2011 Topps Needs... I Wanna Finish this Set Bad! Help a Troll Out...

So as I mentioned in the previous post - BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet hooked me up with a bunch of 2011 Topps cards... Today, while watching the Braves and Mets duke it out I put all my 2011 Topps cards in the binder and I realized I wasn't doing as well as I had thought. I have been saying that I was 5 cards away from being done. Turns out I need 14 more to finish it off. I am anxious for Updates and Highlights now, but I really wanna finish this puppy off before U & H comes out. These are the cards I need:
35,202,331,333,343,388,523,541,554,574,582,618,639 and 653... If you can help me out, PLEASE shoot me an e-mail and we will make a deal... Also, I know that I still have trade bait cards that were claimed, but I have not yet shipped. I think that is because I am lacking addresses, so Daily Dimwit - If you still need those Diamond Giveaway cards, PLEASE send me your address. The Braves are leading the Mets by a run with 2 outs in the 9th. The two outs came courtesy of a really nice double play turned by Dan Uggla, who also extended his hitting streak. Nick Evans is at bat and you can feel the tension... Well, the tension didn't last too long, the Braves won it... I didn't care who won, but I enjoyed the game. I added a classic Gary Carter card in honor of BA Benny and because I am posting about 2011 Topps. My want list is UP TO DATE by the way... Check it out! Go Rays! troll out.

My Dish at the Baseball Card Buffet!

I am putting my new scanner to good use with a GREAT trade that I worked out a few back with the legendary BA Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet. I had posted up some 2011 Topps trade bait and we started going back and forth. It grew into a pretty big trade with me crossing many cards off of my needs list. The more awesome thing is that we already have another trade in the works… Anyway, here are some of the awesome cards that he sent. I tried to pick cards that haven’t been posted to death, plus I really wanted to show how cool he was to hook me up with cards from nearly all of my different collections. Lets start with the first card I have seen from 2010 Bowman Platinum, it’s a purplish refractor of Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, #PP3. Ya gotta consider Hellickson as one of the front runners to be the AL Rookie of the Year, I just hope he sticks around Tampa Bay for a while…
Next up is a card from 1994 Ted Williams featuring AAGPBL All Star Alma Ziegler… Yes, I collect cards of female baseball players and yes, I did not own this one yet, so it is awesome!
Another great card for my oddball PC is this sweet 1992 Upper Deck card of Danny Tartabull, card #237. The Bull wasn’t a great defensive outfielder, but I love that this card shows him making him a running catch, or at least running…
Next up is Rays awesomeness from 2011 Topps. Before this trade I had 1 Rays diamond sparkley card (Carlos Pena from Series 1) and no gold cards. Now I have 2 golds and 2 diamonds. It starts with the coolest of the bunch. The Longo sparkle! Card #340 of the Rays All Star third baseman. The golds are of the aforementioned Rookie of the Year candidate, Jeremy Hellickson on golden card #165. The other gold is a great looking card of the Rays shortstop Sean Rodriguez turning two on Delmon Young and the Twinkies on card #397.
I am going to end this post showing off 2 of my favorites out of the stack of 2011 Topps Series 2 cards he supplied me with… Card #347 of Cubs infielder Darwin Barney and my favorite – card #501 of Twins middle infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka putting Jose Bautista out and going for 2. Nishioka hasn’t really impressed in Minnesota yet, but I love the intense game face on this card. A HUGE thanks to Mike from BA Bennys Baseball Card Blog Buffet for hooking me up with these great cards. Thanks brother! Go Rays! Troll out.

We Have a Winner!

