Absence....

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Between vacation and business travel I've been completely snowed under.  I've got a few posts in the work, and I hope to get them up early next week!

In the meantime, word on the street is that Mitch Moreland (Ranger's prospect) is making his first MLB start tonight, here's to hoping that my little stash of Moreland Chrome goes up in value tonight!

a Bowman addict.


I know.  It's an ugly habit.  It produces loads and loads of junk, with maybe, at best a small handful of really worthwhile cards in the long run.  I never really got the whole minor league/prospect thing back in my last tour through the baseball card world.  I couldn't get my head around why someone would want to spend time hunting down cards for "cup of coffee" types, when you could just as easily get a card/memorabilia from an already established star.

This time though, it's different.  Maybe it's because my latest cardboard renaissance has come about smack-dab in the middle of the Straspocolypse, but I really don't think that's it.  I think it has to do with getting closer to the game.  Getting down in the trenches and learning about guys who are chasing their dream.

Dream chasing is a powerful thing, and I suspect is in some ways universal in it's appeal.  It's got a lot in common with our natural proclivity to pull for the underdog (and hate the Yankees).

I've bought a ton of 2010 Bowman Retail, and pulled some nice stuff.  A few Strasburgs here and there, and lots of parallels.  Here's a quick sampling of my most recent blaster.

I think this is the second or third Franklin purple I've pulled.  He's listed as the #7 prospect in Seattle's farm system by Baseball America.  I think the prospecting gods want me to follow this kid.

You don't see much in the way of base refractors in retail.  Colome is moving up in the Rays system.  Again, I'm inclined to listen to the prospecting Gods.

On top of that recent blaster, I managed to get a good deal on a box of 2009 Bowman Draft.  My "hit" was:

Mier's a top prospect in the Astros (less than stellar) organization.  He was buzz-worthy out of the draft but has been struggling this year.  I'll keep an eye on him, mostly because I think the auto is good looking.

I hope to spend some time over the next few weeks talking about some prospects that I've been looking into, and if you've got any advice for a burgeoning prospector/collector, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

My First Ginter

I'll be honest with you, when I first started getting back into the hobby, the set that I understood the LEAST was Allen and Ginter.  I mean, dinosaurs?  In baseball cards?  Really?


I'll admit, I was surprised to see the blogging community get so riled up about it (via Gint-a-Cuffs and whatnot).  I guess I'm just old-fashioned in that I like to see baseball cards in my baseball card packs.


All that said, I figured I should give it a shot, right?  Who knows, maybe there's something magical about this set that I'm just not getting my head around.  So at the end of the week, I made my pilgrimage to the LCS and picked up a couple of overpriced Ginter packs and cracked them open....you know, scientific research and all.


First pack, not so hot.  I managed to pull this abomination

I mean really. Is this the Card Gods giving me the finger or what?  What self respecting Rangers fan is anything but frustrated as hell with this guy (I'm going to have to get his auto though for my Rangers Auto Project, and I've been putting it off.....).


Score:  Babbaloie 1, Allen and Ginter 0


Already a bit smug, I cracked open pack number two, and whaddya know, the Gods smiled on me here.

My very first Vladdy in a Rangers Uniform.  This pull made my day, and frankly, might have changed my opinion on the entire Ginter product.  How can you not love the quirky combination of Baseball and Astrology?  And frankly, the minis are kinda....cute.


Score:  Babbaloie 1, Ginter 1


And that's where I left it.  Two packs in, and my personal jury's still out.  I can't bring myself to pay 5 bucks a pack for these at the LCS, so I'm thinking I'll keep my eye out for a blaster or two at Target, and who knows, maybe Ginter will win the day.

TTM Success!

Happy Friday folks!

Yesterday, after work, I went to check the mail, and not one, but two of my self addressed, stamped envelopes fell out.  I was ecstatic!  Two of my TTM Autograph requests were back!

I promplty ripped them both open, and here's what fell out.....

My Want List

Based on some feedback from a couple of folks, now seems like an appropriate time to include a want list.

It's pretty basic right now, with just a couple of sets I'd like to complete along with who I'm lacking for my 2010 Rangers Autograph Project.  It will certainly expand with time.

