10th Annual Leap Day Contest

No, I haven't been doing this contest for 40 years. This is the first and most likely last Leap Day Contest I'll ever have so enjoy.

Leave a comment and I'll randomize a winner. I'll send that winner a couple packs.




I won't be sending the winner this sweet 1956 Elmer Valo, but he is making one heckuva leap.

Leap on that you Golden...

Happy Leap Day. That means you have one extra shopping day before Christmas. I told you the other day I picked up an extra Josh Hamilton on the Golden Giveaway site hoping to trade it for a couple of cards. I ended up getting this card instead.





Carlton Fisk is one of the non-Rangers I collect so this will be a nice addition to my collection.

Has anyone had any more success getting a real card since the last time I asked?

Black and Blue

I like parallels. I'm a big fan of the various colored refractors in Topps Chrome. Sepia, black, gold, blue, red...you name it, I like it. I don't even mind the gold cards Topps has saddled us with in previous years. I'll chase the blue borders from Wal-mart, the red borders from Target and everything in between.

The problem is that it's starting to wear on me a bit. I'm feeling a little beat up by the never ending supply of colored parallels to chase. I've found myself buying retail at Wal-mart just to have colored parallels to trade to other bloggers. I know, it's a sickness.

I happened to notice a blue parallel on Potch Wheeler and the Cardboard Heroes. Potch was happy to send it over with a couple of other parallels.





I have a few of these black O-Pee-Chee parallels, but I don't know if I'll ever complete the Rangers set. Anytime I get one, it's greatly appreciated.





Here is another of those black bordered parallels. Neither one of these guys is with Texas anymore, but that's the hazards of being a team collector. You need one Ranger, you need them all.





Here is the card that started this little trade. I sent Potch some blue bordered cards because I really wanted this Michael Young. It's not quite the right shade of blue, but it still looks nice.


Just because I'm a little worn out by the number of parallels doesn't mean I'm giving up the chase, but I can forsee a time in the future when I give up the collecting bug for a while. If you've read my profile, you've seen that I have had periods in my life where I stepped away from the hobby. I don't see it in the immediate future however, so if you have any Rangers parallels to trade, let me know.

Thanks for the cards Darren!

Going Commando

If you don't get the reference, I can't help you. If you do get the reference, well, you don't need any help.





This is another of the celebrity TTMs from the lost binder.

That's all I have to say about that.

No Comment

I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of Blogger's new comment verification process.





I'm curious if it has affected the number of comments you leave. I know for a fact that I've left fewer comments around the blogosphere the last week or so since this dual verification word thing started. Never mind that half the time I can't read the words they want me to type. Of course, part of my problem is that I'm working on a big project and I've had less time to comment.

Have you been leaving less comments? Does it bother you? I guess if no one comments, I'll have my answer.

In the News

Maybe I should have titled this installment of my old TTM binder "Media Darlings". These ladies aren't all in the news business anymore, but they are all still in the media in some way or another.


First up, Hannah Storm.





Hannah has worked for CNN, NBC Sports, The Early Show on CBS and now ESPN/ABC. I got this auto back when she was working for NBC.


Next up is Katie Couric.




Katie was a member of the Today Show on NBC for 15 years. In 2006 she became the first lead anchor on a major network evening news when she took the desk at The CBS Evening News. She left to move to ABC in late 2011 and will contribute to the news and have her own daytime talk show starting in September, 2012. Do we really need another daytime talk show? I think not, but I don't watch TV during the day, so it won't affect me at all.

The last mainstream news person I have is Diane Sawyer.





Diane has been around the block and has the resume to prove it. She worked as a White House press aide and served as an assistant to former President Nixon. She has anchored the CBS Morning News, worked on 60 Minutes, co-anchored Primetime Live and 20/20, worked on Good Morning America and is now the ABC World News anchor. She still looks pretty good for a 66 year old lady. Heck, she looks pretty good for a 46 year old lady.

Last and not least, is Leeza Gibbons.





Leeza is best known for her run on Entertainment Tonight (and those legs ain't bad either). She pops up on TV from time to time now, often times advertising some product or another. I really like the silver Sharpie on this pic.


