A Good Problem To Have...

is a cardboard problem. I've been reading their blog for quite a while, but had never made a trade with either of the ladies of A Cardboard Problem. Recently Marie offered up some bball cards to whoever wanted them, all you had to do was name a team. So guess what I asked for... that's right, Mavs! Marie was looking for some Lakers in return, so I gathered some up, threw in a Robbie Cano to top them off and sent them on their way to NY. This is what showed up in our mailbox.

We've got 2009-10 & 2010-11 Rookies and Stars as well as 2010-11 Prestige. I wonder if Ro Blackman wishes the shorts had been longer when he played.

There were also a few cards from 2010-11 Threads. I really like the inclusion of the occasional old-school Mav, in this case Sam Perkins. The jersey die cut cards are also pretty cool. This Kidd one is the only other one I have besides Dirk's home & away from last season.

From 2010-11 Donruss, I received a Production Line insert of Brendan Haywood and the Maverick team card. The Jet Terry card is from last years Studio line. I liked that set, but haven't heard anything yet about it returning this year. It had some really nice photography that was easy to overlook because the shots were used in the black & white background portion of the card.

The last 2 cards are of the Mavericks lone rookie this year Dominique Jones. DoJo hasn't gotten much playing time this season and is currently on the DL but he has looked promising in his stint in the D League and the few minutes he's managed to get in the NBA. Now all I need is a regular rookie card and I'll have a trifecta!

Thanks for the great cards Marie. Anytime you can get rid of some Lakers and turn them into Mavs, it's a great trade in my book! Later.

I Could Swear I've Seen Those Cards Recently

Okay, here's that rack pack of Donruss basketball cards I mentioned a few posts ago. The rack packs are really the best way to go if you're looking for a good value. You really can't beat 40 cards for $4.99. Also, if you like sparkly cards, rack packs give you the funky, prism Production Line inserts that are just plain white in regular packs. Let's take a look at the top half.

The top half held 21 cards including 2 of the sparkly PL inserts, Pau & Amare. We also scored a Jersey Kings relic card of the Wolves' Johnny Flynn (notice the large blank space for sticker auto parallel). Among the base we got a Nate Robinson for Nobie's player collection and a Kirilenko for mine. There was also a Brendan Haywood to add to the Mavs collection. Pretty good so far. Let's check the bottom half.

The bottom half had 20 cards in it, which makes for a total of 41! Wow, the relic card was actually extra I guess. We also got 2 more shiny PL inserts and 3 Rated Rookies. Nobie picked up a Durantula for his PC and I got a Marc Gasol for mine. Once again, not bad. That is until you look closely at those 20 cards from the bottom section. Do you see the problem?

That's right. Unbelievably, the bottom section has SEVEN duplicates from the top portion. That's nuts. Talk about poor collation. I really like this set, but there is no excuse for this type of poor quality control or whatever you want to call it. I guess that's why they gave me 41 cards, huh? Later.

Meet The New Guys.

I've decided I need to add some new blood to my list of players I collect. Since Michael Finley has retired and Kidd and Nash may not be too far behind, I'm left with a decreasing list of current players. Even Dirk only has maybe 3 or 4 years left and that would leave me with only Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Andrei Kirilenko as current guys in my collection. So I'm gonna add a few. Now I probably won't become a super collector of any of these guys like I am with Dirk and Finley, but they are guys I like to watch play.

First up is Pau's little brother Marc, though he's not actually "littler" than Pau. I keep thinking Marc may become a dominant big man. So far, he's a good big man though he's still pretty young with quite a bit of upside.

The Birdman is another guy I'm gonna add mostly because he's just wild-ass and fun to watch. He's also got some pretty cool cards out there like this one. He's pretty much the white Rodman, though nowhere near as great a player. He seems like the kinda guy most people would hate as an opponent, but wouldn't mind so much if he was on your own team.

Up next is Aaron Brooks, speedy little point guard for the Rockets. Being in the same division as the Mavs, I've seen him quite a bit. Last year he was the league's most improved player and while his playing time has lessened a bit this year he's still a big part of their team. He's had some injury issues this season as well that have slowed him down a bit.