Please, if you have trades that you might be interested in, let me know what you collect, and I'll see if I can dig up anything that would be to your liking!

Thanks!

My first Trade Post

So Brian over at Play at the Plate is really the one to blame for most of my baseball card problems of late, and if you're not reading his blog, well...you should be.

He's the one that suggested the blog, and I'm convinced he's the little guy on my shoulder saying "Just one more...buy that last Bowman Blaster....."

Seriously though, Brian's been a great ambassador for the online card-collecting community, and he showed it through my very first through the mail trade.  I talked with him about how I'm trying to finish my 2010 Topps Series 1 set, and he asked for a list.  I passed it on to him, along with a few cards I had in the trade box, and here's what happens.

My 2010 Topps Series 1 collection goes from this:

To this:

He also threw in a ton of inserts to boot!  I guess I could sit here all day and take pictures of the cards he sent, but that would take...well...forever.   So instead, I'm going to leave you with a shot of one of my favorite cards from Topps 2010.

Thanks again Brian!

2010 Rangers Project

Before we get started with the good stuff, two quick notes:

(1)  How 'bout them Rangers?  11 Wins in a row!  They're really looking good.

(2)  I feel the need to pimp a cool contest over at Auto-Matic for the People.  Go check it out.  Just don't win.  I want to win.

Now on to the regularly scheduled content:

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm working on a bit of a card collecting project this year.

It all started back before even spring training this year, when my son (the peanut) was born.  This is our first kiddo, and there's just nothing that prepares you for what the experience and emotions are like.  One sort of strange after effect of the new arrival has been a resurgent interest in baseball on my part.

Now, I've been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember.  Going to a couple of Rangers games with my grandfather was always a highlight of the summer.  I also played the requisite little league ball, but once the opposition figured out how to throw a curveball....that was it for me.  All that said, I've never been really fanatical about it.  I've enjoyed the game, but never really dove very deep.

That changed this year.  

Between the peanut's "Field of Dreams" like stirring of my inner baseball fan, the Rangers success, and reading a book that really helped to improve my baseball watching skills (that'll be another post) , I've become quite the obsessive Ranger fan; much to the chagrin of the boss lady, quoth the wife: "Its on EVERY night???"

Sometime after spring training, I came across an article on the Through the Mail Autograph hobby.  I thought, "How cool would it be to one day give the peanut an autographed baseball card for every 2010 Texas Ranger; his inaugural baseball season?" 

I talked about the idea with some friends (and the boss lady too), and everyone seemed to think it was a cool idea, so I went about getting my hands on some current Rangers cards and put them to the mail.  At this point, I've got a handful of TTM packages out (Josh Hamilton, CJ Wilson, and Salty).  None have come back yet (well...none successfully), so I'm holding out hope on those.

In the meantime, I felt the need to make some progress, and with the "old junk" auctions fattening up my PayPal account, I've gone out to procure some autos on the Ebay.  

Here's what I've got so far:

The Dutch Oven.  He's been hurt a ton this year, but his performances have been strong enough to convince me that this guy is the real deal.  I can't wait for him to get back on the mount.

Jules had a rough start to the season, but he seems to have figured it out.  I'm not sure what he's doing differently, but man it sure feels good to see him hitting the ball again.

One of the advantages to having taken a long hiatus from baseball cards is that some of the stuff that is old-hat and trite to you guys is still pretty new and cool to me, plus it can be hand on the hella cheap.  Manufactured Patch Autos is one such example.  I think these things are really cool, and I'm happy to have a few in my collection.

Frankly, I hate this picture, this picture is about 50% of the reason that I've not paid for a single Chicle pack.  I don't think it looks anything like Neftali, but I love the on-card auto....so I'm not going to gripe. 

I did send one TTM package to Ian, and it came back with a crummy pre-printed auto on it.  Between that and his performance at the plate this year, he's on my crap list.  I did get a nice Ginter auto on the cheap though (camera's dead, so no picture)....so I can check him off my list.

I don't suspect that I'll be completing this project anytime soon, and frankly, I'm not in any real hurry.  There will certainly be folks that suit up for the Rangers late in the season, and I'll need to pick up autos for them.

Who knows, maybe I'll need a signature from this guy to complete my project.  A boy can dream, right?

 Have a great weekend everyone!