Nachos Grande

Check Out My Cards - Volume III: A Josh Hamilton N43

2013-05-24T20:01:00.000-04:00

I have some sort of completion problem with Allen & Ginter. What I mean by that is that I feel compelled to complete almost every insert set within the Allen & Ginter family. One of the toughest sets to complete is the box topper sets. I already showed off the 2011 Cabinet card set that I finally completed thanks to Check Out My Cards (check my archives). Today, it's another Ginter box topper that I bought from CoMC.

That's Josh Hamilton from the 2012 N43 box topper set. The N43 set is tough because it has 15 different cards - each seeded 1 per box. Of course, sometimes you get one of the aforementioned Cabinet cards instead...or if you are lucky, you get an autograph or relic instead.

Anyhow, I'm slowly but surely coming closer to completing the full 2012 N43 set. In fact, I'm now down to needing a mere TWO N43 cards from 2012.

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Wants:
N43: N43- 11 (Ken Griffey Jr.), 14 (Mike Schmidt)

I'm also working on the 2011 Allen & Ginter N43 set. Somehow, I'm missing THREE of those still, despite having an extra year to try and collect the pesky things.

2011 Allen & Ginter Wants:
N43: Joey Votto, Adam Wainwright, David Wright

I can't be sure that I'll ever finish off the two N43 sets, but when I can find one of the missing cards for cheap on a site like Check Out My Cards, I will pounce!

At this point, you've now seen four of the 14 cards from my recent CoMC purchase. What other goodies did I pick up? You'll have to wait and see!

Check Out My Cards - Volume II: The Elusive Heritage Short Prints!

2013-05-23T20:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another installment where I show off some of the stuff I got from Check Out My Cards. Last time, I talked about getting the final card that I needed to complete my 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter cabinet card set. This time, it's another throwback set of sorts: Topps Heritage.

Unfortunately, I didn't complete my 2011 Topps Heritage set - but I did get quite a bit closer. I managed to land a pair of the pesky short prints.

453. Roy Halladay

464. Johan Santana

I now only need four more cards and my '11 Heritage set will be complete! Which cards you ask? I need the following:

2011 Topps Heritage:
Base: 426, 445, 460, 499

Based on the set checklist, the players depicted on the four cards that I still need are:
426. Brent Morel
445. Prince Fielder
460. Justin Verlander
499. Dayan Viciedo / Jason Donald / Steve Tolleson / Mitch Moreland

You've now seen three of the 14 cards from COMC - plenty of other interesting stuff is yet to come, including a couple more sets that I was able to fully complete!

Complete Set Chronicles: 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Cabinet Cards

2013-05-22T20:01:00.000-04:00

The Topps Allen & Ginter set is known for many things, but chief among them is the inclusion of a variety of box toppers. Available only in hobby boxes, the cabinet card set is a set of ten different cards - all of which are much larger than normal cards. The 2011 cabinet card set had two themes - six of the cards dealt with baseball happenings from the 2010 set while the other four cards celebrated US National Parks.

Alpha:

The set begins with six baseball highlight cards. Each card features multiple players involved in whatever event the card was celebrating. For card #1 in the set, that event was the perfect game that wasn't involving Armando Galarraga. The one downside to the cabinet card design is that the reverse side of the first six cards is exactly what you see above - the only difference being the card number.

Omega:

The final four cards in the set highlight US National Parks. Much like the baseball highlights, the National Park backs are also all identical (except for the card number).

Card design:
As I mentioned above, the design of the back side of each card is fairly boring - the least Topps could have done would be to provide the card numbers since each card basically features a checklist of the appropriate subset within the cabinet card set.

Other:
Since the set is only ten cards in size, I've scanned each of the ten cabinet cards. Here's a complete visual checklist of the 2011 A&G cabinet card set.

CB-1: Galarraga is Almost Perfect

CB-2: Postseason No-No

CB-3: Dallas is Perfect in Oakland

CB-4: Multiple-Milestone Matchup

CB-5: A-Rod Does it A-Gain, For the 600th Time

CB-6: Decade of Dominance

CB-7: Grand Canyon National Park

CB-8: Yosemite National Park

CB-9: Yellowstone National Park

CB-10: Redwood National Park

Overall:
Despite the boring back of the cards, I like the cabinet set quite a bit. I still haven't discovered the perfect way to store the cards though...that's the biggest drawback to the set if you ask me! I also don't care much for the card celebrating Roy Halladay's no-no against my Reds...nor do I like the Cardinal-centric "Decade of Dominance" card, even if the card is actually referring to the Cardinals dominating their rival the Cubs. I do like the National Parks cards quite a bit - though I wish Topps would have done five baseball and five National Parks cards simply to keep some sort of symmetry happening. As a whole, the set is nice - but not great. I give it a 6.5 out of 10.

