Cards from Wes and CONTEST!

I think it's about time for a trade post. Contest too? Sure. Big 44 Sports Cards is throwing up a couple of jersey swatches: a Justin Upton relic and a Troy Tulowitzki card. There are lots of Tulo fans out there, right? Check it out: http://big44cards.blogspot.ca/2014/02/contest-tulo-and-j-upton-jerseys-up-for.html

Also, I'm currently vicariously living through the blog pack breaks of 2014 Topps. Anyone who has some extra Braves to throw my way, hook me up, as I really need to take a good crack at my 11-year-old 2003 Topps set wantlist before I get collecting this new-fangled stuff.

Wes of the great blog Fantastic Catch has probably sent me more card packages than any other blogger in my short time writing in this space. He did a great job recently with hooking me up with some new PC and Braves cards. Check these out:

First, some PC additions. Matt Moore is slated to be the number 3 in the Rays' pitching rotation, a strong option now that Jeremy Hellickson is out for the first few weeks. Chili Davis will enter his 4th season as the Oakland A's hitting coach this spring training; it seems he's doing mighty fine, as the A's ranked third in the AL in hitting last season.

 Some nice Bowman additions, including a gold Kris Medlen.

Here's Juan Francisco, now in Milwaukee, on a card from that Silver Slate Blue Sparkle Wrapper Redemption thing Topps did last year. Does anyone know of similar 2014 Topps plans?

Some 1963 Topps copycats, one from the Cards your mom threw out, and one from last year's Heritage rendition. By now I think probably everyone knows 2014 Heritage will have autos from Keith Olbermann included in the set...do we like this?

Some nice Walmart Blues from last year's Topps Series One. These look fantastic, and actually scanned pretty well. (What is this madness?)

Some nice 2011 Topps Chromes. These guys just got some nice new contracts, as the Braves outdid their mega-contract with B. J. Upton last season by signing Freeman an 8-year, $135 Million dollar deal, then signed Heyward for 13.3 Mil over two years.

Lastly, some nice Chippas, PC adds all. I love seeing some recent inserts, like that Superstar Celebrations card.

Wes included a great note with the package. To him, I say thanks so much for the cards and support! Till next post...

Guess What Chipper Jones Has Done Now?

The Deep South has been hit with snow in the past couple of days. In big cities like Birmingham, close to home, and Atlanta, the home of the Braves (until Cobb County takes them anyway). Here's what Chipper did to help out Freddie Freeman, who was stuck in traffic: From MLB.COM

Trade With Fantastic Catch, Part 2

Back in the summer, I posted up the first part of some trades I've made with Wes of Fantastic Catch. I've been alternately too lazy or too busy (mostly the latter) to post these up, mostly because, alas, I have joined the online site Listia. As better writers have chronicled, Listia allows you to take other people's stuff (with computer money) for free (in real-life money). I haven't listed many cards yet, but if you're interested in some Miami Dolphins swag, find my auctions here.

I didn't scan them, but Wes also sent several Sports Illustrated clippings of the MLB season preview issue. The Braves surprised a lot of folks by beating out the Nats for the NL East this year, including SI.

Cards now, here we go:

Obverse and reverse of a Warren Spahn reprint card. Classic uniforms plus cartoons of a guy swinging at a pitch over his shoulder? Too good to resist.

Braves beards, past and present. Fun fact, courtesy of Wikipedia: Bob Wickman was good at throwing sinker pitches, which he credited a childhood farming accident (involving a fan?) with helping him to do.

This was a 1988 Topps Coin of half-smiling Dale Murphy from my and Weston's meetup last spring (first blogger-to-blogger one for me). You think he looks bored now, just be glad he's not on a cheap non-metal Topps Chip(z?).

Some nice photos for these cards. I really like the shot of Heyward sliding. J-Hey hasn't had near as many steals as last year, sitting at 2 with a handful of games to go, compared to last year when he had 21.

