The Missing Link

Which year is missing from my baseball card collection? Here are your guesses:


1951, 1953, 1953, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1965, 1966, 1966, 1968, 1983, 1994, 2002

One of those is the correct answer..i had a video reveal but it refused to upload straight so I scrapped it.

Congrats to Nachos Grande and Brett Alan! Please let me know if you would prefer a sport other than baseball. Your card will arrive in the mail by the end of November (unless I have to pick one out from COMC.)

Thank you all for reading and participating!

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2021 baseball breaks

I just got a huge box of baseball and basketball cards from Bo which I will spread out over multiple posts here and at The 1993. First I want to catch up on some cards I received from a pair of Nachos Grande box breaks.

I was lucky to grab the Red Sox for his break of 2021 Stadium Club. They're usually claimed pretty quickly.

Pulled four base cards and a red parallel of Chris Sale. There are often bonus packs in a Nachos Grande break and 2015 Topps was included in this one. I have the complete set and duplicates of almost all of the Red Sox so I was fortunate that one of the two inserts in the pack was a Nomar I didn't have.


At the time of the break, the Red Sox were the best team in the American League and the Giants were the best team in the National League. [Huh, look at that - they still are.] I decided to pay a few more bucks for San Fran with an eye toward Buster Posey, Joey Bart's RC, or one of the Willies - Mays or McCovey. McCovey isn't in this year's set, and the Mays is nothing special. I didn't get it anyway.

I didn't get Buster Posey, either. Got the Bart though, plus a Yaz, two parallels (say hi to Longo for me, Fuji :P ) and a Will Clark insert that I kinda liked - before I saw literally everyone else pull the same card.

I've watched enough box break videos to know that sometimes the biggest pulls go to low-profile teams that are either bought at the last minute or not at all. With that in mind, I took a shot at the Rays for $2.

Swing and a miss. Luis Patino was a key piece of the Blake Snell trade. He hasn't been great, but he's still only 21. I basically paid $1 for a lottery ticket of a pitcher and $1 for an Austin Meadows base card. Oh well :/

Don't let this discourage you from buying up low-profile teams in a box break, however. Earlier this spring I bought into a Nachos Grande break of 2021 Topps Heritage and Opening Day.

I paid $4 for the Twins, and got a whole team set, plus a Kenta Maeda dupe:

One of the four Blue parallels Chris pulled from the box was a Twin, as well as one of the Legends of Baseball:

Not bad for $4. But that was actually a bonus box. The main attraction was a box of Topps Heritage. In addition to the ten Twins above I got these:

And these:

And a high number short print:

Oh, and this:

That was the hit of the box, IIRC. I know I laughed when Chris pulled it because there was a 1 in 30 chance that I'd be the lucky winner of the relic, and because it looked like a bat piece (or a band-aid) in the video. It definitely feels like a piece of cloth more than a jersey, but it's been quite a while since I pulled a jersey card out of a pack.

Either way, I certainly got my money's worth for the Twins lot - and spent less than $20 on everything in this post. It's a bummer that Brian (Highly Subjective) hasn't surfaced in a while cause I'd be happy to send some of these to a true fan of the team. But since he's not around to see this...

At least they won't lose another playoff series this year.

Thanks for reading!




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Birthday Cards

Jon left a comment on my birthday post asking if I might have a JBF-style stockpile next year for my 40th birthday. I don't think I could ever do that (wasn't that Wes's farewell to the hobby?) but I did accumulate a solid pile of cards this week:

This was just today's mailday; cards and card packages have been filling up my mailbox for the past week. I'm struggling to keep up with all of them. After cataloging and organizing every card in my collection I made too many trades too quickly and I'm actually kind of burnt out. Not sick of the hobby or anything, but I'm mentally fatigued by the volume of cards coming and going.

The Legend of Shoeboxes sent me a well-traveled envelope and I was very happy to receive it. But I still haven't cataloged every card into my TCDB collection, I haven't scanned a single one, and even though I bought a new binder and 9-pocket pages for all these new cards they're still in random piles on my card table.

This hobby is so time consuming!

Perhaps the idea of leaving the hobby on my 40th birthday with a grand finale isn't so bad. I'll never be able to walk away for more than a week or two, but if I did have that kind of commitment..

