Secret Santa Time!

Well, I suppose it is my turn to reveal what I got from my Secret Santa. Sarah from A Rookie (baseball) Card Collector was kind enough to put the whole thing together. I don't know for sure who my Secret Santa was, but I do have a pretty good idea. I just want to thank whoever it was for sending a great package with a little something for everyone in the family. On with the reveal.

Inside the larger box we had several small wrapped packages and a Christmas card wishing us "Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Festivus for the rest of us! Happy Holidays from the ghost writer of your card blogging Secret Santa - bwaaahahahaaa!" Sounds kind of evil with the handwritten laugh on the end and since it was written by a ghost writer our handwriting analysis would be of no help!

Here are some of the miscellaneous items included: a 1987 Broncos schedule featuring John Elway, a 2009 Cubs schedule, an empty 1997 Donruss Preferred tin featuring Sammy Sosa, a 1993 NBA All-Star Collector set of UD cards and a nice little baseball player key chain for Mrs. Big D.

Goose received a nice little assortment of LTs. Too bad the Frogs couldn't pull off the victory the other night.

I got a classic old school Ro Blackman. Don't you just love the old days when the compression shorts were longer than the actual uniform shorts?

Check it out, our first hit! Baby Peas got an on the card auto of David Murphy! David is now, I guess, her only favorite Ranger as Marlon Byrd ended up signing with the Cubs recently. Bummer, he'll be missed here, though since the Cubs come to town this year Peas will get a chance to see Marlon in person again soon.

For Nobie Santa sent a nice mix of Peavys, Vlads, Berkmans and other assorted Cubs. Nobie of course is cool with Byrd switching teams since he now just happens to play for his other favorite team. How convenient.

Santa know I like catchers so we got some. Love the Gary Carter card with the dust flying. I miss the Expos and their funky tri-color caps.

Sweet! Second hit of the box. A triple bat relic of Barry Larkin, Michael Young and BJ Upton. If I could I'd cut it in three parts and send Barry to Nachos Grande and BJ to the Troll. That probably would decrease the value/look of the overall card though, so I guess I'll keep the whole thing.

Gotta give the old school players some love. All these guys played for the Padres at some point except for Palmer. Man I wish the Orioles would bring the cartoon bird back. That toon bird swinging the bat in a circle logo is probably my all time favorite of any team.

Modern players we love to collect. I like the Ichiro out of uniform card. I wonder where he went for dinner that night all dressed up like that. Think he had to pay for his own dinner?

Last, but not least Elways!! I already had a couple of these, but its the thought that counts, so thanks a lot Santa! I really dig the Ionix card and the one with the contest winner drawing is cute, but I don't remember the Broncos wearing any striped jerseys like that. Man, do a little research kid! Just kidding. Isn't it funny though how things look sometimes through the eyes of a kid. Anyway, that's what Santa sent. Sorry it took me awhile to get it posted. Thanks again Secret Santa and tell Mrs. Secret Santa to chill with the "bwaaahahahaaa"s on the Christmas cards. It's kinda creepy. Later.

Breaking News! Albert Pujols Traded!

That's right folks, an unprecedented trade went down recently involving not only two players, but two different sports. Arguably the biggest doucher... uh, I mean best basketball player in the world, Kobe Bryant...

switched collections with this guy, Albert Pujols, unquestionably the best player in baseball. (My blog, my opinion!) From everything I've ever heard of Albert he is definitly not a doucher. Considering I can't stand Kobe, I'm very happy with this deal and think Albert will fit in here quite nicely.

Also included in the trade were these other baseball players. I'm not sure what that Tony Gwynn card is. It reminds me of the large educational animal cards we used to get as kids from some mail subscription thing. I really like the Hamilton Sweet Spot, even though he is wearing the ridiculous flap hat. I remember the Rangers wearing those things in Detroit last season and the temperature was like in the mid 40's. It should be a lot colder before you resort to those things, though I guess being from Texas the Rangers are somewhat wussy when it comes to cold.

Making this a three sport deal, we had a few Cowboys and a Bronco thrown in for good measure. If you haven't done so already, head on over to Waxaholic and enter the playoff contest.

Wrapping up the deal was a whole slew of basketball faves including an Olympic Dream, a diving Jet, Superman (sorry Shaq, he actually has a cape) and a Josh Howard card, that I know I can design better. I proved it a few weeks ago, remember?

