Not Bad for $0.35...Ripken and Chipper Short-Prints? Excellent!!!

One of my goals this year is to try and clear out the extra cards that are sitting in boxes in my basement. They don't count as part of my actual collection, and I am not counting them as part of the Card Census I'm working on to manage my collection.

And while I still have yet to find any 2015 Topps cards (I will make a trip to a Target near church...), I did finally open the 35 packs of 2013 Topps Update Series that I bought at the Dollar Tree.

Now these cards consist of 5 base cards. No inserts, no relics, no autographs. Just five cards. And with my luck, I wasn't expecting much in terms of quality hits. I mean, after all, I already have all 330 cards of the base set. What could I possibly get out of these packs?

Turns out...something.

As you may know, Topps inserted a lot...really...a lot of short-printed variation cards in the Update Series. Many of them were of the All-Star Game variety, featuring star players from All-Star Games past. Some were even super-short printed.

Now, I am not sure if I mentioned that in previous pack purchases that I did get a short print:



2013 Topps Update Series Mariano Rivera #US313b

Tonight, after opening 35 packs of 2013 Topps Update cards, I now have in my hands:

2013 Topps Update Series Chipper Jones #US53b

2013 Topps Update Series Cal Ripken Jr. #US216b

Neither are of the super-short print variety, nor is the Rivera from before, but they are SP's nonetheless.
I am looking to sell these babies as I have decided not to collect them. Although they are short-prints, and they are of retired All-Stars, to me, these are not even akin to the 2009-2012 short printed cards of the CMG players from 2009 through the Hall of Fame 5 from 2012 Topps Series 2.

So here is my call to sell. I'll start with this blog post, and then Twitter and Facebook to see if I can gauge some interest. I'm thinking at least $7.50-$10.00 per card would be a good starting point. If after a couple of days, I get no decent responses from either site, I'll throw them on the Bay.

Wish me luck.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Short Prints in 2014 Topps? Of Course There Are...But...

Okay, I've read the backs of Topps Cards for years. What the heck are these stats??!

Topps did not include a list of the SP variations when the checklist for 2014 Topps Series 2 went live. Some people would complain to the high heavens that there isn't more transparency. But seriously, that kills the fun of discovering new and, quite frankly, weird themes for their short-printed cards.

Gone are the legends from the early part of the 20th century (I think the CMG license is long gone, but they still have some legends in their stable for later use). Now we get player celebrations, playoff celebrations, players off the field, and even some Boston Strong variations.

But the ones that Topps came out with for this series are probably the most unique they've come out with in a long time.

Because instead of using a second picture for the front of the cards, you now have to look on the back to see if you have a short print.

When the sell sheets for S2 went live, one of the insert sets they were going to include was something called "Saber Stars." Saber, meaning Sabermetrics, the statistics that the Society of Baseball Research (SABR...SABeR...get it?) use to compare players from the past to those in the present day. They say that these stats are more valuable in determining a player's worth on the field than the stats we've all been accustomed to. They say that batting average, home runs, rbi's...not good enough. Win-Loss records and ERA? Are they even necessary??? Now it's all about WAR (Wins above Replacement), OPS+ (which is on base percentage plus slugging percentage...kicked up a notch), FIP (right now, I have absolutely no idea what this means...we'll learn all of that shortly though), and other bizarre acronyms.

Now, I've always believed that every player leads the league in some category. It can be the most obscure category (like home run leader for those who has six letters in their last name or something). But the stats that Topps has included on the backs of these cards would scare collectors from the 1950's.

Now we all know the statistics that make up the regular batter's line for 2014 Topps added the WAR stat to the line up (removing strikeouts...a key stat for batters ). The rest of the stats we know:

• G - Games
• AB - At Bats
• R - Runs
• H - Hits
• 2B - Doubles
• 3B - Triples
• HR - Home Runs
• RBI - Runs Batted In
• SB - Stolen Bases
• BB - Bases on Ball/Walks
• SLG - Slugging Percentage (which takes the number of bases per hit divided by the number of at bats)
• OPS - On Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage (which first appeared in 2004 to appease rotisserie players)
• AVG-Batting Average (Total Hits/At-Bats)
• WAR-Wins above Replacement (formulas are complicated to explain)

But these SP's include the following statistics on the header. For the uninitiated, I'll try to explain what each of the letters mean (note that I am no expert, and as I was researching this, I was getting just as confused):

• PA - Plate Appearances, every time a player makes an appearance at the plate (AB + BB + HBP + SF + SH)
• OPS+ - On Base Percentage Plus (100*[OBP/lg OBP + SLG/lg SLG - 1]) Adjusted to the player’s ballpark(s). Confused yet?
• BB% - Percentage of the time player draws a walk (walks/plate appearance)
• K% - Percentage of the time a player strikes out (strikeout/plate appearance)
• BABIP - Batting Average when Ball is In Play, which is (hits - home runs/at bats - strikeouts + sacrifice flies)
• ISO - Isolated Power, which measures the average number of extra bases per at bat
• wOBA - Weighted On Base Average, a stat that is designed to measure a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance((0.72*Non intentional walks) + (0.75*Hit by Pitch) + (.90*singles) + (.92*reached base on error) + (1.24*doubles) + (1.56*triples) + (1.95*home runs))/plate appearances
• WRC+ - Weighted Runs Created, a players worth of runs for his team
• WPA - Win Probability Added, which is defined as the difference in win expectancy (WE) between the start of the play and the end of the play
• TB - Total Bases
• SB% - Stolen base percentage (stolen bases/stolen base attempts)
• TZR - Total Zone Runs, a defensive stat that measures the number of runs above or below average the player was worth based on the number of plays made
• WAR - Wins Above Replacement, which they already included on the base cards. Topps should have included the missing strikeout totals from the regular line and added them here instead of putting the WAR stat.

My head is spinning from all of that.

