David Wright Extended

So today Mets fans got what I consider good news as David Wright was extended and probably made a Met for life.  In addition, it made these cards which I picked up during COMC's Black Friday promo even more enjoyable when they arrived today.

They are all 2012 cards.  First, on the upper left, is an ice parallel of the 2012 Bowman base card.  Second, on upper right, is a Tier One single jersey relic numbered to 399.  Lower left is a die cut Bowman Platinum Cutting Edge Stars.  Finally, on the lower right is a Museum Collection.  They are all cool, but doesn't that Bowman Platinum card just the epitome of a picture of a Franchise Player?

Good times, now we will just have to wait and see what the Mets do with Dickey.

2012 Triple Threads Unity (and the return of the scanner)

So I picked up these two Met Triple Threads Cards off Ebay, each for a reasonable price (you have to love the sellers who offer free shipping!).

I have to say despite not usually buying into the higher priced products, last year I fell in love with the unity design of Triple Threads.  I successfully put together a three piece unity set of the Mets which depicted Citi Field in the background.  I even had two versions of the set since I had two different right sides of Citi.

This year, however, I'm not even sure why they term the cards "unity."  There is no interesting way in which they combine like they did last year.  I am still glad topps put out the set since it allows me to obtain relatively inexpensive autos of young Mets I like such as Duda and Tejada, but it is nowhere near as interesting to me as it was last year.  Couldn't topps have figured out some other way to make them work together?  It could have just been the team logo or name in the background, it did not even need to be excessively creative.  Oh well, at least now I don't need to go out and get a third Met from the set.

What does everyone else think of Triple Threads, especially this year compared to last?

Panini Triple Play Box Break Results and Review

I got my box of 2012 Panini Triple Play in the mail today.  Target did have some packs at $1 each, and I ended up picking up two before the box came in the mail.

Here is the sealed box and one of the retail packs.  Interestingly, the packs in the box were foil rather than straight plastic like the ones at Target.

I really like the artwork on most of these base cards.  Here are two of my favorite depictions of "lesser known" players: Pirates Closer Joel Hanrahan and Nationals OF Mike Morse.

Current and Former Mets Greats

The normal base set is 1-90, with about three players from each team in the set.  The collation was great as I did not get one double out of the box, but the problem was there are only two or three of these per pack, another two puzzle piece cards (which I'll explain in a bit), and an eye black, sticker, insert, and/or tattoo.  So I still need 22 of those 90 cards, which means I am at about 76% complete with that set after a box which is slightly disappointing.

Here is a picture of some of the eye black, tattoo cards, and four of the "inserts": Real Feel, When I Was a Kid, Hall of Fame players, and Focus.  The Real Feel cards are nondescript game used pieces of Jersey,, Bats, Pants, Bases, and such seeded one per box.  I got the least exciting Jersey, so I think they are a bit pointless, but maybe I'd feel a bit differently if I had gotten a base.  As you can see I also got only two Hall of Famers and Two When I Was a Kid cards.  I only depicted two of the focus cards: Stanton (who looks like a supervillain here) and Garza.  However, I got about 10 of the focus cards (again all different), which are just zoomed in versions of the base cards on the front and different descriptions of the players on the back.  The eye black cards are usable and actually a cool idea as far as kid friendly fillers go, much better than terrible gum in my humble opinion.

Here is what the puzzle's look like.  They are nine cards each, which will look really nice in a binder, but unfortunately I did not come close to completing one of the many puzzles either, which along with the lower than hoped for set completion was a bit disappointing.

Clearly this is supposed to be a kid friendly set, I get that, and I love the art work.  However, the abundance of stickers included in each pack (probably about 1.5/pack on average) was a bit annoying especially since I got triplicates of some of those.  That also makes me hesitant to buy another box in order to complete the set.  I'm hoping I can find singles on sportslots, a card show, or checkoutmycards to finish the set.  If not, I hope I can still get a box off ebay or buy a bunch of packs at Target.

I'm interested to know what other people think about the set.  Also, I'll be posting my needs/have lists on the side bar in the near future if anyone wants to do any trades.

Thanks for reading!

2012 Panini Triple Play Baseball

So I was search ebay a couple nights ago for some interesting 2012 Mets stuff and came across an Ike Davis Triple Play card.

