Redemptions (Finally)

Last week (or the week before that) these 3 cards finally showed up in the mail. The scans all look pretty awful, and that's mainly due to scratched up top loaders, and not damaged cards. I've got to say that I am a little disappointed that the "Red Hot Rookies" aren't refractors this year like they were last year. I'm also disappointed that it took Topps SEVEN MONTHS to get get these cards in collector's hands. They aren't autographed, and don't contain pieces of "game used" memorabilia, so what was the hold up Topps? Oh, and by the way, I am still waiting on my Ginter Ryan Braun auto. Will it arrive before the world ends in 2012.... that is the question.


Hanson & Borbon are both for trade. If anyone is interested, leave a comment or drop me a quick email.

Of Turk-Offs, Law Breaking & Drunkeness

Precisely a week before Christmas there was a blizzard predicted to blanket the mid-Atlantic region with between one and two feet of snow. Predictions were correct, and last Friday night, it started snowing at my house. The good news is that last Friday afternoon a box arrived from Motherscratcher. It was my Turk-Off 2 winnings, and arrived in the nick of time.

I'll start with what was clearly the highlight of the package:
Yeah, that's right, Motherscratcher sent me a six-pack. Not just any six pack. This stuff is like 7.5% alcohol! What Motherscratcher doesn't know is that he is now a criminal, and I am outing him. You see my friends, it is ILLEGAL to send alcohol through the mail to Maryland. Way to commit a felony dude. It really means a lot to me that you go to such great lengths to ensure that I would not be without the proper libations during such a time of need as blizzard. If they have internet access from prison, maybe you'll post more often.

Packing up this six-pack for shipping was clearly a labor of love, as each bottle was individually bubble-wrapped and placed in a Ziploc freezer bag, which was also once again bubble wrapped. It certainly appears that Motherscratcher has done this before, and is most definitely not an amateur. Wouldn't that also make him a repeat offender?

As if an unexpected sixer the day of the biggest snowstorm in the past 5 years wasn't enough, Motherscratcher also sent over a few great cards, and some random packs, which has become his modus operandi. If you've ever traded with him, surely you catch my drift.

2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear Derrick Mason Player Timeline #'d /500

2009 Topps 206 Nick Markakis Old Mill relic

This completes my Markakis 206 framed relic rainbow. You haven't seen the Polar Bear framed version yet, but you shall. Oh yes... you shall.

2009 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection Nolan Reimold rookie autograph

Shweeeeet! As if the Markakis relic wasn't already enough. Reimold put together a pretty solid rookie campaign, after playing his way onto the team with a strong spring season. Whether or not he is "the truth" will largely be determined by his performance next year.

In amongst the pile of old Stadium Club and Fleer Ultra packs that Motherscratcher sent me, were a few packs of '08 Stadium Club retail. I ripped the first one, and found this puppy waiting for me inside, begging to be redeemed.

Thanks a lot for one of the most excellent and timely packages in the history of mail service, Motherscratcher. I enjoyed the Great Lakes Christmas Ale very much, but I do have a question for you. Is it normal to walk into walls and stuff after you drink it?

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE CUSTOM HOLIDAY CARD! ENTRIES ARE POSTED HERE, AND VOTING IS OPEN UNTIL TOMORROW AFTERNOON.

Trades From Around the Blogosphere

It's a snowy, snowy day here in Baltimore. I have lived here for 23 years, and in all of that time do not recall a time where they were actually predicting twenty-four inches of the white stuff! We're absolutely getting pummeled right now, and there's already a good eight inches already on the ground. What better time than now to feature some trades that came in late last week. I'm always a week or so behind in posting everything, and right now the "to scan" pile is about as tall as the snow is deep.

First up we have some cards from Marie over at a Cardboard Problem. Her and I had a bit of an issue a while back, over a potential trade that had gone sour. Nothing squashes that quite like a great trade, and that's exactly what transpired. I sent over a Pujols Finest refractor, along with a few other cards, and in exchange received the following:

2009 Topps 206 Nolan Reimold Piedmont mini

2009 Topps 206 Nolan Reimold gold

2009 Ballpark Collection Quad Swatch Markakis/McLouth/Jones/Braun

Hatchet buried. This card features game-used swatches from my 2 favorite current Orioles, and it simply doesn't get much better than that. At least to me anyway.

2005 Donruss Zenith EPIX Cal Ripken Jr. blue #150/150

2005 Donruss Zenith EPIX Cal Ripken Jr. red #391/500

Next up are 2 random cards of what I have dubbed the "Brewtown Beardies". I don't remember who these cards came from, whether it was Night Owl, Ryan's Memorabilia, or Mark's Ephemera who sent them along, or why. My guess would be that they thought I collected cards of dudes with sweet beards, which I don't. Until right now that is. As of this moment, I officially collect cards of dudes with awesome beards, sports and non-sports alike.

