As my wife and I were heading out to the truck to go to Target to spend some of our Christmas dough, the mailman pulled up and stepped out with a stack of mail and a small box. He handed it to my wife and she said it was addressed to me. It was a surprise package from Dawgbones of...well...Dawgbones. He had first contacted me about my last contest and we got to talking about many things, including the fact that he lives where I grew up, and I now live near where he works. Small world. He sent along an awesome package that included some cards:
Yes, that's a 2002 Bowman David Wright RC. I already have that card, but had been looking for another one for my brother, who is good friends and former high school basketball teammates with David. There was also a BJ Upton Fathead Tradeables:
I had never seen one of these in person, so I was surprised to see how big it was (6"x8" ish maybe?). The highlight of the package, however, were Paper Figures of Mickey Mantle and David Wright.
I had a massive brain fart for a minute or two trying to figure out who #7 for the Yankees was...I'mmmmmm dumb.
He even took my Jefferson Burdick image and slapped it on for the face of the David Wright. Don't tell my family, but I think that is my favorite Christmas present I opened this year. I will absolutely be sending Dawgbones a sick package in return, because this was just plain awesome.
I received a nice looking bubble mailer from the land down under...you know where women glow and men plunder. The package was, of course, courtesy of Jonathan at my favorite Australian blog, RGB Cards. Thanks to Men at Work, I am led to believe Jonathan is perhaps 6'4" and full of muscles. Anyway, we started talking about 2009 UD A Piece of History because he busted a box and I needed one card to complete the set. Well, I still need that card, but he managed to find some other great stuff for me. First, some great Peak Performance inserts from 2010 Topps:
Jonathan also busted a box of 2008 UD Masterpieces and pulled a Red Frame Parallel of Justin Verlander. As far as I am concerned, the 2008 UD Masterpieces Justin Verlander is the most beautiful base card I've seen in a long time.
I mean, really, how sexy is that card. The scoreboard shows an 0-2 count to Hardy in the ninth inning, making this none other than the last pitch of Verlander's no-hitter against the Brewers (Hardy flew out to RF). I now have the Base, Red Frame and Blue Frame (#/125). If anyone has any others, especially the black frame, let me know. That card is truly a Masterpiece. He also sent a sweet David Wright 2008 UD Heroes Sea Green Parallel #/99.
Somehow, I don't even have the base version of this card. The cards also helped me reach a collecting milestone.
100th Ryan Zimmerman card: 2009 Topps 206 Mini Piedmont
Thanks again, Jonathan, for some great cards and for helping me reach another milestone.
Ok, so in my last post a few days ago, I teased with a picture of a 2010 Best of Chrome value box that I picked up at Target with some early Christmas money from my wife's grandfather. I wasn't expecting a ton of cards for Christmas when I bought it...I was wrong. Here is what I got:
My wife and I gave each other a trip to the ACC Championship game this year, so on Christmas day, we only had stockings for each other. I love stocking packs.
2010 Topps Update Dollar Tree (x2), 2008 Upper Deck X (x2), 2010 Topps NFL
My Sister-in-law and her boyfriend upped the ante the next day:
2010 Bowman Chrome Hobby (x5)
The highlight of Cardmas, however, would be from my Father-in-law. He has always given the best presents, including many years of improving my drumset with various add-ons. Well, in my first Christmas officially in the family, he blew me away.
2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Hobby Box,
2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History Hobby Box,
2010 Upper Deck Hobby Pack
How's that for a welcome to the family.
I have all of this stuff busted and scanned, so look for the posts coming soon. As a teaser, the UD A Piece of History box will be of particular interest to Braves fans.
Oh, I almost forgot...My Sister-in-law and her boyfriend also gave me some toilet paper:
My wife called me at work the other day to tell me a hefty mailer from NY had just arrived in the mail, and that likely meant cards from BA Benny. When I got home that afternoon I was excited to see what he had sent me this time. He certainly didn't dissappoint with a package that started out with a few VT Hokies, including some great 2010 Eddie Royals:
Eddie was so fun to watch in person at Tech. It's a shame we had Sean "Happy Feet" Glennon at QB for so long. Also in the package were a few David Wright cards I needed:
As many cards as I have from those three sets, I was amazed I didn't have any of those. Of course he didn't forget to add to some of my other player collections.