My first thought was, that is a way cool looking card.  I'm a sucker for art cards.  My second thought was, what the heck is Triple Play?  I remember buying cheap Donruss Triple Play cards when I was a kid but they were no where near as interesting as this card.

So, I did some research on Panini's webpage (which is still donruss.com hilariously) and found out that it was indeed a 2012 baseball release at only $1 a pack.  Here's the link to the product info if anyone is interested.  Here is a second link to a checklist.

Then I decided, I'm collecting this set and will be buying a box of the stuff.

Has anyone else seen or heard of this?  Any thoughts on the product?  I'm excited to see it first hand.  I'll probably go searching for it in retail stores tonight and if I don't find any I'll grab a box off ebay.

Return to the LCS & Rangers Tradebait

Hey everyone, I know it has been a while, but I'm still around and still collecting.  I finally got back to the LCS near my old place and picked up these three beauties.

First, the tradebait: A 2012 Michael Young Relic

I liked the design on this one, which is why I picked it up.

The second fits my love of collecting cards of alternate materials and is from the same set as one of my all time favorite cards which I detailed here.

Finally, I picked up a sweet Ed Kranepool autographed card.  Sometimes it's nice being a Met fan in the Chicago suburbs!

Thanks for reading everyone!

Contest over at Bass on Balls!

Hey, check out Bass on Balls for a contest with an entire 2012 set as a prize!

Woooo Hoooo

2012 Topps Chrome Group Break over at Cardboard Collections

3 boxes and two teams (one chosen, one randomized, for $17!)

Check it out.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend filled with some baseball related fun if possible.

I picked up this patriotic Ike Davis insert from this year's Bowman set off ebay, I'm hoping that Ike's recent success at the plate continues to build and he can reclaim the form he was in before he got hurt last season.

Opening Day 2012 Needs! Better late than never right?

So I'm sure most of you have moved on from Topps Opening Day, if you ever gave it any attention in the first place, but I just got my hobby box a week or two ago.  So, if any of you still have extras lying around here are my needs:

Base: 6, 24, 32, 79, 89, 136
Super Star Celebrations: 7-8, 11-12, 14-16
Opening Day Stars: 1-5, 8-13, 18-22, 24-25
Elite Skills: 1, 6-7, 20-21, 23-25
Fantasy Squad: 1-6, 10-18, 28-30
Mascots: 1, 11-24

Shoot me an email, and we can work out a trade!

PS: Thanks to Troll for the help with the insert sets!!

Jose Reyes Gypsy Queen Relic

It's always tough for us collectors to decide whether we are going to continue collecting a player who leaves via trade or free agency.  I've decided to continue collecting Jose Reyes cards.  What is especially nice about this particular 2012 Jose Reyes card is that he is depicted in his Mets uniform, and that made my decision to pick it up to compliment my David Wright relic from the previous post quite easy.

I think it is appropriate since the relic is clearly from a Mets uniform.  At the same time it is kind of odd, since Reyes is depicted in his Marlins uni in both the base Gypsy Queen card and the sliding stars Gypsy Queen card (both of which I still need).

Nevertheless, it made me happy to pick up a nice 2012 MET Reyes relic card to add to my collection hopefully to be followed by the non-Met Reyes cards from Gypsy Queen soon.

2012 Mets Gypsy Queen

So I decided to go in on another case break of Gypsy Queen this year.  I did pretty well last year scoring a Jon Niese Stamp card and then selling it on ebay and picking up a printing plate with the proceeds.  For $36, including shipping this, I got the Mets in an Ebay case break that included a full box of 2012 Topps Museum.  The break was streamed live and I watched most of it.  I did get a Nolan Ryan numbered base card from Museum, but that was it.  As far as the Gypsy Queen goes here were my two hits.

Nothing huge, but two solid hits that I was happy with.  The Wright jersey relic is awesome because it is a blue piece of jersey and the card looks even nicer in person than in the photo.  The Niese auto is on card, which is always a plus, and Niese has been great so far this year.

I also got both Seaver minis:

The only disappointment there is that the second one (which is the normal base card too) looks a bit too familiar...

Oh well, if anyone needs any Met base or the Endy Chavez glove stories card, I've got plenty of extras so let me know.

