Five Months of Mail Roundup!

2021 and the start of 2022 has been busy for me and I've once again neglected the blog. I've still been buying, selling, and collecting, and I've got some fun stuff to show off from recent pick ups. Let's get right to it:

 

Henry Davis - 2021 Bowman Draft Refractor

 

Baseball America released it's farm system rankings recently, and the Pirates are back near the top of the league at #3. That's what you'd expect out of a rebuild. GM Ben Cherington has depleted nearly the entire Major League roster in favor of prospects, and we're seeing the result in the cardboard world with lots of Pirates prospect cards. 2021 #1 overall pick Henry Davis is certainly part of that, and he's one of the blue chip prospects in 2021 Bowman Draft. Thanks to a TCDB trade, I was able to grab this as well as a regular base chrome.

 

 

Ke"Bryan Hayes - 2021 Topps Chrome RC

 

I've been collecting as many of Ke'Bryan Hayes' rookies as I can, both from flagship and chrome. I've got 5-6 of each so far through TCDB trades. If you've got any, send them my way! 

 

Ke"Bryan Hayes - 2021 Topps Rookie Cup RC Auto - Foil /90

 

This is the only Hayes autograph that I have in my collection at the moment since his prices have skyrocketed. For some reason, his 2021 Rookie Cup autographs are very affordable compared to other products. I am absolutely obsessed with this card - the horizonal style is perfect and it has a clean, on-card signature. The foilboard looks great. I'm still hunting a good price on the same card, gold #/50. 

 

2016 Bowman Draft - Bryan Reynolds Auto Refractor /499

 

While this may seem like an unassming Bryan Reynolds Bowman First autograph, there's something very speical about this particular card...

 

 

Ebay 1/1!!! Serial #10, Reynolds jersey number. I'm usually not one to caresabout these types of things, but as a Reynolds "super collector" of sorts, this was a special find for me. It truly does it make it one-of-a-kind for me, and I was willing to pay a little over value for the "ebay 1/1."

 

 

Bryan Reynolds - 2020 Topps Chrome Gold Refractor /50

 

I'm getting a little closer to my 2020 Topps Chrome Bryan Reynolds rainbow. Today's mail included the gold #/50, which had been on my wish list for a few months. Annoyingly, for several of the parallel colors, Topps did both a "gold /50" and "gold wave #/50," or "green /99" and "green wave /99." This is creating a little extra work for me, but I guess I could look at it glass-half-full because it's more for me to chase. Not counting the Superfractor, the complete rainbow is 17 cards, and I'm sitting at 11. I still need:

• Green /99
• Blue wave /75
  
• Orange /25
• Orange wave /25
• Red /5
• Red wave /5

 

 

 

Any leads on those are appreciated. Moving on to basketball:

 

Anthony Edwards - 2020-21 Panini Mosaic RC

 

 

Immanuel Quickley - 2020-21 Panini Przim Red Cracked Ice  

 

Obi Toppin - 2020-21 Panini Przim  

 

LeBron James - 2014-15 Panini NBA Hoops Silver #/399 

LeBron James - 2018-19 Panini NBA Hoops Silver #/199

 I've been lucky to pick up some basketball retail through Target online, which is a nice change of pace from never finding retail for the last two years. I was able to get a few Mosaic blasters, and I was happy to find the Edwards rookie, although my other breaks were largely duds. 

The Quickley cracked ice was an eBay purchase under $10, and Toppin was pulled from a pack. I'm a huge fan of this year's Prizm design and an even bigger fan of the photo on Toppin's card. If you've watched a Knicks game this year, you'll recognize that as as his post-dunk celebration.

As for the two LeBrons, those were two needed additons to a small LeBron project that I'm working on. The goal is to get my hands on a silver parallel from every year of Panini NBA Hoops in whoch Silver parallels were printed. After a hiatius, Hoops returned in 2011-12, and Silver parallels began to emerge three years later in 2014-15. With the addition of the two above, I am just two away from completing the "set" of eight cards - I need 2015-16 and 2021-22. 

Thanks for reading!

