Even More Cards From Check Out My Cards

This was a Christmas present of sorts to myself, and is once again a shining example of what you can get for $20 on checkoutmycards.com. This was actually $20 and change, since there were some funds left over from my last spree. I used the majority of the leftover funds to pick up a couple of cards to be used in trades. They have already been sent off to their new homes, so you will not be seeing them here. Anyway, enough jibba-jabba, let's get on with the cards.

2006 Allen & Ginter's Nick Markakis mini

I remember the good old days, when Nick wore #61.

2009 Goodwin Champions Buffalo Bill Cody Gypsy Queen mini

Cody's eyes on this card remind me of one of those paintings, you know the ones, with the eyes cut out, that are always following you. Watch a Scooby-Doo episode if you're still unfamiliar.

2008 Upper Deck X Nick Markakis Xponential

Oh the plight of the player collector. This is one of my least favorite sets of all time, but these Xponential inserts are awesome looking. If anyone has the other 50,000 Nick Markakis variations, I'd love to discuss a trade.

2007 Upper Deck Spectrum Nick Markakis Rookie Retrospectrum

Spectrum was released in 2007? I had no idea. This is what checkoutmycards.com is perfect for, picking up base/inserts of your favorite player/team that you wouldn't purchase individually on eBay because the shipping costs just aren't worth it.

2007 Bowman Chrome Nick Markakis refractor

Oooooh... a rainbow.

2008 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Nick Markakis #'d /350

2008 Topps Finest Ed Reed blue refractor

Please get healthy soon Ed, the Ravens need you... desperately.

2008 Topps Finest Ed Reed green refractor #'d /299

2008 Bowman Sterling Ray Rice blue refractor

I love this guy in the most heterosexual way possible. Not only is he going to be the greatest Ravens running back ever, he also led me to one of the two fantasy football championships I won this season.

2006 Playoff National Treasures Haloti Ngata rookie autograph #'d /52

I was pretty psyched to get this card. Ngata is an absolute beast, and is one of the most underrated defensive linemen in the league. Since he used to be a rugby player, I'd love to see the Ravens use him as a ball carrier near the goal line.

2001 Topps Archives Johnny Unitas Memorial Stadium seat relic

Yeah, I know, this card is awesome. There really isn't much more to be said, so I won't bother.

Well there you have it. Another great round of cards picked I picked up on checkoutmycards.com. You can expect plenty of these posts in 2010, since my plan is to do a lot less buying on eBay. I've realized that paying for shipping on eBay is a rip-off, and if there's any other place possible to acquire the cards I want, I am going to that other place, wherever that place may be. While checkoutmycards.com doesn't have the biggest selection in the world, I challenge you to spend 15 minutes poking around and NOT find at least one card you want.

If you look at my sidebar, you'll see that I have added a sales tracker for all cards I am selling on checkoutmycards.com. So far the total is pretty pathetic, but I've also only sold 1 card. Once sales pick up, or I'm patient enough, there should be some store credit to play with in the coming weeks/months.

Wish List Card #10

Yes, it's another Buffalo Bill card again. If you're sick and tired of my borderline obsession with his cards, I suggest you stop reading right now. Before you do though, would you stay if I told you this is only an ALMOST Wish List Card?

What we've got here is a very tiny pic of Upper Deck's Goodwin Champions "Buffalo" Bill Cody relic card. This card could have been incredibly awesome, and is limited to just 5 copies. I say COULD have been incredibly awesome because Upper Deck has a shot to deliver on some serious wild west memorabilia here. Instead, they sort of struck out, at least in my opinion. This card could have featured a swatch of leather from Buffalo Bill's holster, or a piece of clothing or saddle blanket, but instead, this card features a piece of wood from a chair reported to have resided in Cody's home. Not exactly earth shattering, but a card I would still love to own.


