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.

Running With Rhubarb!

As promised, here is my latest trade with everyone's favorite Twins fan, Rhubarb Runner... The Runner has a super awesome local card shop and he is always shopping for just about everyone in the blog-o-sphere. His goal is to turn good deals into Twins cards he needs. This worked out great for me because I had just found a 2007 Glen Perkins autograph the same day he wrote me. He found 4 Rays cards at his shop and I needed 2 of them, so we agreed on the deal. Thing is, the stuff we agreed on was already pretty great, but the extras he threw in were AWESOME!

We will start with this Team Quad card from Playoff Absolute. Not to sound ungrateful, but I despise the design of Playoff cards. The blatant waste of space, the lack of information and stats and the tiny pictures and the serial numbering of cards that just don't seem that special. That said, I still chase them when they feature certain players and this quad includes Brandon Backe, Chad Gaudin, Toby Hall and Dewon Brazelton.

I collect Brazelton and therefore had to have this one. I swapped player collections with the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame not too long ago and snagged his rad Brazelton collection. I haven't posted it yet because I am not sure anyone would appreciate aside from myself and GSNHoF, but I will!

Next up is a card I sort of posted already, but wanted to put up again because it is really a neat card. It is Crowning Moment card #402 from 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings showing current Giant and former Devil Ray's first baseman Aubrey Huff. The reason I wanted to show this card again is that the rendition is truly amazing and I wanted to give the artist, Dave Kramer, a little love for it... Huff, by the way, is hitting .429 in the Series so far. I would say I am rooting for Huff to do well, but for his team to lose... By the way, I do NOT collect Huff. He had some success for the D-Rays, but I just wasn't a huge fan. Like all former D-Rays though, I have a page in the binder showing his 9 best cards. I upgrade whenever I can and this card made the cut.

Next up is the first surprise. From 2008 Upper Deck Documentary UPDATE. I didn't even realize there was an update, but I guess there is. All 8 cards are from the postseason. If you read the backs the Rays were. 500 over these 8 games. Ultimately they beat the White Sox and the Red Sox, but lost to the Phillies. Memories. When Documentary was on the shelves I thought it was a horrible, horrible set. Now, I desperately want to complete the 163 card set, PLUS the update version. 2008 was a magical year for the Rays and I would love to fill a binder with this. Its funny, but this year with Topps monopoly I find myself appreciating things that I never gave a second thought about before. I probably have at least 50 of these cards, so many trade packs have included 1 or 2, someday I will get them all together and into a proper binder.

Incidentally, a case of Ultra Pro pages is tops on my Christmas list!

Okay, back to the trade and the 2nd HUGE BONUS the Runner included... Another set I need to get all together and make a list of is 2009 Topps Update GOLD. I am trying to build the gold parallel version of EVERY D-Rays Topps team set. I need many, so I haven't made a list. Cards trickle in here and there, but Rhubarb sent me 4! This was a total surprise and a HUGE bonus. I don't get to scratch 4 cards off of my imaginary list very often! They are #UH55 Ben Zobrist All Star, UH103 of Evan Longoria All Star, #UH272 of All Star Carlos Pena in the home run derby and #UH287 of Matt Joyce. Awesome!!! The final card I am going to show off was actually the cornerstone of the deal.

It turned out great that the throw in cards totally overshadowed it, but this one is still pretty rad...It is from 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces, another set that I appreciate more and more as time goes on. This set was actually really cool then, but now that Masterpieces only lives on Beardy's blog, they are that much cooler!

This is a Captured on Canvas insert of Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli. Opposite of Playoff, the design of this card is awesome! Great color, great use of space and a cool name. I don't really have too many Rocco Baldelli jersey cards. I decided that I need more. Rocco isn't my favorite, but I hold him in high enough regard that he gets multiple pages in the binder. This card is going right in.

Thanks so much for trading Rhubarb!!! I know we will deal again really soon! Thanks for reading and if you insist on sending me cards, I will def appreciate it, if those cards are gold, there will be even more appreciation...

Thank you Rhubarb Runner!!! Go Ra(y)ngers! troll out.

Mailbag Update...

Ran out of time to post. Rhubarb Runner is on deck - look for that SOON. On my way to the post office with packages for Gellner, Justin in Louisiana, Nachos Grande, Play at the Plate, Night Owl and Rhubarb...

That should empty my wallet, but the following folks can expect some mail love from Trollville: Captain Canuck, Anthony K., Wicked Ortega, Smed's Card Blog, McCann Can Triple, Jonathan at RGB Cards, Ryan's Memorabilia and BA Bennys Baseball Card Buffet.

I appreciate everyone's patience with me.

I worked some crazy extra overtime this week SO a week from today I will have some extra postage money and will finally get all caught up. Since I hate posts without pictures, here are 2 cards from the Rhubarb Runner exchange. These are probably the least interesting out of the lot, so it won't detract from the pending post, but they have World Series significance as both players used to drive in Devil Rays, but now are on opposite sides in the Series.

Gotta run. Go Ra(y)ngers! troll out.

A Collective Trol 3 From 3!