 Bo, Chip, and Murphy! Let's see the back of the Chipper card:

When you're a non-MLB licensed card manufacturer, you gotta do what it takes to fill up card backs. Apparently, that includes cutting and pasting from players' websites.

Now, this ought to be a good sign! (This particular bunch of cards was for my birthday back in, oh, February. I'm playing catchup.)

 Some 2013 parallels of fellow Alabama boy Hank Aaron. So far so great!

I really wish all blue parallels could be numbered cards, like these Opening Day parallels.

Up Close and Personal with David Justice? Sounds like something that would be on VH1. The Heritage insert below it is, in contrast, a neat idea (design-wise).

 A fantastic mess of Chipper Jones cards!

I feel like I have almost as many black OPC parallels as I do white base ones from that 2009 set. Most of these have in fact come from Wes.

Some more Hank Aaron goodness...

 And PC needs as well!

Eric O'Flaherty is about to be able to stop signing autographs in the clubhouse and get back on the field-according to the AJC he's recently started rehab from Tommy John surgery. Nevertheless, this is a pretty sig from what I believe was a through-the-mail autograph request.

 Why Allen and Ginter is not really that lame.

2010 Topps Pro Debut Freddie Freeman Blue parallel, numbered 148/369

It's so weird how pictures of athletes such as Freddie on cards can make them seem so young. Wearing #30 just yesterday, now he's getting ejected in games against the Brewers. That said, Carlos Gomez was rather a jerk.

Target red parallel of Jair Jurjenns! I almost never get these, so receiving this one was fantastic (pun completely intended)!

Salcedo and Simmons and (another) Freeman, oh my! Even a Matt Moore in there for my PC! A great way to round out the package, and a big thank you to Weston over at Fantastic Catch for the trades. Till next post, see you on Listia!

Birthday Gifts from William! (Part 1)

A few months back, I received a big square box from William of Foul Bunt. This box was full of packing peanuts, cards, and an unexpected surprise (which I'll show in an upcoming post). The occasion was my birthday, just a few days after I got the box. Will had generously (as usual) said he would throw something extra in with his package. And he did! For this first post, the cards:

I think approximately seven people bought 2012 Panini Golden Age last year. Fortunately, Will was one of the seven. Could you say that Warren Spahn is being framed on this card? He doesn't seem too concerned about it.

Which one of you is the real John Smoltz?

Not all the cards I'm showing came from the same package. I've sort of accumulated stuff to do one mega-post on it all. No one else does that, do they? Oh, this is both the Error and Corrected version of John's 1990 Donruss MVP card.

Will sent several 1996 Topps Braves, including some that had the 1995 WS logo in corners. Was that the first time Topps played with those logo variations? only time? Any 1990s collectors care to enlighten me there? I like the logo, either way.

A Rays-uniformed BJ Upton. This card is numbered 247/999, and looks pretty sharp, but BJ still seems glum. Probably brooding over his .141 batting average. Ah well.

Question: I believe back in the late 90s and early 2000s, Chipper and Andruw Jones had their intials on the back of their jerseys, along with their last names. So, why this? I should probably know why the Upton brothers have no initials, but I don't. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Some 2012 Bowman. Remind me the difference between a "First-year Bowman card" and an RC-logo card, again? Oh, what the heck. Just enjoy the pictures, I guess.



Reynoso, who according to Wikipedia, was the last player on the Atlanta Braves to wear number 42 before it was retired, looks like the Mexican version of Greg Maddux. I think it's the mustache.

This was the last card I needed to finish my 2013 Topps Braves Series One set. Sorry it scanned poorly. Wait, actually...

This was the last card I needed to finish the set! Bazinga! This card scanned frightfully too, so I "borrowed" this image from Play at the Plate (maybe if I link to him seven times he'll forgive me):

The super-obvious guy in the red shirt is awesome/hilarious. Especially since the other guys you can see are just chilling. "Hey, let's watch Freeman make a sweet catch. We can stand up a minute and lean against this rail to do so." Meanwhile, red-shirt guy:



Awesome.

Thanks to William for the cards! Second post coming soon!