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.

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!

Topps 2011 Waits Another Day: Game Used Edition

So I checked walmart and target again today with no luck, my local sports card store did have boxes of both packs and jumbo but was only selling them by the box.  So, instead of Topps 2011 I ended up with some cool game used stuff and a Logan Morrison rookie card.

First up is my second David Wright game used card. 2008 Topps Highlights.  One thing I like about this card is that the back actually has some cool statistics which most game used cards do not.  Mine also has a blue pinstripe unlike the one depicted below (I'm always a fan of a more interesting jersey piece).

I also grabbed this Quad Swatch card from 2009 UD Ballpark Collection.  I couldn't pass up a single card with jersey pieces from four great players from the same team that all helped the Red Sox win the Series in 2007.  I don't really root for the Red Sox too much anymore, but I was still rooting for them in 2007 and I collect all four of these players, so I was happy with the find. Some of these quad patch cards have strange combinations of players, but this one makes a lot of sense.

Let me know what you think, and in the meantime I'll keep enjoying other people's posts of 2011 Topps.

Wait Until The Year 2020?

Now that the World Series is over, most of us get to thinking about next year.  Clearly I'd be happy if the Mets turned it around next season and became serious playoff contenders, and I do think it is possible.  However, realistically I realize it might take more than next season for the Mets to get things straightened out, especially if Santana is not able to pitch like himself for almost the entire season.

So, courtesy of a card I got in a recent trade with reader Jimmy Le, I am going to make my expectations a bit more modest and hope the Mets win at least one more World Championship by 2020!

Jimmy does have a relatively new blog so check it out! He is a great trader with broad collecting goals, so there is a good chance you have some cards he'd like and can work out a deal with him.  He sent me a bunch of other David Wright and Jose Reyes cards that I needed for my player collections in addition to the above beauty.

Shelliebee Rocks... Pun Intended

For those of you who don't know Shelliebee is a Rockies fan with a great card blog.  Check it out if you have not already.  So she and I completed a trade about a month ago in which I sent her a Dexter Fowler auto and a bunch of Rockies for a bunch of Mets that I collect.  It worked out for both of us. 

Then, she broke a box of Topps Chrome and pulled an Ike Davis refractor.

I have been looking for any Ike Davis cards I can get my hands
on, so I was very grateful when she sent it my way.

However, the generosity did not end there, she also sent me a bunch of other Mets that she pulled including a David Wright Xfractor. I did not even know there was a difference but the Xfractor has the checkerboard look and the Ike Davis does not and looks like a normal Chrome to me other than the word refractor next to the number on the back of the card.

When she told me she was sending me this jewel I was overjoyed.

 

Not just a David Wright relic card, of which I had none, but my favorite brand of relic card (A&G) and a blue piece of jersey (Met blue being my favorite color).  Seriously, I could have hardly asked for a better card!

So thank you Shelliebee, and I will be sending some cards your way though nothing as cool as these gems unfortunately.

The Hatless Horsemen aka Topps 206 Mets

So I stopped at a mini card show this past weekend.  Many of the dealers were packing up, but I found one that had a bunch of 2010 stuff unsorted in large boxes and was happy to wait around as I poked through them.  One of the benefits to being a Met fan in the Chicagoland area is that Mets are pretty much thrown in with the commons.  This guy had a whole bunch of Mets mixed in with his 2010 Topps 206, so I picked up a bunch.

First, I found a Jackie Robinson.  Not a Met I know, but he still fits in with this theme since the Citi Field entrance is a fitting ode to him.

Look ma, no hat!

Next came a trio of pitchers.

The Ace

The Up-and-comer

The Kid

And a trio of hitters, now more question marks than exclamation points unfortunately.

This card perfectly summed up Beltran's season, nice work Topps!

The one Met hitter who had a very good year.

 His smile can still light up a field.

And finally, one I picked up in a trade rather than at the card show.  A Tom Seaver mini piedmont!

Hats off to madding over at Cards on Cards for this terrific, puns intended, throw in.  I will probably get around to posting the central card in the trade another day.

I'd be interested to hear what other Mets fans think of these.  I don't mind these hatless cards, but maybe the Mets just have interesting looking heads even without the caps.

Blue is my favorite color, especially when next to Orange

David Wright just hit a homerun to put the Mets up by five runs on the Marlins on this fine Saturday. That reminded me of a card, which I got in the mail this week from EdS over at Roll Out the Barrel.


Now refractors are pretty cool, I mean even the name is cool. However, a BLUE refractor is another step up from refractors of other colors. It just looks so right on a card of a Met like this one.

Now EdS sent me a bunch of other David Wright cards and Mets stuff in general, all of which I am very appreciative of. Yet, I wanted to highlight this gem: A Julio Franco card.


First, this is fun because I did not already have a Julio Franco card in a Mets uni. Second, this card is hilarious because Mr. Franco clearly has a sawed off bat on the front of a card lauding his hitting prowess. Third, I find a foil card of old man Julio to be funny in itself. It seems to me that Julio Franco, at his age in this card, should only be on nice cardboard only cards.

Anyway, enjoy your Saturday, thanks again EdS, and hopefully Jon Niese and the Mets can hold off the Marlins the rest of the way.

Let's Go Mets!

Two Gems from the Card Show

For those of you in Northern IL today is your last chance to visit the card show I went to on Friady at the Hawthorne mall in Vernon Hills IL. I really wanted to post on two of the other cards I got there Friday.

The first is a 2007 Topps Sterling Base David Wright to go along with my White Suede Boarder version:


This looks more like traditional leather than suede and is numbered to 250 rather than 50 like the suede. Either way it looks nice next to the white suede one in my binder. I know the boxes are insanely expensive, but I like the base cards.