It's Fantasy Football Championship Sunday, and I have the privilege of of playing for two titles today. It should be interesting to say the least, with the absolute potential for heartbreak. The past 24 hours have been spent agonizing over my lineup. Peyton Manning has guided my team to a 14-2 record, but there are some doubts this week that he will play a full four quarters. Some people are saying he might not even play two. Even if he does play it's against the Jets #1 ranked pass defense. Ol' Cup O' Joe Flacco is on my bench, and I know he's gonna play the whole game. My Ravens face the Steelers this week in what should be the most physical game in the history of professional football. In the end, I decided to leave my heart out of this, and stick by my boy Peyton. There's money on the line, money which would ultimately translate to at least one box break.

Wish me luck!

2009 Topps Mayo Pack Break

There were 6 cards in this retail pack, but somehow only 5 managed to get scanned. The card that is missing belongs to Mr. Albert Haynesworth. Here are the rest. This is the only pack of Mayo I've opened so far this year, and I've got to say it's really, really, really, really good looking. While there were no Ravens to be found, there were 2 cards in here that I was definitely on the lookout for.

Off to a good start. I've got Beanie on one of my fantasy teams, and think he should be a solid NFL back in the future.

How 90's is that hat? It's so 90's there's a 60% chance it was made by Starter.

Another nice rookie card. I had Harvin on one of my teams this year, but traded him in a deal that netted me Randy Moss.

Sweet! Let's check out the back.

Back to back! Best. Pack. Ever.

Topps Mayo is once again a nice looking football set, much like last year, and in my opinion absolutely matches up to the quality that Allen & Ginter's bring to baseball. Truly "retro" done right.

Enjoy the rest of your football Sunday everyone!

Wish List Card #8

It's been a little while since I've posted a "Wish List Cards" entry. If some of you are sick of hearing about my borderline Buffalo Bill Cody obsession, please feel free to stop reading now, as this Wish List Card once again features the Wild West's founding father.

This card is from the forthcoming 2009 Topps Mayo Football release, which features yet another retro-themed design. Last year's Mayo design was lifted from the original Mayo Cut Plug Tobacco cards, which were originally released in 1895. The origins of this year's design are unknown, and I would assume that it is a Topps' own, with a heavy retro theme. The design however, is not what makes this card awesome. No my friends, what makes this card awesome is the obvious parallel between "Buffalo Bill" and the Indian Head Nickel, which prominently features the image of a buffalo on it's "tails" side (which is showing on the card). Trading cards featuring coins are nothing new, especially not to Topps, who released an insert set, "Currency Connection", which was included in the 2003 Topps Gallery set. Last year's Mayo set also featured cards containing embedded coins, like the Cornelius Vanderbilt card below.


In the past I have always found these cards to be sort of gimmicky, but have to admit that seeing one featuring Buffalo Bill, which was released as a promo image for the upcoming Mayo set, forced my hand, and I'll be the first to admit that this card is pretty sweet looking.

If you're wondering where my interest in Buffalo Bill is rooted, please read THIS post, from a few months back. For those of you wondering why the hell Buffalo Bill Cody manages to find his way into so many sports card releases, I can't help you with that one. It's a mystery to me, and one that I am happy with.

Wish List Card #5

1887 Allen & Ginter's "Buffalo" Bill Cody
With Allen & Ginter's already being everywhere this month, I figured what better time than the present to feature an original 1887 as my latest "Wish List Card".

If you happened to have read THIS post, then you already know that I have a special place in my heart for Mr. Cody, and the town he founded, which I visited on a trip to Yellowstone a few years back. For some reason I don't remember seeing a copy of this card in his museum, but since it's technically his rookie card, it certainly seems to belong there.

I only know of a few people who are actually collecting this set (Dayf?) and it appears that even in poor condition these cards still seem to fetch a pretty penny on eBay. I realize this is most likely another of those cards that will permanently, and sadly remain on my wish list, and never actually make it into my collection.

It's a shame really, because this is a beautiful "O.G." A&G card. Not to mention that awesome handlebar mustache & goatee combo that The Buff is rockin'. That look, along with the sideburns that grow into the mustache really need to make a comeback one of these days.