New Auto Score: Kirk Nieuwenhuis

Those non-Met fans out there may not know, but since Andres Torres got hurt early in the season the Mets brought up youngster Krik Nieuwenhuis and he has been impressive both in the field and at bat.  So, I decided to grab an auto of his while they were still cheap.  I found one for $3 on Sportslots and picked up a bunch of other stuff from the same seller.  So here it is:

My question for you is what you think of TriStar prospect autos.  I really don't mind them, they are still authenticated autos and at least I've actually seen a Brooklyn Cyclones game.  It does seem like a sticker, but at least it is a well done sticker auto.  The only unfortunately thing is that I did not see Nieuwenhuis play for the Cyclones, but I did see Ike Davis play there.

Well, here's hoping that Nieuwenhuis can keep up his good start through the entire year!

2012 Topps Heritage for Trade

So, I've been behind the times as far as getting my hands on 2012 cards.  However, I finally got a bunch of Heritage.  Below is what I have for trade and then what I am looking for.  Shoot me an email or reply to this post if you are interested in making a deal!

Available For Trade:
Base: 36, 42, 43, 77, 82, 118, 128, 149, 157, 167, 170, 189, 200, 209, 226, 237, 240, 282, 323, 338, 340, 342, 343, 345, 347, 360, 372, 375, 383, 393, 410, 413, 425, C4
SP: 432 (Matt Joyce), 466 (Kyle Seager)
Stickers: Curtis Granderson #31
Blue Boarder Variant: #34B Josh Collmenter

My Needs:
Base: 54, 175, 309, 384
SP: 436, 467
Stickers: #4

Thanks!

Happy Opening Day to All!

Today is the first day of the 2012 Mets Season, so LET'S GO METS!

I Like Ike...

and apparently that is no secret.  Thanks to Derek over at Tomahawk Chopping I picked up my first Ike Davis auto!

Here it is:

On card and everything, just plain awesome!  For good measure Derek, the very generous contest host, also through in some other Ike Davis refractors as well as several non-Met relics I had my eyes on.

As a Met collector I am a big fan of orange (and blue) refractors, and Derek sent along these two Ike Davis beauties!

So thanks a lot to Derek for growing my Ike Davis collection in the best way possible!

2012: New Year, New Banner, New Cards

First off, I put up a new banner that I'm a fan of, now I have to get my hands on some of those Mets mini '86 2012 topps inserts.

I also finally got my first taste of 2012 Topps as a result of the group break over at Cardboard Collections.

I did not end up with too many inserts, but I did get the full Mets 2012 Series One Team Set out of the break so that was a plus.  So here they are, all 13 Mets base cards from 2012 Topps Series One:

Much has been made over the photograph in Series one, and I thought there were some hits and some misses among the Mets cards.  I really like the Ike Davis, Thole, and Izzy cards but I thought the Niese card was a bit strange (it doesn't even look like him) and I also think that too many celebration cards (the Turner and Duda) kind of takes away from the point of a celebration card.

On the bright side, I do like the design a lot more in person than I thought I would.  I like that the boarder inside the white boarder is orange to match the "surfboard."

Last Call: Topps 2012 Wrapper Redemption Randomization!

So I asked in my last post if any of my fellow bloggers out there were interested in sending me the wrappers from the one or five or however many packs of Hobby Topps 2012 Series 1 they opened this year to me so I can pool them and send them off to Topps, and work some randomizer magic to decide who gets each of the cards we get back from Topps.

Three of you replied that you were interested, but I'm thinking that won't be enough people. So I am asking one more time if anyone wants in otherwise I don't think this will work.

Let me know ASAP since all wrappers need to be postmarked and on their way to Topps by the end of February.

(PS: Feel free to repost this on your blog to advertize)

Anyone want to pool your Topps 2012 wrappers?

Hi all. I know there are a lot of negative feelings toward Topps 2012 Series one out there and the wrapper redemption program has not been well received, but if you are like me you will probably end up getting some hobby packs anyway.  Why just throw away those wrappers?

I was thinking maybe those of us who will only buy a couple of hobby packs could get together, pool our wrappers and then I could randomize off each of the cards we get back from the redemption and then send them out to each of the winners.  Each pack wrapper you send me would get you one randomization spot.

I'll likely buy a Jumbo pack if my LCS has them, and if not I'll probably pick up a couple of regular packs.

Who's in?

Contest over at Tomahawk Chopping

If you are interested in some cool prizes, head over to Tomahawk Chopping or just vote 50 times here and let Derek know you did.

