Another trade with the Argyled Plaschke man.

It's really hard to believe that Greg and I have traded six times.  It's even harder to believe that I sent him a hockey card.  Since when do I have hockey cards? 

Anyway, he sent me some great stuff, including some A&G needs:

Of course, no deal is complete without a little BJ:

The real meat of the package...hehe...was a pair of new Hokies:

I'd been looking to pick up an Evans auto for a while, so it was fantastic to get one in a trade...on-card no less. He looks like a red Hulk.

The icing on the cake was this awesome Ryan Zimmerman jersey:

#12/27

I love that the swatch has a little action to it.  It's not quite a seam, or threading, or anything in particular, but it's not plain. 

Thanks, again, Greg!

Bowman Chrome Draft...

...does not exist.

It is not a thing.

One of my pet peeves is widespread ignorance.  I absolutely cannot stand when people stick to something that is wrong for the sake of not having to correct it. 

So, I repeat, Bowman Chrome Draft is not a real thing.

I'm talking to you Beckett,

Zistle,

and COMC.

Bowman, Bowman Chrome, and Bowman Draft all exist.

Within Bowman, there are occasionally some Chrome cards, often as autographed parallels.  In Bowman Draft, there are Chrome cards, as well. 

This card,

is 2010 Bowman #199A.  It belongs to the Chrome Autograph subset.  It is a parallel of Scott's base card, #199. 

Drew Storen's 2010 Bowman Chrome card, is NOT #199B, because it is from Bowman Chrome, not Bowman.  You can rip 1,000 boxes of Bowman Chrome, and you will never, ever see the Scott Sizemore card shown above. 

In the Bowman Draft product, Scott has base cards and Chrome parallels.  The Chrome parallels are Bowman Draft cards, not Bowman Chrome Draft.  They can't be Bowman Chrome Draft, because it does not exist. 

Weird-Oh Wednesday #14b

If you change "health" to "weed", you get Tim Lincecum.

Sunday Sketch #27 of 30

Here is my hurricane-delayed Sunday sketch post. Enjoy.

This set has Huff following Ichiro, Bonds, and Pujols.  I would say it is a terrible choice, but Huff just got his second ring, so I guess it's not that bad.

My first packs of Topps Update

I know, I'm late to the party...my own birthday party, actually.  It's been almost 4 weeks since my birthday, and I'm just now getting around to showing the cards that I got.

I treated myself to some Update jumbo packs, then picked up a blaster later on with some b-day money.  I'll save the blaster for another day.  My father-in-law also bought me a box of 2008 UD A Piece of History that I'll show in the future as well (not that I could show it in the past...you get the point). 

For now, here are the results of a pair of jumbo packs:

Yeah I posted the Bryce Harper card.  I like the kid's approach to the game and I like that this card probably shows him running hard on an out.  I planned on devoting an entire post to the greatness of the Bogusevic card, but Kevin of The Mojo Beard Kevin Kevin. already did.  I will say, it is, by far, the best card of the year.  Also, it is miles and miles beyond the questionably-dubbed 2011 card of the year.

It seems like many people aren't too high on the Blockbusters insert.  I find that baffling.  Other than the '87 Minis, it's the only complete insert set in all of Topps.  It has a purpose and a design that isn't made for relics and autos, unlike the Career Day inserts and Golden Moments turds.  Speaking of Golden Moments turds, this one will be going into my collection:

Tell me that isn't a statment about collectors.  "Wow, that thing is ugly as shit...wait...is that MY team? Hell yeah, I'll take it!"

In case Series 1 and 2 weren't gold enough for you, we got golder in Update.   Back for round 3 were the sparkly gold cards:

But those are really lost among the three series worth of regular gold cards:

I also got two giveaway cards, which netted me some virtual coins, which means I didn't get anything.

The two jumbos pack yielded a nice card each, however.  The first, I'm sure, will be claimed for a trade within minutes of this posting:

The second nice card actually took me a minute to realize what I had.  I got one of the photo variations.  Of all the variations to get, I got this one:

I was very happy to grab a relic and a rare Wright in two jumbo packs on my birthday.  My wife was really excited about this card, too, but only until I told her that "Wright with Dickey" didn't mean what she hoped it meant.

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #109

I always have that mini-moment of excitement when it looks like he's going to fall down after his delivery. 

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #108

"El Duque" is such a great nickname, though not quite as "Il Duce".

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #107

Seriously, did anyone else not have a clue that Tom Gordon pitched 21 seasons in the Major Leagues?  I really had no clue who this guy was.  How does that happen? How does a guy pitch for 21 seasons, somewhat successfully, and I have no freaking clue who he is?  He had 138 wins and 158 saves in his career.  I guarantee if he had a Latino name, and not Tom Gordon, I would know who he is.  Stephen King even wrote a book about him.  When I saw the link to the King book, I even thought, "Tom Gordon is a generic name, but that's a funy coincidence...wait...it actually is about Tom Gordon the baseball player? Really? Holy..." 

