A Completely Arbitrary Repack

This past Saturday I received a surprise package from Brian, author of Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary.  Apparently I'd won a contest at the end of 2019 by correctly guessing Brian would choose 1974 Topps as his next setbuild. My prize for winning this completely arbitrary contest was a repack box with a 1974 Topps Cecil Cooper showing: 

If I ever went anywhere interesting this would make a great wallet card.

This custom-made repack was loaded with Red Sox - and there was more than one hit included:

The Bernie Carbo autograph (in the '74 Topps design) is my favorite here.
 

More shiny. The Aurora insert is really nice. I'm interested to see where JBJ will sign - and when.

Lots of guys who aren't Red Sox anymore. I think Benintendi will break out in Kansas City.
 

Some Packers oddballls and a Ted Williams stamp. It's not every day that I add a new Packer to my collection but this is definitely my first card of Emmitt's brother Emory Smith (he's not even listed on Pro Football Reference) The Ken Ellis is a Wonder Bread issue, and the David Whitehurst comes with a COA. As promised, the repack came with a sealed pack - BBM Diamond Heroes. I haven't opened it yet. 

Brian, thanks again for the surprise repack!

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About ten days ago I placed an order on the Beckett Marketplace. I was on the hunt for some missing All-Time Teams players and found a seller who offered free shipping with just a $12 purchase. I filled my cart with 17 cards totaling $22.60 - a third of that ($7.50) was for a 1969 Topps Reggie Smith single listed as "Near Mint-Mint" - and placed my order. Usually I get an email within a day or two if any cards were out of stock - which was apparently an issue with other collectors who bought from Mac's Collectibles. 

I didn't get an email that anything was out of stock, and I didn't get an email that my order had shipped. A week after placing the order I emailed Mac's and asked them for an update. I got no response. Today the entire $22.60 was refunded without an explanation. Just an FYI for those of you who shop on the Marketplace - unless you're buying from Burbank or 7th Inning Stretch, proceed with caution. 

Guess I'll have to fill those All-Time Teams needs through TCDB trades...

Thanks for reading!



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Free Cards from Brian and Jim (plus bonus content)

I keep trying to resist the siren song of the Free Stuff posts, and I keep giving in to temptation. Even after I declared that I would no longer claim cards.. I kept on claiming cards. Gah I really need to stop!

I've claimed freebies from Jon, Rod, Julie, and Brian - and sent something to each of them recently*. However I'm going to owe Julie again, and I didn't send nearly enough to Brian. 

*also I claimed cards from Kevin but I'll settle up with him after the Big Fun Game is complete.


This Highly Subjective batch of cards arrived today. I started to worry when I saw the polybag wrapper...

..but one small hole in the side of the envelope didn't affect any of the cards inside - including the Jackie Robinson at the top of this post. 

Some Red Sox needs and a Nieds for my Devils binder. Hockey Kazi hoards all the hockey Brian offers up, but I was able to snag a pair of Allure singles. They are exactly as nice as I was expecting - very similar to OPC Platinum or Chrome.

On that note, I claimed this Brian Anderson auto because I love 2018 Topps/OD/Chrome, and because our biggest client at the office is a guy named Brian Anderson. I didn't think anyone else would be clamoring for a Marlins card anyhow.

As if that's not enough Brian sent some bonus Devils since I was openly poking around for some current cards:

Woo-hoo Hughes! I've had his Allure RC on my COMC watch list for a while, and haven't pulled the trigger yet. But! This is the short-printed Jack Hughes RC, which is sold out on COMC! Brian, I cannot thank you enough for these great cards! My next ten Twins hits are going to you ;)

This next batch of freebies did not come from a blogger. If you shop on the Beckett Marketplace I highly recommend you order from Jim at 7th Inning Stretch. In addition to offering Free Shipping on any order over $25 Jim offers 15-20% discounts off any order over $20 -- and on top of that he tucks in some extra cards. The first time I bought from his store I thought I got the wrong order; there were so many extra hockey singles.

Perhaps that's his calling card as this order included a similar helping of early 90's stars and an IP auto (this one is Patrick Lalime, I got Petr Nedved last time.)

Much of my order was baseball (which you'll see in my next post) and so he tossed in a couple Carl Yastrzemski cards as well. Oh, and this:

That is a well-loved (but not creased) rookie card of Hall of Famer Billy Williams. For free.

I did not place a big, expensive order (it was under $40) though I did order three Williams cards because the only card I had of his was a 2017 Topps Heritage insert. Can't use that in my All-Time Teams binder.

I sent Jim an e-mail thanking him for this card and he explained that he had it sitting on his desk and threw it in based on my order (of three Billy Will cards.) Hopefully I can send some more business his way as a thank-you.


As for that All-Time Teams tournament.. the Yankees won. Shocker, I know. But kudos to Nachos Grande's Reds for pushing the series to seven games. 


Are any of you guys (or ladies) a fan of actress Saorise Ronan?

She's quite talented and lovely in an understated sort of way. And I adore her Irish accent.