Cutting Back...

2013-05-21T20:01:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I've been doing the whole blogging thing for quite some time now. In fact, I believe it's been about three years where I've had at least one post on Nachos Grande every. single. day. Many days I had multiple posts - I averaged 2.7 posts a day in both 2012 and 2011. I'm average a bit less than so far this year (only 2.5 posts per day) but still, it's a lot of posts!

Although I write a lot, I certainly won't go so far as to say that I write well. Heck, most of my stuff is only even tangentially interesting to most of you - especially the Barry Larkin Collection posts (which I've been doing a better job of writing in a more timely basis lately).

That said, I think it's time to cut back. I can feel myself on the verge of a blogging burnout - and with my Yahoo! writing giving me enough page views to start paying for my collection (both baseball and LEGO), I should probably spend a bit more time crafting those articles. Before you despair (yeah right), I promise that I'm not leaving Nachos Grande. Heck, I'm not even going to stop my daily posts. What I do plan to do is cut down to one post per day, at least for awhile. Beginning tomorrow (Wednesday), you can find my new post at 8:01 PM EST. I'm sure there will be days where I post multiple times (especially for things like group breaks) but I'm going to give the new blogging schedule a run for awhile and see how I like it. Who knows, maybe the quality of my posts will make up for having fewer new articles to read each day?

As always, I thank each and every one of you for stopping by my humble little blog - without you as readers (and traders), I would have quit this venture a long, long time ago!

Check Out My Cards - Volume I: A Big One Joins My Collection (Elusive Eight in Hand!)

2013-05-21T12:01:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago, I said I had received a package from Check Out My Cards. I finally got the chance to organize the 14 cards and put them in their respective card binders - but before I did that I made sure to scan 'em! Over the next few days (or weeks, depending on other posts), I plan to highlight some of the cards I purchased and how the card(s) affect my personal collection. I'm happy to report that some of the cards finished off sets that I've been working on for quite some time!

For the price of a blaster plus tax, I was able to acquire 14 cards from my want list - but none were bigger than this one:

That's a 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter cabinet card - and it's the last of the cabinet cards that I needed for the set. This particular card had been languishing on my Elusive Eight list for quite some time - but when I saw a relatively cheap one available on Check Out My Cards, I knew I had to buy it!

This card is part of the National Parks set of cabinet cards - there are four National Parks cards in total (Yellowstone plus Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Redwood).

With this card now in hand, I'm almost done with the 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter set. In fact, I am now only looking for three of the N43 cards:

2011 Allen & Ginter Wants:N43: Joey Votto, Adam Wainwright, David Wright

The cabinet card is one out of 14 different cards that I purchased - stay tuned to see more goodies in the near future!

Trade Stack 50: Eight Cards for One!

2013-05-20T20:01:00.000-04:00

Here is how this works:

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: 5/20/13

The current trade stack is now up to 8 cards - and this is the 50th trade stack that I've featured on my blog. While getting to eight cards in a single stack isn't overly rare (three of the last six stacks have made it to 8+ cards), I never thought the Trade Stack idea itself would make it to 50 stacks! Will today's addition to the stack be enough to convince someone to send me at least one card from my want list? We shall see in due time I suppose. The good news for the stack is that today's addition is not part of "the era of junk wax." In fact, the card belongs to a set that I'm still working on completing - Topps Attax from 2011.

As usual, you can get the entire stack for any ONE (or more) cards off my want list!