That's all the news that's fit to show. At least, that's all I have to show.

My first Olympian Auto

I posted an A&G TTM I got from Marial Zagunis here. That wasn't my first success with an Olympic TTM even though I said it was. I forgot about this one.

Back in 1995, I got this nice little TTM in the mail.





You youngsters may not remember Katarina Witt, but she won the Gold Medal for figure skating in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. I can actually remember watching her in the 1984 Olympics. Hot East German in a skimpy outfit? What's not to like? I got this back in 1995, a few years before her very famous Playboy appearance.

Blowin' it up

The latest package arrived from Blowout on Friday. I picked up a couple of lots from the same seller.

One was very cheap, but loaded with 2012 Gold cards, 1987 minis and this beauty:





I'd prefer to have a player/team I collect, but I really just wanted one of these Retired Rings cards and the player didn't matter. These cards are thick, like one of those great milkshakes you can't find anymore. I don't know why these are numbered to 736 though. That seems like a random number.


The other lot was a ridiculous Tier One lot. It was very cheap and I couldn't resist. The seller posted it late at night and I was the only one up I guess. I never busted any Tier One so it was nice to see some of these in person.




Here is a base Lou Gehrig #616/799. Nothing wrong with the "Iron Horse".




Next up is a Pee Wee Reese single bat relic #145/399. I won't swear this is actually from a real bat, much less one Reese used in a game. It's still a nice card.





The last card in the Tier One lot is a Brooks Robinson dual relic #35/99. Ryan H has first dibs on this one as I've asked about a number of cards on his blog recently.

I may have a bigger problem with Blowout than I do retail wax at Wal-mart. I try not to check it every night because I always find some cards I want. Last night I missed out on a couple of Rangers from the Gold Rush redemption packs. If anyone has any of those that are for trade, let me know.

This is going to anger a certain Canadian

I have the black, numbered to 100.

I have the gold, numbered to 50.

Now it's time to show the red, numbered to 25.





This was in one of the packages I mentioned this morning. It finally arrived today and it contained another in my inexplicable quest for a Brian McCann rainbow. It's the 2011 Topps Chrome red refractor, #22/25.

Let me get one thing straight. I didn't set out to get a McCannbow, it sort of just happened. The black and gold were just there for the getting and when I saw this one posted, I jumped at it.

Yes, Captain Canuck, this one is going in the catcher binder with the other two. Now I'm going to have to hide that thing in an even better spot.

Bored to...sleep

I'm so bored with cards right now I'm actually organizing my collection. Again. It's awful. 2012 is off to a real exciting (read with much sarcasm please) start hobby wise and the Golden Giveway is more lame duck than goose that laid the golden egg.

I've updated my Topps, Fleer, Donruss and Bowman wantlists and created one for Score (which is not posted just yet). I'm going to work next week on lists for Pacific, Pinnacle, and the rest of the non-big three manufacturers.

I desperately want to be organized. I desperately hate organizing things. That's how desperately bored I am right now.

It doesn't help that I haven't been getting my packages lately. One such package, from a seller on Blowout, showed to be delivered last Friday and I still don't have it!

I'm taking the bulk of the weekend off from the blog, but I'll still be reading yours so don't let my sour mood bring you down.

Maybe I need to have another contest.

Duke of Prizes

Cards Beyond Oceans is giving away a sweet Duke Snider card. They'll be giving it to me I hope, but you should still go enter and follow the blog.

There will be other prizes for the rest of you!

Go now. Enter to come in second.

So, I hear the Ginter Code was finally solved

At least that's what it says on the Blowout forums.

Does anyone care?

Was anyone even working on it?

Will this be the least read post in the history of this blog?

Next year they should make it hard or something.

Who doesn't love free cards

Matt over at Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius held a brief contest and I was co-winner.

Matt sent over some 2012 play at the plate cards and these two genuine, historical baseball relics.









No words are needed to describe the circus that is this Gary Matthews card.

Thanks Matt!

I am a geek

I admit I'm a card geek. In some small way, we're all card geeks. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here and neither would I.

I am less likely to admit I'm a Star Wars geek. I was 6 when Star Wars came out and I grew up with Episodes 4-6. Back in my TTM days I was able to get one autograph from a Star Wars actor.