The Generation Now Zimmerman is a White Refractor #/200. I liked the Generation Now set from Topps Base, and thought it was okay that they translated it to chrome, but I'm not sure why they took that set to the refractor level, much less multiple colored refractors. Nevertheless, that card has a great home in my PC binder now. BA Benny also included some great numbered goodies of Justin Upton:
The Opening Day card is #/2199 (not sure why they chose that...) and the 2009 Topps is #/58, and is my first Topps black parallel. The big hitters he sent my way were simply awesome:
A 2008 Topps Highlights David Wright Bat card and a 2009 Topps Update All-Star Stitches Justin Upton Jersey card. I've wanted that Wright card for quite some time, so I was ecstatic to see it. I hadn't seen the Upton card before, but I love the All-Star Stitches cards.
BA Benny, your cards are coming soon. Thanks again for the sweet cards!
If you entered and do not see your name above, you didn't get them all right. As for a recap of the questions and answers:
1) What famous sports card name did I come across in Hollywood Cemetery in July? Lewis Ginter - This answer could be found in my very first post. I'm considering an on-location pack break of 2011 A&G...but I am bit unsure if that would be breaking some kind of moral or ethical boundary. Any thoughts?
2) What two A&G Celestial Stars minis did I pull from rack packs this year? Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder - These answers could be found here and here. I traded the Pujols to Wicked Ortega for the David Wright CS, but I still have the Fielder if anyone is interested.
3) Who were the two subjects on the custom Masterpieces card Beardy made for me? The Situation and David Wright - Check it out here. Definitely watch the video, because it is priceless. If you haven't seen Beardy's 2010 Masterpieces collection, go check it out. Wicked Ortega called him "The Sitch"...I love it.
4) What was my 100th David Wright card? 2010 Topps Heritage All-Star SP - This answer was awfully difficult to find, since it was in a post titled, "100th David Wright Card".
5) Who traded me my 100th Justin Verlander Card? BA Benny - There were actually two correct answers to this. Most people answered "BA Benny", though one fellow, BA Benny, answered "Me!". Both were accepted. This was a slightly tricky question since it asked who traded it to me, not what card it was. Sneaky, sneaky, sir.
6) What player was featured on the custom "Blacklist" card I made? "Shoeless" Joe Jackson - This was found in my custom Charlie Hustle collection. Of all those cards, I was actually happiest with the "Blacklist" insert idea.
7) When is my birthday? October 3 - This one was slightly tricky since I posted on October 2 that "tomorrow is my birthday". I expected someone to reply October 2. Yeah, I didn't fool anyone.
8) Who did I say Vic Power's 1956 Topps card looked like? Benjamin Buford Blue, aka "Bubba" - It's sad that Bubba is now all I think about whenever I see Power. See the comparison here.
9) What are the three oldest cards I own? 1971 Topps Dick Such, 1971 Topps Elliott Maddox, 1973 Topps Phil Hennigan - These cards came in a trade that I posted about here. The Hennigan is headed to BA Benny, since he will give it a nice Mets home where it can run around and play with other Mets.
10) What three teams did I go see Virginia Tech play this year? James Madison (JMU), Central Michigan (CMU), and Florida State (FSU) - While I would love to forget about the JMU game, it did happen. I am just glad we whooped up on FSU in the ACC Championship
Thanks for participating. I should have a post coming soon with a look at what to expect in the next 100 posts.
This is my 100th post since I started My Cardboard Mistress on July 20, 2010 with the First Date. When I started this blog a few months ago, I really didn't know what to expect. 40 followers, two dozen trades, and 99 posts later, I couldn't be happier. The blog started slow, so most of my early posts didn't get too many hits, but picked up when I broke out the Jefferson Burdick image in the style of Shepard Fairey. The image circulated around to several blogs and finally got my site name out there. I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to check out my blog, and especially those who have left comments and traded with me.
