Moving Closer on 2012 Topps!

Yes, this is another cheesy "pimp my needs list" post... But, I am pretty excited about my progress on the 2012 set... A week ago I needed over 250 cards to fill the binder, today, thanks to blogger generosity I need just 99 more cards... A HUGE THANKS goes to my blogger buddy Chris from the Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz blog who is sending me better than 60 cards from my list!!! Unbelievable!

What got the ball rolling was Chris had posted a really awesome video of Gary Carter's final at bat in Montreal... I commented, and next thing I know he is destroying my 2012 Topps needs list...

Of course, the list is up to date... Thanks again Chris and thanks to everyone else who has offered help!

Onto another list - I posted my Frankenset needs the other day and today I got 5 minis in the mail from Frank in Virginia... 2 of them were needs and 1 was an upgrade... The upgrade was awesome because it was card #293 and it took the ultra cheesy Royal Wedding mini out of my binder... The Frankenset is just 49 cards from being full. It will never be finished, because this monster will always be updated and upgraded... If you have unwanted Ginter minis, send them to me!!! If ya need any - I have some to spare!

I need to go to work and don't have time to properly eulogize the legendary Gary Carter, but I will end by saying that I have SOOOOO many memories of watching him play with the Mets and Expos. He was my Mom's favorite player and she took me to see him play dozens of times with both teams. When we weren't at the ball park, we were watching WWOR every night during the mid-80's. Gary Carter - GREAT catcher, CLASS ACT, LEGEND!!! Rip KID!!! And by the way, ya gotta love that Play at the Plate pic from the '86 Series...

Go Rays! RIP Gary Carter! troll out

I LOVE My Frankenset!

This winter, with nothing new to rip I decided to start putting all of my Allen and Ginter minis to good use. I got some cool pages and a binder and the Allen and Ginter Mini Frankenset was begun...

I have done quite a few trades and I now have 299 cards out of 350... I still have a lot of empty spaces and I have some numbers that I have 6 different cards fighting for the spot... Jesse from Minneapolis sent me 55 random minis for my quest - got 'em today!

I filled up some spots, but was left with quite a few dupes which are all shown above... Its hard choosing who gets that spot... If you are wondering how a black bordered Ken Griffey Jr. didn't make the cut-well, he is card #290 - the same as Cat Osterman, Carlos Pena and a score of others...

Anyhoo, everything in this pic is up for trade and my list is up to date. I need just one more card to hit 300! Help me out, please! The list is HERE.

Thanks for reading! Go Rays! Go minis! troll out...

29 Coins Away From a Willie Mays Auto!

Has anyone else redeemed codes on the 2012 Topps Golden site? I had 2 codes and tried a few times, but their website was unavailable... Last night Play at the Plate posted that it was live so I grabbed my 2 codes. What did I get? A player coin that I don't care about - A-Roid and a team coin I don't care about - the Indians... I thought the coin looked cool till I read that it was a digital image only and not a real coin... Not impressed. I had more fun unlocked 1986 Danny Heep cards in 2010... What do y'all think?

The Pirates impressive (not sarcastic this year) pitching staff has its first on-field workout this Sunday and I will be there... The NL Central Flag is theirs to loose... Go Bucs!

Oh, Tom from Angels in Order is the first to help me out on the 2012 Topps set, so the want list is up to date... Check it out here...

Go Rays! The best manager in the AL is locked up, as is the best rookie starter, the Rays are WS bound! troll out.

2012 Topps Want List is Up To Date...

Last night on the way home from work I made the 2 AM stop at Wal Mart and grabbed 3 hanger packs of 2012 Topps... I was hoping I might pull an SP that I could cash in and buy some vintage, but no such luck... The 3 packs yielded 108 cards - after taking away inserts and dupes I knocked 53 cards off of my list... Not great, but it was fun. I will probably not buy anymore for a bit, so I am gonna need some help... You can find my list here. Thanks for reading!

Go Rays! troll out.

My First Glance at 2012 Topps...

I gave in and bought some 2012 Topps… It started with 2 packs

on Thursday; it led to a cereal box on Friday and grew into 3 more packs on Saturday and 1 more this morning… I am waaaay past my budget, but I foresee another cereal box and a few more packs in the NEAR future… I have a small stack of cards sitting beside me – not many, but it’s enough to create a list, I think…
I rip on Topps about collation EVERY year, so I won’t much beyond the fact that after my purchases I have 85 cards towards the set. My packs and box yield a total of 144 cards. I did get a bunch of inserts (pretty standard) and a couple of parallels, but some of those were also dupes.