June and July Mail Roundup

At this rate, this blog is amounting to monthly "Mail Roundup" posts, which will have to do for now. Life is getting very busy, and I'm starting to learn how much free time I was granted during my quarantine-life. Life is back to normal (for now) and it really has been tough to sit down and write.

It's still better than the blog dying all together.  I think writers in the blogging community put a lot of pressure on themselves to write consistently and often. Two years ago I made the commitment to write one post a month, and I've more or less stayed true to that, and frankly it's something I'm proud of. 

The other good news is, while I'm having a hard time getting in front of the computer to write, I'm still collecting at a decent pace and I'm making it a point to carve out time for my hobbies, and I've had some fun maildays that are worth showing off here. And, since I missed a post in June, I'm back to round up two months worth of card mail.

Bryan Reynolds - 2020 Topps Chrome

(L) Sepia

(R) Negative

Some exciting news, I've decided to chase after the 2020 Topps Chrome Bryan Reynolds rainbow, and I've gotten off to a nice start. I did the same for Reynold's 2019 Topps Chrome Rookie Card (and since that post, I landed the super), and I'm still one card away from wrapping up that rainbow. 

It's been about a year since the release of 2020 Topps Chrome, and I certainly did not help myself by waiting. I haven't seen anything lower than the gold #/50 listed on eBay or COMC. Aside from two Pirates collectors who each have one of the Orange #/25, there is no trace of anything out there that I need. At this point I'll just hope that a big breaker does a 100 case break of 2020 Topps Chrome and maybe some of these will surface...

Until then, here's what I've got so far:

(L) X-Fractor

(C) Prism Refractor

(R) Refractor

(L) Blue #/299

(C) Purple #/199

(R) Pink

(L) Gold Wave #/50

(R) Green Wave #/99

The best part about building this rainbow: Bryan Reynolds cards are pretty dang affordable. Don't forget that this dude was the starting Center Fielder  for the National League All-Star team this year. 

Some more Buccos:

Nick Gonzales - 2020 Bowman Draft Refractor

I'll wager that you'll see a lot more of Nick Gonzales on this blog in the future. Since last posted about him in May, he has moved from the #32 prospect in baseball to #29.  This is my second copy of this card, and I'll likely grab a few more. He has been playing this season in High-A, and I imagine we'll see him rise through the ranks quickly next year. 

Travis Swaggerty - 2018 Bowman Draft Gold Refactor #/50

Another top prospect in the Pirates system, Travis Swaggerty. Excited to pick up my first gold refractor of his. 

Elijah Hughes - 2020 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Autograph #89

Elijah Hughes - 2020 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Autograph Variation #89 

Grabbed a two autos from Elijah Hughes, one of the best Syracuse guards in recent memory. These were a few bucks apiece. Both cards are #89 on the checklist, so one of these is a variation but I honestly don't know which is which. 

A few more hoops cards:

(L) LeBron James - 2009-10 Panini "The Franchise" Insert, Artist Proof #/199

(R) Kobe Bryant - 2009-10 Panini Artist Proof #/199

The two cards above actually came as a lot, and therefore I think I got a fair deal on them. Lots are typically not advised for sellers hoping to maximize profit, so I feel good about snagging these as a package.

(L) Kobe Bryant - 2018-19 NBA Hoops Silver #/199

(C) LeBron James 2016-17 NBA Hoops Silver #/99

(R) LeBron James 2017-18 NBA Hoops Silver #/199

In the May Mail Roundup, I talked about how I'm hoarding LeBron serial numbered cards. I'm doing the same with Kobe. There's not a specific strategy behind this. Both of these guys are legends, and some day I'd love to have a box full of short printed cards of two of the best players of all time. Maybe it will bring back great memories. Maybe it will pay for my kid's tuition. Who knows. 

That's it for this month. It was another great month of card mail. Thanks for following along.

March Mail Roundup

Another month has flown by. I stopped today to take a look at all of the cards I acquired in March, and it was another great month of grabbing singles. The sports card market is still blazing hot, and I'm still taking full advantage of that by continuing to sell cards that I'm ready to move on from. The eBay Standard Envelope mailing option is, in my opinion, one of the greatest things to happen to our hobby in the past decade. It's really enticed me to list some PWE-ship cards that I never would have considered listing. 

