You Should Click on my Blog Just (in) to See My Awesome Header Picture...

Even when I don't have time to post I still try and change up the picture on my header and update my wantlists and blogroll. There are 318 blogs on my blogroll right now. Some of them haven't been updated in a long, long time, but I keep them there in the event that they are updated cuz I wouldn't want to miss that. Occassions like that do occur... After a long absence one of my favorite blogs ever, Dinged Corners, returned this weekend. Thanks to blogroll magic I was on it!!! If you are a card blogger and are not on my roll, please send me an email with a link to your blog and I will correct the problem.

As for my wantlists, I also try and keep them up-to-date, especially the 2010 Topps AND 1965 Topps lists... With regards to 2010 Topps, my trade with RGB Cards is pretty much finalized, SO that means that I will have a list of dupes that I have to trade as well.

As for the blog header... I really like changing that up. If there is a card up there, I do NOT put a card header up if I don't own the card, so sometimes I use the header to show off a new card that I don't have time to post. Basically it is generally a showcase of my favorite horizontal cards... Occasionally awesome bloggers or readers make me custom cards. Mark from Mark's Ephemera is famous for doing this AND I have a couple customs from him that will become headers soon. The current header didn't come from Mark, but it is an AMAZINGLY SWEET CUSTOM from a very cool blogger and I am really loving it right now, hence this post to encourage the blog-o-sphere to check it out... To give credit where credit is due, the Jonny Gomes Sombrero Custom came courtesy of Justin from the Justin's World card blog. Jonny Gomes isn't the only custom he has made lately... Check out his blog for some more sweet 2011 customs!

While your there (in Justin's World) be sure to vote on his All-Time-Best polls... There are already quite a few votes and things look decent in terms of who is getting recognized as the best, but Carl Yastrzemski has more votes as best catcher of All Time than he has as an outfielder... Weird. Anyway, a huge thank you to Justin for hooking up the sweet J. Gomes sombrero custom! As an open letter to anyone: I love getting custom cards, but I really LOVE it when somberos are involved... Thanks again Justin! Oh, by the way, Fred Lewis isn't directly involved with this post (well, maybe its a good segue to my 2010 Topps needs list), Justin is a Cubs fan, not a Jays fan and I really don't care for Mr. Lewis, but there is something about this card that I love. Probably the retro Jays uni... Thanks for reading! Go Vintage! troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page - 46 Year Old Short Print Edition...

First off. Sorry about the "no posts" last night. I worked a VERY long double shift yesterday and fully intended on putting together a month's worth of posts in one night. Small problem. I couldn't get internet outdoors anymore like I did last year. I didn't bring my handy dandy USB LAN adaptor thingy and just couldn't get online, so I wrote a couple of posts in Word, but they need some work before they are ready to go. I am trying to get my Jeep back up and running today, so I am a little busy, BUT I didn't want to go all day without a post, SO...

How about the Joy of a Completed Page? I have finished several pages in my 1965 Topps binder - actually I have finished 23 pages. Some pages have Hall of Famers on them, some have sweet rookies, the one I posted a couple of weeks back had little pictures of 11 (should be 12, Ron Santo...) different Hall of Famers including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax and Brooks Robinson... I worked hard and spent big to finish that page and I am really proud of it. Today's page doesn't have the big names on it, but is far rarer than PAGE 1. When I started my mission in collecting this set I wanted to start at card one and work my way up 9 cards at a time. I let it be known that I wanted '65 Topps cards badly and a bunch of you traded with me and I snatched up every '65 Topps card that walked into my LCS. I also bought a few lots of cards here and there on the auction sites. What ended up happening was I got higher numbered cards than I had intended. Originally I just kept all cards numbered above 300 randomly in pages, not in numerical order. Well, my Mother-In-Law got me a box of Ultra Pro pages as a birthday gift this year so I decided to spread the binder out to include 70 pages. Enough to house cards 1-598 in order with a few extra pages for dupes. Anyway, I realized I had more short prints than I thought. To be honest, I don't know anything about the print totals in this set or what is a short print or how short printed they are.

