!

Announcing: The Next Theme Week at Nachos Grande!

2012-01-22T18:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, my blog was home to the theme: Women of Ginter '11 which was decidedly more sexy than this week's theme:

PWE Week

For those who don't trade often, that means it is: Plain White Envelope Week here at Nachos Grande. Nothing says excitement quite like an envelope with a stamp, am I right?

Trade Stack 35: A Card so Fine It's Gotta Stay Covered.

2012-01-22T12:35:00.001-05:00

Here is how this works:

The Trade Stack:

Last update: 1/22/12

As you probably know, I recently finished up another group break (and I'm starting to gather ideas for boxes for the next break). As you also probably know, I had the Reds in my own break...but I know there are plenty of Reds fans out there so since you didn't get a chance to claim a spot in my break, here is one of the cards from the break.

1999 Topps Finest:
88. Sean Casey - Reds

2009 Upper Deck:
279. Justin Duchscherer - Athletics

2010 Bowman Platinum:
3. Felix Doubront - Red Sox

1994 Bowman's Best:
20 (red): Steve Avery - Braves

2011 Topps Lineage:
33. Tony Perez - Reds

2011 Topps:
247. Starlin Castro - Cubs

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter:
209. Alex Gordon - Royals

I don't know why some cards refuse to sit on my scanner bed in an orderly fashion.

2009 Upper Deck:
Star Quest:
Blue Uncommon
SQ-15. Jose Reyes - Mets

Previously Claimed Trade Stacks:

Delivery Time! Trade with Blog Reader Brendan

2012-01-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of chatter on the blogs lately about good and bad traders. Although I've had a couple of bad experiences myself, it's not all doom-and-gloom out there. In fact, more often than not I'm pleased with my trades - even when I agree to a swap with someone new. Speaking of which, today's trade comes courtesy of Brendan (postmarked January 3rd). As far as my records show, Brendan doesn't have a blog - and this was our first trade. I sent him a few inserts, including a couple of Kimball minis. In return, I landed four of the final seven Topps Town cards that I need from Series 2 of the 2011 flagship set (the cards I still need: TT2-1, TT2-14, TT2-41).

Sure, trading for Topps Town cards sucks - but hey, I'm a sucker and decided to try and complete the set so I turned some gorgeous Kimball minis into the following...

Yeah, it's even worse that I had to trade for a Yankee and a Red Sox Topps Town card. Blech.

Thanks for the trade though Brendan, I appreciate the help towards completing this useless set! And, as always, if anyone else would like to trade - check out my want list and make an offer!

Group Break: Final Posts: #5 of 5 (including the final hit of the break)

2012-01-21T21:00:00.014-05:00

The time is finally here - the final packs of the first group break of 2012! Without further ado, here are the final two packs:

Upper Deck Decades:
5. Catfish Hunter - Athletics
31. Jason Thompson - Tigers
146. Ferguson Jenkins - Cubs
B-GM. Relic: Garry Maddox - Phillies

And there's the one promised hit of the break (though we pulled a "surprise" autograph as well). I'm glad the relic went to a team that was claimed - and the wood chunk in the relic is a bit larger than most of today's relics so that's nice as well. Congrats to the Phillies on the relic (and pack win).

Flair Showcase:
Seat 3 - Row 26: Roosevelt Brown - Cubs
Seat 3 - Row 55: Moises Alou - Astros
Seat 3 - Row 120: Dean Palmer - Tigers
Seat 2 - Row 61: Jose Canseco - Rays

Seat 2 - Row 122: Luis Gonzalez - Diamondbacks

Congrats to the Rays on eeking out their second pack win (in the final pack of the break no less).

I hope everyone enjoyed the break - it's been a lot of fun for me as well (though now the not-so-fun part starts with packing up cards). My goal is to have all cards in the mail by no later than Wednesday of next week. Finally, any suggestions for boxes for my next group break? I've got a few ideas but I'd love to hear yours as well!

Group Break: Final Posts: #4 of 5

2012-01-21T18:00:00.020-05:00

Only two posts (counting this one) remain for the first group break of the new year. Let's open the final pack from the Topps Finest box and the Fleer Tradition box.

Topps Finest:
20. Tony Gwynn - Padres
21. Juan Guzman - Orioles
54. John Olerud - Mets
75. Juan Gonzalez - Rangers
76. Bobby Higginson - Tigers
121. Troy Glaus - Angels

Sort of a dud pack to end that box with... I guess the Angels get the win since the Glaus is one of those 1:1 bonus base cards...

Fleer Tradition:
Raul Mondesi - Blue Jays
Red Sox team - Red Sox
Andy Benes - Diamondbacks
Edgar Renteria - Cardinals
Carlos Delgado - Blue Jays
Trot Nixon - Red Sox
Mariano Rivera - Yankees

Mark Loretta - Brewers
Russ Davis - Mariners
Andres Galarraga - Braves

Although I have no control over the packs, I apologize for the rather dull pair of packs in this post. There really isn't much of note in this pack either - though the Fleer Tradition cards are all nice enough on their own (in terms of design) that any extra card is good for each team represented. As for the pack winner, I guess this one goes to the Yankees because Rivera is a better player than pretty much the rest of the pack combined... Congrats New York on your eleventh (!) pack win of the break!

