2011 Topps is (virtually) DONE!!!

So yesterday I was still riding that post derby high that I love sooo much... After school I hit the post office and got a great package from my homie and Braves fan Derek of the Tomahawk Chopping Card Blog... When my want list went down to 8 cards he wrote me that he had 7 of the 8 for me including Mickey Mantle and Buster Posey! Within 2 days of his e-mail, the cards were in my mailbox!

AWESOME!!! I am still waiting on a few more packages to arrive, but my wantlist is now empty and I couldn't be more grateful to all the awesome bloggers and readers who have helped me out on this journey!

If you are wondering about the lack of posts and pics of late, part of the reason is that my scanner took a crap... My lovely wife and I purchased a home computer, printer, scanner and a bunch of electronic goodies the month we got married... We celebrated 5 years on March 11th... That is a pretty long life for any electronic device, so we had a good run, but it is all pretty much garbage now... We have our sights on getting a wireless printer and scanner both. I don't know when, but they are both on our shopping list, so it has to happen, ha!
So back to 2011 Topps... After checking the PO Box I visited the local card shop, Ryan's Sportscards, AKA my home away from home... I was looking for some Martin Prado cards to pay Tomahawk Chopping back, but they had nothing. What they did have was an envelope marked "for Troll". Sweet! Apparently one of their customers left it for me. No note, no name. So I don't know who to thank, but to the mystery local card collector, whomever you are - THANKS!!!

Included in the envelope was 2 cards from 2010 Topps Series 2, Yo Mama Cards!!! Yes, I am still slowly chasing this set down... I still need to put together a list for the base set, but I have checked and doublechecked my list for the Yo Mama cards and Turkey Reds... I am doing pretty well (i guess) on these and I am determined to finish them off BEFORE 2013... The list can be found RIGHT HERE! The mystery fan also chipped in a pair of Topps Diamond Giveaway code cards. I raced home to unlock them... I was imagining unlocked some Hammerin' Hanks or Sandy Koufax or at least a card or two from my 63 Topps need list. It was a nice daydream, but it didn't happen. I am the lucky virtual owner of this 1992 Topps Henry Cotto, card #311 (my anniversary date!) AND a 2004 Erubial Drrrrrrrrrrzo.

Not quite Hank Aaron, but it was fun...The envelope had 2 more cards in it, with images borrowed from eBay. My anonymous homie gave me a 1963 Topps card!!!!!!!!!!! It is my 43rd card from the set, card #535 of Indians pitcher Jim Perry.

I already had Gaylord Perry, so now I have completed the Perry brothers set for both 1963 and 1965! Awesome! The final card in the envelope was card #18 from 2011 Topps, the final card on my wantlist!!! Kevin Millwood the thorn in my side for 2011 series 1, but now he is safe in the binder and the first 6 pages are completed! As soon as the 3 packages I am waiting for, this set is done! I have traded (or will be sending) all of my insert dupes. The only insert set I am chasing is the super awesome Kimball minis. I am waiting on a pretty generous stack of these mini slabs o' cardboard and with that I will be done to needing just these six cards: 5,20,21,25,29 and 43. My homie and fellow Floridan Wicked Ortega is trying to chase this one down, too. You can find his needs list right here...

The Pee Wee Reese at the top of this post illustrates why this set rules... I am pretty impressed with my self control in not chasing down all the crazy insert sets this year. The Yo Mama cards were a lot of fun last year, but 3 series were toooo much for me. I do REALLY want to chase down all the 201o Vintage Legends cards, though. Those are neat! Anyway, thanks to all for the cardboard hook-ups! Thanks to my mystery card donor and thanks to all for reading and checking out my updated wantlists! Congrats to Ben Zobrist for rocking! Thanks again to the Nuclear Bombshells and Ocala Cannibals for playing one of the most exciting derby bouts that I have called in a long time... By the by, I did not receive any assistance from Will Ferrell, but my muttonchops have left the building (err, my face)... Don't know why I felt the need to share this... All of my wantlists are up to date... As always, I will provide a loving home for any and all unwanted 1963 and 1965 Topps baseball cards... I love this hobby! troll out.

