Floating Heads and License Plates: Cards from Royals and Randoms!

Josh over at Royals and Randoms recently had some 2013 Topps trade bait up for grabs, and along with the couple of cards I requested, he sent a boatload of PC needs my way. Check them out!

What a way to start. A Matt Moore floating head for my Moore PC? Fantastic!

I'm learning quickly that the 2012 Triple Play puzzle piece cards, like the Halladay on the bottom here, are going to be the hardest finds. I'd really rather not buy a box if I don't have to, so if you have any of these off my wantlist, let me know! Maybe I can finish this set before the next presidential election.

Some Dale Murphy additions, including a neat oddball Rite Aid card. Any grammar police out there, please tell me: is the apostrophe in MVP's used correctly?

 I've had a couple of people ask me about whether I like Dale Murphy Phillies stuff. I have mixed feelings on them: I don't necessarily "like" them, but that doesn't mean that I won't take them.

Some Chili! Davis is still working as the Oakland A's hitting coach, and is trying to help Cuban OF Yoenis Cespedes this spring training.

I thought this Pinnacle write-up on Davis was pretty interesting...who know Chili Davis was the X-factor for Minnesota? I'll consider it catharsis that I, a Braves fan, collect the supposed player that propelled the Twins to beat my team back in 1991.

Josh also sent me some David Eckstein PC needs - these from his time with the Anaheim Angels.

And another floating head!

This Chipper Jones card reminds me of license plates that I've seen for bicycles - it's about the same size.

These were the two cards that I actually requested from Josh - everything else you've seen was what he generously threw in!

Here's a Chipper floating head...and shoulders.

Finally, a Chipper Jones painting on a modern-day Diamond King. Unlike earlier DK cards illustrated by Dick Perez, this was done by artist David Kramer, who still actively paints today. I wonder how much these baseball cards helped his portfolio...

Thanks so much to Josh for the cards!

Cards from Baseball Dad!

 

Awhile back I claimed a card in Jack of All Tribe Baseball's card giveaway. In addition to my claimed card (an Astros Toy's-R-Us parallel) Jack generously threw in a bunch of set needs. And here they be:

 First, a bunch of cards off my 2012 Panini Triple Play set. I'm still working on this-find my wantlist here.

Also some cards for my 2003 Topps set. Here's an Aaron Boone Reds card. Do any bloggers collect autograph signing cards like these?

Nice submarine delivery, Chad. Nice turtleneck too, by the way.

Here we get into some overlap with my David Eckstein PC. If anyone has a copy of this card, I'd take one for the PC and keep this one in the set.

You don't see this pose very often on a card...if this shot was taken at Coors field though, It couldn't have been a rare occurrence.

 Jerry looks too young to be a manager-kids these days...

 

And a trio of Braves to finish it off. I don't know how I could not like that throwback uniform Smoltzie is wearing. Interestingly, it doesn't look like Bobby Cox has had any cards since 2010, according to the venerable Trading Card Database. Just wait till Bobby's eligible for the Hall of Fame next year; Panini will be churning out unlicensed cards of him like there's no tomorrow.

So there you have it. Thanks so much to Jack, and I look forward to sending you many Indian cards in the future!

2012 Panini Triple Play Wantlist

I've made some updates to my 2012 Triple Play Wantlist, and some changes to the formatting as well. Because of this, Blogger isn't letting me post this to a sticky page, so I'm posting this up and linking to it instead. If you have any doubles or extras of this set, drop me a line! I've still got aways to go on completing this sucker! 