Group Break: Final Posts: #3 of 5

2012-01-21T14:00:00.019-05:00

It's time to open the second-to-last pack of Flair Showcase...and then since I'm doing two packs per post, we are on to the final 5 packs of the break! For now, we'll finish off the Fleer Gamers box as well. However, before we get to that, once again I give thanks to the group break sponsor. Without Baseball Card Exchange, there is no way I could offer the selection, variety, and quantity of boxes for less than the cost of a blaster.

Flair Showcase:
Seat 3 - Row 34: Kris Benson - Pirates
Seat 3 - Row 71: Cliff Floyd - Marlins
Seat 2 - Row 62. Ivan Rodriguez - Rangers
Seat 2 - Row 107: Bret Boone - Braves
Seat 1 - Row 5: Ben Grieve - Athletics #0439 of 1500

Along with the Reds, my other team in the break is the Athletics - so that means this pack makes me (sort of) happy. I would much rather have landed a Larkin card from the Showcase box, but I guess beggars can't be choosers, right? This is the A's third pack win of the break (and first serially numbered card).

Fleer Gamers:
11. Sammy Sosa - Cubs
49. Andres Galarraga - Braves
68. Roger Cedeno - Astros
7 of 15C. Cal to Greatness: The Streak - Orioles

The Cal to Greatness card is #7, which means it is seeded at a rate of 1:32 packs (or less than one-per-box)! That's definitely a great way to end the break for the Orioles - and an easy pack win for Baltimore as well.

Group Break: Final Posts: #2 of 5

2012-01-21T11:00:00.021-05:00

Of the ten packs remaining going into today's posts, after this post we will be down to six remaining. Here is the second to last of the Decades box and the Fleer Tradition box.

Upper Deck Decade:
15. Dennis Eckersley - Indians

41. Bobby Murcer - Yankees
67. Steve Rogers - Nationals
134. Ron Guidry - Yankees
160. Randy Jones - Padres

Although the Yankees did land two cards in the pack, I'm giving the pack win to the Indians because that Eckersley card is one of the more intense pictures I've ever seen on a piece of cardboard! Well, that and the stirrups of course.

Fleer Tradition:
Ron Gant - Phillies
Edwards Guzman - Giants
A.J. Burnett - Marlins
Carlos Beltran - Royals

Orber Moreno - Royals
K. Griffey (Mariners) / R. Palmeiro (Rangers) / C. Delgado (Blue Jays)
Dave Martinez - Rays
Chad Haville / Luis Vicaino - Athletics
Corey Lee / Doug Davis - Rangers
Jaret Wright - Indians

As the only team with a pair of base cards in an insert free pack, I have to give this pack win to the Royals. Still no relic - guess you'll have to wait a little bit longer in order to see that today!

Group Break: Final Posts: #1 of 5

2012-01-21T08:00:00.010-05:00

The group break ends today! Over the course of the day, you'll see the contents of the final ten packs - two packs at a time. To keep things fresh, I'll be mixing up the packs a bit. For instance, this morning you get a pack of 1999 Topps Finest and a pack of 2000 Fleer Gamers. Keep checking back throughout the day for the remaining packs...and remember, the one promised hit of the break (from the UD Decades box) still hasn't been revealed... Will the Mariners pick up their second hit of the break or will some other team lay claim?

2000 Fleer Gamers:
40. Mike Lieberthal - Phillies
47. Corey Koskie - Twins
65. Paul O'Neil - Yankees
118. Fame Game: Chipper Jones - Braves

The Fame Game cards are seeded 1:10 packs (there are also Fame Game parallels that are quite a bit rarer but I don't believe this is one of those). Even so, it's enough to hand the Braves their fifth pack win of the break.

1999 Topps Finest:
28. Rick Reed - Mets
62. Tom Gordon - Red Sox
86. Doug Glanville - Phillies
91. Andy Ashby - Padres
98. Eric Milton - Twins
116. Chipper Jones - Braves

Two packs, two Chippers, and two wins for the Braves. Easy enough for Atlanta - it ought to be easy enough for any other team to do the same, correct?

With that, there are now eight packs remaining...who will nab the final coveted pack wins? Can anyone catch the Yankees in overall wins (doubtful but still possible)? Will the Diamondbacks, Royals, Atheletics, Giants, or Nationals earn their third win? Will the Marlins or Dodgers earn their second win? Stay tuned!

For Trade: 2011 Topps Lineage: 1975 Minis

2012-01-20T21:00:00.005-05:00

It's time to update my "for trade" list of 1975 Minis from the 2011 Topps Lineage set. I'm looking for comparable cards from my want list.

Here's what I still have available:
45. Ryan Howard - Phillies
50. Lou Gehrig - Yankees
66. Andrew McCutchen - Pirates
82. Ike Davis - Mets
118. Todd Helton - Rockies
128. Vernon Wells - Angels
131. Carlos Lee - Astros
133. Zack Greinke - Brewers
149. Kevin Youkilis
156. Austin Jackson - Tigers

See anything you want? Take a look at my want list (I'm still looking for quite a bit of stuff from the Lineage set for example) and then make an offer!