Topps Million Card Giveaway... My 9 This Time - Unlocking the Awesome - Prepare to be Awed...

It has been a LONG time since I bought a pack of cards. A really long time. This weekend I bit and picked up one of the 15 dollar value packs from Wal Mart. It comes with 6 packs of Topps Series 2, a chrome card, a hobby pack of Allen and Ginter and a Topps Million code card. I got another code card in one of the packs and I decided that last night would be redemption day. I had a few code cards tucked away for a rainy day and it was very rainy this weekend, so I crossed my fingers and redeemed them all. I had said after my first redemption many months ago that I didn't plan on having any cards shipped to me. Had I got something from the fifties or 60s I might have changed my tune. Guess what? My tune remains the same. This means there are 9 cards sitting in cyberspace somewhere that have my name on them. Out of my last 9 redemptions I unlocked 2 Hall of Famers and 3 cards from the 70's. Not too bad I guess. Unfortunately, the Hall of Famers come from 1987 and 1990 and the cards from the 70's are NOT Hall of Famers. Needless to say I will not be getting these shipped to me. I thought about pooling them all together to trade for a '65 Topps card I needed, but that seems like too much work and I am a very lazy Troll... Plus I would still have to cough up a credit card to have them shipped. Had I unlocked a '56 Clemente it would be well worth it. I didn't. SO... I am offering up these 9 super awesome cards to the first person to claim them. If you can offer me 1 (one) single card from anyone of my wantlists I would consider that more than fair. Normal rules apply. Comment to claim them and then e-mail me for details. By the way, the highlight of my unlocking is this 1972 Topps card of All Star catcher Ray Fosse. Fosse was twice an All Star but only played in one game. Everyone remembers him blocking the plate and getting bulldozed, but he also had 2 hits and an RBI too. The next oldest card is this 1976 of Padres pitcher Dave Freisleben. Also included is the Braves team card from 1977 and junk wax goodness featuring Steve Sax, John Jaha, Mike Lansing and Hank Blalock... Actually, the 1998 Mike Lansing wasn't an unlocked card, it was what I had traded my last bunch of cards for. Still, even Mike Lansing must go. Who wants em? Oh, for those keeping track, I have now unlocked 18 cards and the 1971 Diego Segui (already traded already...) is the oldest card I have unlocked. I forget who the newest card was, but it was 2008. Incidentally, the title for this post was intended to be sarcastic...Oh, I HAVE had a few trade offers on these cards - someone actually offered up a Shannon Stewart for the Braves team card. Obviously they read my blog and know what a huge fan of Shannon Stewart I am. Unfortunately when I clicked on the offered card it was NOT this Shannon Stewart... Go Rays! Troll out.

Group Breaks, Nachos, Topps and More!

Well, I have officially shipped a package to EVERY participant in the group break that lives in the US (Captain and Anthony you will ship this week) whose address I have. Those of you whose address I don't have are on the sidebar in yellow. The last package I shipped was to Chris AKA Fan of Reds AKA Nachos Grande. As you might have guessed, he had the Reds in the group break. Some Reds were pulled, but I doubt it was anything he didn't have 12 copies of already. I do think that I included one, if not 2 Barry Larkin cards that he didn't have. I should mention that the reason that I was so tardy in sending his package was that I was searching for cards off of his 2010 Topps wantlist to complete a trade as well. He has sent me some inserts I needed for my very slow chase of 2010 Topps completion and domination. I plan on showing them off in this post right here... As a matter of fact, since I am posting them, I am scratching them off of my wantlist which is now 100% up to date and accurate. I finished Legendary Lineage for both series 1 and 2. Although I don't really care too much for Peak Performances, I am nearly halfway there, so I might as well try and finish it. The subsets that I am really into are Turkey Reds and the Cards Yo Mama Threw Out. These are a priority! I mention that my wantlist is up to date for two reasons. One, because you are more than welcome to check them out and see if there is anything that you can help me out with. The second reason is that this is a trade post from Nachos Grande, who is the MOST ORGANIZED blogger I know. I think I might have traded with him more than anyone simply because it is so damn easy. His wantlists are clear and always up to date. The only problem is that he rips and trades like crazy and in this instance I was only able to send him 2 cards off of his wantlists in exchange for all the goodies he sent me. Anyway... you can find HIS wantlists HERE and see if you can help him out more than I could. You can also check out the 2010 Topps inserts that he sent me... The trio from Peak Performance is shown above. From Turkey Red we have a pair of Aces: a current Dodger and a Hall of Fame pitcher. He also included 2 cards from Tales of the Game. Carlton Fisk in one of the most memorable games in baseball history AND Josh Hamilton taking second place in a batting practice exhibition. Thanks so much to Nachos for these great cards. If anyone is interested, I can post up my dupes. There is a surprisingly big stack of Turkey Reds. I might also put together my list for Series 2. Can you tell I am suffering from Nachos Grande wantlist envy? Thanks again and if your name is in yellow in the side bar, please email me your address. Go Rays! Best team in baseball, for real. Oh, by the way... The card at the top is just a reminder that I am STILL a Carl Crawford supercollector. Oh, while I am dropping updates... I am still in for the Long Fly to Because Allen and Ginter case break. I believe that the price has dropped considerably. I know most everyone is bored of these by now, but I haven't even held a pack yet. Only 13 teams have been claimed, what are you waiting for? troll out.