As I send cards out, I'm able to bring cards in. 

Tiger Woods - 2001 Upper Deck RC

I wish I would have grabbed this last year when it was a $10 card, but better late than never. This rookie card is almost one of those "must haves" for any collector. Tiger is consistently ranked amongst the greatest athletes of all time. I wanted to grab one in good condition, and paid a little extra for that luxury. If all goes according to plan, this will be the next 1987 Fleer Jordan and it will pay for my kid's college tuition some day. 

Nolan Arenado 

2013 Bowman Draft Base

2013 Bowman Draft Chrome

2013 Bowman Draft Chrome Refractor

Is it just me, or has Nolan Arenado become one of the most under-appreciated players in baseball in the last year or two? Playing in Colorado probably hasn't help him. That should change when he's a big time factor in the middle of the lineup for the Cardinals, who will try to contend with the Cubs for the top spot in the NL Central. 

Just in case you've forgotten about this dude, from 2015-2019, he never had less than 37 HRS and 110 RBI in a season. In that five year strech, he led the NL in HRs three times, and led the entire league in RBI twice. 

Oh, and he's won a Gold Glove in every single season that he's been in the majors. Yep, eight for eight. He's only 30 years old -- and aside from the 2020 season that was fluky for so many top players -- he's showing no signs of slowing down.

You can have your Sotos and Acunas - I'll take my Arenados, thank you very much. I grabbed this lot of three cards for $27 total. 

Jared Oliva - 2019 Bowman Draft Chrome Refractor Autograph #/499

The 25 year old Jared Oliva was looking to have a shot at the major league roster this year. The Pirates are lacking depth in the outfield and I thought Oliva had a chance to grab a backup spot. After collecting only a few hits in spring training, he was optioned to the minor league camp last week. The former 7th round pick will try to prove himself in AAA. 

Sydney Crosby - 2005-06 Upper Deck Trilogy Rookie Premiere #/999

Casually sliding in one of the largest single card purchases I've ever made. As I watch more hockey, I'm really starting to appreciate the greatness of players like Sydney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid. I've had the privilege of watch Sid in person a few times and it doesn't take long to understand that you're watching a master of his craft. 

I was really hoping to land a card with a serial number on it, but it can get pricey. I've been keeping an eye on a few Sid rookies for a few months, and finally found one I was comfortable pulling the trigger on. 

This one was in my price range. It's super clean - great surface, sharp edges and corners. There is one flaw on the card, which the seller was kind enough to highlight so it wasn't a surprise. Check out the pictures below and you can see the chipping right along the bottom center of the back. I decided it's a flaw that I can live with, and the price reflected it.  

Like I said - very minor, and I can definitely live with it. The rest of the card is nearly flawless. 

Immanuel Quickley - 2020-21 NBA Hoops 

My little Knicks PC barely ever makes it on the blog, but it's been picking up some steam now that we're becoming a competitive team again, and there are actually some players worth rooting for. As a pseudo-Kentucky fan, I watch nearly every one of Immanuel Quickley's games at the collegiate level. I'm definitely biased, but I was pumped when the Knicks drafted him. He's already looking like a late-first-round steal and potentially one of the top five picks in the draft. I let the Hoops craze die down for about a month after it's release and then grabbed this for $4.

2020 Prizm Draft Prospects - Elijah Hughes Auto

Speaking of $4 pickups, I grabbed this Elijah Hughes auto. Hughes was the catalyst for 'Cuse's success last year. A lanky 6'6 shooter, his game is built for the NBA. He was selcted by the Jazz in the middle of the second round. He's bounced between the G-League and the big leagues and I hope he'll be able to stick at some point. 

Kevin Durant - 2007-08 Topps RC

The last pickup is another beauty. This is considered Durant's "true" rookie. The Nets are going to be NBA Finals worthy this year, and I wanted to grab a Durant rookie before they make their run and the prices skyrocket. If all goes according to recent events, we may be looking at a Lakers-Nets final... and it would be one for the ages. If the Nets can pull it off, Durant would be the odds-on favorite for MVP. Each of those steps falling into place might be a long-shot parlay, but this would be a hell of a card to own if it happens. 

