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.