2010 Topps and Group Break Stuff...

So I finally found the stack of 2010 Topps inserts that I had been searching for. That plus a few trades that had been sitting on the desk for months. Anyway, my needs list is up to date. I thought I was nearly done, but it turns out I am not even close. I will probably make a list of what I need for the Series 2 base set soon. I only bought 2 cereal boxes of Series 2 and I am done. Perhaps I will have a real post this weekend. I hope. Also... Nearly everyones group break packages have been shipped. Total shipping cost has past $120. I still have a few more boxes ready to go, but I am still missing addresses. If your name is in yellow in the side bar, PLEASE send me your address. Thanks. Go Rays! troll out.

Out of the Nest and Under the Bridge…

I haven’t posted a trade here in quite a while. I have so many great ones to post, but I thought I would start with a package I received from the Night Owl. The last time I got mail from my favorite bird he Nomo-ed me. I wasn’t pleased, so naturally I was a little apprehensive as I opened the package. Not only was this not a repeat Nomo attack, he attacked all facets of my want lists and odd personal collections. Any other fans of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League out there? I would love to hear from you if you are cuz I am. The Night Owl is apparently aware of my fandom for the AAGPBL cuz he sent me two sweet sample cards from the ’95 Frisch set. I really need to bite the bullet and send away for the whole 234 card set, (and now I have a coupon) but it is so much more fun hoping and occasionally one or two of these gems. The sample cards feature starting pitcher and 20-game winner Dorothy Wiltse who is #1 in the set and card # 61 of Dorothy Ferguson. One of the reasons I want the entire set is that I would really like to know how high the percentage of players named Dorothy is. They can’t all be Dorothy’s, can they?
From the Ladies of Baseball he went on to attack other facets of my collecting preferences. He knows I like Heritage Chromes and sent a few of them. What I like better than chromes is refractors and he hooked it up with this refractor of Rays new closer Rafael Soriano. On the refractor tip, here is a 2009 Topps Chrome refractor of former Rays lefty Scotty Kazmir AND an X Fractor of the Rays Gold Glove first baseman Carlos Pena from the same set. I like these a lot. I think these came from the dusty packs of chrome that the Owl acquired in late March. I am on a mission to collect the 8 card set of 2009 Chrome refractors and X Fractors. I am more than halfway there with each. A list will come soon...
From the super shiny Topps refractors right to the Upper Deck… Beginning with the FINAL Tampa Bay Rays card I needed to finish up the 2009 O-Pee-Chee set. I have been chasing this one for nearly a year and it feels great to cross the last name off of my want list. It is card #317 of Akinori Iwamura and is a rare action shot. Nice! The Owl didn’t stop there. Oh no, there is plenty more to see here people… He hit up 2010 Upper Deck too. I think that his stance on this year’s Upper Deck is officially ANTI, but the two packs he bought were very Rays rich apparently. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these two were included in the set at all and I was thrilled to own them. Card #476 of Fernando Perez sliding in safely and card #483 of Saturday night’s hero Walk-off Willy Aybar. Moving right along onto 2008 Upper Deck X, here is an XPonential (X2) card of Rays All Star left fielder Carl Crawford. I have not ripped a single pack of X myself and I don’t intend to, but I think I would like to chase down all of the Crawford XPonential cards I can. I think this is the last square card I need, but I don’t have a cube root from any year… Moving back to Topps, 2006 Topps, of the GOLD variety, here is #519 of shortstop Julio Lugo. In 2005 Lugo batted .295 with 182 hits, 36 doubles, 6 triples and 6 homers, too. He also stole 39 bases, good enough for 4th in the AL. Sweet. The last couple of Topps cards I will post come from the 2010 set that I am so aggressively working on. First off is a Tales of the Game insert, card #TOG1 of Ty Cobb sliding in spikes up. A card I am happy with from an awful set I would never buy is this one from 2010 Topps Attax. Being a player collector you need to get some funky product every now and then. That said I am glad that I can scratch this off the list so I don’t need to yearn for a card from Attax. Okay, here is the final card I am going to show off. Normally I end my trade posts with a relic or autograph card, but this package went far beyond just mojo hits… I prefer refractors to relics anyway and I posted them first, so this card from History of the Game, #HOTG8 gets finale status. This card celebrates baseball being broadcast for the first time in August of 1921 by Harold Arlin. The photo is a close-up of an old style microphone. I really don’t think it is Arlin’s original mic and I also doubt it is from the 20’s. It looks more like a late 30’s style to me. The card rocks for a few reasons. One I need it for the set, but more importantly as a fellow broadcaster I collect cards of players holding microphones and broadcast equipment in general. In the last year this is the first microphone card I have got in the mail. I like it. I want to extend a GIGANTIC thank you to my friend the Night Owl. This is quite possibly the most thoughtful package I have ever received. I collect a lot of strange things and he somehow touched on almost all of them. Had he included Danny Tartabull, Buck O’Neil, Roberto Clemente and a sombrero card it would have truly been the most thoughtful pick me up EVER. Anyway, after the gift of no more Pat the Bat that Andrew Friedman gave me, the bar is pretty freaking high, but I will give this one 9 out of 10 Billy goats. Thanks so much Senor Owl, redemption is yours! I am officially relinquishing my grudge from the “oh no Nomo” attack. Go Rays! Troll out.

The Joy of a Competed Page-Yo Mama Edition

This Joy of a Completed Page segment is brought to you by Peterson from the Sign Here and Here blog. He hooked me up with a ton of stuff including the Duke Snider and Frank Robinson cards to finish off this page. I hope to post all of the Rays goodness he shipped my way soon. For now, enjoy a reprinted sample from each year from 1952-1960. I would LOVE to own any one of these amazing cards. I kinda wish that Topps had included Clemente and Aaron in this, but that is my only complaint. This filled page looks GOOD! Thanks so much to Peterson and everyone else who helped me fill this one up. My want lists for this set are up to date. For this set, I still need these cards: 13,14,20,24,27,29,31,37,39,42,43,44,51,52,54,55,56 and 57. #13 and 14 would be my Most Wanted as that would fill up another awesome page. Get in touch if you can help a Troll out. Don’t forget to check out a Pack to be Named Later. I have a ton of wax I will be ripping over there. Today’s pack is 1985 Topps Super. They are big! Oh, as a reminder. All of the stuff I rip on a PTBNL goes into the team piles for the group break, so you should really check it out. Go Rays! Troll out.

Some Troll Odds and Ends and a Question...