Don't think the pitchers were left out from all of the Saber-madness. They have their own set of stats too. Now as we all know, the regular pitcher's stat line this year excluded complete games (which is just as well as the number of these have decreased as bullpen dependency has increased). But the rest of the stats collectors recognize:

• G - Games
• W - Wins
• L - Losses
• IP - Innings Pitched
• H - Hits
• R - Runs
• ER - Earned Runs
• BB - Bases on Balls/Walks
• SO - Strikeouts
• SHO - Shutouts
• SV - Saves
• WHIP - Walks + Hits / Innings pitched (the added pitcher's stat for Roto players)
• ERA - Earned Run Average (Earned Runs / Innings pitched * 9)
• WAR - Wins Above Replacement (pitchers get this too)

For the pitchers, the following stats were included on the header:

• IP - Innings pitched
• QS% - Quality Start Percentage, which is the ratio of quality starts to total starts
• RS/GS - Run Support per Games Started (which now relies on the pitcher's offense)
• HR/9 - Number of Home Runs allowed per nine innings (think of an ERA for homers)
• SO/BB - Strikeouts to Walks ratio (or how many strikeouts per number of walks)
• LOB% - Percentage of runners left on base
• GB% - Ground ball percentage, or the number of balls that are put in play on the ground, whether it's a hit or an out
• WHIP - Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched (should have put complete games here instead)
• ERA+ - Adjusted ERA (100*[lgERA/ERA]) according to the player’s ballpark(s).
• FIP - Fielding Independent Pitching, which measures a pitcher's effectiveness at preventing HR, BB, HBP and causing SO ((13*HR + 3*(BB+HBP) - 2*SO)/IP + Constant). The constant is set so that each season MLB average FIP is the same as the MLB avg ERA
• WPA - Win Probability Added, which is defined as the difference in win expectancy (WE) between the start of the play and the end of the play
• WAR - Wins Above Replacement

Yes, I took some aspirin after all of this. I love baseball, and I love numbers, but the saber numbers just takes everything to the extreme. I like simple. But if this is what they say will determine how baseball players would have done in other eras, so be it. It's not as if we can put Mike Trout in a time machine to see how he'd fare during the time of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, can we?

Oh well, along with the saber SP's, there are the sparkles SP's, there are also more Future Star SP's (you thought Yasiel would be the only player in series 1 to get the SP FS treatment?) The players chosen for this subset are pictured during their respective "Futures Game" during the All-Star Festivities. So there are going to be a lot of US and World players, except for Tanaka...of course.

One final SP I would say would make a certain blogger go insane, but I think he's too far gone now to care.

Snoopy??!

Yes, that's Snoopy peering in from the Twins' dugout. Recently, it was announced that as the All-Star Game will be held in the Twin Cities this year, MLB and Peanuts have partnered up and the statues that have traditionally popped up around the host city will be of Charles Schulz' beloved comic strip characters. Schulz is a native of St. Paul, and almost everyone (if you're the exception, there is something horribly wrong with you) knows that there are many Peanuts' strips that involve baseball. So it's a natural fit.

I'm going to bed. The stats are still flying in my head. Oh yeah, one quick way to tell if you have a saber stat SP? Check the code on the back of the card. Sabermetric variants end in 75. Series 2 base cards and other variations all end in 34.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

So Exactly HOW MANY SHORT-PRINTED CARDS are There in This Year's Update Series??!

Prince George, the future King, is a SP subject in 2013 Topps Update Series. Whose card number does he share? Stay tuned.

This is the week Topps baseball card collectors have been waiting for...UPDATE SERIES streets today (or yesterday..or some time soon as the number of auctions on the Bay is starting to grow). Along with all the goodies that come with the set that concludes the 2013 Topps season is word that there will be more short printed cards.

That shouldn't be a big surprise as Topps has been putting in SP's for the last few years, including this one.

However, it's the number of SP's and the way they are numbered that should make a certain cynical soccer fan/baseball card cynic's head explode.

If I counted correctly, there are 50...THAT'S RIGHT...

50...FIFTY...50...

And not only do you get player variations (and there are tons), there are also All-Star card variations (like last year), retired legends (from All-Star Games past), and even a card of the new Prince...George (you can already guess whose card the future king shares a card number with). Case breaker Brent Williams (the guy known as brentandbecca on eBay, Twitter, etc.) has been able to determine the cards that he is calling SP's (the regular short-prints that appear 6-8 per case), and the ones that he's confidently announcing as SSP's (the super short-prints that appear 1-2 per case).

So let's get to it. Before the final checklist comes out (oh wait, it already did...), here are the 50 cards that you will need to be on the lookout for that are not part of the base set. You want to see images? Then after you're done reading the checklist, you can peruse all 50 cards at Cardboard Connection. Before I forget, the cards in bold are your Super Short Prints. Good luck!!!

• US1b Matt Harvey, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, All-Star Workout Day with David Wright)
• US1c Tom Seaver, All-Star 2013 with David Wright (Base card Matt Harvey)
• US7b Yoenis Cespedes, Home Run Derby (Variation: Celebrating with Robinson Cano. I missed it, but was the name on the back of Cano's jersey "Robi"?)
• US7c Yoenis Cespedes, Home Run Derby (Variation: AL Home Run Derby Lineup)
• US16b Bo Jackson, All-Star 1989 (Base card Alex Gordon)
• US35b Andrew McCutchen, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal with Pedro Alvarez)
• US53b Craig Kimbrel, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, in dugout)
  
• US53c Hank Aaron, All-Star 1970 with Willie Mays (Base card Craig Kimbrel)

Found the original picture used for the Aaron card.

• US53d Chipper Jones, All-Star 2000 (Base card Craig Kimbrel)
• US73b Willie Mays, All-Star 1963 with Sandy Koufax (Base card Buster Posey)
• US73c Will Clark, All-Star 1990 with Matt Williams (Base card Buster Posey)
• US79 Yu Darvish, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, with Hisashi Iwakuma)
• US88b Troy Tulowitzki, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, with Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gonzalez)
• US114b Nomar Garciaparra, All-Star 2000 (Base card Dustin Pedroia)
• US114c Wade Boggs, All-Star 1989 (Base card Dustin Pedroia)
• US119b Ken Griffey Jr., All-Star 1998 (Base card Felix Hernandez)
• US119c Ken Griffey Jr., All-Star 1999 with trophy (Base card Felix Hernandez)
• US134b Justin Verlander, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, All-Star Workout Day with David Wright)
• US140b Tony Gwynn, All-Star 1992 with Ken Griffey, Jr. (Base card Justin Upton)
• US142b Yadier Molina, All-Star (Variation: All-Star Workout Day with Buster Posey)
• US150b Gerrit Cole (Variation: Vertical, wearing black jacket)
• US180b Bryce Harper, All-Star (Variation: NL Home Run Derby Lineup)
• US188b John Kruk, All-Star 1993 (Base card Cliff Lee)
• US193b Max Scherzer, All-Star (Variation: All-Star Workout Day with Miguel Cabrera)
• US200b Wil Myers (Variation: wearing "retro" Rays jersey)
• US205b Prince George of Cambridge (yes, the future King of England. Base card Prince Fielder)
• US216b Cal Ripken Jr., All-Star 2001 with trophy (Base card Manny Machado)
• US216c Cal Ripken Jr., All-Star 2001 signing autographs (Base card Manny Machado)
• US218b Miguel Cabrera, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, with Adam Jones and Mike Trout)
• US250b Yasiel Puig (Variation: Horizontal, raising arms)
• US250c Yasiel Puig (Variation: with a large glove)
• US250d Yasiel Puig (Variation: Horizontal, sliding home preparing for Walk-Off celebration)
• US268b Joey Votto, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, All-Star Game with Brandon Phillips and Aroldis Chapman)
• US268c Teddy Kremer with Dusty Baker (the Reds' batboy who has Down Syndrome, but has been a positive story for the Reds in 2013. Base card Joey Votto)

Feel good story of the year Teddy Kremer has now been immortalized in cardboard.