2011 Topps Attax:

58. Coco Crisp - Athletics

1990 Donruss:

442. Mookie Wilson - Blue Jays

1991 Topps:

363. Rick Mahler - Reds

1991 Score:

833. Ron Karkovice - White Sox

2005 Upper Deck Classics:

84. Rollie Fingers - Brewers

1990 Topps:

733. John Dopson - Red Sox

1991 Donruss:

36. Derrick May - Cubs

1998 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:

Star Quest insert:

SQ36. Jeff Kent - Giants

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:  11 cards by Kev
Stack 37:  6 cards by Tunguska
Stack 38: 12 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 39: 8 cards by Spiegel83
Stack 40: 1 card by Kyle4KC
Stack 41: 4 cards by dayf
Stack 42: 1 card by AdamE
Stack 43: 1 card by madding
Stack 44: 10 cards by Commishbob
Stack 45: 1 (almost complete) puzzle by Baseball Dad
Stack 46: 8 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 47: 5 cards by The Junior Junkie
Stack 48: 4 cards by dayf
Stack 49: 9 cards by Swing and a Pop-Up
Stack 50: ?? by ??

Barry Larkin Collection 188: 1995 Topps Stadium Club - #211 - Best Seat in the House Subset

2013-05-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

Barry Larkin
Year: 1995
Brand: Topps Stadium Club
Card number: 211
Subset: Best Seat in the House

The 1995 Topps Stadium Club set is full of Barry Larkin cards but not all of them are memorable. Luckily, this particular card is quite nice. The Best Seat in the House subset consists of a total of ten players in Series I (series II had another ten players featured). The front is a fairly standard Stadium Club shot but the back of the card is kind of cool. I like the paint peeling in the background, it fits with most of the stadiums in 1995 (just before the stadium building boom)! I also like the different stadium measurements. Finally, Topps ties the entire theme together with the short blurb about the best seat to watch Larkin play. All around, this is my favorite of the many different subsets in the 1995 Topps Stadium Club set.

When A Letter Begins "I was cleaning out cards and..." (The Finale!)

2013-05-19T20:01:00.000-04:00

Note: This is part 5 of a series of posts highlighting a trade package full of random goodies from blog reader David. You can find part 4 here (and subsequent back links from there).

---

Now that we've taken a look at most of the stuff in the trade package, it's time to turn our attention to some of my favorites that I haven't yet discussed. We begin by going back to Gypsy Queen (you may recall I also landed some beautiful bordered cards in the trade envelope). This time, it's a nice handful of Reds minis - including Frank Robinson and Mat Latos (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite Reds).

I happen to like the minis a lot (which is no surprise as they are basically the same as Allen & Ginter minis). I'm still trying to maintain an outlook of "don't buy Gypsy Queen" but ever card that someone sends me from the '13 set makes me want to go whole hog for the entire set. I must be strong though...it's almost Ginter season!

The final Gypsy Queen card from David is this beauty:

What an awesome, awesome looking card! The border, the photo, heck, even the theme of the insert set is great. I even like the little blurb on the back about Bench's method of avoiding injury on plays at the plate:
"His approach was to stay off the plate until he got the ball, allowing the runner to get a full view of the dish. That encourages the runner to think 'slide' rather than 'smash.'"

Moving out of professional baseball one more time, David sent me a bunch of assorted autographs. I've shown off most of them but here's two more that I haven't shown:

The Mamie Redman card is nice but i kind of like the Fleming business card better - it's definitely something unique (and would fit in great with a Topps Heritage American Heroes type set).

Now, I've teased this long enough - let's wrap up the series of posts on the trade package from David by showing off my two favorite cards (out of all the greatness) that he sent me.

The runner up? This 1969 Deckle Edge card (number 15 of 33) of Tommy Davis of the Seattle Pilots.

This is my first original Deckle Edge card in my collection - and you better believe I'll treasure it. I don't have much in the way of vintage stuff so anytime I get acquire something sort of old I'm happy - it's even better when it's a cool or interesting card like the Davis.

Finally, there's one more card to show off and that's this beauty:

Wow. That's a 1968 Fleer card celebrating the Reds winning the 1940 World Series over the Detroit Tigers (4 games to 3). I love the card and I love the fact that it celebrates the Reds winning!

Thanks for the awesome, awesome trade package David. I hope this series of posts did it justice. And, as usual, if anyone else would like to trade - check out my want list and make an offer!

Know What Makes Me Happy?

2013-05-19T13:02:00.002-04:00

Last night, I posted what makes me a bit sad. Today, let's move on to things that make me happy. As I alluded to yesterday, completing sets makes me a happy person. It is, after all, the main reason why I began this blog a few years ago! It's also what keeps me blogging day in and day out still today.