Second, is this game used Piazza bat card:

I really like the game used bat cards that are burned with extra embellishments. This may actually be the most intricate of those types of game used bat cards that I've seen. Both the shape and the design of the bat piece are pretty cool. While I am no Rangers or Astros fan, I would think this insert would look even cooler for those teams player considering the star design.

Hopefully Santana can win the match up of the lefties today. Let's go Mets!

Rain Out Theater: Clear Cut Card of the Week

2007 Topps Sterling #68 Framed White Suede

David Wright

Materials: Suede + Foil + Cardstock

The Card: I always find one thing especially difficult when buying cards from COMC.com, figuring out from the picture and description exactly what I am going to get. I took a bit of a chance on this one. Clearly from the card label as "Framed White Suede" I thought this would be an ideal addition to my collection of cards made of alternate materials. At the same time I have been fooled before by nice looking pictures and misleading labels. I took the risk since the print run was low and the 1/1 cherrywood cards from Sterling (which I am sure I will never get my hands on) were clearly made of cherrywood. Fortunately for me, this purchase had a happy ending as the card really is made of suede and so looks and feels great! The only think I enjoy more than cards of alternate materials are cards of players I collect made from alternate materials.

The Suede: So this is white suede with foil on the front of the card mounted on very thick card stock. The suede layer itself is no more than a few millimeters thick, about the thickness of a normal base card, but the card itself is a couple centimeters thick. The back is a matte finish cardstock.

Suede itself is sort of the opposite of normal leather, made from the inside of the animal hide rather than the exterior side and as a result relatively delicate rather than tough like traditional leather. Whereas leather is tanned with the addition of a chemical and/or heat, suede is produced by manually raising, or napping, fibers from the surface of the animal hide to give suede its characteristic napped appearance. While I am not sure of the natural color of suede, which I am sure does vary, I am reasonably sure that one must bleach the animal hide to get it to be this white.*

All in all, it is a nice card of Wright who I still think will end up having a great 2010.

Anyone know if 2008 Sterling "base" cards are actually made of black suede as well? If so, if anyone has any Mets for trade from that set let me know.

*Got my background information on Suede here

Happy Easter & David Wright Thank You

First off, Happy Easter everyone. As I am a big NL fan, my celebration of Opening Day starts tomorrow, and there will be a big celebration as I am hosting a party of sorts on Monday. For now though I wanted to send out a thank you to William over at Foul Bunt. I sent him some Brady Anderson cards I had accumulated over the years and the package he sent me back almost doubled my David Wright collection in addition to providing me with some other great stuff. Here is just a sampling of the cards he sent:


The texture on this UD Ovations card is great.



I fell in love with this Propaganda Posters insert set from Topps Update 2009. In fact, I am trying to put together the whole set. If you have any you would be willing to part with check my want list for my needs and shoot me an email. I could see how some people might not have liked this insert set, but it immediately stuck me. I would be interested to know what others think about it.


Here's a Sweet Spot, and here's to hoping Wright finds the sweet spot of his bat connecting with more baseballs causing more HRs this year. I personally did not think Wright had a terrible year last year, but I still hope he has a better one this year. We will begin to see tomorrow!


Turkey Red: textured and a painted effect means I was a fan. This is kind of a funny looking pose for Wright, but the colors in the background are cool.


Last, but certainly not least, I got this 2010 Topps Town David Wright from the great guys over at Opening Day Cards along with a Topps Million Card Giveaway redemption card (I ended up with a 2006 Matt Treanor whose wife, Misty May, has a better professional sports career than he does at the moment). Anyway, I strongly encourage you to check out Opening Day Cards. They are in the running for Upper Deck's best blog contest, so at least check out their site so you can make an educated decision on who to vote for.

Mail Day

So I ended up getting four packages in one day earlier this week, needless to say it was a fun day.

The largest pack was a trade with Madding over at Cards on Cards. I sent some Cardinals and got some nice Mets in return. Here are some highlights.

First, I found this card to be hilarious. I'd love to see posts of other "Words of Wisdom" cards. Now I thought Willie was a good manager in general, but still this is just funny.


I also got this 2010 Opening Day Carlos Delgado card which I can add to my growing collection of Topps 2010 Delgado cards.


Now Madding sent me a bunch of great stuff which I am not listing, but this next card is to make a point. Here is an Opening Day Topps Town David Wright.




Compare that with this Andrew McCutchen Topps Town card that was generously bestowed on me (I like Andrew McCutchen) by Matt over at Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius as part of his 2010 Topps Giveaway. This was in package number two along with a bunch of other great Topps base stuff I requested.


Even if you are adamantly against these Topps Town cards, you have to admit that this is one place where the Opening Day release has the advantage over the regular Topps set. The Opening Day version is so much nicer.

As for package number three that contained the results of my first group break conducted by the great Thorzul over at Thorzul Will Rule. It was a lot of fun, and I even got a hit: this nice red parallel numbered to 249. I appreciated the base too. I will be looking forward to future breaks with Thorzul if and when he chooses to have them.


Next on the list of packages contained this Keven Youkalis from the great guys over at Opening Day Cards. It was extra nice of them to give this one and the Prince Fielder up as Joe and Chris are Brewers and Red Sox fans respectively. Seriously, check out their site as they post some very cool videos of breaks and give away lots of free cards. Go initially for the cards and then keep going back for the videos. Thanks again guys for this nice looking card.


Last, I'd like to round out the post with this Daniel Murphy card in anticipation of Opening Day (which, incidentally, I consider to be Monday not Sunday). I hope that Murphy has a nice season this year and can fit into the Mets' plans next year as well. For some reason, I really like this particular card. It especially vivid, down to the unimaginative Inaugural Season at Citi Field patch on Muphy's sleeve (don't worry the patch on the cap was much nicer). Well thanks again to everyone who sent me some cards!