Matt Ginter turns 40 (and I'm a published photographer now!)

Damn it, Matt, we're 40 today. I guess it could be worse; we could have not made it to 40. So cheers to us. I don't know about you, but this past year was the year my metabolism finally caught up to me. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and drink all the beer I felt like with no repercussions, but no more.. now I've got a beer belly that is stubbornly sticking around despite my frequent trips to the gym. On the plus side, I'm otherwise in peak health despite that nasty finger infection I dealt with a couple months back. A positive outcome there was for the first time in my adult life, I quit the habit of biting my nails. Talk about an old dog learning a new trick!


Turns out I'm the internet's go-to Matt Ginter collector. He's a guy I collect due to the fact that he's the only major leaguer that was born the same exact day as me. A few months ago, a journalist who was working on a piece on him for a hometown periodical approached me for permission to use some of my scans of his cards from old blog posts here. I said sure, of course. Then she said, "er, actually, could you get me better quality pics?, the ones on your blog are crap." (I'm paraphrasing here.) And I said sure. The deal was I would get a copy of the magazine and photo credit therein. A month or two later, it showed up in the mail.

cover (no Ginter content on there)

Very cool that on some very minor level, I can officially consider myself a published photographer. Just like how I consider myself a "professional musician" thanks to that one time my band got paid a few bucks to perform a decade ago. Hey, according to olympic committee rules, that counts!

Here's the article:

Very cool! Seems like a good guy. Big thanks to Whitney for the copy of the magazine. Nice to feel like I've gotten to know my birthday buddy a little closer now.

Here are a couple recent additions to the PC. The uncut proof Bowman refractor shared with Adam Eaton is pretty neat. The 2000 Omega card is shared with Brad Penny and is #'d 431/999.

-    -    -  -  ----  ----------o

12 Days of Christmas Cards and Beermas - Day 12

We've reached the end of this series. Thanks to you guys for following along.

The final beer is a 2017 Reserve edition of The Abyss by Deschutes Brewery. I'm no stranger to Deschutes, with their Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale being go-to selections around here, but I don't spring for their fancier stuff too often, so this is a nice treat. Thanks again to my wonderful wife for another great Beermas selection.

I don't have a Matt Ginter Christmas Card, but I do have an Allen & Ginter Christmas Card.. close enough! Just got this in this past week in a trade with prominent reader/non-blogger John H. He dropped me an email letting me know he pulled this Stephen Vogt hand-numbered Brooklyn Back Mini out of a blaster of 2016 Ginter, and I was able to swap some of my Giancarlo Stanton dupes for it. Thanks for the trade, John!

Looks like we're getting a white Christmas here in Portland this year. May your days be merry and bright.

Contest update: The entry period will end 12/24/2017 at 11:59.59 PM Pacific Time, so any commenting you wanna do for contest consideration, get it in by then. Give me at least a couple days to figure out the entries and then we'll find a winner or two. Sorry the bonus entry opportunities and additional cards to the prize package kinda dried up at the end there, but I was pretty slammed and just didn't have the time to mess with any non-essential blogging, lol. But trust me, I'll add some good cards to the prize, hopefully tailored to the collecting habits of the winner.

Thanks as always for reading and hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Great trades to soothe a mailless day

Man, I love three-day weekends!

But the worst thing about them is having a couple consecutive days without mail service. I need the prospect of potential cards in my mailbox to help get me out of bed in the morning.

But luckily for me, I got a few nice trade packages in the mail late this past week, so that helps take the sting out.

I purposefully held off going through the box I received from Julie until today to give myself some celebratory cards for Labor Day.

Let's crack it open!

The cards are alive with color!

Gavins! The Goof-Off without text on the front is from the 70s (that I had been meaning to track down), while the other is a reprint from 1988.

Been a long time since I got a new Matt Ginter for the PC! And I love the Miguel Tejada Christmas Card.

Great lot of the Giles Bros.

Just call Julie the Bringer of Donaldsons.

Oh, I'm bein' followed by a Machado. Machado, Machado!

I've been desperately pleading with traders to stop sending me Wil Myers cards, but I'll admit I was happy to see many of these. That early Tri-Star card in particular is a nice addition to the PC.

Nice pile of teammates Correa and Altuve!