• US276b Torii Hunter, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, preparing for All-Star Team Photo)
• US285b David Ortiz, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, with Mariano Rivera and Robinson Cano)
• US300b Mike Trout, All-Star (Variation: with Robinson Cano)
• US313b Mariano Rivera, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, approaching mound)
• US313c Mariano Rivera, All-Star (Variation: leaving bullpen)
• US316b David Wright, All-Star (Variation: Horizontal, All-Star Workout Day)
• US323b Robinson Cano, All-Star (Variation: Wearing sunglasses and All-Star Game cap)
• US323c Lou Gehrig, All-Star 1939 All-Star with Jimmie Foxx (Base card Robinson Cano)

It takes a bit of digging, but the guy standing next to Gehrig's right is Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez.

• US323d Don Mattingly, All-Star 1989 with Bo Jackson (Base card Robinson Cano)

Now not only did the Update Series cards get the SP treatment, but Topps dove back into the regular set and added SSP cards for the following players. Please note that with the exception of Jeter, each player has an exclusive card found only in the retail factory sets:

• 2b Derek Jeter, All-Star 2000 (Base card in Series 1)
• 270c Manny Machado (Variation: Horizontal, black uniform. Base card in Series 1, exclusive card in Factory set)
• 286c Jurickson Profar (Variation: in dugout. Base card in Series 1, exclusive card in Factory set)
• 305c Shelby Miller (Variation: black cap. Base card in Series 1, exclusive card in Factory set)
• 589c Jose Fernandez (Variation: All-Star Game with Miguel Cabrera. Base card in Series 2, exclusive card in Factory Set)
• 661d Hyun-jin Ryu (Variation: in dugout. Base card in Series 2, also has a shortprint card in Series 2, and an exclusive card in Factory Set)
• 661e Hyun-jin Ryu (Variation: at bat. Base card in Series 2, also has a shortprint card in Series 2, and an exclusive card in Factory Set)

In total, there are 50 cards that are either short-printed or super-short-printed in 2013 Topps Update Series.

My take? At least there are no SSP cards of extremely last minute deals (see the first 7 cards of last year's Update Series). Lots of All-Star variations in both categories, which should make for a very interesting chase for those who are going to do it (good luck by the way).

I would have loved to go after the legends/retired All-Star cards, but since eleven of them are in the SSP category, I think I'll hold off. I still have to get my master set of Update Series to finish out the year. Maybe this weekend.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Check Out My Cards From comc.com

(Please note that this is not a paid testimonial to Check Out My Cards' website...although if you guys do want to send a check my way, send me an e-mail.)

I knew it existed. I knew they had a lot of cards that I needed. Yet, I never had thought of actually buying from Check Out My Cards .com (or comc.com).

Maybe it was because I thought you had to be a member to buy cards from their site (you don't). Maybe it was because I thought you had to sell cards on the site to buy cards from their site (you don't). Whatever it was, I thought I wasn't able to purchase cards from comc.com.

So what made me decide to finally take the plunge? I had read somewhere (I don't know if it was on twitter, facebook, a message board, something) that they had just re-designed their site. So I was curious and looked. I'm sure there were massive changes to the website's design (at least the logo was different). But then I started looking at cards. Then, I became curious about some of the cards that I had on my want list and decided to look for them on the site. Lo and behold, there they were...and the prices were kind of reasonable. Oh, what's this, a cart? Why not. So I started placing cards I wanted into this virtual shopping cart.

After thirty minutes, I had 35 cards in my cart and the total price started to climb higher. I decided to stop there and "check out." They take PayPal? Great. And just like that, I became a customer of comc.com.

So what exactly did I buy?

Let's start with:

• Fifteen 2010 Target Red Backs (2) and Walmart Blue Backs (13)

• Six 2009 Topps Hobby Factory Exclusive Rookie Cards (the other four are now added onto the wantlist) that would have otherwise never see the light of day...EVER!!!

• The last five 2009 Topps MLB Legends SP cards. I now have all 61 SP'd cards from the 2009 set.

• Two 2009 Topps Target Exclusive Legends of the Game Cards (now just need one more...the Nolan Ryan #LLG25 to complete this entire series).

• Four 2012 Topps MLB SP cards. Just missing the DiMaggio, these are probably the only 2012 Topps SP cards I want...other than the Pujols and Reyes cards from Series 1 and the first seven Update Series SSP's.

• One 2011 Topps Sticker of Jacoby Ellsbury (need four more)

• One 2010 Topps SP Hank Greenberg #1b. I would have liked to buy more, but the price was getting too high. This was the last card I bought last week.

• I lied. I finally have my Balut card from 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter.

Great haul. It really made a dent in my wantlist. And now that I know I have other options, I think I'll start saving up for some other cards that have been taking up space on the sidebar. We'll see. To the fine people at COMC, thank you very much.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Is It Safe? Have They All Been Confirmed? The 2012 Topps Update Series SP Cards.

I think many of us who follow the Hobby spent all day today scouring the Bay, reading box breaks, pack breaks, message boards, and even Twitter, trying to figure out how many SP cards were included in 2012 Topps Update Series.  It's become a tradition of sorts, every time the eponymous product (or even Heritage) comes out, everybody wants to know, "What are the SP's this time?"

Can you imagine what this task would be like WITHOUT the Internet?  We would have to wait for the Number One Source in the Hobby to put out their magazine to get this information.  At that point, the info is two months old.  And who knows if we'd ever even see any of these cards at the shop?  It could be the middle of the following year, and we might not even have seen a picture of some of them.

But we can all relax.  It's 2012.  Thanks to various sources, it can now be confirmed that there are 31 short printed cards included in packs of Update Series.  A handful of them are even those pesky "Super Short Prints" (SSP's to the rest of the Hobby), specifically because of that one blockbuster trade that happened in the middle of August between the Dodgers and Red Sox that Topps could not manage to include on time for production (will discuss this shortly).