..spending a few hundred bucks at the National would be a good way to go out. It's tempting to scratch my Cooperstown plans and do AC instead. Look at this list of potential inductees:

I say this as someone who once cheered for half of these guys: yuck!

It would take me way too long to scan and discuss every card from my birthday-adjacent haul - especially if I'm including trades and purchases. So here's a quick highlight of each package:

 

Some of the eighty-plus Red Sox cards Shane stuffed in the in the Well-Traveled Envelope, including a 1987 ProCards Pawtucket team set. Nice touch from the RI guy; does that mean I should send a Norwich Navigators team set to Shane?

I sent Dennis some Tigers from the surplus box and, as always, his return fire packed a much stronger punch: a handful of Red Sox and a pair of Pristine refractors. Very nice!

More Packers freebies from the TCDB community. Thank you for your service - and your sports cards.

Nachos Grande offered up a nice stack of cards to anyone who could cross a card off his wantlist. Luckily I had three cards for him - and I got thirteen in return. Thanks, Chris!

I sent some Mets cards to TCDB user The_Sandlot in exchange for a bunch of Big League, a neat Robin Roberts insert I've never seen before, and a Brett Favre Legendary Contenders. But wait! This Favre is a gold parallel #d/199. I had only asked for the 'base' Brett. :O

The thickest mailer pictured at the top comes courtesy of TCDB user BigOinPA. This is my second trade with Tom, and I'm happy I could get this one hammered out before my self-imposed trading freeze. In exchange for 64 surplus set fillers I asked for 46 baseball and hockey cards - the former were also flagship set fillers, so I'll show off the latter:

 

Stickers! These are from the 1983-84 O-Pee-Chee album. I got another Devil(Carol Vadnais) but that one appears to have been peeled, wrinkled, and re-stuck. Oh well.

The Vachon and Bridgman are Topps issues, and they're both in nice shape. Not as nice as those shiny inserts though!

A trio of HOFers capped off by a shiny Shanny. Turning 2018 Topps dupes into these beauties is worth all the time spent on cataloging, pulling, packing, and shipping. I'd make these kinds of deals all day long if I could. 

While I'm not happy about being a year older I sure can't complain about all the cardboard loot that has come my way recently (along with birthday cash that paid for even more cardboard loot!)

Thanks for reading!

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More Mail...and more..

I know I've been posting every day - and slacking off on commenting - but I got two more packages in the mail today and I want to acknowledge them before I finish off Sports Card Tour.
 
Chris, author of the blog Nachos Grande, offers up a trade stack for anyone who sends him a set filler. I should try something like this; no one seems to have any singles I need. I had been pulling some cards for other traders and found two that Chris needed. Perhaps I could have waited for him to fill the trade stack but I was already packaging up PWEs so I claimed this:

I thought Parker Bridwell didwell last year as a rookie with the Angels, and I like the 2018 Topps set, so it was a nice two-for-one trade.

 
Actually it was a six-for-two trade since Chris tossed in some extras. I definitely needed the Mo Vaughn, and possibly the Pena. Chris, thanks for the trade!
 
Dennis (Too Many Verlanders) has also been checking wantlists and sending care packages..though he's sending many more cards to many more collectors. I saw my name on his list a couple days ago but couldn't find the time to comment until this morning. This afternoon his mailer arrived:

Dennis included a note that said he'd had some luck finding Red Sox at his local card shows..

25 more cards for my Red Sox collection..and one Robert Brooks Elite insert for my Packers box. This is at least the third package he's sent me and I think I've only hit him back once. Shame on me!
 
Dennis, thanks again for another generous gift!

I had to stop by the bank for work today and so I popped into Little Shop of Comics for my monthly supply of penny sleeves and Topps baseball cards. (They didn't have Supergirl in stock) Here's a couple scans from my two packs:

Yeah Jeets. Every time I see Tanner Roark's name I feel obligated to pronounce it like Matthew McConaughey in A Time To Kill. Also, I cannot spell McConaughey correctly without looking. [not scanned: Brandon Kintzler]

Oh sure, now I pull a Keon Broxton card. Gee thanks, Topps. Jose Ramirez is a beast but I don't think the hobby has caught on yet. The top edge of the Eickhoff is rough cut, almost like an O-Pee-Chee card from the 1980s. [not scanned: Jared Hughes]
 
I'm officially caught up on trade packages and thank-yous. Nothing but Sports Card Tour posts for the rest of the month....