Well, here's something that makes me happy:

Yep - another Check Out My Cards purchase. This package is actually a large yellow envelope that will help me knock off a substantial number of cards from my want list (14 in total I believe). In addition, I was able to acquire another TWO of my Elusive Eight cards - which means soon I'll have to add a couple of new cards to that list as well!

I have to sort and organize the contents of the envelope still, but when I do you can expect that I'll have a full breakdown of all the goodies here on my blog! Stay tuned for that in the upcoming week.

Know What Makes Me Sad?

2013-05-18T20:01:00.000-04:00

Before I get to what makes me sad, let me say something that makes me happy: My youngest brother is graduating college this year - in fact, today was his graduation ceremony. I have to admit, it makes me feel super old knowing that he's graduated - but I'm proud of him. In fact, he's heading to Nebraska next fall in order to start working on his Ph.D in biology. Good for him I say!

Now, on to the post at hand:

This makes me sad.

You are looking at my Trade Counter on the side of my blog.

In 2010, I sent out 122 trade packages (an average of just over 10 per month).
In 2011, I upped the total to 166 trade packages (an average of almost 14 per month).
In 2012, my trade totals dropped but still crept over 100 (average of almost 9 per month).

What about 2013?

To date, I've mailed out 40 trade packages which is an average of only 8 per month so far this year. I'm a bit off the pace of 2012 which was a down year for trading...and I'm way off both 2010 and 2011.

What's the cause?

I believe the biggest culprit is my budget. I haven't bought a single 2013 product to date. Last year, I didn't buy anything other than Topps Archives and Allen & Ginter. This year is shaping up to be the same, though I may not even go all-in on Archives since I'm hosting a group break which will (hopefully) net me the full Reds set.

Am I out of stuff to trade away?

In a word, no. I have plenty of lists up on my blog (you can find them all at the top of the blog). However, maybe people just don't have any interest in tracking down more 2008 Topps Heritage or 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter.

Am I too difficult to trade with?

I certainly hope not, though I realize a lot of the stuff remaining on my want list is of the short print or insert variety. I've tried to make it a bit easier by adding a few new sets to the want list plus I'm now trading for just about any LEGO set I can get my hands on (and also LEGO minifigures that come in the little sealed packages for about $3.00 a piece).

So what do you say? Want to trade? Let me know by shooting me an email, I'd love to continue to unload some of my extras (and hopefully continue to acquire stuff that I actually want)! I'm still optimistic that I can top 100 trades for the year, but I can't do it without you!

Barry Larkin Collection 187 - 2002 Upper Deck Vintage - #254

2013-05-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

Barry Larkin
Year: 2002
Brand: Upper Deck Vintage
Card number: 254

The Upper Deck Vintage line is one of my favorites sets from the early 00s. I don't care that Upper Deck ripped off old Topps designs - I just happen to like the old time cardboard (and no foil)! This particular card is one of my favorite Larkins, at least on the front of the card. The back of the card could have used a better image - one where Larkin's face wasn't obscured by his hat and sunglasses perhaps? Even so, the cards a beauty - one of the few instances where the horizontal layout really works...even if it looks like garbage in a 9 pocket page (which is how I store my Larkin collection).

When A Letter Begins "I was cleaning out cards and..." (Part 4)

2013-05-17T20:01:00.000-04:00

Note: This is part 4 of a trade package from blog reader David. If you missed part 3, you can find it here.
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We are approaching the end of the trade package (a four part series will do that I suppose) but the goodies haven't all been revealed quite yet! To begin today's post, we start with some more autographs. David sent me a pair of Reds autos - one being Frank Pastore and the other being Jeff Reed (who has a great last name).

I must say, while the 1989 Fleer set is fairly drab it looks quite nice with an autograph on it!

David also sent me some other autographs that were interesting including one of Anna Meyer - a woman who signed a contract with the AAGBPL in 1944 when she was only 15 years old!

Moving back to the men's professional league, there were three Diamond Signatures in the trade package.

All three of the cards are extremely nice looking - and great autographs too! I'm not sure why the last card got cut off - I guess my scanning abilities aren't all that great.

We end today's post with a couple more cards.

The first being a player that I knew nothing about - but I love the card.

It turns out the card is from Gary Cieadkowski's Infinite Baseball Card set. You can find his write-up of this particular card on his blog post here. I'd love to get a Barry Larkin card done in this style of card - even if it is an unofficial card!

Finally, we end with an official card from a card company that I miss a lot. Pacific!