The majority of the variation cards depict the players who participated in this year's All-Star Game in various stages of the festivities.  Whether it was the red carpet parade (or was it a blue carpet), the All-Star workouts, or the introductions before the ASG, the short prints follow the theme from throughout the year of showing players in lighter moments.  Below is the final checklist for those who need a quick reference (pictures will come soon):

• #US10b Mark Trumbo (with teammates Mike Trout and Jered Weaver at the workout)
• #US15b Justin Verlander (with fellow Tigers Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera)
• #US37b Billy Butler (with All-Star Game ambassador George Brett)
• #US52b Clayton Kershaw (with Matt Kemp prior to the ASG)
• #US62b CC Sabathia (talking with Matt Kemp at the Home Run Derby)
• #US87b Andrew McCutchen (from the Parade)
• #US120b Robinson Cano (from the Parade)
• #US133b Matt Kemp (from the Parade)
• #US137b Josh Hamilton (during the player introductions at the ASG)
• #US144b Mike Trout (during the player introductions)
• #US162b Yu Darvish (from the parade)
• #US241b Curtis Granderson (from the parade)
• #US255b Joey Votto (with teammates Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman prior to the ASG)
• #US259b Carlos Gonzalez (from the parade)
• #US268b Craig Kimbrel (from the parade)
• #US271b Ryan Braun (during the player introductions)
• #US280b David Wright (with R. A. Dickey)
• #US289b Prince Fielder (from the parade)
• #US292b David Ortiz (during the player introductions)
• #US299b Bryce Harper (from the parade)
• #US299c Bryce Harper (talking shop with Chipper Jones at the workout...you just KNEW he'd get two cards) 
• #US327b Chris Sale (with Paul Konerko and Jake Peavy)

As someone questioned on twitter, (and I'm paraphrasing here), "Why is it that we ridicule that other card company for creating cards of players without uniforms or logos but are fawning over the cards Topps put out?" The pictures from the parade depict the stars in suits, shirts, etc.  Panini could have easily done a set like this, and yes, many would probably slam them for doing so?  The difference here is that Topps was still able to incorporate the team logo onto the cards.  That's probably why many are a bit more accepting.

There are two cards that are SP's that didn't fit in with the above list.  The first is of Ichiro.  As you may recall, he was traded to the Yankees WHILE THE TEAM WAS IN SEATTLE!!!  So Ichiro's first game as a New Yorker was against...THE MARINERS.  To acknowledge the crowd, he bowed to them.  And that is what was used as his SP card #US272b:

2012 Topps Update Series Ichiro Suzuki #US272b

The second is of the All-Star Game ambassador, HOF and Kansas City Royal legend George Brett.  The reason why I didn't include his card with the list above was that he didn't have the All-Star Game logo on his card akin to the other 22 All-Star variation cards.  At the same time, his card isn't of the usual legends short-print variety (you know, of him during his playing days), even though he shares his card number with Royals All-Star Billy Butler (#US37c).

2012 Topps Update Series George Brett #US37c

Now the last set of cards are the super short prints.  The first five cards include players who were traded by their respective teams on August 25, 2012.  The trade sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford (both of whom were the key acquisitions and SSP subjects in 2011 Topps Series 1), Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto from the Red Sox to the Dodgers in exchange for James Loney, Ivan DeJesus Jr, Jerry Sands, Rubby de la Rosa, and prospect Allen Webster.  Of the nine players involved in the transaction, all four new Dodgers and only James Loney of the Red Sox are getting the SSP treatment.

• #US1b Adrian Gonzalez
• #US2b Carl Crawford
• #US3b Josh Beckett
• #US4b Nick Punto
• #US5b James Loney

Card #US6b is of Kevin Youkilis, who was traded by the Red Sox to the White Sox on June 24, 2012.  Now, I have to question the reasoning behind excluding Youkilis from the regular set and making his card a SSP, especially when he was traded more than a month before the trading deadline.  If they could fit Ichiro into the base set (Ichiro was traded on June 23, one day before the change of Sox), why not Youkilis?

Finally, card #US7b is of Jim Thome, who was traded by the Phillies (the team he returned after the 2011 season) to the Orioles on June 30, 2012.  Now, just like Youkilis, there was plenty of time to insert Thome into the regular set, and not as a SSP.  So what gives here Topps???

So there you have it.  Pictures of the other 29 cards will come soon (just as soon as someone finds them all).  Enjoy.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Let Me Take You Down, 'Cause I'm Going to...

I've been a very, very bad trader. 

I admit it.  I'm really bad at sending packages for trading.

But it's not because of ill intent.

It's because I haven't had either time or money to trade with other collectors on a regular basis.

Cards, of course I have cards. 

But finding good homes for them and the money to send them to all points around the world hasn't been easy.

Then last week, I finally got around to sending a few cards to people.

I sent both winners of my All-Star Rookie Team contest one Hobby pack each of 2011 Topps Update Series AND 2012 Topps Series 1. To Steve and Kyle, thank you for participating in the contest.

To Edgar Galvan, I apologize for the long delay in getting your cards out to you. So I hope that the Hobby packs of Topps Update Series and 2012 Topps Series 1, along with most of the cards from your wantlist arrived safely to you.

To the Night Owl, I hope that the James Loney gold card arrived to you safely.  I think I still owe you on a trade...but if not, then at least the card went to a Dodgers fan.

And finally, to Ryan Hughes (and to explain why I titled the post the way I did).  Thank you very much for holding this for me:

2011 Topps Update Series Darryl Strawberry #US238B.

I can only assume that the package of cards I sent to you arrived safely.  I am glad that the 1996 Cal Ripken Score card I sent to you found a good home in your collection.  Thank you very much for the Strawberry card.  What a picture on the Darryl here.  He was one of the reasons I would be nervous whenever the Cubs took on the Mets when I first started watching baseball.  He could beat you in so many ways (home runs seemed to do it against the Cubbies).

That's one more card from the growing list of SP's that I need for my collection.  I am sorry for the long delays in sending out everything.  But better late than never, I guess.  Thank you all for your patience.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2012 Topps is Now Live!!! Guess What I'm Not Getting This Year?

The reason why I have not been posting this past week is because of a transition in jobs.  I still am employed at the same place I've worked for the last thirteen plus years, but have been asked to take back some older responsibilities.  The adjustment isn't all that bad, I just needed a refresher course in a few things, plus I have to learn new things, but it's nothing I can't handle.  It beats the alternative, although I'm getting the feeling...no, I won't go there.  Anyway, the new work also means I get to leave work earlier.  So I'm posting now.

I have been online and have seen that auctions have shown up on the Bay for 2012 Topps S1, and all the goodies that are included within.  One thing I have noticed though is that the legendary SP's have seemed to nowhere in sight.  There will still be short-printed cards in Series 1, but instead of legends, Topps is returning to variation cards of current players in limited quantities.  And it seems that the SP's can be grouped in a few categories:  (hopefully playful) fights with mascots, frivolity in the dugout, or celebrations (think Pie in the Face from 2010). 