I did not get a single card from card 4 up till #28, yet I did manage to pull 4 copies of both card #110 of Mark Teixeira and card #298 of new Rays utilityman Jeff Keppinger. I also pulled 3 copies of #48 Wade Davis (not really complaining ‘bout this one) and #104, Brett Anderson, #2 Trevor Cahill AND #215 of Freddie Freeman. Aside from those, I have 16 additional duplicates. Not good Topps!

So anyway, I am 26% of the way there, I do intend on buying more packs, partially because I really wanna pull a Rally Squirrel card OR 1 of the other crazy short print variations that selling for big bucks on the ‘Bay.

I should also mention that my cards to chase (so far) in 2012 are the 2 different awesome cards of Rays leftfielder Desmond Jennings. So, colorful versions cards #ed 5 and 15 of DJ are my key wants for 2012 so far… If you have black, blue, red, gold, sparkly, silky or otherwise cards of Jennings – well, I want them!!!

I do think they I am going to try and chase the ’87 set… I don’t fully understand why they are sized like ’75 minis, but they are pretty sweet nonetheless.

As for the other insert sets and the reds and sparkles that I have pulled so far – I will post them ALL very soon and they are all up for grabs. For now, this is my want list. Get in touch if you can lend a hand. Please contact me before shipping so I can give youan alternate address.

Pitchers and catchers are reporting so very soon!!! I can’t wait!
Go Rays! Troll out.

Oh, not out just yet... Although I do have a ten dollar bill set aside to grab a few packs at Target, this is what I need so far... I should mention that I haven't pulled any of the crazy SPs, pies in the face or rodent cards. I do have a red parallel of Franklin Guitierez with John Lannan stats on the back...

1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,13,14,16,18,20,21,22,23,25,26,27,28,31,35,36,38,40,46,47,49,52,

54,55,57,58,59,60,62,64,65,66,67,68,69,71,72,73,74,78,80,83,84,87,88,93,95,96,

100,102,103,105,106,108,111,112,117,118,119,120,123,125,127,129,135,137,138,

139,140,141,142,146,148,150,151,155,160,161,168,169,173,174,176,177,178,180,

182,183,185,186,187,192,193,194,195,197,198,199,201,203,204,208,210,211,

213,214,216,219,220,221,224,225,226,230,232,233,234,235,237,238,240,241,

242,244,248,249,251,252,255,259,262,263,264,266,267,268,271,274,275,277,

278,279,280,281,282,284,286,287,288,289,290,291,293,295,296,300,301,

303,304,305,310,311,314,315,316,319,320,327,328,330 and 331.

Okay, thats all I need, just another 250 cards or so... Ugh, Topps. I don't learn, though, I am gonna be buying more. It's a decent looking set. I don't like as much as 2011 and I will say that ripping '11 Updates was more exciting, had better photography and had more players on the right teams... Still, Topps is Topps and I love Topps Baseball cards, SO I will be chasing it...

As an endnote, we (the Bradentucky Bombers) opened our 2012 season with a bang - we beat (handily) the Miami Vice City Rollers. We had fun and left with no injuries, so win, win!

Troll out for real!

Rambling On... A Little Bit About a Lot of Stuff...

Greetings Trollites!

It seems I am slapping together a post once a month to claim that I am still alive and will be posting soon…

Well, its February, I am still alive and I will be posting soon, ha!

Things have been good in Trollville… The Legendary Esther Gin N Juice, AKA la espousa, started her new job last week and she loves it…

I have been a part of the day shift at my job for nearly six months now. Although I hate the alarm clock at 5 AM, things are going pretty well and I LOVE having my nights free. I am back in school again after taking a semester off. It’s Statistics for now and I got a high B on my first exam. I think I can pass this thing. Statistics is pretty much perfect for a baseball stat nerd like me…

I just finished reading “Odd Man Out”.

I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it as an enjoyable read. I was going to offer it up to Rod from Padrographs. Rod, if you are reading, I would be glad to send it your way. If you have already read it, well, who wants it???

