Zapping

Longtime friend of the blog Zippy Zappy surprised me with a mini-zapping recently.

The big boy of the package was this 2015 Bowman Draft Aaron Judge Asia exclusive black and red paper parallel. Very nice addition to the PC. (I also have an unofficial long-term side-quest of completing a parallel frankenset of every player who appeared in the 2015 Bowman design [so, flagship Bowman but also counting Chrome/Draft/etc.. one parallel for every player on the combined checklist], and I know I didn't have a '15 Bowman Judge yet, so that would be a big card down toward that idea of a project. It's weird to get sentimental over cards from 2015, but looking back, I was riding high in my return to the hobby and those might've been "the good old days" to some degree.)

Other highlights from the stack of baseball cards included an early Gary Sánchez card numbered to 25. Funny that he's on the Padres now.

Also included were some cards of lovely ladies (only PG-rated this time), some gaming cards, and even one football card hidden in there.

There was also a bunch of used sleeves n' stuff, plus a random pair of new Livestrong bracelets. I'll find a use for 'em all, no doubt!

Thanks for everything, Kenny!

Here Comes the Judge

Congrats to Aaron Judge for breaking Roger Maris' AL record with his 62nd home run of the season.

It compelled me to thumb thru my little Judge PC. Why not get a quick post out of it? Here are 10 good ones.

A couple pre-rookies, if you will. Nice.

A few rookie cards. The blue Bunt was a contest win from the generous Johnny's Trading Spot back in the day.

Another contest win, this /50 pink parallel shared with teammate Giancarlo Stanton came from a Save Second Base event at Collecting Cutch. Good times.

This one isn't numbered, but I think it's pretty dang scarce.. an image variation I lucked into from an on-demand release.

This is probably my top Judge card. Fresh fishfractor ("Prism") pulled myself from a 2017 Chrome blaster I bought at the grocery store. Fun stuff.

Enjoy October baseball, gang!

Mailday Before Christmas

Good stuff under the tree to recap from Collecting Cutch, Fuji, and Too Many Verlanders.

I was thrilled to win this awesome Harold Baines card from Brian the other day. He had a contest post of predicting where Andrew McCutchen would end up. I pulled Philadelphia out of my ass, and wow, a few hours later, it was announced that he did in fact sign with the Phillies!

I've always liked Harold Baines and was pleasantly shocked at the news of his HOF election. This is a great card to ring in the occasion in my card collection. Panini Flawless cards are always classy. No logos, but there's enough going on to where you don't really notice, between the two impressive patch bits and his crazy autograph. Harold doesn't have the most visually appealing signature, but still much better than a lazy squiggle. The low serial number is a nice feature, too.

And I won this pink parallel in Brian's wonderful Save The Boobies event back in October. Victory was mine in this instance thanks to my lucky pick back in September that J.D. Martinez would hit the first double of the 2018 World Series. Sure enough that prophecy was fulfilled a month later in Game 1! For my nostradamus-like abilities, I scored this Giancarlo Stanton / Aaron Judge "award show" checklist from Series Two #'d 42/50. I collect both these guys, though I'll likely throw this in the Judge PC since I already have well over 100 Giancarlo cards and I'm still getting there with Judge.

Always down for bonus Cutch cards thrown in for the ride.

But the real surprise punch of the package was this Adrian Beltre bat relic #'d 60/99. Heck of an addition to the ol' Beltre PC.

Thanks for the contests and the bonuses, Brian! Very generous of you.

-  -  - ---o

Next up is Fuji. I figured we were square, but somehow I was still on his "hit list", and hey, I'm not going to object to receiving cards in the mail.

The 2015 Chrome George Springer is a refractor.. nice! And Fuji was just a little late on getting me that '82 Jack Morris I needed for my set, beaten to the punch by Turrdog, but still appreciated.

The meat of the package was this pair of Mad Dog Madlock relic cards.

Awesome stuff! Thank you, Fuji!

-  -  - - - --o

Lastly, Dennis from Too Many Verlanders graciously included me in his blast of holiday mailings.

Kicking off with a neat pair of blue Gavins.

Some Pads from the Past I collect, Gwynn Jr, Nevin, and a golden Giles.

Wow, now this is a Christmas package. These ornament cards from Pacific are a blast.