To wit, here are the 20 SP cards (not including the already known Pujols and Reyes cards):

• #1B Ryan Braun (celebration with teammates)
• #35B Eric Hosmer (dugout photo with teammates)
• #35C Eric Hosmer (Gatorade bath)
• #76B Ian Kennedy (Pie in the Face)
• #93B Skip Schumaker (It's The Rally Squirrel...and Schumaker's right foot)
• #145B Billy Butler (Gatorade bath...at least the Royals need a way to celebrate)
• #165B Michael Morse (Gatorade bath...okay, so do the Nationals)
• #173B Ryan Roberts (pre-Pie in the Face)
• #185B Pablo Sandoval (fighting with Parrot Pete...again, Pete shows up at the weirdest times)
• #185C Pablo Sandoval (fighting with the Swinging Friar...have you no shame, sir?)
• #188B Bobby Abreu (dugout photo)
• #215B Freddie Freeman (dugout "celebration" with teammates)
• #256B Mat Latos (dugout "celebration" with teammates...Topps couldn't photoshop the Reds jersey on him yet)
• #270B Starlin Castro (dugout photo...great, something for Cub fans to chase)
• #308B Mike Leake (fighting with the Gapper...isn't he on your team???)
• #400B Robinson Cano (dugout photo with teammate)
• #411B Tsuyoshi Nishioka (dugout photo with teammate)
• #421B Heath Bell (dugout photo..with a jar of gumballs)
• #450B Justin Upton (celebration photo)
• #470B Howie Kendrick (dugout "celebration" with teammates)

Now I like the cards.  They show the lighter side of the game, with many happy moments being shared with players and their teammates.  But, just like other variation cards (see 2007 Topps), I'm not really interested in collecting them.  I'll already have each player's regular card, I won't really need the variation.  But that won't mean that I'll be disappointed if I get one (I'll be ecstatic).  But don't expect me to put these in my wantlist on the side bar.  And at least we have a clue as to what number (possibly...there has been a sense of discontinuity with these things) a player will get in series 2 (see #400, 411, 421, 450, and 470).

And I was hoping for a 2012 card of Roberto Clemente or Willie Mays.  Maybe in series 2.  You never know. 

Series 1 is (supposed) to arrive in stores tomorrow.  Are you ready?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Countdown to 2012 Topps Has Begun...With Super Short Prints?

Remember last year when Topps took advantage of the Red Sox' high profile free agent signings of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez by inserting super short printed variation cards of both players in their soon-to-be-new jerseys (photoshopped for your convenience of course)?  Well, they're at it again.

Above is the preliminary cover for March's Beckett Baseball (Thanks Chris for the clarification).  I'm going to make sure I get a copy as it's about Topps and it's a must have for this collector.  But take a look at the main cards in the photo.  No, not the Pablo Sandoval card that depicts Kung Fu Panda fighting Parrot Pete (what is with that bird anyway??!)  It's Albert Pujols in an Angels jersey and Jose Reyes in his new Miami Marlins uniform. 

According to the Number One Source in the Hobby, Topps managed to print these two cards (#'d 331 and 332 respectively) and add them to packs of the new 2012 Topps Series 1...IN LIMITED QUANTITIES!!!  And there will be more news to come until T-Day.

Somewhere, in an almost abandoned blog on the outskirts of Philadelphia, a writer is preparing (if he has not already done so) to continue his war against gimmicks.  And Topps has fired the first shot.

To paraphrase that great Miami philosopher Horatio Caine, "Things...(puts on shades)...are about to get interesting."  (cue Roger Daltrey's "Yeahhhhh!" from The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again!")

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Trading Away A SP Card. Why Would I Do Such a Savage Thing???

A while back, I wrote that I bought a Target 4-pack of 2011 Topps Series 2.  And one of the cards in the pack was this beautiful short print. 

2011 Topps Jim Palmer SP #393

Now, I have the most rotten luck when it comes to finding packs with SP cards.  So to even get one is an accomplishment.  Now, friend of the blog Glenn Savage sent me an e-mail wondering if I was willing to part with it.  Seeing that he is from Maryland, and he's been so generous with all the cards he's traded to me, I couldn't say no.  He listed what he was willing to offer, and I told him what I would want in exchange.

The package came yesterday.  Included was a Topps Gold card of Dodger pitcher Jonathan Broxton, an Andre Dawson 60 Years of Topps Original Back (1985), and this...

2011 Topps Christy Mathewson SP #102

Yes sir, a Christy Mathewson SP card.  A short-printed card of a HOF pitcher for a short-printed card of a HOF pitcher.  Seems like a fair exchange to me.

Also included in the package that came in the mail yesterday were seven Series 2 Diamond Giveaway cards.  All used.  I just needed the code cards for my collection (darn the fact that they are numbered).  I am only missing TDG12 and the set is done.  Now, all I want is the card, used code or not.

I am also sending him a couple of other cards that I think he will enjoy.  Thanks again, Glenn.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

I Blame The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for My Lack of Posts!!!

Nine days.

NINE DAYS!!!

If you're wondering where I've been (isn't there anybody out there wondering where I've been??? Ego, hush), about a month or so ago, my brother-in-law gave us a few more Nintendo Gamecube games. Two of them. Super Mario Sunshine, and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

Let me give you a bit of background first.

Understand that my family (meaning me, my wife, and my kids) has always been technologically behind the rest of the world. We didn't get our first DVD player until 2003 or 2004. We don't have .MP3 players (well, we did have one, then we kinda destroyed it). So when it comes to video games, we have a Playstation (not 2 or PS3... has that even come out yet???) and a Nintendo GameCube.

And that's it.

This doesn't include the Nintendo DS my kids have...but even that supposedly is now out of date.

Anyway, up until now, we never had any role-playing games. We have the Mario Kart Double Dash and Mario Party 4, and a couple of sports games. Since we bought a disc to save our progress, my kids and I have been hitting the games during the weekends, and are now one car away (the gold one) from finishing the Mario Kart Double Dash (we've unlocked EVERYTHING ELSE) and are playing the story mode in Mario Party (we've unlocked the Bowser Board and every game possible).

But now we have The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. I was never a fan of the Zelda games. Too much work, and I was never good at the games. However, thanks to the Internet, we found walkthroughs. For the video game challenged, walkthroughs are notes about how to play the game...IN FULL DETAIL. Where you should go, what weapons to use, where to find the treasures...it's all there. And my daughter and I have been following along on this game (which has really nice graphics), and now both of us are about a triforce away from facing the final villain of the story.