It's a classic 2000's rookie card. You have to love the old baggy Sonics jersey. I really do miss Topps basketball cards. I have a lot of gripes with Topps, but it would be fun to see them produce licensed hoops cards and give Panini a competition. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I'll get another post up before the April Mail Roundup, but no promises!

CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED!

The MLB regular season has concluded and the first ever 16-team playoff is about to get underway. At the start of the MLB restart, I posted the contest asking fellow bloggers to predict all 12 playoff teams. Then, within a week, the MLB announced the expanded playoff format with 16 teams and we had to do it all over again.

That was a rocky start, however we had 16 different contestants enter which was a terrific turnout. There was also a lot of fear that the MLB season wouldn't make it to completion, so the fact that we're at this point and ready for postseason baseball is a big win for all.

So, without further ado, let's see the results! 

(The picture below has all the picks, click to enlarge).

Congrats to Fuji at The Chronicles of Fuji for correctly picking a whopping 14 out of 16 playoff teams correctly!  Fuji - this is pretty damn impressive. Congratulations on the win, this will be headed your way:

I hope you end up with a Jasson Dominguez autograph! Please email me your address.

Some key takeaways from the contest:

• The team that was incorrectly chosen most frequently was the Angels, who were selected by 15 of the 16 participants.
• The team that made the playoffs but was chosen the least frequently was Toronto, who was selected by only 2 of 16 participants. 
• The AL East was correctly predicted by 14 of 15 participants
• Two contests chose the Pirates to make the playoffs which I appreciate but also makes me curious what year you think we're living in..?

Thanks to everyone for your participation. I had a ton of fun hosting this and I think I'd like do something similar to this again next season. Now let's sit back and enjoy the playoffs!

Mailday Roundup: August Pickups

"Mailday." A term that we use daily in this hobby and probably take for granted. The US Postal service is crucial to exchanging cards. USPS isn't perfect, and we have all have our gripes - but 51 cents seems like a small price to pay to swap some cardboard across several hundred (or several thousand) miles. Here's to hoping that political greed won't interfere with our hobby.

Thankfully I haven't experienced any drastic changes in my USPS service yet. My latest big purchase arrived in a timely manner...

I'm excited to announce that I was able to add a second superfractor to my collection last week:

Bryan Reynolds - 2020 Topps Finest The Man Insert Superfractor #1/1

The love for "The Man" inserts in 2020 Topps Finest has been well documented, and with good reason. I was especially pleased to see that my favorite player, Bryan Reynolds, was lucky enough to be featured in the set. I keep my eyes peeled on eBay for most things Reynolds-related, using several saved searches and checking daily. This card went up on a .99 cent auction and I made sure to be there when the bidding closed. I won it for what I think is a reasonable price. Not cheap, but it could have been my only chance to own this card. It still cost me less than a hobby box of Topps Chrome, and I'd certainly rather have this than some mystery cards.

Due to the colorful artwork on this card, you're not seeing much of the superfactor-y chrome finish. It's only really evident in the space by his name and by the Topps Finest logo. The bigger standout to me is the color of the text at the top. The base cards fill in the text at the top with a pink/magenta color. This isn't my card, but here's what I mean:

Bryan Reynolds - 2020 Topps Finest The Man Insert 

Nothing wrong with the base cards, they're sweet too, but I'll take the white on the superfractor all day.  And of course, there's a 1/1 stamp on the back!

The seller threw in some extras which was really cool of him to do. Aside from the 2016 Bowman Draft, I didn't have any of these, so I netted 4 new Reynolds cards for my collection in this deal. 

Bryan Reynolds - 2017 Bowman Chrome - Prospects Gold #/50

Another eBay pickup for the gold collection. This was Reynold's last card in a Giants uniform before being traded. With these additions, I'm up to 31 unique Bryan Reynolds cards.