But the "Christmas Cards" that really get my attention are 12/25 cards. I'm always happy to land a card of any player with that yuletide numbering.. but a guy I collect? That's a bullseye for my collection! HOFer Greg Maddux and Guy From Granite Marcus Giles, both top tier dudes I collect.

Big thanks, Dennis! I'll hit you back with a return soon.


Merry Christmas, Brian, Fuji, and Dennis! Your generosity brightened my holidays.

And Happy Holidays, all. Thanks for swinging by.

Card Show Comfort

Bill, my "usual dealer", was back at the monthly card show today after missing the September show. So it was back to my old routine and I spent the whole show going through his bins.. some were 7-for-$5, and some were 50¢ each (He also had some quarter bins out, but they were pretty packed and I didn't feel like elbowing myself in.)

Oh yeah! These Trouts were probably my best finds of the day. The cheapest "Ginter rookie" (his 1st A&G card) on COMC right now is $9.15.

I don't mess with football much, but when I came to a stack of Pat Mahomes II, one of the hottest names in the NFL right now, I snatched them all up. Looks like most of these are going for over 4 bucks a pop on COMC, so good score on my part.

Kershaw.

Bellinger.

I got a bunch of Rhys Hoskins cards.

Votto. That card in the middle looks creepy, but hey, it's #'d on the back.

2018 AL ROY hopefuls.

2010 Cards Your Mom Threw Out original back variations.

Big Yanks.

Sox.

Bryce.

More Sox.

Shiny. The Ozzie dupe was on purpose.. just love that card.

I grabbed a bunch of numbered parallels, including these guys.

My lone basketball card pickup of the day, TJ Leaf

Cheap autos and high end Astros.

More refractors.

And a smattering of vintage. I'll have wantlists up for 1974 and 1975 Topps soon, by the way.

Not a bad haul. Among other cards not shown is some trade fodder and more numbered stuff.
Thanks for reading!

Hunting for shiny: A blaster of 2018 Topps Chrome

I had a hankering to rip a few packs, and was hoping to find some 2018 Heritage High Number, but ended up settling for some Topps Chrome. Time to go on a shiny hunt.

Pack one has a couple shiny cards: a Giancarlo insert and a 1983-style Amed Rosario.

Pack #2: Victor Robles '83.. he had a disappointing year (wish it was a Juan Soto!), but still has plenty of potential. Base cards of PC guys Adam Jones and Wil Myers.

Always nice to pull a Trout. Clint Frazier insert looks kinda cool.

Pack 4 has a Posey refractor and a Chris Sale base card for me.

All rise!

Lots of Yankees in this box, with pack #6 featuring a Clint Frazier fishfractor RC.

Conforto is a PC guy for me, so I'm happy to pull this refractor.

The bonus sepia pack was ok for me, pulling a couple guys I collect: Schwarber and Jones. The rest are up for trade.

Welp, I didn't hit anything big, but not exactly a dud since I ended up with about a dozen cards I can use. Thanks for swinging by!

Trio of HOF Traders

I know I talked a big game about doing a trade bait post today, but that'll have to wait because I've got an incoming trade roundup to get out.

First up is a great "farewell" package from JBF Wes.

Love this pair of Padre Winfields. Been wanting that 1980 Burger King card for a while now.

Very nice selection of Michael Sam cards just in time for Pride month.

Some Gavins highlighted by a blue Escobar.

A couple solid Chargers. The team is dead to me, but hey, I can still appreciate nice cards.

And some cool Padres to close out the package. Zech Lemond couldn't get it together in the Padres system, but has been pitching well in the Marlins' chain this season. Andy Ashby /150. And some sharp vintage.

Big thanks, Wes! I'll try to scrape up a decent return for you soon, and I'll be hoping this isn't our final swap.

-   -  - ---o

Next up is Zippy Zappy hitting me back for those Bowman guys I set aside for him recently.

Tatis Jr has been on fire after a slow start. Loving this Heritage Minors card from last year.

A couple RCs to bump up my little PC of hometown guy Quintin Berry.

A bunch of Bowman Padres.

Philip Rivers and Gavin LaValley.

Thanks a lot, Zippy! Always a pleasure.

-     -  - - --o

Last for today is a PWE from Sport Card Collectors.

Everybody get up for these Aaron Judge cards! Matt also collects Judge and had some dupes to share with me. Sustained!

But what really banged the gavel was this Tim Duncan jersey card. Love it.

Thanks, SCC! I'll be dropping you a return ASAP.