And the cards just keep on comin'! This is one of those packages that could easily have an entire week's worth of posts dedicated to it, but let's just wrap it up here. So many awesome cards.. Huge thanks, Julie!

- - - ---o

Tough to follow that, but here's an excellent surprise mailer from Kerry.

Some big stars of today on fancy inserts.

A pair of Arenado DKs (one is a refractor), and a pair of World's Fair inserts from 2017 Ginter. I wanted the Monorail card because it makes me think of that one Simpsons episode. The Ferris Wheel card makes me think of a Neutral Milk Hotel song.

Kerry must have caught when I said that, while I don't really follow the NBA much, I might go ahead and call the Spurs my favorite team in the league. And that's largely because of Tim Duncan, featured with a sweet lot here.

And fellow Spurs, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

Thanks, Kerry! I'll round up a return for you soon.

- - - ---o

One more trade to post about today, this one from Stealing Home.

Always happy to take his dupes of Dodgers I collect.

Solarte auto! If I recall, OM pulled this in a repack and was kind enough to set it aside for me. On the day I received this trade package, Solarte hit a walkoff homer for my Padres against the Dodgers. Looks like this auto escaped enemy territory just in time!

Awesome surprise, right here. I'm a sucker for glow-in-the-dark cards, and these weren't even on my radar. Seems they came with Kid Cuisine frozen meals in 1997. Love it! I'll have to try to track down the rest of the set someday.

Here they are in action. Very cool concept of having the skeletons glow.

A book! I've been wanting to read Mint Condition for a while now. It's supposed to be a great telling of the history of the hobby. I'm still working through Ball Four, but this one will be next on my reading list. Or who knows, maybe I'll read them concurrently. (Ball Four is an ebook I've been reading on my phone, not a physical copy.)

And last item of the post, an elegant bronze Roberto Alomar 1988 Topps Traded RC mint-card. Mr. Stealing Home ended up with this card-like-thing in Johnny's Big Fun Game, and seeing how he bleeds Dodger blue, didn't necessarily have a lasting place in his collection for a Padre, so we were able to work out a trade and bring it to a home where it'll be more appreciated. I won't show a bunch of pics of it, but if you're interested, a recent ARPS post featuring the Will Clark version of these things does a great job giving you a clear idea of what they're all about. Part of me wants to trash the big plastic case since it's crumbling somewhat and takes a lot of room, but the collector in me doesn't want to lose the case that's "part" of the item. Still debating.

Thanks a lot, OM! I'll put your return package in the mail soon.


Happy Labor Day, everybody. And thanks again to Julie, Kerry, and OM for the excellent cards! I hardly even noticed there was no mail today. :)

Showing off the Matt Ginter PC on our special day

To recap my post from this day last year, Matt Ginter is the only guy born the same date as me to ever play in the majors. Because of that fun fact, I've taking up collecting this guy whose career otherwise wasn't all that notable.

Let's celebrate our 38th and check out the Matt Ginter PC as it stands at the end of 2015.

An assortment of Bowman.

Topps stuff.

Some more stuff.

And the hits!

Looks like that's 25 cards. Still plenty more out there to pick up...