1990 Upper Deck Bryan Clutterbuck

1991 Leaf Ron Robinson

Clutterbuck has nothing on Robinson. That is one sweet ginger beard right there. I heart 1991 Leaf, what a great set.

Next up are some cards I received from reader Shane. He was interested in a Steve Bechler autograph card that Old School Breaks had traded me a few months back. While I am not generally in the business of trading away Orioles cards, Shane is a Steve Bechler player collector, so I knew the card would be headed to the right place. To say I got a lot in return would be an understatement.

2001 Donruss Classics Frank Robinson Legendary Lumberjacks bat relic

2000 Ultimate Victory Cal Ripken Jr. Diamond Dignitaries

2008 Topps Heritage Brooks Robinson Clubhouse Collection relic

This appears to be that old woolen material they used to make jerseys out of. Score!

2000 Fleer Gamers Cal To Greatness Cal Ripken Jr.

Thanks for the great trades guys! Assuming I am not buried alive by an avalanche, there should most certainly be another post or two to follow today. After all, what else do I have to do aside from clean, which I'm currently on the lam from at the moment. I've gone AWOL from housework.

Booty From a Couple of Group Breaks

First up to bat is I am Joe Collector, who's monthly breaks are consistently affordable (less than $20/team), and over the long run have turned out to be a pretty good deal for me. Sure, there have been some rough months, and without the Reimold auto that was pulled for me this past month, this would have been another, but there have also been some great months, and I've gotten some nice cards, and built some team sets in the process. That was definitely a run on sentence, and I think the word "and" was used at least 3 times. That's been a no-no since 3rd grade. This past month's break was a couple of boxes of 2006 Legendary Cuts, and a few boxes of 2009 Topps Chrome.


Here are the '06 Legendary Cuts. I didn't get any of the hits from these boxes, but I also didn't have a single base card before this either.




All of my favorite Orioles, and Boog rockin the baby blues. Why they chose blue, the world may never know. Perhaps they thought it was grey. It may in fact be grey, but always appears blueish to me.



I mentioned the Reimold earlier, and even though I already have a copy of this card, that was traded to me by The Mojo Hand, it's still nice to get an autograph hit from a group break.



Speaking of autograph hits from a group break, Saints of the Cheap Seats also held a group break last month, which was also quite affordable. For right around $20 you got 2 hits from a case of 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection. This was the first of Dan's breaks that I had participated in, and it worked out pretty well for me, as I came away with 2 autographs of 2 AL East rivals, which means they should serve as decent trade bait.



Oh yeah, I also got a base card of Stephen Drew. I remember working on a potential D-Backs for O's trade with someone, but the name escapes me at the moment. Perhaps they'll be interested in this card?


Thanks to Joe Collector, and Saints of the Cheap Seats for taking the time & energy to host a group break. If you haven't already checked out either of their blogs, you should do that. All you've got to do is click a stupid link. Don't be lazy. Joe Collector just added a couple of new monthly breaks, one for baseball, and one for football. There are teams still available if you're interested. Dan, from Saints of the Cheap Seats recently pulled himself a pretty sweet card from Sweet Spot, and may just win himself a "Pull of the Year award, so you should check that out as well.

Catching Up Pt. 2

Alrighty then, here we go with another round of trades I received last week. First up are a few cards from Jay of The Mojo Hand. If you read this blog, you're already pretty familiar with Jay, and his blessed mojo hand. He has quite the collection, and is insanely generous when he pulls a card would be a perfect fit for another collector. This first card is exhibit 1A.

2009 Topps Chrome Nolan Remold rookie autograph

I REALLY wanted this card, and now I've got it. The season this kid had was b-a-n-a-n-a-s, especially when you consider that he was picked as the 7th or 8th best prospect in the Orioles organization before the season began. I don't think he'll win the R.O.Y award, but he's definitely in the conversation.

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's Invisible Man mini

Not the last of these cards you'll see in this post. This one is probably the lamest of all, but Topps was able to make it into a serviceable gimmick. I saw an Invisible Man auto sell for over $550 last night. Now THAT'S bananas!

Next up are some amazing cards from Ryan of Card Cache fame. He is another very generous trader, and isn't shy about sending out cards he knows will bring joy to others. How else do you explain the awesome Orioles cards that he sent over?

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces "Captured on Canvas" Cal Ripken Jr.

Oh Masterpieces, how I miss thee..

2007 Upper Deck Exquisite "The Future" Nick Markakis gold auto #04/15

This is the second low numbered Markakis autograph that Ryan has sent me. I don't know where he gets the Markakis mojo, but I'm glad he shares it.

