Rod roundup

Rod at Padrographs has been distributing cards around again and I was fortunate enough to have him swing by the other weekend with a stack for me. I've pulled out a few highlights for blog post.

Here's a big Devers, a regular Devers, and a big (but not as big) Gunnar Henderson RC. 

Some additions to the Bryce Harper PC, including another of those awkward to store Master Photo cards.

A few standouts of the several Padres cards in the lot.

More rising stars of the NL.

This book about baseball movies looks interesting, and it pulled double duty by keeping the oversized cards safe during transit.

Lastly, a fresh pair of Sheets. Gavin's 2025 cards have to this point still featured him in his Chicago duds, making me wait for the personal double-bullseye of a Padres-Gavin card. But Rod whipped up a terrific custom to tide me over until an official version hits the market.

Thank you muchly, Rod!

Kerry on my Cardboard Blog

Met up with Kerry downtown Friday afternoon for a quick swap of cards. He metaphorically dunked on me and the team bag of cards I handed off to him by giving me a very impressive box of cards.

The Vlad Jr. hype is intense! On mlb.com the other day, the top 7 or so news stories were about him and his debut. A bit over the top, but like most baseball fans, I'm interested to see how he turns out as a big leaguer.

The gold standard, Mike Trout!

More Trouty.

Reining NL MVP Christian Yelich. Good stuff here! The mini is /99.

Reigning AL MVP Mookie Betts. Sure, sometimes I feel like a "basic bitch" of a card collector, turning my head for any hot rookies and MVPs. But hey, I also collect guys like Travis Taijeron and Matt Ginter, so I feel I've got well-rounded wants.

Mookie's teammates Rafael Devers and Andrew Benintendi.

Rhys!

Alex Bregman!

More Astros. Love that Correa Heritage refractor.

I've lived in Portland for over a decade now, but have yet to really jump on the Blazers bandwagon. But after that epic playoff-advancing buzzerbeater the other night that had all of Portland bumping, I was like, "Damn! I need to collect Damian Lillard cards!" And Kerry, a big Blazers fan/collector, was kind enough to get that PC started with this lot of dupes he had.

As I add one new name to the short list of active b-ball guys I collect, I lose another, as Dirk retired after the regular season.

Most of the guys I collect in basketball are greats of the past, like Wilt and Dr. J.

...And Dikembe, Kareem, and Manute.

Back to baseball, with plenty of shine here.

And some old-timer favorites. Dave Henderson cards always make me smile. And I hope Bartolo gets an opportunity to pitch this year, but it's not looking likely at this point.

I just sorted out my George Brett PC the other day, seeing if I had hit the 100-card mark yet.. but fell short, around 90 cards. Keep creepin' up, though.

Current Padres representing. Almost May and we're still in contention!! LOL

JOY OF A COMPLETED SET!!!

I got a factory set of '90 Score for Xmas back when it was current-- that and a cheap '89 Topps from the Sears catalog were my first ever complete sets-- but never had a Rookie & Traded set to complement it. Some great cards in here!

Some nice Nats.

And a hit to take us home! Sweet!

Big thanks, Kerry! Great stuff. I'm in your debt and will try to balance the scales soon.

A haul of cards celebrating 10 years of Cards on Cards

Cards on Cards recently reached the milestone of a decade of cardblogging. Kerry generously celebrated with free group break for his readers. I jumped in and and snaked the Red Sox. Yeah, they're not my #1 team (sorry, Padres), but well, I collect a lot of their players, plus I've probably traded with more Red Sox collectors than any other team over the past year or two, so it's always nice to add some trade fodder. Seeing as he's a fellow Portland resident, we met up the other day to save shipping. I scrounged up a handful of Cardinals for him, and he gave me my haul from the break with plenty of bonus cards.

Nice Wade Boggs auto! I was pretty stoked to land one of the highlights of the big group break. Kerry tempered expectations by saying this card came damaged out of the pack, and yeah the upper right corner was dinged a little, but not as bad as I was expecting.

Some great additions to my Mookie Betts collection, highlighted by a 2014 Donruss The Rookies RC. There's only one of these on COMC right now and it's priced at a ridiculous $49.95.. Geez! He's making a strong case for 2018 AL MVP.

Some more nice cards of current Sox standouts.

A couple all-time pitching greats here, with Clemens and Pedro.

More retired legends.

Hitting some non-Boston cards now. Didi rookie! Good stuff here.

A numbered Brian Giles (making a consecutive appearance on my blog after a starring role last post) and fan favorite Rod Beck.

The Cecchini Brothers haven't done much this year; Gavin hanging out in AAA, Garin playing in Mexico. But best of luck to them.

Oh, some more Sox, with a nice trio of Devers. Love that shimmer mini.

Fine Young Bowmans.

Bryce and Stan and Correa. Good stuff!

And Kerry hooked me up with a bunch of basketball cards too.

My Dirk PC got a big boost here. Happy to hear he's coming back for another season.

Hometown hero of mine, TJ Leaf! I only had 2 or 3 cards of his cards prior to this.

B-ball greats Wilt and Dr. J!

And a bunch of other Red Sox that didn't fit my collection to add to my tradeables box. Plantier minor league, Nomar SC insert, #'d Schilling. All up for trade.

Unopened pack of '89 Score to add to my rainy day stockpile. I like this set despite being horribly overproduced and would likely pick up a set if I found it for ~$5 at a card show sometime. So yeah, should be a fun rip.

Finally, a little cloth. Love the Hosmer relic. He's been solid for the Padres this year, though the team has had a lousy 2nd half. (I'm deeply troubled about reports they're looking to give up some of their top prospects in exchange for a starter like Chris Archer or Syndergaard.. NO!! Trust the process. Just have patience for another year or two. Don't do anything stupid and screw up the future.) And Kerry must've remembered my post talking about my love for Rilo Kiley / Jenny Lewis, hooking me up with this cool little patch.

Thanks so much for your generosity, Kerry! Lots of great stuff here. Congrats again on a decade of blogging!

Card Show Warp Zone

Of course I expected to come home from the card show with some decent cards, but when I bumped into Padrographs Rod shortly after I arrived and he surprised me with a box of a couple hundred various cards, it was like I had entered a card show warp zone, instantly adding an hour or two's worth of bin digging to my haul for the day.

Before '18 Heritage came out, if you said the word "Transogram" to me, I'd assume you were talking about a guy in a dress who delivers telegrams. (Sorry, un-PC joke.) But now I know it as these endearing yellow inserts born in 1969 (named after the toy manufacturer who made proto Starting Lineup figures with such cards on the box). While I'll stop short of saying I'd like to collect them all, I would definitely be happy to receive these in trade, in case my trading buddies have any sitting around.

Very excited to add more Alexa Bliss cards to my sadly small PC of hers. Looks like I've got dupe, if anyone needs that one.

Moving away from baseball for a second, here are a couple Celtics legends, plus a custom of Neil deGrasse Tyson. Does he sign TTM? That would be a cool signature to get!

I've never ripped any Tek, but I'm happy to see them pop up in trades and discount boxes. A couple guys I collect here in Piazza and Stanton, with the rest up for trade.

Man oh man, Bowman refractors always make me smile. Some decent names in this bunch.

Great to check Reggie off my little '87 Fleer Update setbuild.

Here are some additional appreciated cards.

Now for some Padre-centric cards including a black bordered Margot and top prospect Tatis.

A ton of Gwynn cards, including a few new to me.

Also a bunch o' Bips, most of which I had, but I think 2 or 3 needs in there.

And the rest!

Thanks again, Rod! Much appreciated. I'll get working on that little custom project you asked me about and should have it ready for you by the next card show.