I have always understood that cards numbered 523 to 598 are super short-printed. There are some NICE cards in there. Lou Brock (thanks Wicked!) and Tony Perez' rookie card might be the 2 best, they are the 2 best in my binder at least. Anyway, I got off track, but I am hoping that someone can tell me more about short prints in this set. On the auction sites sellers seem to tag any card higher than 300 as an SP in the description. I don't believe that. I have also been told that cards 485 (Nellie Fox) and above are all SPs. If THAT is the case, then this page I am showing today would be a legit group of 9 short prints. Anyway, any full page is pretty awesome in my book (or binder!). If these really are short prints than even better. Included on this page are card #489 Gene Mauch, 490 Earl Battey, 491 Tracy Stallard, 492 Gene Freese, 493 Tigers Rookies, 494 Jay Ritchie, 495 Joe Christopher, 496 Joe Cunningham and 497 Giants Rookies.

Hopefully someone can tell me if these are legit SPs. Either way, I am pretty happy to fill a page in the second half of the ole binder. Collecting this set has been amazingly fun for me. I love this hobby, I really do, but if you are getting burned out on it I would highly recommend chasing a Topps set from the 60s, 70s or early 80's. It will definitely get your hobby blood pumping again! Thanks for reading! As always, you are encouraged to check out my want list for this amazing set. I have passed the 50% completion point and I don't want to slow down! I love this game, I love this hobby! Back to work on the Jeep... Wish me luck... Go vintage! troll out.

I'm Still Up, Are You??? Babble, Brian Roberts and the Calgary Flames Ahead!!!

First off, I want to thank everyone for their interest in reading my Brian Roberts interview!!! I just REALLY hope that y’all don’t expect me to type it out right now… I had to stay at work a couple of hours later than I had planned. The schedule at my primary job has changed and the third shift no longer comes in on Friday nights, they start their week on Sunday and it ends on Thursday. Anyway, this often means that I have to stay extra late on Fridays to finish things up.

Anyway, after the extra late night, there is ZERO chance of me posting that interview, BUT I did want to thank everyone for their comments! I was super psyched when my Mom told me she had a file of clippings of some of my stories when I was reporting on the Orioles. My Mom rules and I wasn’t really surprised that she saved them, but I was surprised to see them period. It was a neat blast from the past of O’s history, too. I hadn’t thought much about guys like Matt Riley, Luis Matos, Larry Bigbie, Ntema Ndungidi, Rick Elder, Ivanon Coffie or John Parrish lately… Anyway, I will do my best to get it all typed up proper soon.

I SHOULD sign off cuz I need to be at work in about 4 hours AND I am working a double tomorrow, BUT I wanted to show off one more thing… This came from my LCS. Its location has become more ideal of late. Its less than 2 miles from my school and right next to my favorite local coffee shop, The Greatest Coffee. This means I have been stopping in to my LCS at least 3 times a week and every time I stop in it seems like he has something new and awesome. This item falls into the first category, not sure if it falls into the latter.

When I walked in this afternoon the owner said “What would you say if I could guarantee you a jersey in a $3.00 pack?” I quickly handed him $3.00 and he started laughing hysterically, more like maniacally… It turns out he wasn’t talking about a pack of “cards” but it was a jersey. Well, maybe a sweater. Here is a pic of the pack and here is what was folded up inside of it. I believe this is a Calgary Flames jersey. He didn’t have a Lightning sweater and I don’t think the Hartford Whalers were represented, so I just picked one at random. If anyone (and I mean you Captain Canuck) is interested in these little shirts, please let me know your team preference and I will grab ‘em next week… Okay, that’s all for now. Thanks again! I will be posting tomorrow night, starting around 8:00 PM, so I hope to see y’all then! Off to bed. Go Rays! Troll out.

Will Anyone Be Around at 1:00 AM???

Cuz I just might do some posting then... Expect about 10 posts from me over the next 3 days spread out over 4 blogs... My Mom found a lost interview I did with Brian Roberts after he was promoted to High A Frederick... Does anyone have any interest in reading that one? Its a LOT of typing, but if I get 5 comments in the affirmative, I will make it happen...
Go Rays! troll out.