Speaking of speedy guys Monta Ellis has torn the Mavs up a time or two. In Monta's second season, the Warriors knocked the Mavs out in the first round of the playoffs and Monta had a couple of good games that caught my eye. Now he's the Warriors' best scorer and arguably their best player.

Another of the Warriors' best players is David Lee who came over from the Knicks this year. David is one of those hard workin' guys who can do it all. I was really hoping the Mavs could have brought him here somehow during this last free agent period. Oh well.

Speaking of hard workers, this guy may be the hardest working of them all right now. K Love is averaging 21 pts and 15 rebounds per game this season thanks to a league leading 51 double doubles. That's some greatness. So there you go, just a few of the younger guys I'm gonna add to keep my collection relevant over the next few years. Later.

I Know Blake Griffin's Secret...

to being awesome. It's simple really, just look at all the proof I've found.

YOU'VE

GOT

TO

PUT

YOUR

DUNK

FACE

ON!

Later.

2 Pack Donruss Basketball Review

I know these have been out for a few weeks but I haven't gotten around to reviewing them here yet. This post was actually started a week ago, but then we lost power for a few days during our wonderful Texas winter storm and I'm just now getting back to it. Blogging hasn't been much of a priority for me lately, so sue me. Anyway, lets get to it.

Panini didn't put out a "flagship" set this year so it seems Donruss is taking it's place. You get 10 cards per pack and the set features a larger player list from each team than any of Panini's other offerings so far this season. It's got John Wall on the wrapper, Mr. "I finished second in Rookie of the Year Voting". Blake'll win, for sure.

The card design is a throwback/tribute to one of Donruss's old baseball sets. I don't remember which year and don't care to look it up now. I like the design even though they decided to tweak the colors somewhat and make them look "old school". It's kinda weird at first, but I've gotten used to it. Every team has the same color treatment and a little dash of foil stamp for the Donruss logo.

This is what the backs look like. Nice and simple retro design. All the usual player info and multiple lines of stats unless you've only played one year like Jonas here.

Besides the standard base design there are Rated Rookie and Team Photo cards as well. The Production Line card is one of the insert sets included. This one is die cut though you can hardly tell, just the top is cut at a slant. What's the point really? This would also be called the non-auto non-relic version. (Distinguished by the subtle use of white space.)

Pack 2 yielded these base cards. Nice that I got a Dirk rockin' a sweet headband and Andrei Kirilenko doing his best Tom Chambers impression. Go ahead and research it. AK47 with the long 'do and Tom, separated at birth?

These are the Rated Rookies and Team card that came in pack 2. Nothing special here, but there was one more card.

A Kobe Production Line jersey card with a nice purple swatch. The cool thing about this was, half the packs at the store had been opened and put back, but Mr. Packsearcher missed this one. I'll have to say that I really like this set though I don't have plans on building it. I've grabbed a few other packs since these including an interesting rack pack I'll post about some other time. Later.

More Stuff from Orioles Lovers.

We got a big box in the mail the other day full of stuff and I wasn't even expecting it. Ryan and Kalina send us a package in exchange for some custom cards I made for them and I didn't even remember that they were gonna send something in return. Well, they did. I think it was a 500 count box filled with all kinds of stuff for each of us. Here are just a few of the highlights.

Baby Peas received a bunch of mascots for her collection. These are all minor league cards from teams I'm not at all familiar with. It would appear, however, that Ryan and Kalina must go to quite a few minor league games. Around here we manage to go to a Grand Prairie Air Hogs game every once in awhile. They've got a interesting mascot named Ace Bacon, I think. He's a pig in an old school pilots jacket complete with goggles and scarf. Baby Peas thinks he's pretty cool.

Inside the box were also cards of several of my favorite players to collect. Here are a few Ichiro and Pudge cards that I didn't already have. Besides Pudge they also sent me a TON of other catchers, way too many to post here though.

Another of my favorites is Ozzie Smith. I got quite a few of the Wizard in the box here are the top 10.

There were even more Tony Gwynns included, so I picked 10 of the best ones to show here. I really like the one in the middle of the bottom row. It looks like Tony is engulfed in a giant wave. That's some 90s cheesy goodness. Thanks, again Ryan and Kalina for the great cards. Check out their blog at The Great Orioles Autograph Project. Later.