To celebrate this milestone, why not have a contest based around the first 99 posts. To enter, answer the ten questions below in a email to me.
1) What famous sports card name did I come across in Hollywood Cemetery in July?
2) What two A&G Celestial Stars minis did I pull from rack packs this year?
3) Who were the two subjects on the custom Masterpieces card Beardy made for me?
4) What was my 100th David Wright card?
5) Who traded me my 100th Justin Verlander Card?
6) What player was featured on the custom "Blacklist" card I made?
7) When is my birthday?
8) Who did I say Vic Power's 1956 Topps card looked like?
9) What are the three oldest cards I own?
10) What three teams did I go see Virginia Tech play this year?
I would recommend using the "Search this blog" feature on the sidebar. The person who gets the most correct will win. If multiple people win, I will random off the prize. What is the prize, you say?
In addition to something suiting your collecting desires, two Chrome rookie cards of the hype-tastic rookies of Baseball and Football: Stephen Strasburg and Tim Tebow.
Sorry to have a contest that requires more than just a comment, but I really hope this gets some extra hits on some of my earlier posts.
As a bonus, if you pimp this contest on your blog (send me an email to let me know) and are a winner, you will receive something extra special.
Thanks for reading, and good luck!
******Deadline to enter is Friday night at 11:59 pm
This trade post is proof that persistence pays off. Derek, of the newly founded Tomahawk Chopping blog, has recently come into the blogobong and started out with a bang. I'm sure, by now, most people have noticed him commenting on posts here and there and seeking out Braves cards. Well, he left a number of comments on some of my posts requesting cards and letting me know what he had for me. He happens to like UVA players, which happen to feel just the opposite about.
He saw that I pulled a Chris Long AU from some 2008 Press Pass, and after several attempts, I agreed on a trade with a few conditions. I would get cards he offered, and he would get the Long auto and a few more UVA cards I had. The catch was that I would also get some cold hard cash (since he didn't have anything comparable to the auto in return that I was looking for). The deal: If Virginia Tech beat UVA in football, I would be in a good mood and give him a lower price (comparable to a recent ebay sale). In the rare event that UVA won, I would be pissed, thus requiring a larger sum of money (after all, it was unlikely and the Long AU is an inscription). Well, Virginia Tech beat the snot out of UVA, so we had a deal. The money hit my PayPal account and the cards were mailed. It was the first time I had sold a card since I started this blog, but I think it was the best way to complete the deal. I think we reached a fair value and we were both happy.
As for the cards he sent me:
A nice BJ Upton StarQuest I needed.
A BJ Upton Orangefractor that I really needed (I need the Justin Upton, Ryan Zimmerman, and Michael Cuddyer now). My favorite card he sent, though, was a Scott Sizemore Xfractor:
Thanks again, Derek! I hope you like your cards! Everyone, go to his blog. As a newbie blogger (<1 year) as well, I can tell you I really appreciated when people visited my blog in the early days.
A few days ago I posted the cards that reader Jason sent me, and I failed to mention my favorite card. He also sent this gem:
1998 Bowman Chrome International Refractor
This card is awesome. I have the base Bowman and Bowman Chrome versions of this, but this one is sooo much better. I love that it shows Norfolk on the map in the background, because that is where I was born. Thanks yet again Jason, and sorry I forgot to mention it last time.