There's so much awesome here that I don't know where to begin. Clear blue acetate? Bats splitting open an ivy covered brick wall? A player hiding? A hidden team logo at the bottom? It's superb.

In fact, this card is so much fun that I now want to track down a box of 2000 Pacific Invincible. The question is, where could I find such a thing?

Thanks for the great trade package David - and although I've shown tons of cool stuff already, I promise the best is still yet to come! Stay tuned.

So I Want to Be a Reality TV Star (or at least win $1,000,000)

2013-05-17T12:01:00.000-04:00

My wife and I don't watch a lot of television. For the most part, our viewing interests are quite different. I like baseball, she likes New Girl. I like football, she likes Modern Family. We do both try to watch NCIS (though to be fair, we gave up on the show for most of this season). However, there is one show that we both watch together each week: Survivor on CBS.

Yesterday, I decided that I would give the Survivor casting page a look - and yes, I've decided it'd be fun to try to get on the show.

Now, I realize that it's highly unlike the good folks at CBS will select me. After all, they seem to either have models or past players (who were models) on the show anymore. There hasn't been a whole lot of "regular folks" in recent seasons. Perhaps I should get my body covered in tattoos before trying out? (I don't think so).

So yeah, even though it's a total long shot I'm going to give the tryouts an old fashioned try. Now if only I could come up with a decent idea for a 3 minute video...

Barry Larkin Collection 186: 1989 Topps Mini Leaders - #11

2013-05-16T20:01:00.000-04:00

Barry Larkin
Year: 1989
Brand: Topps Mini Leaders
Card number: 11

In 1989, Topps released a 77 card set called Mini Leaders that featured (you guessed it) team leaders from the various MLB teams. The Reds were well represented in the set (there are a total of eight Reds in the set counting Barry Larkin - namely: Tom Browning, Kal Daniels, Eric Davis, John Franco, Danny Jackson, Jose Rijo, Chris Sabo, and of course, Barry Larkin).

The front of the card looks very similar to the flagship 1989 Topps set however the photo is different and the border is different. However, the back of the Mini Leaders cards look nothing like the flagship! In fact, Topps used a bright yellow back along with a color photo (perhaps to combat Upper Deck?). The back also doesn't give full career statistics, a departure from the flagship set for sure. And, of course, the cards are indeed mini sized (they measure 2 1/8" by 3").

When A Letter Begins "I was cleaning out cards and..." (Part 3)

2013-05-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

Note: I covered part 2 of the recent trade package from David here, read that first if you missed it then come back here!

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We dip back into the trade envelope in order to pick out some more goodies to show. What better way to begin than with a pair of autographs?

Yep - two football autos of guys that I've at least heard of! I'm a Steelers fan so neither guy is overly exciting to me but an autograph is autograph as they say!

From the autos, we move on to things I do collect - namely Reds! David sent me a couple of Johnny Bench cards - one is this Gypsy Queen card which I happen to like quite a bit.

The one thing I don't get about this year's Gypsy Queen is why the neon colored backs? Weird to me, is it some sort of throwback to an old set that I'm unaware of? I will say, the more Gypsy Queen cards that I get, the more I want to collect the set. That's a dangerous thing to start thinking about, especially with Allen & Ginter around the corner.

The next Bench is much smaller - and a sticker! Along with Bench is a Reds logo (plus a logo of some team from the other league)...

Rounding out this post is a few of the oddballs sent me way. A Pete Rose Baseball tattoo wrapper?

Check.

A woman in baseball who played in the late 40s?

Check.

A Squirt card?

Check.

Great stuff - and sometimes getting a package full of random stuff is a lot of fun - not every envelope has to knock off cards from my want list! What's even better is that I STILL haven't even gotten to my favorite cards in the package! Stay tuned to the blog for more goodies from David coming up!

Trade Stack 50: A Cookie for Mookie?

2013-05-15T20:01:00.000-04:00

Here is how this works:

The Trade Stack:

Last update: 5/15/13

By the time you read this particular post, I should be on the field for my second (of two) softball games - it's opening night for my team! What better way to celebrate the unofficial start of summer (even if it is still rather chilly here in PA) than with another card on the trade stack? This particular stack is now up to a whopping seven cards including an insert card of everyone's favorite team - the Giants. Oh wait, they aren't the favorite? My bad.