It's the one I most wanted. I had a serious crush on Princess Leia...I mean Carrie Fisher. No, the crush was on Princess Leia. Specifically the slave Princess Leia that appears at the top of this post.

Stop reading now just enjoy the pics.

32 hours and load of gibberish

I'm going on 32 hours with no sleep. Not even a little cat nap. Well, maybe a little one on the way to work last night. But seriously, I tried to type up the latest post in my non-sports TTMs and couldn't type. I kept dozing off and just typing a bunch of gibberish.

My son is better and will go back to school today so I'm headed home and going straight to bed. I should have something resembling a normal post toaataamaoi]r...see what I mean. Gibberish.

Update on yesterday's Golden Giveaway question

This is just a preliminary update on the results of yesterday's question regarding the percentage of real cards being unlocked on the Golden Giveaway site.

I posed the same question on here and the Blowout forum. I got 12 responses from each place.

My fellow bloggers reported a total of 13 cards unlocked for 169 codes entered. This includes bonus codes. That's a paltry 7.69% of codes that get you anything you can hold in your hand. That number is skewed a bit by the fact that 2 of the 12 people got 8 of the cards. Six people got zilch.

The Blowout folks reported a total of 39 real cards unlocked by the whopping 834 codes entered. One guy alone got 10 cards for his 300 codes. The Blowout percentage is even worse than ours as it is only 4.68%.

I'm hoping to get a few more replies to yesterday's question. Feel free to go back and answer it. I'd give you a link but I'm typing this on my phone while I eat my Cheerios.

An informal poll for anyone who has entered a Golden Giveaway code

I'm just curious about the percentage of Golden Giveaway codes that turn into real cards. If you're interested, let me know the breakdown on the codes you've entered.

For me, I've entered 21 codes, plus the three bonus codes for a total of 24. I have unlocked 4 real cards. Three of them came on the three bonus codes so only 1 of my 21 codes unlocked a card.

I'll say I'm 4/24 which is a rate of 16.7%.

Let me know your numbers. I'll even do the math and then I'll do the totals after people have had a chance to respond.

Feel free to update as you enter more codes.

Thanks!

Oops, I did it again

I said it last week and I'll say it again. The percentage of Golden Giveaway codes that actually turn into real cards, actual, honest-to-goodness, "I can have these shipped cards", is very low. I've been very lucky compared to some others who've gotten one or even zero real cards.

As part of a trade with Robert over at $30 a week habit, I got 6 unused codes. I entered them over the weekend and one of them resulted in my 4th real card and my second Dodger.





I've already got offers out to trade this Matt Kemp for another Josh Hamilton. Why Josh Hamilton Mr. PATP, you've already got that one? Well, I've received a couple of offers for my Josh that included multiple cards. If I can get multiple cards, I might be able to turn them into a couple of different Rangers.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thank you Robert...

I won my own contest

Mark aka CynicalBuddha from Collector's Crack won my February contest. He sent me some stuff as a thank you/trade. That's not necessary, but it's cool, and not just because Mark lives in Alaska.





I missed out on the 2005 Heritage set, but it's the one Heritage set I would most like to collect. I love the 1956 set, so this is a perfect fit for me. I like this card and I don't even like Alfonso Soriano. It's still a sharp looking design.





This is instantly one of my favorite Will Clark cards. It's from the 1995 Sport Flix set and features a bunch of sledge hammers. I keep staring at it waiting for some eagle image to appear in the background.






Mark included a note with his package and said he found a jersey card in his trade bait that I might like. Well, I do like. I like very much. This Juan Gonzalez jersey card is from 2002 UD Ovation. I bought some of this stuff, but the only jersey card I ever pulled was a Jeff Bagwell. (I'm just noticing how crooked that card scanned.)






Mark sent over a short stack of Diamond Anniversary and Cognac parallels. He also included one of the 2012 parallels of Mitch Moreland. I like these cards alright, but they do not scan well.

Mark, thanks so much for the cards. Stay warm up there in Alaska!

At least I collect these guys

After one final 2012 Topps Series One purchase (72 count box) I think I'm done. I unlocked another real card on the Golden Giveaway site and I have 4 codes coming in a trade, but I won't be entering any more codes until Series 2.