Matt Ginter checklist

o 2000 Birmingham Barons Grandstand #10 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Birmingham Barons Grandstand #31 Buehrle/Crede/Ginter/Rowand
x 2000 Black Diamond Rookie Edition #134 Matt Ginter JSY RC
o 2000 Black Diamond Rookie Edition Gold #134 Matt Ginter JSY (/100)
x 2000 Bowman #153 Matt Ginter RC
x 2000 Bowman Chrome #153 Matt Ginter RC
o 2000 Bowman Chrome Refractors #153 Matt Ginter
x 2000 Bowman Chrome Retro/Future #153 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Bowman Chrome Retro/Future Refractors #153 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Bowman Gold #153 Matt Ginter (/99)
x 2000 Bowman Retro/Future #153 Matt Ginter
x 2000 Bowman's Best #176 Matt Ginter RC (/2999)
o 2000 Just #235 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Just Black #235 Matt Ginter (/50)
o 2000 Just Gold #235 Matt Ginter (/5000)
o 2000 Pacific Omega #221 M.Ginter RC/B.Penny (/999)
o 2000 SP Authentic #161 Matt Ginter FW RC (/1700)
o 2000 SPx #196 Matt Ginter RC (/1600)
o 2000 Southern League Top Prospects Grandstand #10 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Team Best Rookies #234 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Team Best Rookies Bronze #234 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Team Best Rookies Gold #234 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Team Best Rookies Silver #234 Matt Ginter
o 2000 Ultimate Victory #96 Matt Ginter RC (/3500)
o 2000 Ultimate Victory Parallel 100 #96 Matt Ginter (/100)
o 2000 Ultimate Victory Parallel 25 #96 Matt Ginter (/25)
o 2000 Ultimate Victory Parallel 250 #96 Matt Ginter (/250)
x 2001 Bowman #413 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Bowman Chrome #303 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractors #303 Matt Ginter (/99)
x 2001 Bowman Chrome X-Fractors #303 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Bowman Gold #413 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Charlotte Knights Choice #11 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Donruss 2000 Retro #100 Matt Ginter SP (/2000)
o 2001 Donruss 2000 Retro Stat Line Career #100 Matt Ginter (/300)
o 2001 Donruss 2000 Retro Stat Line Season #100 Matt Ginter (/66)
o 2001 Donruss Class of 2001 #138 Matt Ginter (/1625)
o 2001 Donruss Class of 2001 First Class #138 Matt Ginter (/50)
o 2001 Donruss Class of 2001 Rookie Autographs #138 Matt Ginter (/250)
x 2001 Donruss Class of 2001 Rookie Autographs #138 Matt Ginter (/1875)
o 2001 Donruss Signature #243 Matt Ginter (/800)
o 2001 Donruss Signature Proofs #243 Matt Ginter (/25)
o 2001 Just Stuff Autographs #BA16 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Just Stuff Autographs Black #BAB16 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Just Stuff Autographs Gold #BAG16 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Pacific #464 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Pacific Extreme LTD #464 Matt Ginter (/45)
o 2001 Pacific Hobby LTD #464 Matt Ginter (/70)
o 2001 Pacific Premiere Date #464 Matt Ginter (/36)
o 2001 Private Stock #133 Matt Ginter SP
o 2001 Private Stock Gold Portraits #133 Matt Ginter (/75)
o 2001 Private Stock PS-206 Rookies #6 Matt Ginter (/125)
o 2001 Private Stock Premiere Date #133 Matt Ginter (/90)
x 2001 Private Stock Silver #133 Matt Ginter
o 2001 Private Stock Silver Portraits #133 Matt Ginter (/290)
o 2001 Pacific Retail LTD #464 Matt Ginter (/85)
o 2001 Sweet Spot #66 Matt Ginter SB (/1000)
o 2001 Upper Deck Victory #566 Matt Ginter
x 2002 Absolute Memorabilia Absolutely Ink #39 Matt Ginter
o 2002 Fleer #126 Matt Ginter
o 2002 Fleer Gold Backs #126 Matt Ginter
o 2002 Fleer Mini #126 Matt Ginter (/50)
o 2002 Fleer Tiffany #126 Matt Ginter (/200)
x 2002 Topps Total #471 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Charlotte Knights Choice #8 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes #131 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Atlantic City National #131 Matt Ginter (/5)
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Autographs #131 Matt Ginter (/250)
x 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Autographs #131 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Chicago Collection #131 Matt Ginter (/5)
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Glossy #131 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Glossy Hawaii #131 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Hawaii #131 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Master #131 Matt Ginter (/20)
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Samples #131 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Samples Gold #131 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Stat Line #131 Matt Ginter (/37)
o 2003 Fleer Tradition #156 Matt Ginter
x 2003 Fleer Tradition Glossy #156 Matt Ginter (/100)
x 2003 Topps Total #311 Matt Ginter
o 2003 Topps Total Silver #311 Matt Ginter
o 2004 Norfolk Tides Choice #12 Matt Ginter
o 2004 Topps Total #434 Matt Ginter
o 2004 Topps Total Press Plates Black #434 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2004 Topps Total Press Plates Cyan #434 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2004 Topps Total Press Plates Magenta #434 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2004 Topps Total Press Plates Yellow #434 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2004 Topps Total Silver #434 Matt Ginter
o 2004 USA Baseball 25th Anniversary #68 Matt Ginter
o 2004 USA Baseball 25th Anniversary Signatures Black Ink #GIN Matt Ginter (/179)
o 2004 USA Baseball 25th Anniversary Signatures Blue Ink #GIN Matt Ginter (/42)
o 2004 USA Baseball 25th Anniversary Signatures Green Ink #GIN Matt Ginter (/2)
o 2004 USA Baseball 25th Anniversary Signatures Red Ink #GIN Matt Ginter (/22)
x 2005 Topps Chrome Update #18 Matt Ginter
x 2005 Topps Chrome Update Black Refractors #18 Matt Ginter (/250)
o 2005 Topps Chrome Update Gold Super-Fractors #18 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2005 Topps Chrome Update Printing Plates Black #18 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2005 Topps Chrome Update Printing Plates Cyan #18 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2005 Topps Chrome Update Printing Plates Magenta #18 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2005 Topps Chrome Update Printing Plates Yellow #18 Matt Ginter (/1)
x 2005 Topps Chrome Update Red X-Fractors #18 Matt Ginter (/65)
x 2005 Topps Chrome Update Refractors #18 Matt Ginter
o 2005 Topps Total #669 M.Ginter/F.German
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Black Back #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Black Front #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Cyan Back #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Cyan Front #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Magenta Back #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Magenta Front #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Yellow Back #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Press Plates Yellow Front #669 M.Ginter/F.German (/1)
o 2005 Topps Total Silver #669 M.Ginter/F.German
x 2005 Topps Update #19 Matt Ginter
o 2005 Topps Update Blue #19 Matt Ginter (/1)
x 2005 Topps Update Gold #19 Matt Ginter (/2005)
o 2005 Topps Update Printing Plate Black #19 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2005 Topps Update Printing Plate Cyan #19 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2005 Topps Update Printing Plate Magenta #19 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2005 Topps Update Printing Plate Yellow #19 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2006 Pawtucket Red Sox Choice #14 Matt Ginter
x 2008 Topps Update #UH54 Matt Ginter
o 2008 Topps Update Black #UH54 Matt Ginter (/57)
x 2008 Topps Update Gold Border #UH54 Matt Ginter (/2008)
o 2008 Topps Update Gold Foil #UH54 Matt Ginter
o 2008 Topps Update Platinum #UH54 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2008 Topps Update Printing Plates Black #UH54 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2008 Topps Update Printing Plates Cyan #UH54 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2008 Topps Update Printing Plates Magenta #UH54 Matt Ginter (/1)
o 2008 Topps Update Printing Plates Yellow #UH54 Matt Ginter (/1)