As usual, you can get the entire stack for any ONE (or more) cards off my want list!

1990 Donruss:

442. Mookie Wilson - Blue Jays

1991 Topps:

363. Rick Mahler - Reds

1991 Score:

833. Ron Karkovice - White Sox

2005 Upper Deck Classics:

84. Rollie Fingers - Brewers

1990 Topps:

733. John Dopson - Red Sox

1991 Donruss:

36. Derrick May - Cubs

1998 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:

Star Quest insert:

SQ36. Jeff Kent - Giants

Previously Claimed Trade Stacks:

Barry Larkin Collection 185: 1995 Topps Dimension III - #48

2013-05-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

Barry Larkin
Year: 1995
Brand: Topps Dimension III
Card number: 48

Over the years, various card companies have tried to pull off a 3D-type set. Sometimes it's more multiple images (ala SportFlix) while other times companies actually go for a true 3D effect. The Topps Dimension III set is all about trying to achieve the 3D look - and while it was a noble effort I don't think it worked overly well. Instead, the front of the cards look nothing but blurry to me - but then again, I was never good at seeing the hidden images in the old Magic Eye books (which would have been released about the same time as the Dimension III set now that I think about it).

Unfortunately, the back of the card is just as ugly as the front, but without any 3D "technology." In fact, the back is a hodgepodge of ugly fonts, ugly colors, and ugly shapes. There's probably a reason why this set was never extended into a long run like Stadium Club or even Opening Day. Ick.

On the Nachos Grande Family of Blogs (and Other Musings)

2013-05-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

Most of you probably know that I write more than one blog. In fact, I try to keep up with three blogs.

1. Nachos Grande: This is my "primary" blog where I do my best to post at least once a day. For the most part, you can expect at least two posts per day here - though lately my creative muse has been mostly missing.

2. Legend of LEGO: This is my newest blogging endeavor and so far it's been a slow (but steady) growth in blog readers. Basically, I use the blog to highlight various LEGO sets and reviews. Recent highlights include a review of a 2,032 piece Pet Shop plus not one, but two different minifigure pack breaks.

3. Trial by Blogging: My third blog is designed to be where I write about education, teaching, and other similar interests. The Trial by Blogging blog has been (by far) my least updated blog lately - but that doesn't mean I've abandoned it. In fact, I hope to revive it to a more respectable standard shortly. I'm planning on redesigning my Calculus I curriculum for next fall and hope to use TbB as an outlet for ideas (and possibly discussion).

In addition to the three blogs, I have also begun writing articles about the Cincinnati Reds as part of the Yahoo! Contributer Network. You can find my profile here - plus a link to some of the articles that I've written.

I must say, the Yahoo! Network pays quite well (at least compared to the Google Ad Sense). I've been writing here at Nachos Grande for four years I believe and am just now approaching the $100 ad mark (the minimum earning amount to get a check mailed to you). In my two months of writing for Yahoo!, I've already made over $100.

Obviously making money is nice, but it's even better for me since I have a stated goal of making my collection self sufficient this year. I use things like money earned from Google or Yahoo! to help pay for my various baseball cards (plus LEGO sets and the like).

That's the state of the blog(s) for me - how is your blogging going? I'd love for you to chime in - and feel free to leave a link to your blog as well in the comments!

When A Letter Begins "I was cleaning out cards and..." (Part 2)

2013-05-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

Last night, I hinted at a rather eccentric (and awesome) trade package that I recently received from blog reader David. Since I've been struggling to come up with much to write about here at Nachos Grande lately*, this package was awesome for a variety of reasons.

*at least my Barry Larkin Collection posts are getting done - up to 184 and counting!

Now that the envelope has been ripped and the contents viewed, let's look at a few of the goodies. As it turns out, many of the cards I'll be keeping but there are a few that I'll make available to others who might love them. This is a first look, there will be more cards in another post (don't miss it)!

We begin our tour with the most boring card in the envelope - and it's not really boring at all (though you'll soon see why it is dwarfed by all the other goodness)! This is an Aroldis Chapman Topps Town card.

I still think I'm the only one out there that actively collected the Topps Town set. The Chapman is from the 2011 Topps set (which I've completed) but I'm also still looking for a few more from the 2009 set. For ease, here's what I need:

2009 Topps Base Series 1 & 2 Needs:
Turkey Red inserts: TR24, TR27, TR36, TR63
Legends of the Game (Series 2) insert: (#ed LG-???): Mariano Rivera
Topps Town (Gold Version): TTT29, TTT33, TTT46

Moving on to new stuff - a couple of GORGEOUS Gypsy Queen paper parallels.