Base Set Wantlist 

1 Ian Kennedy, 6 Dan Uggla, 8 Brian Matusz, 9 Matt Wieters, 13 Alfonso Soriano, 15-16, 18 Paul Konerko, 19 Brandon Phillips, 20 Joey Votto, 21 Mat Latos, 24 Grady Sizemore, 26 Todd Helton, 32 Brett Wallace, 34 Alex Gordon, 37 Albert Pujols, 40 Clayton Kershaw, 46 Rickie Weeks, 49 Francisco Liriano, 50 Joe Mauer, 52 David Wright, 53 Ike Davis, 56 Curtis Granderson, 57 Derek Jeter, 58 Jemile Weeks, 60 Yoennis Cespedes, 61 Chase Utley, 64 Andrew McCutchen, 67 Carlos Quentin, 68 Chase Headley, 71 Buster Posey, 72 Tim Lincecum, 73 Dustin Ackley, 74 Felix Hernandez, 76 Carlos Beltran, 81 Evan Longoria, 82 Ian Kinsler

Puzzle Cards Checklist

91-99 Justin Upton

100, 102-108 Starlin Castro

109-110, 112-117 Carlos Lee

118-121, 123-126 Albert Pujols

127-135 Jose Reyes

136-142, 144 Alex Rodriguez

145-146, 148-153 Yoennis Cespedes

154-162 Roy Halladay

163-164, 166-171 Andrew McCutchen

172-180 Orlando Hudson

181-182, 184-188 Buster Posey

190-198 Ichiro

199-207 Matt Holliday

210, 212-216 Evan Longoria

217-225 Josh Hamilton

226-234 Jose Bautista

Focus Checklist

235 Ian Kennedy, 236 Brian McCann, 237 Adam Jones, 238 Dustin Pedroia, 239 Matt Garza, 240 John Danks, 241 Joey Votto, 242 Asdrubal Cabrera, 245 Brett Wallace, 246 Eric Hosmer, 247 Jered Waver, 248 Matt Kemp, 249 Giancarlo Stanton, 251 Justin Morneau, 252 Johan Santana, 253 Derek Jeter, 255 Ryan Howard, 256 Joel Hanrahan, 257 Chase Headley, 258 Tim Lincecum, 259 Felix Hernandez, 261 B.J. Upton, 262 Yu Darvish, 263 Ricky Romero, 264 Steven Strasburg

Baseball 101 Checklist

265 Batters Box, 266 Diamond, 267 Double Play, 268 Home Run, 270 Scoring Runs, 271 Stealing, 272 Tag Play

Hall of Fame Checklist

           

273 Cal Ripken Jr., 274 George Brett, 275 Nolan Ryan, 276 Wade Boggs, 277 Willie Stargell, 278 Bob Feller, 279 Tony Gwynn, 280 Reggie Jackson, 281 Al Kaline, 282 Willie McCovey,

283 Paul Molitor, 284 Joe Morgan

When I Was A Kid Checklist

           

285 Albert Pujols, 286 Derek Jeter, 287 Tim Lincecum, 289 Matt Kemp, 290 Roy Halladay, 291 Justin Verlander, 292 Jacoby Ellsbury, 293 Ichiro

Stickers Checklist

3 Happy Baseball, 4 Catchers Mask, 5 Line Drive, 6 Diving Catch, 8 Manager Arguing, 9 Crash Through Brick Wall, 10 Beanball, 11 Slugger, 14 Albert Pujols, 18 Brian Matusz, 19 Adrian Gonzalez, 20 Paul Konerko, 21 Brandon Phillips, 23 Troy Tulowitzki, 24 Justin Verlander, 25 Alex Gordon, 26 Clayton Kershaw, 28 Joe Mauer, 29 David Wright, 30 Ryan Zimmerman

Real Feel Checklist

295 Real Feel Base, 296 Real Feel Bat, 297 Real Feel Pants, 298 Real Feel Glove, 299 Real Feel Batting Glove, 300 Real Feel Jersey

New Year's Resolutions? Eh.

This being the time of year where New Year's resolutions are made, people strive to do better during the coming year. The rest of us rebel, a la Calvin.

That's not that we/I don't care about what others have to say. The new year can definitely be a nice, even starting point for some goal or set of goals. But I (personally) don't always go by that convention. For example, I went on a "caffeine fast" last year.* Why caffeine? Because I drink too much otherwise. Starting in mid-October (though I used November 1st as a starting point), I fasted from caffeine for one year. After a short hiatus, I'm back on the fast as of December 26. Regarding cards, I assent (in principle, certainly) with The Card Raven's recent post.