Someone offered me this card for my Al Kaline.





Johnny Bench is one of the catchers I collect so I quickly accepted this offer.

The last card I unlocked was a Miguel Cabrera and I offered it up for a Josh Hamilton.





I was glad to see that offer was accepted. That means I need the Nolan Ryan, Mike Napoli, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz. If I get them, I get them. I'm not as obsessed about it as I was with the Die Cuts from last year.

I didn't know the Giants were a prison team

This card is hideous and inexcusable.





It looks like the cap they would have worn in The Longest Yard if it had been a baseball movie. (If you haven't seen the one with Burt Reynolds, you need to rent it.)

John Cumberland was coming off a 3-4 season with the Yankees. Even so, he still didn't deserve to be treated like this.

Shame on you early 1970's Topps editor guy.

Shame.

On.

You.



(P.S. I can't wait to see how this guy handles this card. He always comes up with something so it should be good.)

An All-Star Dope

I'm a dope. I scanned some cards I received in a trade from reader Don Sherman. I'm still getting used to this new scanner. Anyway, it scans 4 cards in one shot and I have to make 3 copies of the file so I can edit the image down to one card.

Long story short, I was editing the image and after I finished, I realized I forgot to make the necessary copies. That's why I ended up with just one card to show off from Don's great package of three stuffed team bags.






He contacted me about this card after having read that I like Joe Mauer. The magic of the blogosphere at work once again! I'd like to show you more of the cards, but I've already sorted them into my collection.

Sorry about that Don, but thanks so much for the great Rangers and especially the Mauer.

My favorite Gary Carter card

Games: 2,296

Hits: 2,092

Homeruns: 324

RBIs: 1,225

Average: .262

Gold Gloves: 3

World Series Rings: 1

Hall of Fame Induction: 2003





1980 Topps Gary Carter: Priceless

RIP Mr. Carter

Really Topps? Not a 2012 rant

Back in September, I posted this card, pulled by my very own hands from a rack pack.





Just a couple weeks later, I got this card in a break held by Sam over at the Daily Dimwit.





Naturally, I redeemed it. Yesterday, I got this email from Topps.

Dear Consumer.

This email is to inform you that the Topps Company is currently beyond the 15 week processing time allocated for the following redemption card:

PIN #: Product: Card/Player Name
GRCPCV24UL Linage Ian Kinsler - Autograph Reprint

Our staff is working diligently to process and ship your redemption card as soon as possible. Please continue to check your Online Redemption account for updates regarding the status of your card.

If you no longer wish to wait for the redemption card, please contact our Consumer Relations team in order to place a substitution request for a card of equal Beckett value.

Do not hesitate to contact our Consumer Relations department via phone at 1-800-489-9149 or via email at support@etopps.com for assistance. A consumer relations representative will be available to assist you Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:30 pm (ET).

Sincerely,

Consumer Relations
The Topps Company, Inc.

Seriously? You can't fill a redemption for a card you actually inserted into packs?

Topps, we go way back, but this doesn't make any sense to me.

Golden Giveaway, Round 1

I noticed Topps' Golden Giveaway site was live last night. I had 11 codes to enter, 6 of my own and 5 from a local friend who didn't want to bother this time.

I entered all 11 and got the following:

Virtual Team Coins
Braves, Brewers, Rockies and Phillies

Virtual Player Coins
Jose Bautista, Ryan Braun, Tim Lincecum and 2 Hanley Ramirez

Virtual H.O.F. Coins
Bob Gibson and Johnny Bench

When I unlocked my 3rd team coin, I got a "prize". The prize was a free code, which unlocks automatically. This code resulted in a real card.




I can actually get this one shipped. It's the Al Kaline base card. It's currently being offered for the Nolan Ryan.

When I unlocked my 3rd player coin, I got another "prize". This free code also resulted in another real card.





I'm not complaining. I like Duke Snider. We aren't related, but sharing a last name makes him collectible to me.

I thought it was odd that the only real cards I unlocked just happened to be with the "free" codes. Let me know if you have a different experience.