2009 Upper Deck Legendary Cuts Cal Ripken Jr./Miguel Tejada dual relic

I have no clue what the Miggy relic actually is. It looks like maybe some sort of leather or plastic, and has some sort of glossy finish to it. We'll just go ahead and say it's either a B-12 relic, or a piece of Miguel's "birth certificate". Whatever it is, it sure looks a lot older than Cal's jersey swatch.

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's Mike Jacobs Bazooka back mini #08/25

This was actually won in a random contest held by Card Cache. It's already earmarked for darkship, since I owe him for all the kick-ass cards he sent me a few weeks ago.

To round things out, here are a few more Ginter Creatures that I scored from Card Cache on checkoutmycards.com. To be fair, he listed these cards without the knowledge that I needed them, but he gave me such a good deal on them, that I didn't mind having to buy them. After crossing these 3 off my want list, I am only 3 cards shy of completion. This will be a fun and interesting set to be able to show off when it's finished.

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's Yeti mini

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's Loch Ness Monster mini

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's Vampire mini

Thanks for the great cards guys, and as always, it was a pleasure trading with both of you.

There's still one more trade from last week to be posted, from wickedortega of My Past TIme.... I Love It. He also sent me over some great cards, and will have his moment in the sun tomorrow.

In the meantime, is anyone else watching this Tigers-Twins game? EPIC!

Officially On The Hunt

For Topps Red Hot Rookie redemption #5. Topps announced yesterday that #5 on the Red Hot Rookie list is none other than Nolan Reimold, and I just have to have this card.

If anyone out there in the great ether has this card, and is willing to trade, please contact me.

Who Sent Me These Cards?

I've been caught up in the rapture of Gint-A-Cuffs for the past week, and was on vacation for a few days as well. As a result, there is a giant stack of cards on my end table that have been sent my way by various awesome folk, and unfortunately, I've lost track of who sent what.

This first card somehow managed to sneak right by me, even though I've been looking for a copy of it for at least a week now. I sure was surprised and happy as hell to see it, but am not sure where it came from. The prime suspect is Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius, but I can neither confirm nor deny such allegations at this time. If it was you, please own up to it. I plan on putting together a boatload of trade packages later this week, and there might be something extra in it for you if you do.

Behold! This is my first card of the other bearded wonder, and officially can be crossed off the list of cards needed in my pursuit of the Burke Kenny Octo-fecta. Which may end up becoming a penta-fecta if I end up pursuing the silk & printing plates as well.

2009 Allen & Ginter's #61 Burke Kenny

I just took a blog break and ate some pho. It was delicious, but my mouth is on fire. Ok, let's get back to the cards.

This next one was in the same team bag as the Kenny, so I'm going to assume it's from the same person. Bedard is a wussy, and thankfully he and the time he spends being stand-offish while on the D.L., is now a problem for the Seattle Mariners. Thanks for Adam Jones & George Sherrill... suckers!

2006 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Eric Bedard

Alright, up next are 2 cards I am just about fifty percent half sure are actually from Matt.
I must have at least 3 copies of this first card by now, but Ginter relics are nice looking, so even if I'm not the biggest Tejada fan, it's a nice looking card to look at.

2007 Allen & Ginter's Miguel Tejada jersey relic

Matt (I think) followed that great card by sending me an ultra rare error card as well. This bat card is obviously mis-identified. It says right there on the card, "authentic game-worn jersey", but I'm pretty sure that's a chunk of wood inside that hollowed out "B". Brian looks none too pleased about this obvious oversight. Look at him, he refuses to even look in the general direction of the mistake. This card has to be rare, since it's an error, and will probably fetch a ton of cash on eBay. Make me an offer for it, so I can laugh in your face.

2006 Bowman Heritage Brian Roberts Pieces of Greatness

Let's round out this post with a card who's origins I am 100% positive about, shall we? This card came from eBay, and is the first Nolan Reimold card in my collection, and I hope not the last. The scan just makes me think about how dirty my scanner bed is at the moment. The nicest thing about this card is that you know exactly which game it was allegedly worn in. Oh, and that is tape along the top there, and no worries, it's just on the top loader. I hate when sellers do that, but they all seem to.

2006 Bowman Nolan Reimold Futures Game Worn Jersey

Well, that's all from me for tonight. Matt, if all of these cards are from you, then I thank you very much. Even if they aren't all from you, the one's that I'm fifty percent half sure are from you are great too, so thanks for those. If they aren't from Matt, and are in fact from some mystery sender, please identify yourself so you can be properly thanked for officially kicking off the Burke Kenny collection.