But the problem I have is that it's taken me away from this humble little blog. And I've been losing sleep because every time I play the game (whether it's on my profile or my daughter's...yes I play for her too as long as she's there), I wind up staying awake until 2:00 in the morning. And I wasn't even on the computer yet. So short of me risking my job and staying up all night. I go to bed, and then realize that I didn't even do anything for the blog.

And I say to myself...there's always this evening.

And I wind up playing the video game again.

And the cycle continues.

Well, now that the heavy part of the game is done, and all I'm doing now is just picking up maps and finding treasure chests (because that's what you do in this game when you're not beating the tar out of the monsters that are in the dungeons you explore), I will take a break from the all night gaming and come back to my blog and my dwindling readership.

So let's start off with a few things that I have been actually doing in between the gaming sessions.

If you follow me on twitter (@bdj610), you would know that I now have my master set of 2011 Topps Series 2. I just need eight more giveaway cards, and if Toys R Us is continuing their exclusive, the Purple Diamonds, I need those too. But I do have a complaint, which now that I have the full set, will be able to elaborate further on the blog.

I am also looking forward to the launch of the self proclaimed "Premier Sports Card Industry Blog." The thing is that they're supposed to be coming in July, 2011, and they've had this slogan since the site first appeared in March. All they've done since I've been aware of them is insult Gellman at SCU and then nothing for the last three months on twitter. I sent them an e-mail asking what they were about and have not gotten a response. And this was almost a month ago. So now, we wait. Will the meet or exceed the expectations they put upon themselves? Or will they crash and burn? July comes on Friday, folks. We shall wait and see.

Also this month, my daughter was in two dance shows. On consecutive Sundays, she performed in two shows (a noon matinee, and a five o'clock evening recital). Both Sundays, I was able to sneak off to Target and buy some Topps products from the local Target. On the second Sunday, I bought one of those four-pack hanger packs, with the bonus Diamond Giveaway card. The good news is that Topps has figured out a way to hide the back of the code card with an extra blank card so that you can't figure out the code on the back and thus nab a code for free without having to buy the product. In amongst the four pack of cards, included the following inserts:

• Two Diamond parallels (Justin Smoak and Juan Miranda)
• One Kimball Champion mini (Cal Ripken, Jr.)
• One 60 Years of Topps (Eddie Murray...the regular one, not the original back)
• One Topps Gold card (Sean Rodriguez)
• One Topps 60 Card (Roy Campanella)
• One ToppsTown Card (Carl Crawford...weren't these things supposed to be one per pack???)

And This!!!

2011 Topps Jim Palmer SP #393.

Tomorrow, we'll update the Sports Card Blogroll.  And welcome the first day of July with the return of the Random Topps Card of the Day.  On HOF Induction Day, we will also mark the return of the 2011 Topps Archives Project, starting with the newest inductee.

So my apologies for not posting in quite some time. Now it's off to Hyrule and sail the oceans once again.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2009 Topps #490 Joba Chamberlain

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, March 25, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2009 Topps #490.
• Player Name, position, team: Joba Chamberlain, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: August 7, 2007.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2008 stats (Yankees): 42 G, 100.1 IP, 4-3, 32 R, 29 ER, 118 SO, 39 BB, 12 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.26 WHIP, 2.60 ERA
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Yankees #1st, June 2006. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Chamberlain's third regular Topps card (total does not include highlights cards). Joba-mania came in earnest as soon as Chamberlain made his debut with the Yankees in 2007, and Topps took advantage of this new found "Yankee Legend-in-the-making," including him in gimmick cards and insert sets even though he only pitched in 19 games (with a 0.38 ERA to boot). The back of the card has a "Niche in History" segment, mentioning that prior to the 2009 season, Joba, among pitchers with 60 appearances, has the Yankee's second-lowest ERA (2.17 against Goose Gossage's 2.14) and the third highest rates of strikeouts per nine innings (11.00, behind Ryne Duren (Ryne Duran on the card...ERROR CARD!!! and Edwar Ramirez). The stats above the curve lists Joba's lowest career OPS against by count (1-2 .274, 2-2 .383, 0-2 .449, 1-0 .545, 0-0 .606, 0-1 .656, minimum 12 plate appearances).
  Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.50-$1.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 16 cards.

One final note. Now, as you know, Chamberlain's card is not the only #490 in the 2009 Topps set. And I would be nuts if I didn't note this little tidbit. As this card was found in 2009 Topps Series 2, Topps included "modern day" legend variation cards in their product, seventeen of them to be in fact. Many of the "legends" had something in common with the player he shares a card number with (whether it's a team affiliation or a position). And Topps paired the legends and the current players appropriately, especially in this case. Because Joba shares his card #490 with another power pitcher, HOF, and strikeout king: Nolan Ryan.

Tomorrow's card will be: Friday: 1998 Topps #75. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

A Whirlwind Couple of Hours at the Chicago Sun-Times Show

Because we had other plans today, (all right, my wife had planned to do something else today), I only spent a couple of hours at the Chicago Sun-Times show being held in Rosemont. But let me tell you, they were probably the most productive couple of hours I've spent at a show in quite a while. Granted, if I had more money, or more cards worth trading, I'd have gotten more cards, but I was able to come away with 23 cards I needed to reduce my want lists.

First, I have to thank the fine people at Evolution Sports Marketing/Never Enough Cards. They were the first people I sought out once the show hit. And, quite frankly, where I spent the most time and money. They had many of the SP's I needed from the 2009 Topps and U&H sets. Including:

• Nolan Ryan
• Mike Schmidt
• Juan Marichal
• Bo Jackson
• Paul Molitor
• Rogers Hornsby
• Tris Speaker
• Christy Mathewson
• Cy Young
• Nolan Ryan CAL
• Reggie Jackson CAL
• Willie McCovey
• Rickey Henderson
• Frank Robinson

They also managed to have two of the Topps Red Backs that I needed: #13 Chipper Jones & #14 Cal Ripken.

But the big kicker was that I was able to save some money (lots of it) by trading a few cards that I didn't need that they thought they'd be able to use, including the Topps Silk Jimmy Rollins, the Washington & Lee University Stamp, and my 2006 Topps Mickey Mantle Gold /257, amongst others to net me 16 cards from the "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" Original backs.

I did get one 2010 SP card. And it was the one I would have given up all the others for just to get: The 2010 Ryne Sandberg SP card.

Along with stops at a couple of other dealers that also had these cards, I was able to acquire 22 cards total, bringing down the number of cards I need down to 24 (of 58), enough so that I can actually write a proper list (by decade, on the want list section of the blog).

