Three Random Cards for Your Viewing Pleasure

Salvador Perez. Ever heard of him? Well I hadn't until a few days ago. I was reading an article about the KC Royals, and how they had a real breakthrough season last year- very similar to my Buccos. 

I heard very little about KC here on the east coast, probably because they get so little national media coverage. From my reading, it seems like the team's made up of some real gritty blue-collar type of guys. My kind of players. One of them is Salvador Perez, who is probably one of the most underrated players in the entire MLB.

After some reading, he's what I'd learned about this guy:

-23 years old

-He was never a top prospect, or regarded as a realistic MLB talent 

-His first mjaor league homerun was off of Max Scherzer (nice) and in that same game, he was a triple away from the cycle (figures)

-He's a career .301 hitter. ........ .301

-2013 All-Star and a Gold Glover

...So I had to have a card of his. eBay presented me with this, for $12 shipped:

Shiny! And numbered to 15! 

For some reason, WBC cards are generally very affordable. I've got to assume it's the lack of MLB logos, jerseys, etc. Maybe it's just a cheap product overall? I've never dabbled.

Either way, I couldn't care any less, I've landed this beauty! Next up...

A Pirates PC addition of course! For $7, I was able to get my hands on this Travis Snider Rookie auto. Travis is currently competing for the right field position, which is as wide open as the Grand Canyon. Seriously. You could probably walk on and try out for the spot. 

Unlike Perez, this guy was once a highly touted prospect (back in '07), which is probably why a fellow collector sent this to be graded. He's struggled to find his niche in the majors since. I'm not one to collect graded cards, but it was the bang-for-my-buck Snider auto out there, so I pulled the trigger. Welcome home, Travy!

Last is the most random card ever. Over the weekend I hopped in a group break of Panini Titanium because why the hell not. I was randomly assigned the Cavs, which was exciting because of the Kyrie Irving potential. Instead I landed this. I'm not complaining, because group breaks often leave us with nothing. The swatch is purple because it's from Bynum's days as a Laker. Lol.

For whatever reason, I just start laughing hysterically and maniacally when I see this card. I have no idea why. I guess that's just the affect that Andrew Bynum has. Aside from comic relief, I have noooo use for this card. So if anyone wants to trade for it, please speak up!

Thanks for reading, as always.

Rippin' Retail

Christmas money = repacks. My local Target has a great selection of retail products, and I love to browse the isle whenever I have some extra cash. My selection this week was a Jumbo box retail pack made by Excell Marketing. Historically speaking, I tend to avoid these products. They're often packed with a bunch of gimmicky crap, but this one looked somewhat legit. As you can see below, it revealed a pack of 2012 Bowman Platinum. There's an identical window on the opposite side of the pack, showing 2012 Update. I also snagged two repacks of 2013 Update.

Here are all the packs within the box. Not a huge fan of Opening Day, but I was very happy to see two more packs of Topps products:

Moving on to the highlights:

One of the '13 Update packs had the Hairston emerald on the left, and the other had the Marshall. 

Same type of story from the 2012 packs.

The box was very generous with Bucco cards. Love the two Marte's.

 Aside from the four packs, there are 50 additional cards inside. Regardless of the sport you buy, the cards are typically a bunch of no names/semi-stars from the early 90's. This box was no different. Some of the cards were terribly warped, as seen above. This card almost looks like a half-pipe.

The pack of Platinum contained this very pretty Will Middlebrooks X-Fractor. The box promises a "Bonus", which must be this Albert Pujols Heritage Mini, because it was floating around the inside of the box. A nice touch, but the real bonus was inside the pack of 2012 Update...

The cardboard gods smiled upon me! The pack felt a little thick, and I was surprised it wan't a decoy. Getting a hit out of a repack is always a great feeling... even if it's a Carlos Ruiz All-Star workout jersey. 

All in all, a very successful purchase. This box alone has really changed my view on this type of product. If you haven't tried one of those retail boxes before, I'd definitely recommend it. I'm sure this wont be my last.

Everything here is for trade, like usual. Thanks for reading!

PC Upgrades from the Dime Box

Not the literal Dime Box, but my new pal Nick over at the blog Dime Boxes -- The Low-End Baseball Card Collector's Journey.

Nick enjoys the little things about cardboard collecting, like finding gems for just a dime. Luckily, Nick was in need of some parallels, and I had a ton lying around (and still do). After a good deal of bartering, we were able to settle on a trade. I sent him a small of stack of parallels and set needs, and he sent me some sick Pirates cards off of his trade list.

First off is a really nice Pedro Alvarez insert from 2011 Topps Opening Day. This set of inserts, "Stadium Lights," attempts to highlight the feats that players achieve in night games.

Which makes this one of the most ironic cards of all time, at least for this season. Here are Pedro's night/day splits for the 2013 season (day games on top):

Hense the nickname he earned this year, "Daydro."

Next to Pedro is a nice Jason Bay card from 2006 Bowman Originals. Blue Parallel numbered to 250. JB's up there on my all-time Pirate favs.

Continuing the parallel theme, we've got a gold beauty of Josh Harrison from 2012 Topps. And look who it is in the background! Daydro! He's even smiling, which is quite a rarity. Not a knock on him at all, I believe he's just an intense guy on the field.

The Jeanmar Gomez emerald is fresh out of 2013 Update. Jeanmar is at the top of the pile for the most underrated player on the Pirates this year. He started, relieved, and closed games.. and didn't give up many runs doing so.

Last but certainly not least is a 2010 UD Marlon Byrd auto. This card won't knock anyone's socks off, but neither will Marlon Byrd. I've been itching to grab an auto of his ever since joining the Buccos, so Nick came in clutch for me here. I'm sad to see him go across the state, but I will always remember his outstanding play on the North Shore, however brief it was.

Thanks again to Nick, and thanks for reading!