Good luck if you're participating. So far I've seen four Rangers cards which I guess I'll try to get.

Topps Golden Giveaway Site is Live....

I realize many of you won't care, and I'm hardly jumping for joy, but it's true.

www.topps.com/golden

Let me know if you get anything worthwhile.

I need the other half of this play at the plate

I love a good mystery. Jack aka Baseball Dad over at All Tribe Baseball sent me a package that had a mystery in it.





Here's a note from Jack.

Here is the 1/2 a play at the plate in question.





It's from the 1988 Panini sticker collection. I NEED the other sticker to complete this play at the plate. Does anyone have a clue who the catcher is or even better, have an extra copy of this sticker laying around? I know it's a longshot, but I had to ask.

Jack did include a few regular cards too.




This isn't one of them. This is a 2003 Donruss Estrellas Nolan Ryan. I can't read it, but I like it.






How about some gold? No, not 2012 Gold, I'm talking about old gold. All the way back to 2011! Can you believe it?





How about some vintage greatness? This 1979 Toby Harrah is in great shape and I always appreciate some quality vintage stuff.




I've never seen these Fan Pak Standees before, but it's great! I guess you can fold it up to make it stand up, but I think I'll pass. I like my cards flat...2010 Topps Chrome not withstanding.

Thanks a bunch Jack. I do appreciate the package.

You rascal you...

Got big plans for your sweetheart today?




You're quite the Casanova aren't you?




She'll think you're real Sweet.





Give her some Roses.





Maybe even some Candy.





Happy Valentine's Day.

Barely Functioning Revisited

Back at the end of January, I posted a pic of some cards I bought at Target when I was picking up a prescription. I was sick and in a foul mood to boot. I needed a pick me up.

I bought a 2011 Chrome Value Pack, a Fairfield rack pack and one of those $9.99 Fairfield 10 pack things.

Out of all of that, I got one card of note.





Actually, it would have been better to pull it last year, but a 2010 Topps 206 SP of the greatest thing since sliced bread is ok. Even now.

I didn't scan the front. I'm guessing it was because I was sick or something. It's the card with Strasburg actually wearing a cap, not capless like those boring base cards. Ewww.

Anyway, I feel better now, at least from that round of sickness.

Now if I could just get my car back.

An MVP package of generosity

I mentioned this package from Dennis at Too Many Verlanders the other day. I said it had too many cards to scan and I was right. Dennis sent over 492 Rangers. That's four hundred and ninety two. He didn't even ask for anything in return, but I will be finding something for him. You hear that Dennis, I will find something to send back.

I know you don't want to see 492 Rangers cards, so I chose 8. Isn't that nice of me. I thought so.





1994 Donruss Will Clark MVP Contender Silver Collection. Apparently Donruss issued 10,000 of each player and if yours won the MVP you could trade this card for a 5X7 numbered card of Frank Thomas and be entered for a chance to win special Golf MVP contenders set. Will didn't win the 1994 MVP, Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell did.





Upper Deck Ivan Rodriguez Power Deck. I wonder if this will work. I'm not trying it in my computer.





2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Neftali Feliz. I've never opened any of this so it was nice to get Nefti in this package. I'm wondering if that isn't some kind of minor league all-star uniform he's wearing.





1999 Topps HD Juan Gonzalez Ballpark Figures. I vaguely remember HD, but this is a pretty cool card. It's very thick and die-cut too. The back of this card hightlights Rangers attendance before and after Juando got on the team. He didn't seem to make that much difference.





2000 Crown Royale Gabe Kapler. You may like Pacific cards. You may not. You can't deny these cards are cool.






2005 Topps Chrome Kevin Mench refractor. Ooohhh old school shiny. Ok, it's not that old, but it's a nice one I didn't have.





2005 Donruss Leather and Lumber Michael Young Naturals #1258/2000. This is kind of a weird wood grain feeling card. It's missing an autograph over the bottom of the card. At least that's what it looks like. Maybe Shelly can tell me.





2010 Bowman Derek Holland gold #70/250. This little gem was a surprise among surprises.

I don't know yet how many of the 492 cards will fill wantlist needs, but there were so many great cards, I'll bet it's quite a few.

Thanks Dennis!