If I ever met her I would ask her to say the name and position of one of my favorite baseball players. And I imagine it would sound like this:

Thot's Rah-fee Day-vurs, thard base-min o' the Bah-stin Rayd Sooks 

Honestly I would be happy to hear Sair-sha pronounce literally anything. 


Here's one more thing I haven't been able to work into any other post. I was going through some scan folders when I came across a card that I don't own, but saved it because it looked so... presidential:

He might be a Ranger, but he's a leader and a winner. #Leetch2020.


Thanks for reading!


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Catching up on trades

So... how about that NHL trade deadline? 

I'm kidding. Though it is tempting to dive into the Devils completely tearing down their roster or the other deals that went down today, I've got to catch up on some trade/care packages before I resume the All-Time Teams series.


As you probably know Fuji was very busy catching up on his care packages. I was fortunate enough to be added to - and crossed off of - his 'hit' list. His mailer arrived in my inbox today:

A pair of vintage Packers - both Hall of Famers - and a pair of relics. The Stranger Things card is one of 19 set fillers Fuji included. I'm now at 78% completion of the 100-card set.


Jon's "Free Stuff Friday" kicked off a bit of a trend, which spread to Brian's Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary blog. I claimed three cards from Brian and he filled a PWE with some flagship singles I needed:

I'm still a sucker for all things 2017 Topps Heritage. Betts is no longer the face of this franchise :/ I've got one last TCDB trade incoming, and then I will finally have completed the 2019 Topps set.


Just after New Year's Day Rod offered to send me some cards in response to my Blog Update post. I had no idea what he was sending, but about a week ago I received over 100 cards - mostly Milwaukee Brewers:

Rod's mailer arrived the Day I published my Brewers All-Time Team. If I'd waited just a little longer I would have used some of these cards. 

'Y' was I happy to receive so many Brewers cards? Because Yount and Yelich have made me a bit of a Brewers fan over the years. (I'd say they're my fourth favorite team.)

These Topps Total singles are the first of the online-only reboot I've had in my collection (there was one in the Secret Santa gift I sent out, but we're not going to talk about that...) I was surprised that they're so glossy. I wouldn't say they're worth a buck apiece, but they are quite nice.

Some shiny here including a couple refractors, a rainbow parallel, and a Mike Moustakas All-Star relic - which is actually from the All-Star workout, not the actual game. But it's better than the "..not from any specific game/season/event" disclaimer I've seen all too often lately.

Fuji, Brian, Rod.. thank you very much for these great cards! I'm now at nearly 98,000 cards - just 2,000 shy of my 100K goal. I'm still cooking up a return package for Rod (and Nick, whom I've owed for at least a month) but I did send some PWEs out and I plan to be all caught up by Friday (I have a day off due to an A.M. Dr. appt.)

Thanks for reading!



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50/50 swap - Brian delivers in the leadoff spot

I've had kind of a rough day today. Nothing went right for me. Not gonna bore you all with the details. But when I got home and I saw a bubble mailer sticking out of my mailbox I had a feeling my luck was going to change. Who's getting this 50/50 swap started? I wondered as I approached the mailbox. Why it's Brian of the blog Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary. 

Brian claimed my stack of 50 Minnesota Twins, and I hope I sent him some decent ones because this was one heck of a return package!

I honestly did not know what to expect in return for these 50 card lots of mostly base cards with a few inserts/parallels/RCs tossed in. And I made it clear that all I was asking for in return was 50 cards. Any 50 cards. Surprise me. Offload your dupes, your junk, your least favorite teams/players. 

Or you could hit me with one of these:

 

Mmm...Fenway Franks! I think Brian busted open a set for that Scott Cooper.

I'm too broke to buy my own Stadium Club cards, so this is a huge help. Now I just need to get my hands on the Tim Raines and Billy Hamilton cards!

My first Steven Wright card. I'm so excited. (btw: the comedian Steven Wright is a Red Sox fan.)

Vintage Yaz and modern Yaz in a vintage design.

That's Mo Vaughn next to Big Papi's "God Doubles" card. Did Brian send this Brian Johnson because he saw my Brian Johnson blog post?

Some Packers arrived from Viking country. I've got about 2,000 Packers cards - nearly all of them from the 1990's - but I have never even seen these Playoff SB XXXI cards before.


Well, that's 51 cards. All from teams I collect. Can't ask for anything more than that.


What's that? There's more?


Yep. Brian sent 57 cards - including 3 more Packers I didn't scan...and these guys:

Boom! A Dustin Pedroia relic, a low-numbered Teddy ballgame, and a notable Marty Brodeur limited to 100 copies. These three alone were more than fair considering what I sent. Thank you very much Brian, that was a pleasant surprise! 


I'm shipping out one last batch of 50/50 lots this weekend - so if anyone reading this is interested, claim one now. This is the last time I'll mention it, but I'm open to trading with anyone at any time. 

Also, I've got a couple great gift ideas for the most generous trader in the 50/50 swap. Once all the trades are in I'll announce a winner. Brian has set the bar high - can anyone clear it? 


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