It's not exactly a complete college football Saturday today, but is is Army-Navy Game day, so I have some college cards. I picked up another discount blaster from the Wal-Mart over by my parents' house. This time, I picked up 2009 UD Draft Football because I am a sucker for college football cards. I pulled an auto from this product a while back out of a single Dollar Tree pack, so I had high hopes for a blaster hit. I didn't get a hit this time, however, which isn't too disappointing. Let's face it, I got an auto from the Dollar Tree, the card gods couldn't let me get a blaster hit as well. I did get some nice cards, and the blasters have a decent number of cards, too, so it was fun to open.
a couple of the highlights:
I like the look of these cards, and I like the layout of the set. It has a good combination of college players, pro players and combo cards like the Crabtree/Welker card. The Felix Jones card was the best of the box; it's a gold parallel numbered to 125. That card has already been sent to Play at the Plate as part of his 2010 MLB Playoffs Contest prize package.
That's it for college football this year, but I may have to get something in honor of the Orange Bowl on January 4, when VT takes on a tough Stanford team.
All About Cards is having a great contest so swing on over there and check it out. They're trying to get feedback for the 2010 Sports Card Awards. They have come up with three categories:
Sickest Card of the Year
Fan Favorite Set of the Year
Box most likely to contain Mojo
As for my response for those:
For sickest card of the year: I have to think outside the box and say the Million Card Giveaway code cards...yes it's not ONE card, but those cards set off a lot of activity and conversation. The thrill of pulling a '52 and the devastation of pulling an '89 is quite a broad range. The cards also offered an extremely unique way of providing an outlet for people to trade for the rare cards they might need to complete an old set.
Fan Favorite Set of the Year: Since UD Masterpieces is no more, it's got to be Allen and Ginter. Just a great looking set with a lot of variety.
Box most likely to contain mojo: I might go for something a little offbeat and say Tristar Obak. Had some very unique autos and a fair chance at a hot box with a ton of autos.
I think the MCG cards have just been a unique addition and stand out to me as the sickest card(s) of the year. I considered suggesting '08 UD Masterpieces, because I still think it is a fan favorite for this year as well (a lot of people have talked about it still this year). I also considered Beardy's 2010 Masterpieces, but I decided to go with a real set. Allen and Ginter was the clear fan favorite in my mind, and rightly so. As for the mojo box, I think I was overwhelmed by Dayf and his repeated yelling of "HOT BOX!!!".
The responses to the three categories have been great so far, so go check it out!
Speaking of contests, I should be having one soon to celebrate my 100th post, when I get there. This is post #95.
I have been to more than 30 VT football games in the past eight years, and Saturday's ACC Championship game was, by far, the best. I made it to three games this year. The first was a cold, rainy, dismal loss to FCS team and in-state rival James Madison. My brother went to JMU, so needless to say, it will be a while before that loss goes away. The second was a recovery beatdown of Central Michigan, that we watched in style - my wife's former boss sent us free tickets to sit in the indoor club seats.
The third was the incredible game that saw the Hokies rip Florida State. My cousin lives just outside of Charlotte, so we couldn't pass up free lodging 15 minutes from the stadium. I took Friday off from work to drive the 5 1/2 hours down and arrived in time to go to dinner at Brixx, which has incredible wood-fired pizzas (I recommend the spicy shrimp pizza). Saturday morning we had breakfast with Santa at Red Rocks Cafe which we followed with a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up some tailgating gear and grub. My cousin used his fraternity connections to find a friend-of-a-friend who owns a small gravel lot right by Bank of America Stadium. We arrived and set up out tent, table, chairs and grill and got the party started. After a few brews, burgers, and dogs, my wife and I left to head over to the ACC Fanfest, where we watched Montgomery Gentry play for a little while. They played a few of their more popular songs - Speed, Hell Yeah, My Town - and then we headed toward the stadium. After a TSA-style pat down and a "Good luck!" from the ticket scanner, we were in. We made our way up the many ramps to our seats way up in the corner, but trust me, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. We had a great view of the action, and the 45-degree angle and high-up seats allowed us to really see the plays open up. The section was 99% Virginia Tech fans, with a couple of Florida State fans right next to us.