Today is my 13th wedding anniversary and so I’m going to steal an idea from one of Gavin’s old posts... not going to link it because then this text wouldn’t be hidden ;)

I'm often reminded of just how special and indispensable my wife is, especially on our anniversary, and this morning I tried to picture my life without her. It was horrible. I would be absolutely lost without D..and I know this because I was absolutely lost before I met her.

Here’s a list of 13 girls who weren’t the one... girls who made my heart swell and burst..girls that had far too much control over my self-esteem and in some cases didn't even know (or care) ... girls that made me feel like I’d never find that special someone. Until I did..

Jessica C...my first real crush..she was like the all-American girl next door: blonde hair, blue eyes, long legs..really sweet..the two of us were voted "most caring" in junior high, and some of our friends thought we should have been a couple..but she was way out of my league..never acted like it though....she was so supportive of my writing, and we used to work on stories up in her bedroom while listing to The Cure or Carly Simon or whatever..she sent me a postcard from Florida once..I think I still have it - and the wallet-sized yearbook picture she gave me...I wanted to marry that girl when I was 13..we drifted apart after junior high..I only saw her once after that..heard she's a teacher now..and married...
 
Lauren F...probably could have dated her if the timing was right..but I got played by her cousin, who was supposedly my friend...Lauren was the point guard on the girls' basketball team..small but athletic..a grade behind me..we had passed notes in the hallway and our friends used to meet up at the park after school..I was told she was single and so I asked her out..she wasn't single, cousin lied to me..but then a week later she told me she was having problems with her boyfriend and asked me for advice..I should have told her to dump him and date me....
 
Annie P...she was in Lauren's 7th grade class..they were teammates but Lauren was the better player..Annie was prettier though..she had long dark hair and a really cute face..looked amazing in that catholic school skirt..I went for a walk with her one night at a dance party..knew I didn't have a chance with her but I had to try...saw her on Facebook a few years ago and she looked exactly as I'd expect..I'd say "The Girl Got Hot"..but she never wasn't hot...
 
Liz B...six-foot tall senior girl I crushed on freshman year..best way to describe her would be "Uma Thurman with braces"...we had one class together and I somehow gathered up enough courage to say "hi" on a semi-regular basis..even got her a Valentine's Day card because I was absolutely bonkers..she thought it was sweet though...the summer after she graduated I saw her at a street fair downtown and nearly short-circuited..I may have said "hi" to her..I may also have taken a picture of her when she wasn't looking...

Liz L...yes, there were two hot blondes named Liz in my school..this one was in my grade..she was a cheerleader but didn't look very cheerful in drama class..first time I saw her she wore a black leather jacket and a scowl on her face like she was badass..one day after lunch she followed me in the hallway and struck up an awkward conversation with me..I shrugged it off afterward.. but then during a fire drill she approached me with her friend..said the friend liked me..I shrugged that off, too..I was more interested in her...

Alison H...good lord this girl was adorable..on the outside at least..she was barely five feet tall, bright yellow hair like a sunflower..and freckles..but she was so cold to me..I'd try to talk to her and she'd give me a death stare..couldn't figure out why, all the other girls in our Spanish class were friendly to me....even our mutual friend Gene gave it a try..told her he wasn't coming to their class because he was hanging with his "awesome" friend Chris..didn't work...I overheard a guy on the baseball team telling a story about how a girl named Alison blew him off at the dance..had to be her.. but why would she give him the cold shoulder?

Kristen D...this girl absolutely destroyed me...she approached me on the first day of sophomore year..said she liked my Grateful Dead shirt...we hit it off right away..not related to Lauren, but she played on travel teams with her and people thought they were sisters..kept me hanging on just enough to think I had a chance..then when I got wise and stopped talking to her she'd ask my best bud if I was mad at her...so much drama with Kristen, we were always clashing..I bought her a Grateful Dead shirt for her birthday and gave it to her at the end of class..she was so psyched she kissed me - in front of Alison..she told me she wasn't dating anyone but never said she would (or wouldn't) date me..one day I was walking down the school's 2nd floor hallway, turned a corner, and saw her kissing some dude..stopped talking to her for a while after that, and the cycle began again...when I was on Facebook she found me and apologized for being a "brat" to me..she's a teacher now, too...not as attractive as I thought she'd be...