The show itself was typical of other Sun-Times shows from the past. With many dealers selling vintage cards (StormSurge, I have to apologize, but with less than two hours before I had to leave the show, I wasn't able to spend time looking for your needs. Don't worry, I have other places where I can find what you need), and the usual junk wax sellers, new card sellers, lots of relics sellers. It wasn't as packed as in years past (who knew that there would be snow on the first day of spring???), but it's been like that with the economy and all. If I had more time, I'd have spent more time browsing some of the other booths for things that would have caught my eye. But alas, time was of the essence, and I had to hurry.

I didn't even buy the big Beckett book at the show. That's how much of a rush I was in. Oh well, I'll check the bookstore near the bakery next time around.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. I know I've been scanning the SP's to show them off, but we're in the midst of switching internet providers, so it's going to take a while before getting them on the blog. jba

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2009 Topps #350 Dustin Pedroia

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, March 17, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2009 Topps #350.
• Player Name, position, team: Dustin Pedroia, second baseman, Boston Red Sox.
• Major League Debut: August 22, 2006.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2008 stats (Red Sox): 157 G, 653 AB, 118 R, 213 H, 54 2B, 2 3B, 17 HR, 83 RBI, 20 SB, 50 BB, 52 SO, .493 SLG, .869 OPS, .326 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Red Sox #2nd, June 2004. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Pedroia's third regular Topps card (total does not include combo cards, awards cards, league leader cards). In just three full seasons (and a cup of coffee in 2006), Pedroia has already won the AL Rookie of the Year (2007) and the AL Most Valuable Player (2008) awards, is a two time all-star, and a World Series Champion. If it has not already been said, the 2009 Topps design is one of the best they've done in the last 58 years. Definitely in the top 10. Personally, I call it the scrapbook set because the design utilizes corners that my wife would use in scrapbooking. The pictures zoom in so close to the action, I know it sounds cliche, but it's like you're actually there. If there is only one detraction to the design is that it is sometimes hard to read the team name and position on the card in the black field below the picture. That and trying to read the card number in the back. Other than that, the design is gorgeous. The blurb on the back, above the stats, mentions that Dustin is "the only player in Red Sox history with a 5-hit, 5 run (both 05/12/2008) and a 5-RBI (09/02/2008) game in the same season." The 05/12/2008 date is incorrect (making this card an ERROR CARD!!!) as the game against the Rangers that Pedroia had his five run/five hit game, was on 08/12/2008. Above the arch that houses Dustin's name is a quirky little stat line, mentioning Pedroia's highest career average by ballpark (minimum 12 AB's): Minute Maid (Houston) .643, Citizens Bank (Philadelphia) .538, Kauffman (Kansas City) .474, Metrodome (Minnesota) .458, Angels Stadium (Los Angeles/Anaheim) .389, Fenway (Boston) .339.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.50-$1.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 21 cards.

One final note. Now, as you know, Pedroia's card is not the only #350 in the 2009 Topps set. And I would be nuts if I didn't note this little tidbit. As this card was found in 2009 Topps Series 2, Topps included "modern day" legend variation cards in their product, seventeen of them to be in fact. Many of the "legends" had something in common with the player he shares a card number with (whether it's a team affiliation or a position). And Topps paired the legends and the current players appropriately, especially in this case. Because Dustin shares his card #350 with another MVP second baseman, from another historic franchise: Ryne Sandberg.


(allow me a minute to geek out...thanks).

Tomorrow's card will be: 1981 Topps Traded #753. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The SP Floodgates Have Now Opened!!!

Funny thing about that friend of the blog, and all around good guy, tdlindgren. I recently happened upon a comment he left a while back asking if this years Updates and Highlights would include more SP's of players already honored, but in different uniforms, like Babe Ruth in a Boston Braves uni or Ryne Sandberg in a Phillies uniform.

Well guess what??!

Another friend of the blog, The Drizz, commented that 2009 Topps U & H cards are showing up on eBay, especially the SP cards. So I took a look. Needless to say, and if you've been collecting these as I have, we have our work cut out for us.

Enclosed are some scans from an eBayer who must have opened tons and tons of product, as he has on auction almost every card imaginable, including 25 SP cards. Many subjects have already appeared in either series 1 or 2, and there are new players added to the mix. However, there are some players on the checklist below that might appear in more than one uniform, meaning that there could be more than one SP card for a player. What you are about to see below should be the final list:









In alphabetical order (because I don't have the official card numbers yet), and after perusing eBay's listings again, the checklist seems to be:

Wade Boggs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Ty Cobb, Philadelphia Athletics
Jimmie Foxx, Boston Red Sox
Rickey Henderson, New York Yankees
Rogers Hornsby, Chicago Cubs
Bo Jackson, Chicago White Sox
Reggie Jackson, Oakland A's
Reggie Jackson, California Angels
Roger Maris, St. Louis Cardinals
Christy Mathewson, Cincinnati Reds
Willie McCovey, San Diego Padres
Johnny Mize, New York Giants
Johnny Mize, New York Yankees
Paul Molitor, Minnesota Twins
Frank Robinson, California Angels
Babe Ruth, Boston Red Sox
Babe Ruth, Boston Braves
Nolan Ryan, New York Mets
Nolan Ryan, California Angels
Ryne Sandberg, Philadelphia Phillies
George Sisler, Boston Braves
Duke Snider, New York Mets
Tris Speaker, Boston Red Sox
Honus Wagner, Louisville Colonels
Cy Young, Boston Rustlers

There is an auction on the bay right now for 24 of these cards (minus the Sisler) for the low Buy it Now price of $479.99 (regular bidding starts at $379.99). For those who can stomach the price, this one's for you.

For the rest of us who plan on going after this set one card at a time, you have your assignments...

Let's get to work. And remember, if you find any of these short printed cards, and would like to find them a good home, please e-mail bdj610@hotmail.com and let me know what you have. Thanks.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

What I Bought at the First Ever FansEdge Convention

Call it lousy timing because the National is next week. Call it "because I showed up two hours before closing." But overall, I wasn't totally impressed with the FansEdge show at Rosemont on Saturday. And based on what I saw, I should have been.

Why? Because they had enough distractions to keep kids busy, but because I arrived at the show at 3:00 p.m. (the place closed at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday), I missed most of the fun stuff. In no other card show, not even the National, was there room for those inflatable moonwalk things, a nine hole mini golf course, and a wrestling ring (now I'm mad that I missed the wrestling...) in the same place.

And the vendors. Now, if you've ever been to a Sun-Times show, or any other show at the Donald Stephens Convention Center, they traditionally are held on the second floor. All the vendors crammed together and as long as the regular sellers continue to get their favorite booths on the floor, are easy to find. The FansEdge show was held on the first floor, where they normally hold the National. The booths were very spread out, and as usual with these card shows, there were a lot of vintage (from 70's and earlier) booths, the usual unsealed box sellers, a couple of corporate sponsors (Chicago Sky and Chicago Slaughter), a couple of "why-are-they-here" booths (the ones selling Pez and Webkinz come to mind), and a few newer-product sellers.