Anyway, that about wraps up this deal of the decade. This deal was courtesy of Ray from Shot Not Taken. I apologize to everyone for the deception in my post title. I can't afford to be losing readers already and since Thorzul hates to read boring trade posts, I had to try and sucker him (and hopefully a few more) in. Did it work? Later.

Trade with John

I haven't posted in several days due to the holidays. I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. I'm actually off until after the 1st so maybe I'll post a little more frequently the next couple of days, or maybe not. Who knows. Now on with the post.

A few weeks ago I received an email from a guy named John asking if I would be interested in acquiring some basketball cards. He said he had lost interest in his basketball collection and had a bunch of Nash, Nowitzki and Finley cards he could send my way. I said, "Bring 'em on!" He also threw in some stuff for the kids. Check out what he sent.

John sent several of Nobie's favorites, here are just a few of them. I'd never seen the cardsupials set before, unfortunately, we only got the baby.

Goose got several football cards to add to his collection as well, including LT, Hines Ward and Champ wearing the hated Redskins uni.

John sent me a few cards each of a few of my other favorites including Pau Gasol, Reggie Miller and the Dream. I'd forgotten Hakeem even played for the Raptors, that just looks weird.

Next we've got some former Mavs. Nick the Quick, the Little General Avery Johnson and every one's favorite whipping boy, the Mantis himself, Shawn Bradley.

John sent something like 3o cards of Steve Nash almost all of them new to me. Here are just a few of my favorites. Gotta love Steve's intensity on that second card. I also like the one in the middle of the second row. Nash versus Kidd, who were traded for one another several years ago.

I also got about 25 or so Finley cards, again almost no doubles from my previous collection. The first card is really sweet, love the clouds and wings in the Soarers logo.

Last, but not least, John sent another large stack of 25 or so cards of Dirk. I don't know how it turned out that way again, but almost all were new to me, so it was a really great package that John sent. I sent him a package of his favorites in return, but I wasn't able to match his generosity by any means. Anyway, I hope you liked what I sent John. As far as I know, John doesn't have a blog, but if you happen to get an email from him stating he would like to unload a few cards on you, by all means take him up on it. Thanks again, John. Later.

I Think I Can Do Better - Entry 1

Okay, now for a spin at something new. This is my first entry in what may or may not become a "series" of sorts. I don't know about the rest of you, but I often come across cards that just don't seem quite right. Most of the time, I'll just think, "You know, that looks a little half-assed, to me! I know I could do better!" I am a graphic artist for a living (I only get to design yellow pages, but hey, it's my official job title) and now I have my own blog, so guess what, I'm gonna show you I could do better. At least I think so, how about you?

For my first attempt, I selected Panini's 2009 Rookies & Stars. Unfortunately, for Panini/Donruss, their cards seem to be the most common when making my claim of "I can do better". They just typically leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. The problems with 09 R&S to me are multiple. First, cut out players with no game background. I don't totally dislike this design element, but I do think it is to prevalent. Second, black and white background for every card. Third, the team logos are teeny, tiny. Lastly, the players names have too much white space around them. So I've made some changes and here they are.

Since I don't have the original photos, I can't put any of the original background back in, so we are stuck with cut out players. I did, however, change the boring black & white backgrounds to team colors for each specific player, which I feel makes the cards much more dynamic. I also increased the size of the logos and player names to take up more of the white space and tie everything together better. The one thing I didn't change, but would if I could figure out how to make it appear correctly is add foil to the R&S logos at the bottom right corner. Panini must not have budgeted in any money for foil, because I have yet to see any on their cards (that I can remember) that weren't completely foil board. Maybe they just don't have any foil stamps. Anyway, at least for their basketball products so far, I feel they look a lot cheaper minus any of the foil that UD and Topps uses.

So there you have it. The first "I Think I Can Do Better" entry. What do you think? Later.

Trade with Democratic Roadkill

I got an email a few weeks back from Duane of Democratic Roadkill offering up a Kurt game used bat card. I said "cool", I'll take it. Duane said he had a nice pack of cards to send for all of us and he'd get it in the mail right away. Anxious to add another Kurt to the collection we checked the mail daily and waited and waited and waited, but no package. I contacted Duane and he said he sent it right before Thanksgiving and this was like 2 weeks later and still nothing. I figured it might be lost for good, but then after about 3 weeks it finally appeared. Duane had accidentally left 1 digit out of our address and I guess it took the post office a while to figure out where it belonged. Anyway, the cards eventually arrived safely, let's see what we got.