The Wild, Wild West- A Trade Post

More booty from the great 2008 A&G tradeaway keeps rollin in. Reader Allan contacted me shortly after the post had gone up stating that he was in need, but that he didn't have much in the way of Orioles to send back in return. Allan has recently gotten back into collecting, so it sounded like he didn't have a huge reserve to be able to trade away. That was just fine with me, since I wasn't looking for a lot. Mainly, I just wanted to unload the 2 boxes of doubles that were accumulated while building this set.

Allan had mentioned in his first email that he had recently opened a box of American Heritage and was wondering if there were any cards I would be interested in. Well, there is only 1 card from that set that I really want, and it's the Buffalo Bill Cody refractor. I knew it was a long shot, but I responded, and let Allan know that there was really only 1 card I wanted. As fate would have it, the one and ONLY refractor he pulled from his box was indeed of none other than Buffalo Bill. I sent Allan 100+ A&G cards from his want list last week, and today, this arrived in the mailbox:

2009 Topps American Heritage #C18 Buffalo Bill Cody Refractor #26/76
Believe it or not, Buffalo Bill holds a very special place in my heart. In the fall of 2006 I was lucky enough to travel to Yellowstone for a week, and spent a few nights in the town of Cody, which was founded by and named after the infamous Buffalo Bill. Cody is a really cool little town, and Yellowstone is by far the most amazing and beautiful place I have ever been.

There really isn't much in Cody, I mean it is in northwestern Wyoming, but aside from it's rustic western charm, the next best thing about it is the Buffalo Bill Museum. It's actually like 4 museums in one since in the same building there is also a Firearms Museum, Native American Art Museum & Western Life Museum. Anyway, I hardly knew anything about Buffalo Bill prior to my trip out west, and I must say that I was pretty impressed with all that he accomplished and stood for. He is most famous for his traveling Wild West Show, which featured sharp shooter Annie Oakley (of Allen & Ginter fame), but you may be surprised to know that he was also a devout conservationist, and supporter of Native American rights. At the turn of the 20th century Buffalo Bill Cody was one of the most recognizable and famous people in the world (what a strange and different place that must have been). He was also a rider for the fabled "Pony Express", and server as a scout for the U.S. Army during the late 1860's, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in 1872.

Anyway, enough with the history lesson. I figured this would be an ideal post to show off some of the photos I snapped on my trip to Cody & Yellowstone.

This is the Irma Hotel in downtown Cody. The hotel is one of the original building constructed by Buffalo Bill himself. Pretty cool to think he may have drank his Sarsaparilla and gambled in this very structure.

Next up is a hilarious traveling cowboy hat shop. This thing was set-up just off the main drag outside of Cody proper.

Next up, the first of several images from Yellowstone itself. The first is pretty iconic, and if you don't know what it is, you definitely didn't pay attention in school. Shame on you! I don't know who the people are in this picture (I swear!) They were sitting in front of me, and I thought the composition looked cool. That guy's ponytail might be more impressive than Old Faithful on this day.

This was actually in the Grand Tetons, which is right below Yellowstone. It doesn't matter, I'm sure Buffalo Bill was still there, or at least close by at some point. Jenny Lake is the happy place I take my mind to when times are tough.

The river behind the flowers is called the Boiling River. Trust me, it's called that for good reason. There was a swimming hole nearby, where the boiling Boiling River flows into the freezing cold Gardner River. We took a dip, it was awesome! As for the flowers, what can I say, I'm a sensitive guy.
Lastly, we have 2 wildlife pics. This first one screams wild west in my opinion.

I don't have a zoom lens on my digital camera, so we were literally 5 feet from this monster bull elk. He didn't seem to mind, thankfully. If you click on the image to view it full sized, you can see the water dripping from this beasts mouth.

Oh, Alan also sent me this card, which is the last one needed for my Orioles team set. The floating heads are way creepy, but everyone has already commented on that.

Thanks Alan! The Buffalo Bill refractor means more to me than you'll ever know.