Its time for another old fashioned Collective Troll 3 From 3. This one features former Rays slugger Aubrey Huff. Until January of this year I did not own any “premium” Huff cards. He was never a favorite player of mine even though he had a few really great seasons in Tampa Bay. I think he still holds the team record for homers by an outfielder from his amazing season in 2003 when he started 102 games in right field for the Rays and hit .311 with 34 homers and 107 RBI. He also added 47 doubles, 198 hits and 91 runs scored. In his 7 years in Tampa Bay he topped 20 homers in 4 consecutive years and was a consistent part of the middle of the lineup. Perhaps his biggest contribution to the team came on his way out the door. He was traded to the Houston Astros in July of 2006 to give the ‘Stros a little bit of extra power down the stretch. That deal brought pitcher Mitch Talbot to the Rays along with super-utility-man Zorilla aka Ben Zobrist. Huff only spent one year in Houston before signing a huge free agent contract with the Baltimore Orioles. In 2008 he had his best year offensively for them. He batted .304 with 32 homers and a career high 108 RBI. He also set a career best with 48 doubles and he won his first and only Silver Slugger Award that year at the DH position. Last year he was dealt to Detroit at the deadline but didn’t offer the Tigers much production. His numbers in Detroit were .189 with 2 homers and 13 RBI in 40 games. A lot of people thought that was the end of his career. Those folks would be wrong however. The management in San Francisco saw something in Huff and signed him right before spring training so far this year he is looking good. He is back out in the field at first base and is hitting .280 with 4 homers and 20 RBI and also has 10 doubles. He is second on the team in homers, RBI and doubles so far this season. I am happy that Huff found a team and happier that he is doing well. He is in the top-50 among active players in most batting categories and at 33 years of age I think he still has a few more homers in his bat. I am far from a Giants fan, but I root for anyone who came up through the Rays system. Fan or not I didn’t want to see his career end after that awful time in Detroit. I am glad that San Francisco offered him a shot at redemption… Wow, that was a lot more than I had intended on saying about Mr. Huff! Okay, since this is a three from three post I will mention the 3 cards I am featuring. The one on top ironically came from a Giants fan. I think he sent it to me 3 weeks before Huff signed on with San Fran. This card is from 2005 Leaf Certified Materials, card #11. It is serial numbered 24 out of 250. This was the very first non-base card of Huff I got. It came from Omega Wax and it only took me 5 months to get it posted! Thanks so much to Omega for sending me this one, I really like it. One day I will post up the Martin Dihigo card he sent along with it! Soon after I got my first Huff bat relic my homie Wicked Ortega from My Past Time I Love It! had to up the ante and he sent this gem. It is from 2004 Playoff Absolute, card #11 from the Absolutely Ink set. It is a TRIPLE-a Trifecta all in one. The card is serial numbered 064/100 and includes a tiny jersey swatch, a little bat chip and a nice bold sticker autograph. I really like the concept of mulit-relics and autos on one card. I think I have 4 like this and I think they all came from Wicked. I haven’t been hanging onto to this card as long as the bat relic from Omega, but it has been sitting on my desk for a few months… Oh, speaking of Wicked. He is desperately seeking cards of former Pirates infielder Rennie Stennett. There may be a reward involved if you can hook him up. He has his Topps checklist posted but I think this would be a great opportunity for a custom card creator to make a cool card and get it autographed. Just a though. Okay, back to Aubrey Huff-he has the floor right now… Last month I got my third Mojo Huff card in the mail from a reader, thus completing a 3 card lot and readying these bad boys for a proper post. It is a 2000 Just Minors ON CARD auto of the young outfielder. Huff played for the Orlando Rays (AA) in 1999 and that was the first stop that he showed his power potential-he hit 22 homers and 40 doubles for them and virtually duplicated those numbers the next year in AAA and from there he climbed to the big leagues. I REALLY like these Just Minors autographs. I like the simplicity of the design, I like that all of the ones that I have are from Florida teams that I have watched and I like the on-card-ness of the autographs. This one came from Drew (not the blogger) with a few other autographs that I will post up soon. My autograph list is not up to date and I have come across quite a few of late. I will create a proper list of Rays autos soon. As far as my quest to get an autographed card of EVERY member of the 2008 American League Champion team- I am getting VERY close. I don’t have everyone in a Rays uniform yet, but I think that JP Howell, Matt Garza and David Price are the only 3 I still need. I do plan on posting them all at once as a tribute to that magical team. If you are new to my blog, I am trying to get one autograph from EVERY player to ever play a game for the (Devil) Rays. If you have Rays autos from ANY year, get in touch! Thanks again to the 3 traders who provided the fodder for this 3 from 3 post. Omega, Wicked and Drew (not the blogger)-y'all rawk!!! Best of luck to Aubrey Huff on the other coast. My next posts will be trades from Roll Out The Barrel and Mike Pelfrey Collectibles, a '65 Topps League Leader on the Nitty Gritty and a pack rip of 1998 Pinnacle MINT on a Pack to be Named Later. Stay tuned! Go Rays! Troll out.