Moving right along (fancy free), Weston of Fantastic Catch has sent me several packages of cards of late, which include cards such as these Triple Play stickers. Lord knows, I need a lot more Panini cards to complete the set, and kudos to him for helping me out there!

The Eckstein will fit nicely into my Eckstein PC. More Triple Play and a Glavine RC!

I've mixed in some cards from Larry of Emerald City Diamond Gems with these-Larry sent me some nice vintage for some Mariners I sent him.The Jeff Francoeur/Chipper Jones card is #'d 77/100.  Did you know Seattle is the only team (besides Washington) to have never gone to a World Series? Mariner fans, I think, will have a special seat in the afterlife for all the toil and trouble the M's have undergone in 30+ years. 

Jheri curl is always a top qualifier for getting your card scanned, and Geronimo Berroa is no exception. Joe Roa looks like he's falling asleep, and I like the backdrop for his card. Dollar signs do that, I guess.

I like the Fleer stickers, and I think Vinnie's Greenville Braves hat would be tough to pull off today, unless maybe some rapper wore it backwards.

May I preface the following comments by saying that mint condition is overrated:

It seems that someone stuck a mirror behind Craig Skok.

Poor Howie Bedell. Some child must have thought the peeling sticker graphic was, in fact, meant to be peeled. Bob Hartman is trying to wrap his head around that.

The red pants on that guy on the right in the Braves team card stick out a lot, once you notice them.

Thanks to Larry and Wes for the sweet cards!

If you've read this far, you have merited a reward. Go check out Collector's Crack for a quite dandy contest involving prognostication.

*This may or may not have been due to Tim Tebow's doing the same thing, according to his autobiography.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Love the fall! Between college football, the MLB season wrapping up and postseason beginning, and the freakin' awesome weather, fall is the bomb.

Moving on to cardboard. Today is World Gratitude Day, and I'm grateful for this:

I purchased my first 2012 baseball pack over the weekend. My choices were Topps, Panini, or those weird Pete Rose card sets. Am I the last one? Anyway, 2012 Panini Triple Play was the one to do the trick. Wal-Mart, it seems, has finally come around and I purchased one of these for a mere 98 cents.

Wal-Mart isn't the only one to come around though-I think I'm one of the last ones to try a pack of Triple Play too! If anyone would like to exorcise any 2012 Panini cards, look my way! Wantlists are up, everybody! :-)

And so it begins

Josh Hammy on the front. Absence of team logos. Need to "look for" those tattoos, eye blacks, and stickers. Will they be found???

 Card numero uno: Adam Jones. Scanner cut off the bottom. I love the black feathers in the background.

 Next we have Geovany Soto. You've already picked up on the fact that multiple artists drew the players. Geovany definitely looks different from Adam up there.

 Buster Posey puzzle piece 9 of 9. Nice rendition of Buster's formerly injured left knee. Buster's having a beast season this year-apparently it's healed well!


Looks a little like Evan Longoria. Check that-those are pinstripes.

  Sticker! Showing a nameless player making a "Great Catch!" Okay....

 Miggy focusing.

Justin Morneau is a superstar! Either that, or they didn't want to have twin brothers (sisters?) as the background photo for this card, so they went with the vortex space one. I really like the player numbers on the front. That's pretty neat.


Pretty sure those are water oak leaves.

 Last card-Yoenis Cespedes puzzle piece 3 of 9. Yoenis faltered this season after starting out really well. Hoping he can do well for the A's, who need it.

Awesome! No "hits," like the game-used stuff, but a sticker and some puzzle pieces, with the best part being these were all cards I needed to complete this set! (Starting to collect a set can be fun, too!) Once again, if you have any unwanted 2012 Panini cards from this set, I would love to make a trade. Looking forward to getting the set put together, puzzle pieces, stickers, game-used, and all! Will you be trying to do the set/collect your team's cards? I will keep you in mind for when I start accumulating doubles if you just let me know what your thoughts are in the comment section. Thanks!