Chris Ray Where Are You??? A 2007 Topps Heritage Related Post...

Greetings Trollites! Good morning, good night, whatever it is... Work was far too busy and cold to post tonight, but now I am home and should probably be sleeping, but instead I am typing away in the dark in a somewhat delirious and sleep deprived state. A lack of scans has kept me from posting any more pack rips today. Sorry. Worry not faithful readers-I intend to travel somewhere (Mom and Dads most likely) to do some scanning tomorrow morning before work. Weather permitting, I can knock a few more packs out, finish this nonsense and get back to my standard long and boring stories…
Speaking of stealing other bloggers ideas (were we?), I was reading Nachos Grande the other day and he posted his (sports related) New Years Resolutions. I made some resolutions myself… I resolved to open a bank account, stop considering coffee a meal, and renew my cars registration before I get pulled over…Wait, card resolutions, right. Yes. He had a list of 10 things. He is far more thorough and organized than I am, but I think I can steal at least 6 of his ideas. One was to finish at least 3 sets on his current want list. I am making that a major goal of mine. When I began blogging (8 months ago!) I didn’t have a want list. I added one a couple of month’s in-it was for one set. I needed around 30 cards to finish that one set and with the power of the entire blog-o-sphere behind me, well I still haven’t finished that damn set. I can’t complain too much-I added 5 more sets to the list and I actually finished 2 of them (2009 Allen and Ginter and 1978 Topps) but I would REALLY like to finish that first set-the only set I was working on when I began blogging. As luck and coincidence would have it-I just (around 2-3 weeks ago) received a package of cards from Jeff D. that included stuff from that original want list. Before I share some of the awesomeness that I received from Jeff D, I wanna share the story of how we “met”. I am a pretty big Jonny Gomes fan. I was really bummed when the Rays cut him loose. I was thrilled however that he caught on with the Reds and hit 20 homers this year in fewer than 300 at bats. Anyway, I (this blog) sponsor J Gomes’ Baseball Reference stats page. In the sponsorship tagline I state that I am Gomes’ biggest fan. Jeff D saw this and wrote to me to inform me that I wasn’t and a “friendship” was born. He shared a link to the amazing Gomes collection which belonged to a “friend” of his, (And yes I realize I am way overdoing it on the quotes…) and sure enough his friend’s collection dwarfed mine. This guy has 80 % of every Gomes cards ever made and that includes 1 of 1s. He has 68 different 1/1s. I have none. I was a little jealous and humbled, but we started emailing back and forth and we realized that we were both obsessed with Topps Heritage. I am obsessed in the way that I blew a lot of money on Heritage wax and can’t finish a damn set-he is obsessed in the way that he has an amazing collection and an entire blog/website dedicated to it. I had already traded away all of dupes, so we couldn’t make a deal right away, but then I made a rare pull. I yanked a black refractor which is what Jeff collects. Anyway, to keep this long story from getting too much longer-packages were exchanged and he knocked 6 of the 7 remaining cards off of my original want list, the list for the 2007 Topps Heritage set! I’ve been working on this freaking set for 3 years now and I really had hit a wall. It had been over two months since I had gotten a single card for this set and I was starting to lose hope. I almost didn’t believe it when he said he had these cards, but sure enough he sent them and they are all bindered up with the rest of my set sitting in my bedroom (my wife is thrilled). I don’t really have much to say about each individual card, but all six of them are floating around in this post. I cannot convey how happy I am to be one card away from finally finishing this set! I know I am acting a little too excited about a set from 2007-other bloggers are finishing up ’53 Topps, ’56 Topps, etc and I am flipping out about a set most people could care less about. What makes it so special to me is that it was the first set since ’95 that I put together. I was away from the hobby for a LONG time. Back in ’95 if you didn’t finish a set in one box, you bought the few missing cards and you were done. This crazy Heritage set and all of its stupid short prints and variations took a little more work. Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks to Jeff for hooking it up. I talked earlier in the post about Nachos Grande and the New Years Resolutions to finish up 3 sets. Well, I intend to do just that and this one (2007 Heritage) is first on my list. I need just 1 more card to do it. The thorn in my side card is #159 of Chris Ray. In 2006 Ray seemed like a pretty serious prospect for the Orioles-he saved 33 games and looked like he would have a pretty bright future. He appeared on a Topps Heritage card the following year that has eluded me since its printing. Last year with the O’s Ray was 0-4 with a 7.27 ERA, but that damn card still eludes me. Somebody somewhere must have this card. Anybody? For those concerned I took the first steps to finishing sets-I updated lists on the side bar. I created a list for 2008 Allen and Ginter and I updated 2009 Heritage with the high numbers. I plan on putting up a list for 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights (tomorrow maybe) soon. Thanks to Chris from Nachos Grande for the inspiration and thanks to Jeff D for hooking me up with these 6 awesome Heritage Short Prints! A HUGE THANKS to whoever hooks me up with that elusive Chris Ray card! Oh, there are endnotes… Jeff D also hooked it up with cards from 2008 Heritage and my Rays collection, too. AND one thing I haven’t updated yet is my CC list or my Rays team set list. I will get on that tomorrow because the cards keep on rolling in. Don’t forget to vote for the 2009 Gummie Awards! Those of you that can count (better than me) may have noticed that there are only 5 cards in this post-I am pretty sure I left the last one on the scanner. Oops. Troll (passed) out.