2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #106

This card is just an abyss of boring.  Boring name, boring team (at the time), boring player, boring look.  Ugh.

Group Break: Yankees

Team: Yankees
Buyer: Kirk

We've finally reached our 30th and final team.  I know all of you have been desperately waiting to see the team that always gets the most cards.  Well, the Yankees certainly racked up quantity by beating the second place Red Sox by 38 cards.

Surprisingly, while there were a couple of Mantles, the player with the most cards was Derek Jeter, which is usually a good thing.

That's a great Jeter lot by any measure.  Of course, he wasn't the only guy with notable cards:

League Leaders #763/999; Fist Class Legends Gold #208/699; Gold Die Cut

You can't go wrong with a numbered Babe.

Those keeping score at home know that we've seen 43 hits through 29 teams.  Since there were 47 hits in the break, our math skills tell us we should have 4 Yankees hits. 

I think this is the first time I've posted a picture of two Wangs.  At least the pinstripe in the second one keeps it from being a complete dupe.  We already saw a Jeter hit in one of the Artifacts boxes:

Jeter wouldn't be done yet, though, as he showed up one last time in the Spectrum mini-blasters:

Hopefully Kirk is pleased with his two Jeters and two Wangs.  Honestly who wouldn't be pleased by two Wangs...ummm...I mean...

Yankees Totals:Base: 159
Parallel: 11
Insert: 29 (insane...the Red Sox were the only other team in double digits...with 13)
Hits: 4 Relics, including 2 Jeters.

Group Break: Phillies

Team: Phillies
Buyer: Dan...who landed 2 autos with the A's

As with the Red Sox, the Phillies also got a wide variety of card types.  The Gold Label insert is incredibly colorful.  Ryan Howard makes a double appearance on two completely different types of cards.  The nicest non-hit card for the Phillies, though, is the Domonic Brown RC Purple Refractor #236/499.

As for hits, the Phillies landed just one, which came from an Artifacts box:

So, the Phillies get a hit of a White Sox player with what appears to be a White Sox swatch.  However, rules are rules, so if the card says Phillies, to the Phillies it goes.

Phillies Totals:
Base: 105
Parallel: 6
Insert: 9
Hits: 1 Relic

Group Break: Red Sox

Team: Red Sox
Buyer: Kirk

The Red Sox certainly get the award for most variation in card types.  The Sox managed to get a die cut, a mini, a lenticular, a mini-poster and a jumbo card.

I scanned the Prospector's Dream because it is a beautiful card.  The scan really doesn't do it justice.  Topps Gold Label insert are just great cards.

#0049/5000

This card came as a bonus (incl. case) in one of the cardrageous boxes.  The reverse side has several more players.  It's a great commemorative card and the case was a nice bonus.

The Red Sox nailed three nice numbered cards:

Purple Refractor #167/700; Retail Ltd #26/85; Franchise History Blue #13/75

The Garciaparra came out of the cardrageous bonus packs and may be a hidden gem.  There aren't many of these Retail Ltd (#/85) cards listed on COMC, ebay, or sportlots.  I couldn't find any other copies of the Nomar anywhere, so that may bode well if Kirk decides to sell it. 

Unfortunately, that's where the Red Sox luck ends as they go without a hit.  I get the feeling something may end up in the package as a bonus.  Really though, the Red Sox did pretty well, especially considering they brought in the second most cards of any team.

Red Sox Totals:
Base: 142
Parallel: 10
Insert: 13
Hits: None

Weird-Oh Wednesday #14a

I think everyone has a guy in their neighborhood that has a really weird car. You know, the guy with the fixed up hearse, monster-tire VW bug, old mail delivery truck...

Group Break: Angels

Team: Angels
Buyer: Patrick, a fellow Virginian.

Cowart #107/309

...yet another nice card from the Pro Debut packs.  In 6 total Pro Debut (2010-2012) packs we saw a numbered parallel, a relic, and a printing plate.  That's clean living right there.

How on Earth was this man not on an MLB roster this year.  Sure, 2011 was a down season where he only batted .290!

Here's the Archives counterpart to the Ichiro pulled earlier in the break.  Nice break for the Angels.

Angels Totals:
Base: 105
Parallel: 8
Insert: 1
Hits: 2 Relics

Group Break: Tigers

Team: Tigers
Buyer: None...a little pricey, but still a little surprising.  I was ok with it since I picked up some new Verlanders. The rest of these may end up going to Dennis at some point.

Cobb #422/600 and McBride #1258/2007

You can never have too many Grandersons...or so the blog title used to go.

Tigers Totals:
Base: 102
Parallel: 5
Insert: 5
Hits: 2 Relics