As the biggest product to come out of the market lately has been Topps Allen & Ginter, there were lots of this product at many of the booths. Whether you're looking for unsealed boxes, just a few packs, or singles from the base set, any of the inserts, or even a beard relic from the longest beard champion guy (at least that's what it looked like...creepy), you're pretty sure to find it here. As I have not gotten my A & G set yet from the Bay, I wasn't really into looking for anything...until I found the one booth that had mini inserts for sale.

Now, last year at the National, I bought a card of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the President of the Philippines. Somehow, though, I lost the card at the show. This year A & G foreign theme was National Heroes, and on the checklist representing the Philippines was José Rizal. I had to have this card. And the seller that I talked to had both of these cards. And for $5.00, they were mine.

2008 Topps A&G World Leaders Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
2009 Topps A&G National Heroes José Rizal.
But those aren't the only cards I bought at the show (and if you've been following along, I think you know where I'm going with this...)

My real reason to go to the FansEdge show was to see if I could knock out a couple of the 2009 Topps MLB Shortprints that I'm still looking for. I was at seven at last count, and the same person that sold me the above A & G cards had a TON of SP's, from both series. However, he only had two that I needed. He originally had them both priced at $25.00 each, but said he'd sell for $20.00 per card. I knew I could go for lower, but they were right there, and I knew that other than the eBay experience (where I'd have to wait, and wait, and hope to see if I don't get outbid) I wouldn't have a better opportunity than right NOW to take them. So, for $40.00, I am now the proud owner of:

Frank Robinson #400.

Tony Gwynn #520.
So now, I'm down to a final five (Ripken, Ryan, Marichal, BRobinson, and Schmidt) in my quest for completing the 2009 Topps MLB short print sets. The quest continues.

I think that if:

• I had brought my children with me,
• I had more time, and
• I had more money,

the show would have been a lot more enjoyable. I would have loved to see the wrestling matches they were holding while the show was going on. I wouldn't have minded taking a bit more time at each booth instead of breezing through quickly. I'm sure the show was a hit, even though it was close to the National, and many of these same sellers (probably except for Mr. Mint) will be going to Cleveland next week. But I can't give a true opinion of the show because I was only there for two hours. Still, I did get something accomplished, and can't wait for the Sun-Times show later in the fall.
Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S.: Dose of reality time for the bloggers...I asked at least 20 vendors selling Allen & Ginter if they knew that the Ginter Code was cracked. All were surprised. None knew about it. None wanted the word spread out either. jba

Mr. October Arrives in July!!! And He Brought Some Legends with Him.

It's been a while since I last did one of these thank you posts. That's because there hasn't been a lot of SP cards out in the trading arenas that I frequent that I need. However, I did get an offer from a Richard Cavallaro from the good old TMB saying that he had a Reggie Jackson card that I needed. I reviewed his want lists, and offered him a ton of inserts that he needed for it. He happily agreed.

I also found two insert cards from the Walmart and Target Legends of the Game sets (one of each) that I needed as well. He was more than gracious enough to include them in the package. Today, I get two envelopes, one from friend of the blog Craig Parker (I'll get to his package in a minute), and one from Mr. Cavallaro. Rich sent both LLP11 and LLG11, and

Reggie Jackson #515.
Now, by the time I started following baseball, Mr. October had just ended his career. So I missed out on seeing him play. Short of him being in commercials (and shilling for a competitor's card products), the only time I saw him play was in the movie Naked Gun.

But reading about him...man was there a lot of stuff on Reggie. But know this...when he went up to the plate, it was truly home run or bust. He may have been on the bust side more often than not, but you can't take away those titanic home runs that he hit when making contact. And he was a champion...five times a part of a World Series winning team (1972-1974 with Oakland, 1978-1979 with the Yankees). He was the "straw that stirred the drink" all right. From fights with his managers (Billy Martin comes to mind) to his 1978 World Series performance, there was no doubt who was the star of the Yankees during the late 70's.

So thank you to Rich for sending Reggie. It is much appreciated, and now I'm down to seven MLB Legends SP's (Ripken, Ryan, Robinsons 1 & 2, Marichal, Gwynn, and Schmidt).

Back to Mr. Parker. He e-mailed me saying that he had some cards from my want list that I needed. Not as dramatic as the last time he e-mailed me with cards to mail, but still, how can I say no to anything that he didn't want that I need? The cards arrived today, and now I am two cards away from finishing the Target half of the Legends set.

But he also sent me a business card for a website called Great Checklist.com (http://www.greatchecklist.com). On this fledgling site, you can find checklists for many years and brands of Topps Baseball, and other baseball card sets. Each card is linked to an eBay search, so if you're really looking for that 1988 Topps Felix Fermin card (just an example), if there is an auction for it, it will show up on the link. It is worth checking out when you have time. The pages load quickly, compared to some other site, but still needs a lot of data. I still think it's a good alternative if you don't have the patience to use the number one site in the hobby's checklists.

Thanks again Craig. Just curious, are you involved with this website in any way, shape, or form???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

We Are Now More Than Half Way Home...Bob Gibson Has Arrived

Actually, Bob Gibson's card came in some time last week, but again, I haven't had much time to post anything.

Friend of the blog Don Avery from the Topps Message Boards (you remember him...he sent me my first two SP cards from 2009 Topps Series 1 George Sisler and Walter Johnson) sent me an e-mail saying that he had found another SP card, this time from Series 2, that I might want. And again, I replied that I wanted it. So after perusing his want lists and finding cards that he actually needs the trade was set.

I send him a bunch of insert cards from Series 2, and in return, I get

Bob Gibson #415.
It is said that he was one of the most intimidating presences on the mound in the 1960's. In his MVP and Cy Young Award winning year of 1968, his record was 22-9. He started 34 games, finished 28 of them, while shutting out his opponents 13 times. He only allowed 49 runs to score against him, 38 of them earned for a robust ERA of 1.12. His WHIP (Walks plus Hits divided by Innings Pitched), a stat that was not even invented during his era, was a dominating 0.85. Let me repeat...0.85!!!

Thank you Don, again. This is a really beautiful card of one of the most feared pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball.

And it's all mine!!!

We're down to the final 8 (Marichal, Jackson, Gwynn, Ripken, Ryan, Schmidt, and Brooks and Frank Robinson). And it's only been one month since the hunt started. I'm currently in talks to trade for Reggie, and am in contact with another who might send over Frank (key word being might) so the quest continues.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama