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.

Carlos Beltran Send Off

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I had to give Carlos Beltran his due since he got traded.

First up, my most recent Beltran card, a SP (thanks to Tony and Ike over at Ike's Cards).

If you listen to most media outlets, Mets fans were disappointed in Beltran's tenure with the Mets; however, most of the Mets fans I know were quite happy with Beltran while he was here.  Sure, injuries are frustrating but to me those weren't Beltran's fault.  For all but his first year in NY Beltran always put up good numbers while he was healthy.  In fact, most of the time the numbers were better than good and when added to his superb defense made for a perpetual all-star.

One of my favorite cards for last year's Chicle set

So consider that in comparison to all the terrible contracts the Mets have handed out over the years to the likes of Bobby Bonilla and Luis Castillo (not to even mention pitchers) and it is hard for me to understand why a Met fan would be so upset with Beltran's performance while he was with the Mets.

To make matters even better, Sandy Alderson was even able to pry away a big prospect from the Giants in return for Beltran furthering the value he brought to the Mets.

So, Beltran I wish you luck in San Fran and since I root for the former NY national league teams when they make the playoffs and aren't facing the Mets....

Let's Go Giants! Get Beltran a ring!

One of several Beltran Relics I have

PS: I was so happy with Beltran while he was in NY, I'll still be collecting his cards (as long as he doesn't sign with the Yankees in the off-season).

Gypsy Queen Blaster - More Gypsy Queen Up for Trade

So, I bought a Gypsy Queen Blaster today and finally posted my For Trade and Wants list from Gypsy Queen.  It is on the side bar, or you can just click here.  I need some base, some inserts, and a couple minis.  I did not put any of the hits on there, but I'd be interested in any Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers, or New York Giants hits as well.

Happily, I pulled a nice hit out of my Blaster.  This Ryan Braun jersey relic. 

It too is up for trade, but I'd probably want a Met Gypsy Queen relic in return.

I also pulled some retail exclusive inserts, two of which I am keeping.  First, a Hanley Ramirez Sticky Fingers.

Second, a Jason Heyward Wall Climbers.

I was kind of confused at first, because I did not see any of these in the video case break I was part of and because the base Carlos Beltran card is also a climbing the wall shot.

Then I realized it was a retail only insert along with the Sticky Fingers to capture a bug theme I guess.  But hey, they are kind of interesting.

Finally, the other nice card I got out of my blaster was a Tulo bronze frame.  All in all, I was happy with it (though I did not pull one Brooklyn Dodger card!!!!).

Anyone Need Gypsy Queen Mets?

Anyone in the market for these let me know.  I also ended up with a couple duplicates of mini base cards and a duplicate of the Seaver Great Ones Insert.

I participated in a case break of Gypsy Queen over at A Cardboard Problem.  Of course, I grabbed the Mets.  I ended up with about five complete team sets.  Now Ike Davis was the short print, and while I did not get any of those in the group break, I did end up with one mini parallel of the card so that worked out.  Additionally, I ended up with about five Ike Davis Future Stars Inserts.  This means I have about five of these:

My big hit of the break was this Jon Niese stamp card numbered to 10.  I was happy with it, but I was also hoping for an auto.  There is still hope, though, since I might end up with one of the shorted autos from one of the boxes.

What do people think of the stamp cards?  I think it is interesting more for the design of the card (inserted plastic window) but do not quite get the relevance of the stamp.  

Valentine's Day

I'm lucky enough to have a wife who got me some baseball cards for Valentine's Day.  It is always fun to rip packs, even on Valentine's Day.

Here were my two favorites from the packs (she always does better than I do at picking packs with Mets in them):

2011 ToppsTown David Wright

2010 Allen and Ginter Carlos Beltran

Also, check back tomorrow afternoon as I will be posting contest details!

Carlos and the Killer B

Many thanks to MMosley over at Stats on the Back for two piles of great cards and some old school Mets stuff. I sent him several cards he needed to build the sets he is working on and got some great cards in return. I claimed the Beltran and Biggio cards. The two played together briefly during Beltran's big playoff series in Huston. Here is one of the Biggio cards. I'll give you one guess why I chose to show this one.


I am a big Beltran fan. I feel that he is underrated and has been one of the best producing free agent acquisitions the Mets have made in recent history despite his injuries. There are not many better all around center fielders in the game today (he is a much better hitter than Torii Hunter in my opinion).


I like this card despite all the negative space on the left (reserved for the game used hits I guess).

I also got a good number of pre-Met Beltran cards which was great, because I did not have that many of those already. I particularly liked this one:


Thanks again to MMosley and to Beltran, get healthy soon, your bat will help the Mets' offense.