From the Vault

Here's another from the vault. An Elway 84 Topps rookie. I know, I know, there's probably a ton of these out there, but listen... When I got this card, I was still too young to know better about how to properly take care of cards, I mean I have dinged corners on so many cards from 1987 that it's just a given that if I have it, it's dinged. Thankfully they aren't worth anything anyway. And the card is even amazingly well centered. Is it just me, or does Topps/Bowman have a serious issue when it comes to centering their cards? Upper Deck rarely has this problem, and I think that speaks to the quality of the product more than anything. But I like this card because Elway was always a class act of a player, unlike the current QB in Denver. Cutler needs to grow up...

From the Vault

I don't even post on this blog many of the cards I pull, and I probably am lucky to youtube half the boxes I open (if that, which is saying something considering I have posted 30 videos in about 4 months). I do pull some good cards on occasion, and even purchase a good card now and then off of the bay, so I'll try to share a bit of my personal collection here now and then... I'm thinking I've probably got some pretty cheesy King B cards from the early 90's, cracker jack mini topps cards, cards that don't even display a brand name, cards that are special/valuable to me for one reason or another.

These first couple cards I'm posting just because I like them, and they are short printed game used jerseys. Given my initial collection back in the 90's included many Griffey's, the first card here is the 2009 Spectrum Swatch of Ken Griffey Jr. #6/25. And similarly nice is the Swatch of Chase Utley #17/25.

SPx Hits

I decided with as often as I put cards on ebay or post pics here, I should probably stop taking pics with my iphone and provide better image quality, so I went and got a scanner. I decided to test the unit out by scanning a few of the hits from the 2009 UD SPx box I opened the other day... Here they are...


Kevin Youkilis/Dallas McPherson - Auto


Papelbon/Rivera - Game Used


Hiroki Kuroda/Takashi Saito/Hong-Chin Kuo - Game Used


Victor Martinez - Auto/Game Used



Ah, those look SOOOO much better than those fuzzy iphone pics!

2009 Upper Deck Spx

2009 Upper Deck Spectrum Red Parallels

Thanks to a little youtube searching, I've found the last remaining card I need to complete my set of 2009 spectrum red parallels. Markus, over in Germany, had pulled one in the same box that Mario (from waxheaven) got his game used auto Andrew Miller card from. I wonder why it is that Randy Johnson red parallels are so hard to find??? Is he really that collectible? Are his cards only appearing in boxes overseas? Do box/case breakers not think enough of him to post him on ebay? I've seriously looked daily for a red parallel to appear online, and have yet to see it pop up. Anyway, in the matter of a week or two I will have in my possession a complete set of red parallels. Sweet!!! Thanks Markus! The question now is.... do I try to put together a set of greens? (I already have 1/3 of the set.)

2008 Razor Letterman

So, it's been a while since I posted any pulls, so I thought I'd show off the card I pulled from a box of 2008 Razor Letterman. It's a Zach Putnam black patch #4/5.
(Interestingly, I was there as the store owner randomly opened a pack of cards from an open box and pulled a Pete Rose auto patch, but I digress...)



Since I knew very little of Putnam, I had to google him, and here's a little story I found...
Zach Putnam will skip his senior season at the University of Michigan to play minor-league baseball for the Cleveland Indians.

The right-handed pitcher signed a deal Thursday night that is worth about $650,000.
"It's exciting to be part of a club that is known for its homegrown stars," Putnam said. "It gives me a lot of confidence that they want me, and it's comforting to know I'm with them."

Cleveland drafted Putnam, a Pioneer High School graduate, in the fifth round two months ago, and if it didn't sign him by today, it would've lost rights to him.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 215-pound Putnam became the first in conference history to earn two spots on the All-Big Ten team, earning recognition as a pitcher and designated hitter the last two seasons.

The Big Ten Pitcher of the Year was 9-0 in 12 starts with a 2.58 ERA last season Over three seasons, he was 23-7 in 36 starts with a 3.12 ERA.

Putnam hit .307 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs in 55 games. He was a career .307 hitter with 19 home runs and 114 RBIs in 132 games.

He helped Michigan win the Big Ten title in each of his three seasons and play in the NCAA Tournament each year.

The Indians plan to develop Putnam as a pitcher. He expects to make his debut with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in about a week and hopes to finish the season at Single-A Lake County before playing in the Arizona Fall League.

"... I'll be working on my fastball, slider and spit-finger pitch that I can throw as a changeup," Putnam said, noting that he'll go from having five pitches to three.

"It would be moving fast, but my goal is to a be a September callup in 2010," he added.
link to story

Cards needed

List of cards from a couple of sets that I could use...
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyjvDqeCIFmsFaQXpdKFZNw

Casey Blake Collection

Here's the updated list of Casey Blake's in the personal collection.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyjvDqeCIFmtpaxG7NjOHfw

Evan Longoria Collection

The updated list of Evan Longoria's in my personal collection...
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyjvDqeCIFmsGO0GefD3lYA

2009 UD Spectrum

I am now only 4 cards away from having the complete set of 2009 UD Spectrum Red parallels. You can view the cards I currently have here...

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyjvDqeCIFmuMGnnAAU_SRg

2009 UD Spectrum Blaster

Purchased a blaster of UD Spectrum, and it will definitely be the last one of those. If you want the commons, buy the blaster and save some cash. Otherwise, the hobby boxes are the only sure thing for some decent autos and short prints. I'm over 2/3 the way done with a set of red parallels, so hopefully I can complete this soon. If anybody has some they are willing to part with, let me know...

Cards available for trade or sale

I've been working on documenting the extra cards that I have that are available for trade or sale, it's a google doc spreadsheet that can be viewed here...
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pyjvDqeCIFmvl_SAQBhO6Aw

If you are interested in a trade please contact me at jp_23@yahoo.com. I am also working on my want lists, and will likely publish that at a later date...

2009 Spectrum Box 3

A thought on gimmicks...

If you're going to gimmick cards (such as Tom Glavine and Hanley Ramirez in Topps Heritage), why wouldn't you gimmick the most collected players? Isn't the point of a gimmick to drive demand for more purchases? If you're going to gimmick a player that nobody collects, then the demand won't be there and you won't be creating anything special or valuable. If one were to put a limited number of gimmicked Pujols or Jeter cards, however, there would be a demand by those collectors that attempt to collect all of those players cards, as well as those players wanting to complete entire sets including gimmicks. So rather than spend wasted time making cards nobody cards about and aren't likely to even collect, why not gimmick cards that will actually drive demand?