I threw up a little contest to celebrate this blog's 450th post, it's 1st birthday, it's 120th follower and also to eat some humble pie after the Rays were victims of a perfect game for the second time in 2 years. I asked who the lone baserunner was during Vida Blue's no-hitter and 8 of you answered with all of the correct information. I entered the names at random dot org and randomized three times and we have a winner of the autographed Vida Blue postcard. It is:
List Randomizer
There were 8 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1.5. BA Benny
2.3. Ryan AKA Orioles Magic
3.6. Royals Scorecards
4.2. Mark's Ephemera
5.8. Rocco
6.4. Wicked Ortega
7.7. I Don't Know 3rd Base
8.1. Slangko
Timestamp: 2010-05-17 18:01:50 UTC

Congrats to BA Benny! Send me your address again and I will send this out to you. Thanks to everyone for playing. Next contest I will have to find a more difficult question. I actually know what the next contest will ask, I just don't know what the prize will be yet. As some of you know I get all of my statistical information from Baseball Reference dot com and I sponsor several different pages. Many player pages are available to be sponsored for between 5 and 10 bucks a piece. These donations help keep the site going and they are a good way to connect with other fans of your favorite players. I now have sponsored 10 different player pages. In the next contest I will ask you guys to name all ten. Thats all for now, congrats to BA Benny! Off to work! Go Rays! troll out.

A BA Rays Buffet!

In continuing on the theme of the kindness of other bloggers, this early evening post comes courtesy of B.A. Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet. BA Benny is a Mets fan and a somewhat new blogger. I have been blogging about cards for about 10 months now and the more great new blogs that pop up, the more I feel like a veteran blogger. Anyway, the Card Buffet opened for business about 2 months ago and already he is posting at a torrid pace, has a ton of followers and a bunch of happy trade partners. As yet, I am not one of them, but I may have a few Mets up my sleeve… Anyway, BA Benny came through for me with a sweet 8-card (course) offering of great Rays cards. First up is a pair of 2009 Scott Kazmir Topps Chromes. I am pretty sure I have posted the base before, so I skipped that, but I know I have never posted the blue refractor, as this is the first one of these I have ever seen. I am a lover of refractors, I definitely have a soft spot for them, but colored refractors are even better. I wasn’t able to get a great scan of this one, but I will. One of the things that I love about refractors is that if you take the time to set them on the scanner just right, they look GREAT scanned. I will def rescan and repost this one soon. Probably with the other 2009 Topps Chrome blue refractors I have. So far I have collected this Kazmir along with Shields, Pena, Burrell and Aki. I know I still need the Garza and the Longoria, but I don’t remember who else is in that set. I know that Mets fans have a weird love/hate relationship with Kazmir as New York shipped him to Tampa Bay for a song (and Victor Zambrano) and a bag of balls while he was still a prospect. I guess Rays fans are in the same boat now that Kaz is an X-Ray, but I think that Tampa Bay got a better deal in return… Anyway, BA Benny also sent a Gold (another favorite Topps parallel of mine) Scott Kazmir from 2008 Topps. Losing all of the Topps Gold Rays that I had been hoarding for so long was pretty difficult, but thanks to blogger kindness, some good trades and a few online purchases, I am getting back on track with my Gold Rays. I have noticed that I don’t have any before 2001. Does anyone know when Topps started the gold parallel? I remember black gold in 1993, but I have stopped and started collecting so many times I don’t remember when gold became a regular thing. I know they had those in 2007 cuz BA Benny also sent this 2007 Topps Gold card of former D-Rays pitching prospect Juan Salas, #628. He went older school than that with this 2006 Gold card from Topps Updates and Highlights, card #UH114 of former D-Rays catcher Josh Paul. Sticking with the Topps theme, BA Benny also sent this 2007 Topps REDBACK rookie card of Akinori Iwamura. Another 2007 Aki card that he included is this foil card of the infielder, #233 from ’07 Bowman Heritage. He rounded out the package with a jersey card from 2009 Upper Deck SPX of Rays centerfielder BJ Upton. Now that is a Rays buffet! Thanks so much for the cards and note BA Benny! Muchas gracias Mike G! They are very much appreciated. I think you have the early lead for best new blog of 2010, so keep up the good work! For all things Mets, baseball, sports cards and occasionally whatever else, go check out BA Benny’s Baseball Card Buffet, tell him the Troll sent ya! Before I go, I have a totally unrelated end question... Can anyone recommend some free software? I don't have any type of photo editing software on my laptop. I need something. Basic is fine, just enough to be able to crop scans. Any advice? Thanks! Go Rays! Troll out.