The game got underway with Florida State moving the ball downfield and converting a field goal to start the scoring. VT got a few yards, but ultimately punted on the first possession and Florida State hoped to increase the lead. Prior to the snap of the ball, the guy in front of me said to his friend, "I'm feeling a pick-6 right now, we just haven't had one in a while...it'd be awesome." I thought yeah, that would be cool, but I'm just hoping for a defensive stop. Well, the quarterback dropped back a threw a bullet to the receiver. Our linebacker made a ridiculous move to dive and tip the ball, at which point it was intercepted by another linebacker and returned for a touchdown. VT 7, FSU 3. After another defensive stop, we moved the ball downfield thanks to some great running, and finished with another touchdown to make it 14-3. The crowd was pumped and hoping to further pull away, but FSU would put together a nice drive to get to 14-10. VT and FSU would alternate touchdowns in the second quarter to bring it to a 21-17 VT lead at halftime.
To open the third quarter, Tyrod Taylor connected with a wide open Danny Coale for a touchdown. We would finally stop FSU on their next possession, and follow it up with another touchdown to go up 35-17. FSU would score another touchdown just before the end of the third quarter to cut our lead back to 11. We looked to be headed toward a field goal on our first possession of the 4th, but Tyrod thought otherwise as he pulled a nasty cut on two FSU defenders to walk into the end zone. On the PAT, FSU blocked the kick and returned it for 2 points, making the score 41-26. We added a field goal to extend our lead and lock up the victory. FSU continued to play hard, attempting to get young Quarterback EJ Manuel some extra practice and came away with a touchdown with 7 seconds left. In true classless form, the Seminoles elected for an onside kick. VT recovered, and Tyrod Taylor took a knee to win the game. VT 44 - FSU 33
Yeah, so for those of you who came looking for something ancient are going to be disappointed. Without digging upstairs through all my cards, I'm fairly certain the oldest card I own is a no-name from '75 Topps, so getting something oldest isn't that far-fetched. I got a note from reader Jason on a post I made about a 2009 O-Pee-Chee Blaster I opened a while back, looking to add to his OPC set. He had a couple refractors for me and a few other things, so we worked out a deal. 98 OPC base cards later, I had a nice package from Jason. Among the cards were what are now the three oldest cards I own:
I was a kid in the late '80s to early '90s, and I never had the opportunity to get anything vintage. I know many of you have more vintage than I have modern, so you may not have many occasions where you obtain a card that becomes the oldest in your collection. This was a pretty cool occasion for me. I am going to stop talking about vintage now, because I don't feel I am qualified to talk about vintage.
As for the refractors that started the trade, he sent along Orangefractors of Mark Reynolds and Justin Verlander:
Being a Virginia Tech fan, I bleed maroon and orange, so naturally I love the orange refractors. The Tigers card looks especially awesome since orange is one of their colors. Jason also sent a number of cards for my PC...some of the highlights:
Thanks for a great trade Jason, and good luck building your 2009 OPC set!
Play at the Plate recently put in a prize-winning pick to my 2010 MLB Playoff contest by choosing Josh Hamilton to hit the last homerun of the playoffs. While Hamilton didn't hit the last HR, he was the last of all the players chosen. I sent PATP some Hamiltons and some other random Texas related stuff. I think I sent him card from five different sports and some non-sports cards, too. To make it fun, we made it a trade as well, and I sent him some stuff off his want lists. In return, PATP sent me some set needs from 2008 UD Masterpieces as well as some 2009 A&G Nat'l Pride:
I love that Upton card. PATP also sent along some nice additions for my PC:
A few more nice cards, including Zim #97 for me. I'm closing in on the century mark for Zim, where he will join David Wright and Justin Verlander. Justin Upton still looks like a kid to me. I'll always picture him as the kid in my mom's second grade class that wore wayyy too much of his dad's cologne.
Well, here is yet another long overdue trade post. This trade came courtesy of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle, who posted about the cards I sent him a few weeks ago. I sent him a couple Kemps and a couple Kershaws, and he sent me a 2009 A&G Nat'l Pride Jason Bay I needed, along with some PC additions:
I wonder what Reynolds is looking at...chances are it's a strikeout coming...