Thanks to a generous Free Stuff Friday from Kerry at Cards on Cards, I was able to grab these two inserts in a PWE. Speaking of, Kerry, I owe you another PWE - I'll get one out soon. 

I still root for and collect Tyler Glasnow, and due to some early success in Tampa, he's showing up on quite a few baseball cards. 

Lonzo Ball sure isn't playing like a #2 overall pick, and any spotlight that may still be on him will quickly shift to his younger brother. Lonzo's only 22 and I think he's got a pretty ideal situation in New Orleans. Only time will tell if he'll pan out, but thanks to Kerry I'm lucky to have a Lonzo rookie in my collection.

Robert from $30 a week habit and I pulled off our first TCDB trade last week, and it was a good one. I've been a huge champion of TCDB on here - and I'm telling you - if you're not on there, you should be. If it were not for the trade tool on the website, I don't think this trade would have happened. Although Robert didn't have too many Pirates that I needed, he had lots of great cards on his For Trade list, and I was able to build up a nice little stack of eight cards and we made it happen.

The highlights are above. Robert was kind enough to part with a rookie card of the hottest young rookie the game. Not to say I stiffed him - I sent him some pretty nice cards too. 

Believe it or not, I'm more pumped about the Eduardo Escobar rookie. Gold border and serial numbered #/2012. To me, Escobar is one of the most underrated players in the game. He 's not young (31) and he's not flashy, but he had 35 HR and 118 RBI last year. Those were all career highs by a long shot, so hopefully it wasn't a flukey year. 

Thanks for the cards, Robert!

All in all, it was another great week of visits to the mailbox. As much as some of us will declare otherwise, it's in our nature to enjoy gifts and surprises - and it's certianly in our nature to enjoy giving to others. Opening up the mailbox to find a PWE will always be a fun little feeling. I won't take it for granted.

First Contest Winner Announced!

Big thanks to everyone who entered the contest predicting the sixteen 2020 MLB Postseason teams. I probably couldn't have picked a worse time to center a contest around MLB games... hopefully MLB can get it together and we'll be able to complete the baseball season, and the contest, as planned. 

In total, 16 different contestants entered. Adding in new subscribers and blog pimps, there were a total of 28 entries. I popped those 28 entires into random.org and randomized the list 21 times!

Without further ado...

And there we have it! Congratulations to John at John's Big League Baseball Blog for being randomly selected to win one jumbo pack of 2020 Topps Series 2! John, please get in touch so I can get your address!

Thanks again to all of those who entered. Remember, this is only phase one of the contest. Phase two will be announced in early October when the regular season concludes. Whoever wins that aspect of the contest will be taking home a fat pack of 2020 Bowman baseball!

If for some reason the baseball season gets shut down, I'll randomize the list 21 times again to raffle off the Bowman pack. 

Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

CONTEST! Win Some 2020 Bowman or 2020 Series 2!

**THE CONTEST HAS BEEN EDITED TO REFLECT THE NEW 16-TEAM PLAYOFF FORMAT**

PLEASE VISIT THIS LINK to see the amendments to the contest and resubmit your new predictions!

Original Post:

Welcome back baseball! We've missed you!

I've read a lot about the scarcity of 2020 Topps Series 2 and 2020 Bowman in the wild.  I too was having trouble finding any until I finally caught some luck on my most recent Target run. I grabbed some of each, and I'd like to share my luck with the blog world. If you haven't found any, this is your chance to grab some at no cost! 

I'm excited for the start of baseball season. Plus, this blog is long overdue for a contest, so let's get this going! There will be two separate components to this. One involves *some* skill and lots of luck, and one simply asks for participation. BOTH win prizes!

For the first part, all you to need to do is correctly predict as many of the 10 playoff teams that you can for the 2020 MLB Postseason. It's that simple. Whoever has the most correct predictions will win. If a tie breaker is needed, I will look to see which participant has the most teams in their correct playoff spot. With this in play, there is value to correctly picking who will win the division and who will get the first and second wildcard spots. If, for some reason we need another tie breaker, I'll randomize it. 