First up we've got some football including Cowboys and the always awesome Fleer cards of the 80s. The great thing about the Fleers of the time was that the helmets actually had logos, unlike Topps. From what I remember Fleer had no cards of individual players, that must have been Topps exclusive, but the more than made up for it with great action shots. Can't beat the Broncos in the snow wearing the orange unis!

Duane also sent a nice little bunch of stickers from the 80s. I used to buy the albums and fill them up, but have no idea what I did with them later on. I love the Air Coryell era Chargers, so it was cool to get a couple of Charlie Joiners as well as some of my other favorites like Elway, Dorsett and Payton.

Here we've got a nice little group of basketball, mostly mid 90's Mavs, when they were at their worst. Dallas had quite a few good players roll through here back then, they could just never put it all together and get anything accomplished on the court. I also got a Hakeem, can't ever go wrong there.

Some baseball minis to add to the Ranger, Cub and catcher collections.

A bunch more catchers including a Fisk I've always liked with big Cecil rumbling towards home.

Up next are some of Nobie's favorite players including a numbered Ultimate Soriano. These are really nice base cards and more expensive than we normally spend per pack, so it's cool to get one now and then in a trade. Duane also sent a few for me as well including a nice Hank refractor.

Which leads us to the crown jewel of the trade and the reason Duane contacted me in the first place. Topps Heritage game used bat Kurt! I've wanted one of these for quite a while, but hadn't gotten around to bidding on one or anything so it was nice to get a hold of one in a trade. I don't know about the rest of you, but even though I buy my fair share of cards online or in shops, there is just something a little neater about getting something in a trade. I guess it's the fact that there are other people who share a passion for the hobby and are always on the lookout for something to make someone else happy. Well Duane, you've made me happy with this trade, hope you liked what I sent in return. Oh, and sorry about Halladay, I guess it was bound to happen. Later.

I'm My Own Secret Santa!

I went by the card shop a few weeks ago, looking for a gift for the Secret Santa exchange that A Rookie (baseball) Card Collector put together. My wife often complains that I'm hard to buy gifts for because I tend to just buy what I want when I see it, leaving her (or anyone else for that matter) with no choices. Well, guess what. I didn't end up with anything for my Secret Santa person, but I did get a few cards for myself. My wife knows me so well. Anyway, here they are.

I picked up 8 Elways and only one was more that a buck (the Gunslingers one). I got my first Elway "snow" card and I also really like the "mud" one, though it's not nearly as cool as the Greg Landry mud card. I suppose a couple might not be really worth a dollar, but I don't mind spending a little bit more from time to time at this shop. The shop I frequent is really a combination of 4 guys. There are all there on Saturday, but the rest of the week usually only one of them is there and he looks after the others guys' stuff. I should learn their names, but I haven't. Anyway, the guy I bought these from is a really nice older guy and he's never pushy and usually ends up cutting a little off the total anyway, so like I said, I don't mind paying a little extra "sticker" price.

I also grabbed 8 Dirks. I guess that was a coincidence, I don't remember planning it that way. These were all a buck too, including a couple chrome refractors and what I like to call "hippie" Dirk (the Topps 1952 Style). So there you go, another gift for myself. Don't worry, though, I got the Secret Santa gift taken care of a few days later, so if it's your name I drew you can breathe easy. Later.

Dollar Tree Score!

I've been picking up quite a few of these 08-09 NBA Fleer packs at local Dollar Trees lately. Most of the time I just get 8 base cards, maybe an insert here and there, nothing too special. I really like the design though and am at least trying to get most of the Mavs and my other favorite players. This pack, however, did include something special...

game used KOBE! I really like the look of this card and it's got a purple swatch which is cool, the problem is, I can't stand the guy! I've never liked the Lakers except for a few individual players here and there, but I really don't like Kobe. I think he's a total doucher. So what to do with the card? I think I'm going to take it to the local card shop and see about trading it for a Dirk relic. I'm not sure what it's worth, but I aught to be able to get something pretty cool for it. That is, of course, if someone out there in blogger land doesn't have a better offer first. Let me know if you think you do. Later.