Gretchen W...I've mentioned her before..she was very artsy in high school..really talented, but a bit troubled..she was in a serious relationship when I met her..in fact the guy she was dating became my best friend in high school..they broke up but G and I stayed friends..when her ex John moved to California I saw a lot more of her..almost asked her out one day..I went to see her perform in a children's play..made plans to go back to her place for lunch afterward but some metalhead dude showed up and she was much more interested in him..she said she would have dated me..maybe if I'd spoken up sooner...she wasn't particularly thin or athletic in high school but ended up being a fitness competitor and personal trainer..it shocked me when I saw her pics...couldn't believe it was the same girl..also not sure if I saw her a few months ago...if it was her, she looked amazing...

Dalaina D...she was originally from Michigan, loved hockey and the Red Wings...met her through my friend Brandon..kinda tomboy-ish back then..I spent a lot of time with her one summer..not sure if anything would have happened but she wasn't dating anyone at the time..one of our friends claimed he hooked up with her..I doubt it though..she moved back to Michigan, got married, got double-Ds, got divorced..haven't seen her since high school but she was in town a few years ago and Brandon hung out with her..he hinted at hooking up with her, too...I wouldn't doubt it...

Natasha G...of all the girls I knew in high school she made the most sense as a potential girlfriend..she was kinda goth-ish, very dark hair and pale..wore a black tank top and jeans like it was a uniform..we spent a lot of time together in drama class and at her house..she saw something in me that no one else saw..we had a lot of deep, meaningful conversations..Brandon really wanted us to be a couple, but Tasha had a lot of issues.. she had been in too many destructive relationships to get involved with someone she loved..she actually told me that..I wasn't as attracted to her as I was to the other girls I've listed..but there was one day at her house..it took every ounce of self-control not to..

Fionna B...my first serious adult girlfriend..if only I knew how to adult at the time..we met online, right after I escaped high school..she had been dumped by her fiancee..her life was falling apart..and we just clicked..it was like a fairy tale..she had crimson red hair, green eyes..very Irish..we had the same taste in music..she was a published author and nurtured my love of writing..my friends could not believe I was dating her..she was smoking hot at first but her mother was dying of cancer and she stopped taking care of herself..also lost interest in me..but then she was my date for my sister's wedding and acted like we were still together...I fought with her a lot, as I had with Kristen, because she'd want everything on her terms..didn't need that once I met D..so I walked away...

Angela P...so here I am, in my mid-20s, in college, in a new state, and I'm in a serious long-term relationship..I don't need to get nervous around pretty girls anymore..I don't need to speak to pretty girls anymore....and then Angela happened..from the second she walked into my Economics class I knew I was in trouble..she was slim and slender..great body but an even better face..really nice smile, freckles, curly brown hair...just gorgeous..she had an aura about her, a confidence that I wish I had - and clearly lacked whenever I tried to speak to her..and just when I had forgotten all about her..she appeared in a major TV commercial...she's not an actress though, I think it was a one-time thing..she married some MMA fighter..as if I needed another reminder she and I were not the same species...

Kayla M...there are actually two similarly-named girls I met online after I got married..one of them was much younger than me ..and though I adored her, we had very little meaningful contact..the other Kayla was a close confidant for a time..lovely girl with a lovely face and the most gorgeous hazel eyes imaginable...she was a very talented poet..she seemed to enjoy and appreciate my writing though it wasn't nearly as good as hers...we shared deep, dark secrets with each other..including crushes...well, mine was a crush..hers was practically an affair..she was married but had fallen in love with another guy..whom she met online..there was subtext there that, perhaps I was reading too much into...but she maybe hinted that I was her type..and I more than maybe hinted that she was my type..and we backed off because both of us had overcrowded hearts as it was...
 

Those are the unlucky thirteen..the ones that I spent way too much time brooding over. Wish I had done something more productive with that time..like writing a book or something. But it all worked out in the end. :-)


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