In order to enter, just submit your predictions on the comments section in the format below:

AL East Champion:

AL Central Champion:

AL West Campion:

AL Wild Card #1:

AL Wild Card #2:

NL East Champion:

NL Central Champion:

NL West Campion:

NL Wild Card #1:

NL Wild Card #2:

The last day of regular season games is September 28th, and I'll announce the winner shortly thereafter. Make sure to fill in your blog name with your submission so I know how to find you!

The person with the most correct answers will win themselves a factory sealed fat pack of 2020 Bowman baseball!

Now for those of you who suck at predicting the future, like me, don't worry. I'll also be entering ALL participants into a drawing to win one 2020 Topps Series 2 Jumbo pack!

As long as you submit your predictions in the comments before the end of the day on Sunday 7/26, you've earned yourself (1) entry into the drawing. 

There are two ways you can earn additional entries:

1. "Pimp" the contest on your blog - in order to qualify for this, please drop a comment on this post letting me know that you did so. 
2. Subscribe to the blog! This one is for newcomers only. If you've already subscribed, sorry! I'd really like to add some new followers. If you don't currently follow me, please do so! 

So, everyone has the opportunity to get up to two submissions, and new subscribers can get three.

The contest will close on Sunday, Sunday, July 26th at 11:59 PM EST. I will use random.org and randomize the list of entrants 21 times. The winner will be announced on 7/27.

Thanks for checking it out. I hope this adds some fun to the start of the 2020 season and hooks some great people up with some great cards. 

This is Blog is Now a Bryan Reyolds Fanpage

For someone who has never considered himself a collector of one specific player, I'm definitely starting to look like a Bryan Reynolds superfan. As I was preparing this post, I realized that four of the seven cards that I'm planning to show are from one player.

It got me curious to check some stats on my Reynolds collection. According to TCDB, which I update religiously, I have 23 unique Bryan Reynolds cards. I also learned that my collection ranks as the fourth largest quantity on the site. There are two other collectors with 24, and the largest collection sits at 31. As I continue to seek Reynolds cards through trade and the occasional purchase, I might be gunning for that #1 spot. 

Here are some pickups from the week, starting with TCDB trades:

Bryan Reynolds - 2016 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

This came in from California, where a SF Giants send me this card in return for two Giants cards. This is actually the first copy the "1st Bowman" I've gotten my hands on in the "paper" version. Topps used the same image on his autograph card in the set, which I have a few of. 

(L) Mitch Keller - 2019 Topps Gallery

(R) Bryan Reynolds - 2019 Topps Gallery

For someone who buys a decent amount of retail cards, I'm a little surprised that I've never picked up any Topps Gallery. These are the first Galley cards in my collection. The artwork truly is impressive and they look great in-hand. I swapped these two cards with a Braves collector in Georgia.

Chris Archer - 2020 Topps Rainbow Foil

Stephen Strasburg - 2020 Topps Gold Parallel #/2020

These two cards have a cool story behind them. A collector in Pittsburgh contacted me on TCDB and offered the Archer rainbow foil in exchange for a handful of random basketball and baseball cards. It turns out that he's working on a project where he's putting together packs of cards of athletes from Pennsylvania. He then donates the packs to his local Ronald McDonald House, where they are added to a prize locker for teenagers. Inside the pack you'll find the cards and you'll be encouraged to log onto a website associated with the cards where you can learn about your home-state legends. 

Once I learned about the project, I offered up several more cards of PA-born athletes - names like Neil Walker and Marvin Harrison. The trader was gracious enough allow me to add in the Strasburg parallel. I feel like this card encapsulates the 2019 World Series very well. 

(L) Bryan Reynolds - 2019 Topps Gallery Autograph

(R) Bryan Reynolds - 2019 Topps Now Rookie Cup

We'll wrap up with my two eBay purchases on the week. The Topps Gallery auto is... the base card with an autographed sticker on it. Very on-brand for Topps!

The Topps Now card is the first I've ever purchased. I've never been too interested in the set although I think it's a cool idea. This particular card drew me in for a few reasons - it has print run of just 376 and it has both the RC stamp and the gold cup. Lots to love. 

Thanks for stopping by.