I love, love, LOVE these cards. In fact, this makes me want to go and buy Gypsy Queen this year - a set that I promised myself I wouldn't buy... If anyone else has any GQ parallels for trade (Reds of course), let me know. David also sent me a few other Gypsy Queen cards of the mini type but you'll have to wait until a future post for those. Consider this a sampler post of sorts.

Speaking of sampling, how about some autographs?

We begin with Rafael Garcia.

I don't know anything about Garcia and a quick Google search didn't help...the main Rafael Garcia that pops up there is a 25 year old soccer player for the LA Galaxy. I don't think that's the same guy.

David sent me a bunch of other autographs of people that I have heard of including Doug Jones and Heath Bell.

Moving into even more esoteric territory, we have a mascot card of the Lowell Spinners' Canaligator.

How awesome is a Canaligator? I say it's super awesome. I think that Topps should include a "Minor League Mascots" insert set in Allen & Ginter sometime - creatures like the Canaligator deserve more recognition.

Another minor league card found its way into the envelope, this being of Nefatli Feliz.

At least I've heard of him (though not the Clinton LumberKings).

Finally, we end with a super shiny gold card of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Of all the cards that David sent my way, this is my least favorite - but only because I'm a Steelers fan and Tom Brady is annoyingly good. I will say the scan is horrendous - the card is much, much nicer in person (even if it is Brady).

Thanks for the goodies David - and I'll have another post to show off a few more of the cards. I haven't even gotten to my favorite couple of cards in the package yet!

When A Letter Begins "I was cleaning out cards and..." (Part I)

2013-05-13T20:01:00.000-04:00

As the post title suggests, I recently received a surprise package in the mail from blog reader David. In the package, David wrote me a nice little note that began:

Hey - was cleaning out cards since I'm moving...and thought you would enjoy this oddball mix.

Cards for me?
Oddballs?
Mix?

This is perfect.

I've been struggling lately to come up with creative things to say about cards - maybe an oddball envelope full of goodies is just what I needed!

As you'll see over the next couple of posts (way too much to fit into a single post), this package provided me with plenty for my creative muse! In fact, here's a brief teaser just to whet your appetite for what is to come.

Once you've ogled over the pretty picture, why don't you check out my first attempt at selling stuff on my blog. I'd love to be able to cut out the "middle man" (in this case eBay and PayPal) if at all possible.

Barry Larkin Collection 184: 1989 Bowman - #311

2013-05-13T12:01:00.000-04:00

Barry Larkin
Year: 1989
Brand: Bowman
Card number: 311

Let me start by saying that I hate the 1989 Bowman set. Mostly, I hate the set because each card is just a bit larger than a "normal" card. I get that it's a nod to sets of yore, but somethings are better left in the past. I also don't particularly care for a card front that shows neither the team nor nor team logo. Heck, it doesn't even have any writing on it other than Larkin's fake signature (which isn't easy to read).

The back is alright I guess. In fact, the back was the only redeeming part of a Bowman card when I was a kid. I always enjoyed seeing how a player stacked up against the Reds (or in the case of a Red, how that player fared against the various teams in the league). Of course, single year statistics broken down by opposing teams can't possibly be statistically significant but they are still sort of fun.

That's as much praise as the 1989 Bowman set is going to get from me. I'm mostly happy to have this card checked off the master Larkin list...and it's (barely) wedged into a standard nine pocket page!

Nacho Average Sale! Episode I

2013-05-12T20:00:00.000-04:00

I'm looking to clear some of my inventory of extra (and/or unwanted) cards. As such, I figured I'd put a few different cards and/or lots of cards up for sale on my blog before resorting to using eBay. If I can avoid eBay fees (and PayPal fees), then I'm happy...and that means lower prices which could make you happy as well. If you are interested in any of the lots, please leave a comment below and then email me at fanofreds (at) auctions (at) gmail (dot) com.

All prices include shipping to the US.
Live outside the US? Just add a fair amount for shipping to your location, I'm easy going like that!

Note: Prices are in effect beginning at the time of the posting and ending on May 19. Unsold lots will likely end up on eBay or Listia.