Kevin Millwood is another Xmas Eve baby, though he was celebrating his 3rd birthday when Matt and I came into the world. I don't officially collect Millwood cards, though I've sort of started putting them together when I come across them and picking them up when I see them in nickelboxes, like that sweet Stadium Club negro league throwback. Happy 41st, Kevin!

And to the rest of you not lucky enough to be born on Christmas Eve, have a wonderful holiday!

2015 Topps Chrome and other fun stuff

Big day for me last Sunday. The in-laws are redoing their floors, and much of the day was spent helping them move furniture around. Pretty tiring. So I felt I earned myself a little treat, which was all the justification I needed to flush $10 down the drain to Topps for some 2015 Topps Chrome at the grocery store.

Here were the promised 3 pink refractors. I was happy to at least score one minor PC guy in the Alex Gordon. The other 2 guys are ok too.

Here are the best of the rest. A couple decent RCs, a Trout, and a Chris Owings refractor.

And the rest.

So nothing too impressive. A fun little break none the less, I suppose. I'm hanging onto the two horizontal cards, coincidentally enough, but the vertical cards are available for trade if you want any.

Since that value pack wasn't really interesting enough to warrant a whole post to itself, let's throw in a few other random cards I've picked up for my collection recently. The following cards cost me approximately the same as that assortment of 2015 Chrome, but if I were doing this post "pack war" style, it wouldn't even be close. It's that whole Schrodinger's Cat thing with ripping packs, versus just buying a living cat. Or something like that.

This Benito was a Listia win. I heard he recently got inducted into the Padres HOF. This is my second autograph of his, and the other one features him as a Giant, so it's nice to get one showcasing his time in San Diego. It's a nice one, though the name banner kinda gets in the way.