Drumroll Please Cuz Someone Gets To Say "Neener Neener Neener!"...

Okay, it started with me trying to build suspense, but it has since turned to me just having zero time... I had hoped to slowly pull each winning card and THEN announce the winner, BUT I think I have made y'all wait long enough... I had shown off the Al Kaline card already. Joining Mr. Tiger are 2 Hall of Fame hurlers. I wish I had scanned each card individually, but alas the time issue... Plus, since I no longer own these, it wouldn't be right for me to post them - that is the WINNER'S job!

The total prize package ended up containing, from 1956 Topps Baseball, card #20 Albert William Kaline (white back), card #180 of Robin Evan Roberts (white back) and finally card #255 of Robert Granville Lemon (gray back). 3 cards, all Hall of Famers. One of the finest hitters of All Time, coupled with arguably the BEST pitcher of the 1950s in the American League AND the top hurler of the '50s in the National League. I won't post their bios or stats, again, winner's responsibility...
Oh, now that the prize is set, y'all probably wanna know who won, right? There is the topic of certain awesome bloggers saying neener neener neener to other amazing bloggers. Read on, I WILL get to it. If you really read this blog, you know you have to READ!

Let's rewind for a moment... In case y'all don't remember what the contest was; here is a quick rundown... My son was expecting a child, my FIRST GRANDBABY and I set a contest for the blog-o-sphere to guess exactly what time the baby would be born. On December 22, 2010, Atlas Ray came into this world at 11:35 PM. Over 130 of you guessed and about 10 of you got within a half hour of the correct time.

Three of you were within 6 minutes, but the GRAND PRIZE WINNER guessed 11:31, just 4 minutes from the time. This Troll has already awarded two Honorable Mention Prizes, but this is the GRAND PRIZE. Well, the blogger with the neener neener rights is none other than my second favorite Padres fan (can't beat Padrographs Rod!)

The GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVER COLLECTIVE TROLL'S GRANDBABY CONTEST IS: (pause and drum roll please...) The granddaddy grand prize winner is the blogger we all know as Doc.who writes nearly as many blogs as I do, including, but not limited to Baseball Card Recollections, which, coincidentally is holding a contest RIGHT NOW!

Always quick to kill 2 birds with one stone (who doesn't love killing birds economically?) this is me pimping Doc's Contest RIGHT NOW! Another GREAT blog that Doc runs is the super cool 1,000,000,000,000,000 (or some large number) Cards For Kids... I LOVE making the trip to All Children's Hospital in St. Pete, Florida with bags of Rays cards for the awesome kids there. One day I will actually get some pictures and contribute to that blog. One day. Anyway, I managed to draw this out long enough...

The Cliff Notes version is this. Contest over. We have a grand prize winner. It is Doc of Baseball Card Recollections. He wins 3 cards. They are all 1956 Topps. They feature Al Kaline, Robin Roberts and Bob Lemon. It is now Doc's responsibility to acknowledge his win here. Then deliver the appropriate neener neeners throughout the blog-o-sphere and then email me his mailing address within 3 days of this post. THEN I will say goodbye to these 3 beautiful slabs of cardboard. Then I will attempt to return to "normal" blogging.

Personally I had a ton of fun with this contest. I loved sharing my amazing news and super new grand baby with all of my collector friends. The well wishes and comments made me feel great and I want to say thanks to ALL OF YOU who played along. There were over 130 entries and even more people who didn't enter, but showed me some love and support anyway. I love this forum we all exist in. Y'all rock!!!

Doc, congratulations to you sir. I hope you are pleased with your winnings. I am glad that I didn't pick the Jackie Robinson envelope cuz I REALLY love that card, but I hope you aren't disappointed with what you ended up with. Thanks again to all of you! Thanks for reading, commenting, following, trading, chatting and collecting with me!!!! I don't always have time for this blog, but I LOVE this hobby and always will!!!

On a collecting note - all of my want lists are current and up to date. I REALLY wanna finish off 2010 Topps before 2011 comes out. I sorted out ALL of my dupes and I am working on making a list today, so check that out when it happens... 1965 Topps Baseball shall be priority #1 until its done (which may take forever) so keep me in mind if you bump into any...