Lot #1:
2009 Topps American Heritage Heroes Inserts:

This lot contains 11 cards plus a checklist. The highlight is probably the Stan Musial Heroes of Sport gold insert card #163/199, but there are also a pair of chrome cards (each numbered out of 1776. My personal favorite (since I don't like the Cardinals) is the Heroes of Spaceflight insert. Three American Celebrity cards and four Abe Lincoln inserts round out the lot.
Asking price: $15.00

Lot #2:
4 LEGO Minifigures

The minifigures included in this lot are Little Red Riding Hood (Series 7), Evil Knight (Series 7), Tarzan (Series 7), and the Lumberjack (Series 5). Personally, I like the Red Riding Hood figure the best - the cap, hood, and basket are absolutely perfect. I also like the lumberjack, though I have to wonder if putting a beaver on the guys hat was the best choice LEGO could have made... The Tarzan figure comes with a monkey plus two knives (I never unattached the knives). The Evil Knight should be a favorite for anyone who likes Castle-themed stuff.
Asking price: $15.00

Lot #3:
2000 Fleer Impact Complete Set:

This is a 200 card complete set featuring all of the stars from 2000. It's a beautiful little set - one that I've completed twice (once for me, and once for you)!
Asking price: $20.00

That's it for this round of Nacho Average Sale. If I have any type of success here, you can expect to see more of these in the future. Remember, all prices include shipping.

Trade Stack 50: Happy Mother's Day Edition!

2013-05-12T12:01:00.000-04:00

Here is how this works:

The Trade Stack:

Last update: 5/12/13

Today is Mother's Day so let's take a moment to thank all the mothers in the world. It's not necessarily easy to tie Mother's Day into baseball cards (though I have no doubts some of you will manage such a feat) but for me...well...I'm not so clever. Instead, you get another card added to the trade stack. Remember what you mother taught you, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. (In other words, be nice to me even if I can't directly tie this post to the holiday.)

As usual, you can get the entire stack for any ONE (or more) cards off my want list!

1991 Topps:

363. Rick Mahler - Reds

1991 Score:

833. Ron Karkovice - White Sox

2005 Upper Deck Classics:

84. Rollie Fingers - Brewers

1990 Topps:

733. John Dopson - Red Sox

1991 Donruss:

36. Derrick May - Cubs

1998 Upper Deck Collector's Choice:

Star Quest insert:

SQ36. Jeff Kent - Giants

Previously Claimed Trade Stacks:

All Tribe Mail Day... Post 2 of 2 (Larkin Edition)

2013-05-11T20:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I posted part 1 of a recent trade with Jack from All Tribe Baseball. Today, we take a look at the second half of the trade package: The Barry Larkin cards!

Jack sent me seven different Larkin cards - including two that I know for sure I didn't already own (plus a third that might be new to me). I really need a better way of keeping track of what Larkins I own (besides my slowly growing Barry Larkin Collection on the blog).

Anyhow, since I already did a Top 10 in the previous post, let's mix things up this time. Here are my "one line thoughts" on each of the seven Larkin cards. You want more than a single line? You'll have to wait until I feature each card in my ongoing Larkin Collection!

1990 Upper Deck - Reds Checklist

The first Larkin "special" card I can remember owning as a kid.

1997 Upper Deck

This one might be new to my collection, my 1997 collection is sorely lacking.

1994 Topps Stadium Club

Is this a hop, skip, or jump?

1993 Donruss Triple Play

I love the wristband with Larkin's own mug on it, keep it classy man!

1993 Score Gold Stars:

I know this is a new card for my collection - some sort of insert that I never heard of before!

1997 Collector's Choice Stick 'Ums

I loved, loved, loved the Stick 'Ums as a kid - never got the Larkin sticker back then though.

1998 Upper Deck (giant card)

This must have been a box topper or something, it's much larger than a "normal" card.

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

Barry Larkin Collection 183: 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best - #222

2013-05-11T12:01:00.000-04:00

Barry Larkin
Year: 1988
Brand: Donruss Baseball's Best
Card number: 222

The 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best set was released exclusively to large national retail chains as a complete set. Until I got this Larkin card, I had never heard of the Baseball's Best set. As for the card itself, it's more or less one of the ugliest cards in my collection - the orange and black border doesn't do it for me at all. Of course, the regular '88 Donruss set isn't the prettiest thing either!