I saw this card on Underdog Collector's blog a couple months ago and it really caught my eye so I made a note to track down a copy for myself. I love seeing Dave Winfield in those classic early 80s Padres uniforms with the brown, gold, and orange. It's possibly my all-time favorite uniform, always taking me back to my days as a young kid first becoming aware of baseball. This photo was from his last season in San Diego before leaving for greener pastures/paychecks in New York. These 2013 Topps Archives inserts in the style of 1972 Topps Basketball were seeded one per hobby box, I believe.

I'm a sucker for cards like this of a notable player with a team uniform that, well, kinda blows your mind to see him in (yet is real) whether filed under Short-Term Stops or Zero Year. And this 1975(1976) SSPC Killebrew featuring his swan song as a Royal is one of the best.

Finally, here's my birthday twin Matt Ginter. Was happy to add this certified auto of him to my PC for just $1.05 in my recent COMC order. Kind of a strange picture to choose for a card-- not exactly sure what's going on there-- but I'll take it.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading.

Some cards I bought recently

You may have noticed Wallet Card has really taken off! Very exciting! It's probably the closest to anything "viral" that I've been a part of, even if we're only talking about the small scale of online superfans of baseball cards. It's a bit surreal for me to see it mentioned so much over the blogosphere and on Twitter. Big thanks to everyone who's gotten onboard with it. The game has already produced its share of really cool photos (In addition to the blogosphere, keep an eye on the #walletcard hashtag on Twitter). Looking forward to checking out plenty more over the course of the year, and I'm very happy that my little post seems to have given a shot in the arm to several collectors out there.

A warm welcome to anyone who may have only recently found this blog thanks to the buzz surrounding Wallet Card. I hope you enjoy your stay at Baseball Card Breakdown!

But not every post can be a phenomenon. Sometimes it's just a few scans of cards I recently added to my collection.

As the title implies, here's such a post.

What follows is a blaster's worth of cards (collecterspeak for "around $20") I got from a seller on eBay, taking advantage the "free shipping on orders $20+" special offer. These virtual card show pickups, as I like to think of them, hit a few points of interest in my collection.

AJ Lee! I've gathered a few of her cards over the past several months though I don't follow wrestling. I just think she's a cutie. It's a nice "happy card" of her celebrating a victory of somesort.

My first Larry Csonka card! (Funny how in the scan he seems to be ogling AJ Lee.) Honestly, my interest in him is entirely due to being a MST3K reference in one of my favorite episodes.

Matt Ginter! A shiny, #'d card of my birthday twin. (Try as I might, I could not find any "eBay 1/1" significance for the number 989.)

And that yellow Kevin Mitchell bread card is one that's been on my wantlist for a while. It's one of the few cardboard remnants of his brief stint on the Padres. Plus I had a few of these Bohemian Hearth cards as a kid, even before I really started collecting baseball cards, so they hold a lot of sentimental value for me.

Despite how it seems, I don't really go nuts collecting Gavin Escobar, rather I just pick up his cards that catch my eye from time to time.

Similar to the Kevin Mitchell oddball, that first card strikes a sentimental chord with me because 1986 Topps Football were the first football cards I ever owned as a kid.

The next card is just a cool/weird looking diecut refractor.

The Fleer Ultra card is another fun blast from the past, since I ripped my share of 91 Fleer Ultra baseball as a kid-- but what puts this card over the top for me is the (non shopped out) SDSU uniform. It's a nice bonus that this guy I collect because of his name also went to my alma mater.

The 4th card there is a "2013 Bowman Rainbow Prism." Based on the name/scan, I had high hopes of it being a spectacular looking card in hand. Sadly, it was a disappointment. Just a boring bit of refractory shine over a border with a design that doesn't do anything cool and looks like drapes at your grandma's house. At least it's #'d /99 on the back.

More Gavins! That orange LaValley parallel is the card that triggered this little spree. It's #'d /60.

The Stewart Gavin is a neat 80s OPC card.

And I think the Gavin Osteen is my 3rd card of his.

Finally, here are a couple minis. Well, the basketball card is actually a sticker. You gotta love Manute Bol, a giant stickfigure of a man with a heart of gold. Rest in peace.

That's a great Dick Allen mini. The regular-sized auto version of this card is a white whale of mine. But this black bordered mini is cool too.


So that's all for this time. Thanks for visiting.