While I have your attention I must kill a third bird (not an orange one!) and pimp another SUPER contest at one of my favorite blogs.. . Want a chance to win a certified autograph of a Hall of Famer??? Just click here and leave him a comment. Its that easy...

Speaking of easy... I am killing a 4th bird right now... My buddy and fellow Floridian Chris from the Vintage Sportscards Blog is giving away some Hall of Famer cards himself... Check it out RIGHT HERE!!!

One more note... Does anyone remember last year when I worked as an outdoor security guard and braved the cold to blog like crazy? Well, I will be covering shift the next 3 Saturday nights so look forward to some actual card blogging from your friend the troll.

That's all for now... Seriously... No more birds shall be harmed today... Go vintage! troll out.

Does Anyone Remember That Contest I had Last Month???

Well I do!!! Tomorrow I will be posting all 3 contest cards AND proclaiming the winner AND revealing all the reasons why I have not been posting... Thanks for your collective patience and stay tuned!
Trolll out.

I Love '65!!!!I

My parents hadn't even met in 1965, I mean the Topps set from that year... I don't have time for a real post, but I just got some more cards in the mail today. Didn't have time to scan them, but I DID cross them off the list, which is UP TO DATE! I extended it and somehow I have managed to cross off 60% of the set including short prints! Holy crap! More to come. Troll is off to work... troll out.

Troll's Topps Million, er single, Card Giveaway!

I want to finish 2010 Topps Updates SO badly! I have a few trades pending, but while at the LCS this weekend I bought 3 hobby packs from a freshly opened box. I ripped them right there and got nothing. Had I had more than 10 bucks to my name I would have kept ripping till I pulled the auto, but alas I am broke... Anyway, I got another MCG redemption card. I couldn't resist the excitement of unlocking it, but have no interest in redeeming it. I know that the huge Play at the Plate trade-a-thon is over and I don't know if anyone is still looking for these, BUT I did manage to unlock my 5th 1972 card. Does anyone want this Mike Nagy? I don't want anything in return. Just claim and email me. I will home from work around 1:00 AM Eastern. All of my want lists are updated by the way. I think I am down to needing just 2 cards to finish off all of the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays team sets from 1997 on up. I also have a new Most Wanted Card. Thanks for reading! troll out.

The Joy of a Completed Page (and I mean JOY!!!) 1965 Topps Editon

I think I have been chasing the 1965 Topps set since I started this blog nearly 2 years ago... My goal was to start from the beginning and work my way up, completely a page at a time. Well, I never considered how costly the League Leaders cards would be and here I am with 23 completed pages in the set, but finally finishing page 1. As a word to the wise, if you are thinking of completing a set, consider how many little tiny pictures there are of Mickey Mantle in the set. His images, big or small, can be very expensive. Anyway, page 1 is done!!! I feel like I could accomplish anything now! By the by, the needs list is up to date... Thanks for reading, go rays! troll out.

Is Anyone Else Still Chasing 2008 Allen and Ginter Mini Inserts?

I am. I love everything about this set. The Baseball Icons set is one I would love to complete! You can find my needs list here. I don't have any dupes. I guess I just wanted to know if anyone else is still working on this. Honus Wagner brings me to within 8 cards of finishing this baby off. Go Rays! troll out.

The Nitty Gritty Is Back!

Free time has been hard to find... Classes started yesterday, but I promise to take every free second to work on posts for one of my blogs. For now check out the Nitty Gritty Card of the Day! troll out.

The First Grand Prize Card Revealed...