I have not yet purchased any 2012 Topps. I actually went to Target today to get some puppy food and they didn’t have it on the shelves yet. They DO have 2011 Allen and Ginter marked down 20%. I didn’t buy any, but I was excited to see it marked down. I didn’t buy it mainly because I am broke, but also because I only need 3 more cards to finish off the set… I know I am not the Night Owl, but if you wanna send me cards numbered 119,120 and

130, I won’t try to stop you…

If you want to ship them to me, you might run into a roadblock, though… You see, I pay for my Post Office box every 6 months. Well, I am supposed to… The Box fees seem to go up as often as the price of stamps. In July, when I renewed last, it was $38. This January, the renewal was $47. The wifey and I got this Box while we were still dating (and we celebrate 6 years of wedded bliss next month) and it was $18.Yeah, it has nearly tripled in cost in less than a decade. Either way, I am kicking myself for not paying it on time. Now, not only do I have to cough up the 47 bucks, but they are getting me for a $25. Late fee… Blurgh. Not happy about this, but I gotta have my PO Box. I hope to havethe $$$ to get this current before the end of the month. Stay tuned and I will keep y’all up to date. If you are desperately eager to send me a package – shoot me an e-mail and I can give you my home address.

Okay, so several of you have e-mailed me to ask about my pending Trade Me Anything extravaganza. This WILL still happen. Basically the delay is solely because of the PO Box issue. As soon as I have that current again, TMA will happen! I promise…

The original reason we got the PO Box was for our record label – Bacon Towne Records. Some of you may not be aware, but aside from being a totally obsessed baseball card nerd, I am also a record collector geek.

The Wifey and I have been running Bacon Towne Rex for seven years. We release exclusively on vinyl and have had 9 releases (eight 7 inches and one 12”LP) since 2005. We have sold records to people in each one of the fifty states and over 20 different countries. It is a labor of love and is also tons of fun for us. We LOVE hardcore, thrash and punk rock music, we love our bands, we love going to shows, being on tour and we love doing mail-order. I don’t discuss the label (often at least) here on Troll Might Rule, but every now and then the paths do cross. I bring it up now because earlier this week I finalized a trade with my new friend Jesse from

Minneapolis. He wanted 3 of our releases and offered up some sweet Allen and

Ginter minis as trade bait.

Long story short, we worked out a deal that both sides are happy with and I now have 294 of the 350 minis needed for my Frankenset!!! That is 84% completion! I am thrilled and a little surprised. When I decided to chase this a few months ago I thought it would be a season long (at least) quest. The season hasn’t even started and I am down to 56 cards!! You can find my list HERE. Let’s make a deal!!!

Okay, so that covers it, I guess… Trade Me Anything will happen when I get my Post Office Box unlocked. My PO Box is temporarily unavailable. If you NEED to send me cards, shoot me an email and I will send you an alternative address.

I AM still alive. I do still lurk around the blog-o-sphere… I still read the Night Owl on a nightly basis. I still check Play at the Plate while I sip on my morning coffee and I had a beer (or seven) to celebrate The Cardboard Don’s 3rd Blog Birthday. I still have cards all over the house. There are binders on the coffee table, the dining room table and next to the bed. I still plan on ripping and chasing Topps as well as Allen and Ginter in 2012. I still plan on taking my “Little Brothers” to spring training. Now that I don’t work the night shift anymore, I plan on being a fixture at Tropicana Field in 2012. The Misses and I have been spending a lot of time on our monthly budget and we have determined that we can def fit 2 games a month (at least) into the budget.

Oh… Una Cosa Mas…

Before I sign off, I need to mention that Side of Bacon lives and I will remain the voice of the Bradentucky Bombers roller derby league. Still recovering from her knee reconstruction – Esther Gin N Juice is starting the season on the injured reserve, but I haven’t lost my voice yet and I will be there for Opening Night. We kick the season off THIS SUNDAY night at Astro Skate in Bradenton, Florida. It will be: The Bradentucky Bombers Present the Nuclear Bombshells VS, The Miami Vice City Dolls.

For more info, check out our website… If you don’t live in Florida, do yourself a favor and look up and check out your town’s own roller derby leagues…

As always, thanks for reading! I truly appreciate all of you! For everyone that has been patient with me declaring that I am back each month right before I disappear for another 29 days, I thank you!

Pitchers and catchers will be invading my town VERY soon. I can’t wait! Thanks to all! I love this game, I love this hobby and I love this forum! Baseball IQ starts in a few minutes and that is MY SHOW, so I gotta go. All of my want lists are up to date, so check em out… GO RAYS!!! We are going all the way in 2012 and I will be there to cheer y’all on in person!

Oh, before I sign off - The ever elusive black bordered 2011 Ben Zobrist card is now in my collection and at the top of this post. I have the base, the blue and the black, but still need the gold, puke, sparkle, hope, red... Help a Zorilla fan out, okay? Once again, Go Rays! To my wife, I love you! You are beautiful, thanks for decorating my blog! Go Bombers! Troll out.