I have still been spending my free moments trying to organize-putting cards in stacks by player or by year or brand. I had a couple hundred empty pages and a few empty binders and they are all FULL. I will be hitting the card shop on Wednesday for more supplies. Anyway, my time is super limited, but I had a few odds and ends to post quickly. My Rays team set chase is going well. I found 3 cards that I needed while sorting this weekend. These 3 helped me finish off another set. I am now complete from 2006 up till present and only a couple of cards away from finishing off 2005 which would have me set from 2004 till present. That would be 8 years complete. Well, at least until next month when 2010 Series 2 comes out… While sorting I found a bunch of cards that fit into my Devil Rays PCs. I am not aggressively working on Ben Grieve, but I now have 86 different cards of him as a Devil Ray. There are 5 full pages of Quinton McCracken, 3 full of Dewon Brazelton and two-and-a-half of Jared Sandberg. The new guy I added now has a full page, too. The Joe Kennedy PC is up to 9 cards strong! An autographed card of the Rays bench coach who said he LOVED THIS BLOG! So yeah, Dave Martinez now has his own binder space. I found a few cards of Kyeong Kang-the South Korean slugger who was batting third for the Stone Crabs on Saturday night. I watched this guy in batting practice and he can MASH. He’s 6’2”, left handed and has a great arm in right. I am gonna be keeping an eye on him… The last 2 cards I am going to show off came from Swag of the NYC Cards and Swag blog. It’s been a month or so since he has updated his blog-come back Swag, we miss you! And it was several months ago that he sent me a box FULL of Rays and Pirates (for my little brother). The package was awesome and really appreciated and it filled some voids for me. Among the cards he sent were these two from 2009 Upper Deck Series 2 of the Starquest insert series. I have about 10 each of the BJ Upton and Carlos Pena cards from this series, but these were the first CC cards for me so I owe Swag a huge thank you for that! I am posting them because I have a question that I hope y’all can help with. The cards look identical to me. I can’t see any differences from the front of the card, but according to the back, they are different. One is a Silver Common and the other is labeled as a Blue Uncommon. What does this mean? What does this all mean??? Thanks in advance for your help, thanks to Swag for the cards and thanks to all for reading and being patient as I am going through a big transition and have little time to post. By the way, the Rays team set page is up to date as is the 2010 Topps page. The 2010 Gold cards have all been claimed, but everything else is up for grabs if you need em. Before I sign off I wanted to show off one more card. This one came from Play at the Plate. I won his April Contest and jus got my prize. Unopened wax is just about the coolest prize you can get and he sent a ton, so thank you Brian! That made my day!!! He included some loose cards, too. Awesome Rays and stuff from my want list, but also this fantastic card featuring two of my favorite players of All Time. Thanks Brian!! While you are there, check out his awesome new blog header featuring a Jackie Robinson Play at the Plate! I believe that Mr. Robinson is SAFE at home. Go Rays! Troll out.

2010 Topps-Give and Take

I am REALLY getting antsy to finish off 2010 Topps Series One. I am SOOOO close I can feel it. A ton of bloggers have helped me on this mission, but most recently it was the Play at the Plate dude who hooked me up with Turkey Reds by the pound. Most recently he sent this awesome Turkey Red Johnny Bench which is NOT for trade. It is locked away in the binder and my binder is now up-to-date and so are my lists. I discovered that there were a few cards that I thought I had covered, but still need. It is all straightened out now. It was a very productive sleepless night, it was.
Anyway, I was being greedy and hanging onto extra cards of favorite players and I was thinking of chasing Topps Town Gold, but now I just want to finish the base set, Cards Your Mom Threw Out, Turkey Red, Legendary Lineage and Peak Performances. I have about 80 base card dupes and some inserts. Here are some scans of dupes that could be yours. Just check out the want list!!! It is coincidentally the trade list, too. Yep, two lists in one! I am chasing the Rays team set in GOLD. I don't have a list for that yet. I know I have Jeff Niemann covered... By the way, that is a gold Pat Neshek card and yes I am willing to trade it to finish up Your Mama or Turkey Red. I lucked out and got dupes of both Neshek and Niemann. I am still hunting for Price, Davis, Zobrist and a few other GOLD Rays, but right now I just really wanna finish off the insert sets before Series 2 comes out. I also really want the Rays mascot card from Opening Day. Raymond rules! Anyway, check em out and get in touch if you can help or if you need anything. I will be in Port Charlotte blogging LIVE inning by inning for TB Rays News dot com. Check it out!!! Go Rays! Troll out.