Regarding the Guess the Grand Babies Name Contest... I purposely didn't try to brag about who the cards would be of. I wanted readers to enter whether they were winning Richie Ashburn or Roberto Clemente. Actually, y'all have a shot at both of them. I stated before that I sealed each of my 1956 Topps cards in an envelope and I am having a friend (who doesn't collect) chose one. My friend and Bradentucky Bombers skater (who will remain nameless right now) picked the first envelope. This is one of my FAVORITE cards in my collection, well it was... Anyway, when I announce the winner, he or she will receive 3 cards including this one, card #20 of Mr. Tiger himself Al Kaline!!! Oh, by the way, the first place winner picked the time within 4 minutes. The second place was within 5 minutes and the third place pick was within 10 minutes, too. When announced the GRAND PRIZE winner will have 3 days to comment and claim their prize. This is to prevent contest trollers (ha!) and make sure the winner occasionally reads this blog. If he or she doesn't claim within 3 days, it will go to the second place winner. Sound bueno? Stay tuned for the other 2 cards AND the winner. Oh, still waiting to hear from the winner of the 1962 Warren Spahn. Please comment and email me soon or miss out! Oh, on a totally unrelated note, I just listed a bunch of machinist tools and gages on the 'Bay. I am warming up before I list my entire Carl Crawford collection. Stay tuned... Bye bye Matt Garza! troll out.

Two Contest Winners REVEALED!!!

Okay, I am going to keep the tension going on the grand prize winner of the 3 Hall of Fame cards from 1956 Topps, but I will announce the 2 Honorable Mention winners… Like I mentioned in the previous post there were 132 guesses in the contest.

The goal was to select the correct time that the Grandbaby Troll entered the World. No one guessed the exact time, but many came close. One blogger was the closest, within 4 minutes, but like I said, you will have to wait for that one.

For now, I wanted to give a little something something to 2 bloggers who came REAL close.

There were 2 tie breakers, just in case 2 people guessed the correct time.

They were guess the date AND the babies name.

Only ONE person guessed the date correctly. I didn’t mention this at all, but the due date was 12-30-2010. I was hoping that he would be born on my birthday which is 12-31. 38 of you agreed with me and guessed that day too. Just 1 of you got the date right and she shall be rewarded!

I was just going to give a mention, but Esther Gin N Juice demanded that this person be rewarded as this guess was pretty darn close.

With the 51st guess overall (and her first) McCann Can Triple guessed that Baby Boy Troll would be born on December 22, 2010 at 10:10 PM. With the date correct she was accurate within 85 minutes and will be rewarded. Here is one card to be included in her prize pack which will be mailed out within the next couple of weeks… Since we all now she is a Braves fan I am including this 1962 Warren Spahn.

The other Honorable Mention goes to the Dawg Bones Phillies Phan. He placed 2nd in the grand prize guessing 11:30 PM (just 5 minutes off!) but was the only guesser to choose the babies name, well almost. Dawgbones guessed Ray which is the correct middle name. He too will be rewarded with this Phillies Phan Appropriate Card - a 1960 Topps Robin Roberts.
Thanks again to all who entered!

Atlas Ray Generous makes me a very happy person.

To the victors, please email me with your addresses. Thanks!
Troll out.

Contest Results are Coming Soon...

So, I am back home in Floriduh after an amazing visit with my awesome Son Zadeh and my super amazing grandbaby Atlas Ray Generous... For those of you who are chums with me on Facebook, I added a bunch of pics there, so check them out...

Anyhoo, it took hours (literally) to go through all of the comments and guesses. During the contest time there were 158 comments (Wow!) and 132 different guesses and contest entries. That blew me away. I won in the end, but all of the well-wishes and love I got from the blog-o-sphere made it even sweeter. I wrote down all 132 different entries. No one guessed the correct time which was the contest, but several came very close. Only one person guessed the right day and not a one of you figured the name. A few got on the right track and chose a name from the same set, but... One of you did guess his middle name which def counts for something in my book. Anyway, I think I should offer a concelation prize for the person who guessed the day AND the middle name. What do y'all think?

Okay, that is all for now. I need to go to work. My employer was really supportive in giving me time off and completely changing everyones schedule to allow my absence, so I really need to be on time... Anyway, 132 different guesses!!! Wow. Y'all are amazing!!! More to come, till then, WE ARE GRANDPARENTS!!! Oh, and I will likely be blogging about cards again soon... troll out.

Its About Time!!!

Congrats Bert!

The Card of the Year!

For obvious reasons... Thanks again to all who entered the contest! Happy New Year to all!!! Oh, if anyone has spare copies of this, I would love one or twenty... troll out.