Breaking News! John Franco will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame

I have to say that this was one of the more pleasant surprise emails I've read from the Mets lately.

I have written before about John Franco and how I was a big fan of his growing up, so I am quite happy to see him inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.  I'm sure the fact that he is from Brooklyn and Italian played has into my fandom as well.  I might even try to find my way back to Queens for his induction on June 3rd.

He certainly has the credentials, being fourth on the all time saves list and the top lefty when it comes to saves (with two saves more than fellow lefty and former Met Billy Wagner). Franco played in 21 seasons, and 14 of those were with the Mets.

I've got a nice PC of Franco, about 95 cards in all including one autographed card which I posted about in the aforementioned post.  Here are four of my favorites from my collection.

Leaf 1993

Yes, the back of the card is what makes this one of my favorites.  Besides the great backdrop, there is also the little Mets hologram in the top left corner.

Fleer 2002

Retro uni on a patriotic card, what more can I say.

Circa 1996

The quote plus a backdrop that invokes Shea Stadium makes this one of my favorites.  Circa was an interesting line for a couple years there in the mid 90s.

Fleer Tradition 1999

What better way to close it out than with Franco and Olerud (another personal favorite) embracing after what I can only imagine is Franco saving another game.

2011 Summary

2011 was a very interesting one for me, both in the card collecting arena and outside it.  I think I was more excited about baseball card collecting in 2011 than ever before and I think I probably bought more 2011 cards than any other year.  I'll probably also continue pursuing 2011 cards even in the years to come, which is very unusual for me.

This, in large part, was because my first child was born this year and I wanted to have a nice binder of cards to give him from his birth year.  Well, I'm up to two binders and I've got a lot of cool stuff.  I decided to collect both Mets and Cubs cards this year since my wife's family are fans of the Cubs, but the nicest cards I got somehow ended up depicting the East coast version of the lovable losers: aka the Mets.

Here is what I think is the nicest overall card I grabbed this year.

I say it is the nicest because of the combination of the caliber of the player, the coolness of the card (my blog is called clear cut for a reason), and the print run.

Here is the shortest printed card I picked up this year.

A Mike Pelfrey Bowman International Cyan Printing Plate.  By the way if anyone out there has the card this plate helped make, let me know I'd be interested in trading for it.

And just to show people I did actually try to get some cool Cubs cards here is a dual relic/auto of Andrew Cashner.

Hey, it is not my fault they traded him.  It was an interesting trade, and I think it can work out for both teams. I think Cashner will succeed as a starter, despite what some people in the Cubs organization think about his ultimate destination as a reliever.

Oh, and thanks again go out to Tony and Ike over at Ike's Cards for this Starlin Castro relic.

As long as Castro is innocent of the recent accusations and Rizzo takes advantage of the differences between Petco and Wrigley the Cubs might actually have the beginings of a good infield.

Mets Triple Threads Unity Completed (Two Versions)

I know it has been a while, but I am sparked to post again by a couple of posts by fellow bloggers, one over at Crinkly Wrappers and to a lesser extent the series of posts over at Tomahawk Chopping.

I am still here!  There have been a few reasons for the lack of posts, one of the big ones being that I no longer have a working scanner to scan my cards.  I know many of you know how annoying that can be.  Also, though since I don't partake of the high end stuff much I have not gotten too many cards in the last few months.

However, while it took me several months, I did finally complete a Triple Threads Unity three card set depicting Citi Field in the background.  I'm not sure why the Triple Threads Unity "gimmick" sparked my interest, but it did.  Anyone else get dragged into completing a unity of their own?

Here are my results (I know they aren't a perfect color match, but hey I'll take it)

Version 1: Thole, Reyes, Niese

Version 2: Santana, Reyes, Niese

I'm a fan, I like the way they look next to one another, especially in my binder.

So, anyway, I am still here and interested in Mets cards, and am quite excited about the start of the 2012 baseball card season despite the fact that I am not thrilled with the flagship set's design.  But, hey, maybe it'll grow on me.

Finally, I am kind of interested in putting together a Cubs unity set.  I already have the right most card, and am looking for a center and left most card.  Or if anyone has another center Met to trade, I'd be interested in that as well since Reyes is now gone.  If anyone has some to trade, let me know.