The Million Card Giveaway is going....going...

If you have cards awaiting shipment, today is the last day. It ends March 1, but I don't know if that's midnight eastern time, midnight pacific time or when Michael Eisner wakes up from his afternoon nap.

As of the time I'm writing this post, 4:12 AM central time, there are over 300 1952 Topps cards still sitting in the "vault". There are 53,250 trade offers still up and 294 2010 Stephen Strasburg cards still sitting there surrounded by 4 highly trained ninja guards.

I saw 4 different Duke Snider cards, including two from 1959. There is a 1966 Mickey Mantle and even these two beauties...

How about these vintage cardboard treasures?

It's a shame. I know some of these, and many of those others, will be claimed by the end of the day, but many of them will go unclaimed. I get leaving one of your 1987 Topps cards to rot in Topps collection, but there will be many great cards unclaimed.

Now, I just wish my package would arrive so I can see the condition of the cards.

Anyone waiting until the last second to request their cards?

Reflecting

I learned of Duke Snider's death yesterday the way learn of many baseball related stories...from my fellow bloggers.

I was sad to hear of Duke's passing. We share last names, but as best as I've been able to uncover, we aren't related. I always intended to send him a TTM request because he was one of the most accommodating players about signing. I'll always regret not sending out the TTM request, but not as much as I regret the loss of another of baseball's legends. It's yet another sign that no matter who you are, your day will come. It's humbling in a way. While Duke is gone, he'll not soon be forgotten. Can we say as much?

I just read about the death of Frank Buckles. He was the last surviving U.S. Veteran from World War I. That's the first great war. He was 110 years old and he lied about his age so he could enlist at the ripe old age of 16 1/2. I daresay that most of us would have had other things on our mind at the age of 16 1/2.

Frank and Duke both left their mark on history and unlike many of their comrades, they lived long lives. Long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Still, they will be missed.

RIP Frank Buckles and Duke Snider.

I'm done, but not finished

Welcome to another premium content, image free post. (sigh)

I'm done with 2011 Topps Series 1.

Well, I still need cards, but I won't be spending any more money on it. I bought 2 more rack packs and one of those 72 count boxes that replaced the cereal boxes and that's it for me.

I did better with the rack packs. Out of 72 cards, I got 18 more I needed. I also got a Michael Young gold parallel. I'm as tired of the gold parallels as everyone else, but it's nice to actually pull a Ranger for once.

The 72 count box only added 2 needed cards, plus a Vlad Guerrero Kimball mini and the Honus Wagner special insert (yawn).

So that leaves me with the following base needs to complete Series 1.

11,18,21,22,24,32,34,37,45,48,86,89,92,93,
101,105,108,113,118,123,138,139,147,155,
159,167,178,185,186,190,193,206,208,215,
223,253,266,271,280,286,288,299,302,308,321.

I have a huge stack of base dupes so let's make a deal.

Diamond Vintage

I finally got a couple of older cards on the Diamond Giveaway. I've entered 12 codes, the last two of which yielded these:





A terribly cut (or poorly cropped) 1968 Alvin Dark. This is not one of my favorite sets.

I also got this colorful 1958 Gail Harris. Again, not one of my favorite sets.

I think when the trading feature goes live, I'll package these along with the some of the others to see if I can get something from 1956. There are still a number of play at the plate cards from '56 that I don't have.

I'll be posting my 2011 Topps Series 1 wantlist later today. I've got a stack of dupes almost as tall as the incomplete set I'm looking to finish.

What Brown did for Me

Brown saved me $11.49 is what Brown did for me.

That's the difference between the shipping options on the Million Card Giveaway site. Earlier today, I requested shipping on the cards Topps "gave" me for all the codes I entered and trades I made.

The USPS shipping for 52 cards was $29.95.

The UPS shipping for 52 cards was $18.46.

That's what we call a no-brainer.

So, for about $3 less than a blaster (we have that pesky sales tax here in Texas), I got 52 cards spanning the years 1952-1975. A couple of those aren't mine because they were the contest winnings for my MCG Tradeathon. A few others were cards I had shipped for a fellow blogger.

The site says the cards should ship within 9-12 business days. I'm sure they'll spend that time picking only the very best copies of each card in my porfolio to send me. Honestly, I expect some of the cards to be loaded with character (read: lots of damage), but at this point, I'm just looking forward to holding my very first '52, '53 and '55 Topps cards ever.

Don't you just love the feel of real vintage cardboard? It's amazing.

Millions or Diamonds?

Now that the Diamond Giveaway is live and many of us have had a chance to redeem codes for our shiny virtual rings, I have a question.

What is your opinion of the Diamond version compared to the Million Card version?

As someone who went nuts over the 2010 Transmogrifier, I think I'm less inclined to overspend to get codes this year. Perhaps it's the fact that I can't trade on the site yet, or maybe it's more due to the unimpressive cards I've unlocked this time around. Maybe I'll feel differently if I unlock one of those die-cut cards or the much more rare diamond embedded 1/1 cards.

It's very likely that Topps will get less of my money this year, at least for the Flaghip set, although I do like the sparkly diamond parallels and Kimball minis.

Comments, thoughts, wisecracks?

Calling Matt Hickes

Matt, if you read this, I need you to email me your address so I can get the February contest headed your way.

I checked your blog and profile, but didn’t see your email.  You can get mine from my profile.

Thanks!