My 679th Post...

I just got home from work. I had to stop at Wal Mart to pick up dog food and unbelievably I didn't come home with any cards. I did visit the card aisle, but they had no Heritage, Topps Update, Allen and Ginter or single packs of anything baseball. I am trying to stick with my "no ripping new wax" personal policy, but sometimes I surprise myself...

Speaking of surprises and ripping wax... My buddy and fellow Floridian blogger Wicked Ortega is hosting a HUGE group box break. He is ripping 19 different boxes of a whole bunch of different interesting baseball brands. The surprise is that there are still slots available, there are actually 13 teams that have not been claimed... Of those 13 teams, both Pennant winning teams are still open. I cannot believe that a week after the series nobody has jumped on the Rangers or the Giants. Craziness. Seriously people, grab up the last dozen or so teams so the break can start up. Its only 19 bucks and he is RIPPING 19 DIFFERENT BOXES!!! That is a lot of cards of your favorite team... One last time, 19 boxes of cards for only 19 bucks. Click this link and be on your way. Tell Wicked that the Troll sent you!

For a mailbag update I will tell you that I have packed and or shipped a whole bunch of trade packages including my international buddies, so check your mailboxes people!

Now for a contest update... Y'all voted and vintage it is. Vintage can be a pretty wide and inclusive term so I need to narrow it down and figure out the who, what, why and where these vintage cards will be. I think this blog is within 900 hits of reaching that 100,000 hit plateau, so the contest should happen in 2010 for sure. My thought is, that since I collect and therefore blog about 1965 Topps so much, that would be the ideal year for the vintage prize. Feel free to share your insights on vintage with me in the comments. If you wanna win something for defining vintage, then you should click HERE. Trust me...

Since this post is filled with babble and want list links, I thought I would pop a juciy piece of trade bait in here. I somehow ended up with 2 Barlett silk cards. I hate to be greedy, so this one is on the block. I would prefer to trade for another Rays silk or black parallel or auto, but if you want it, make me an offer, okay?

Okay, I am falling asleep as I type. Not good... Just a few quick updates... I received several giant (like 800 count) boxes of Rays cards this past month. I put an eight foot folding table in my extra bedroom and I am sorting them right now. Starting by sorting by brand, from there I will go year by year and ultimately I will create have and needs lists for EVERY Rays team set since their inception. Considering I have around 40,000 Rays cards, I think I am in pretty good shape. That said, I still haven't even finished my Topps team sets yet. I probably have at least 40 copies of Aubrey Huff's 2004 Topps card, but somehow I did not have a single copy of the World Champion sluggers 2003 Topps card. I have had it on my "Troll's 21 The Card Way" (which I will update and repost soon) list for months now. Thanks to one of my favorite new blogs, Smed's Baseball Cards, I can cross it off of my list.

A couple weeks back, I got two boxes full of cards from Smed's and also from BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet on the very same day. Each box had a ton of Heritage cards from my want lists, 2010 Topps inserts and Rays cards a plenty. I had all but given up on finishing 2010 Heritage, but BA Benny and Smed knocked 40 cards off my list between the two of them. You guys rock! Now that set is on the FRONT BURNER once again. You can find my 2010 Heritage List HERE. I am 92% of the way done, I have 461 out of 500. I know that high numbers will be out soon and I will have to start over, but for now I am pretty happy... Okay, I need to get some sleep. I will just pimp a couple more links for you... The card of the day on the Troll is this 2003 Topps Aubrey Huff that has eluded me for over 7 years...

Thanks so much to Smed (top of post) for this one! You can find my Rays Topps Team set list HERE. I hope to find a few more cards while sorting this weekend. Get in touch if you can help me out with any thing from my lists.

Also, get in touch if you are Omega Wax OR Darkship Todd. I have a box of cards from the group break for both of you. If I don't hear from you guys by this coming Thursday I am probably going to send your group break cards to someone else. I have a Royals fan in mind, but if you are a Giants fan, get in touch just in case...

Okay, thats it for now. I think I have rambled long enough... I do intend on keeping my word and listing 7 more former Giants greats on the Nitty Gritty... Look for a post tomorrow morning, it will be mainly 1965 Topps, but I might add in some '78s and maybe a '64 too.

The next Troll post WILL be a trade from the Night Owl. Stay tuned! Go Rays! 2011 Champs, wait and see! Don't forget to roll on over to My Past Time...I Love It! and get in on that 19 box group rip! Oh, as an end note I got 23 new Joe Kennedy cards in the mail this month. The JK player collection is growing! The goal is to get EVERY single card ever made of him in a Rays uniform. The total domination list includes: Carl Crawford, Jonny Gomes, Dewon Brazelton, Wade Davis, Jared Sandberg and Joe Kennedy. Of course I collect everyone on the team, but I will chase EVERY card of those guys.

I have retired a couple of PCs. Get in touch if you are interested in Scott Kazmir OR James Houser. I have a pretty nice small collection of each guy.

Okay, signing off for real now... Go Rays! troll out.