A swell Babe from Brad

Literally! I like these Swell cards a lot, and this one is, well, swell. It came in an unexpected package from Brad of Brad's Blog.

There was a bunch of goodies in the package, but here a couple highlights.

I gotta say, I love getting old inserts of Alfonso Soriano. Collecting in the late '90s/early '00s, it was a big deal to pull a Soriano, let alone an insert. There were a lot of the too, because, well, the 1990s. This would have been a good one to pull from Skybox Metal.

I like this card. It's just very simple and plain, but obviously perfectly fitting for Mariano.

And finally, a nice sparkly card of Phil Hughes, who I can't hate on too much. He had a fine career in NY. I actually really liked Lineage. I just wish the card backs had stats instead of just a short write-up.

Brad, thanks again my friend!

Johnny's PWE Spot

I got an unexpected PWE from John of Johnny’s Trading Spot the other day. It was jam packed full of nothing but TINO. See?

I needed this one for my PC. It’s actually the “gold edition”, as it says so on the back.

This. This is why I’ll always love ‘90s cards. Sure beats the cookie cutter inserts of today.

Johnny, thanks, my friend. I’ve got some stuff headed your way very soon.

New Pinedas from @PorterMan20

 

One cool thing about Twitter is that I've met a lot of collectors I might not have otherwise met. One of those is Kevin aka @PorterMan20. He knows I post about and show Pineda cards from time to time on Twitter, and was nice enough to send me a few he had laying around.

Luckily, I needed a whopping five of them! There are still so many Pinedas from 2011-2012 - mostly because of parallels - that I still need. Kevin checked off a a nice chunk of those.

Thanks again, sir!

Contest loot from Bob Walk The Plank

A few weeks back, I was fortunate enough to be one of the winners in a contest held by Matt over at Bob Walk The Plank. The prizes were fantastic! Matt took the time to tailor each prize package to the four winners, which he really didn't need to do.

However, his attention to detail and really shopping for cards that each person would like shows what kind of guy Matt is. I was thrilled with my winnings, and I really appreciate each of them.

Matt sent me five cards, all of of which I needed and more importantly, all of which I love.

The first is a Ty Hensley auto. Hensley cards don't grow on trees, so I'm going to guess that Matt went out of his way to find this one. It's an auto #'d to just 10, and is a really stunning card.

Next, my first Jeter home uniform relic. I did a post a few weeks ago about having three Jeter relics - one away gray swatch, and two of bases. I didn't have a home jersey/pinstripe, so this instantly becomes my favorite.

1/1 of mojo!!! And not just a nobody, but Mr. Brett Gardner. I love this because it shows how Gardner would look as a righty. The fun of printing plates!

This John Wetteland auto is a beauty! I didn't have a Wetteland auto in my collection. In  fact, I was telling Matt that just a few days before this came, I was checking to see if Wetteland was coaching anywhere so I could shoot him a TTM request. I love this set too!

 

Finally, a Tino that is new to my collection and needed!

Matt, this package rocked. Thank you so much!

Owls aren't scary, bud.

For some reason, my three-year-old son is going through a phase of being scared of owls. I’m not sure why. I can’t trace it back to a book or a cartoon he might have seen. Perhaps there is a book at daycare that his teacher reads that’s in his head.

When the lights are off in a room in our place, he always says, “It’s dark, now the owl gonna get me?” I always reassure him that there’s no owl in there, and he doesn’t hold his line too tough. He’s not afraid to go to sleep in his room with his light off or anything. He’s not terrified. But he does make the “owl gonna get me?” comment about five times per week.

So I’ll continue to tell him that owls aren’t so bad. In fact, there are some out there that send me baseball cards! Now, I don’t think I’ll read him any Night Owl blog posts before bed or anything (especially about Heritage SPs), but see bud, owls not only aren’t scary, but they send some nice things.

Like this:

A 2014 Topps Heritage Target Red Jeter. I didn’t see any of these colored-parallels from retail last year, but I have to say, I do like the red ones. They stand out nicely. It’s a nice card of Jeter in his last (I’d imagine) Heritage set. Even though 1965 isn’t one of my favorite designs, I really enjoy this card. 

One of the best developments I’ve heard all spring is that CC came to camp fatter than the last couple of years. I don’t think there is any question that the lighter Sabathia partly struggled because he lost weight. I applaud the guy for wanting to be healthier, but pitchers are so in synch with their bodies, and when one loses (or gains) a bunch of weight, it shifts around differently. Some guys can be big and pitch. David Wells is a great example. I’m hoping that CC is more comfortable this year and finds some better form. He won’t be 2009 Sabathia, but I still think he’s got something left in the tank. 

 

Here’s are a few more from the spooky Owl. Thanks again, Greg. Now stop scaring my kid.

Uncle Tiny strikes twice!

Uncle Tiny recently (or not so recently) sent me two great packages. He really takes to heart that I’m a Bengals fan, and finds some cool (and often shiny!) Bengals to send my way. While I don’t buy football, between JBF and Tiny, I have a really nice binder of Bengals cards, especially newer stuff.

But first! Perhaps the crown jewel of two packages, at least for me, was this signed Mason Williams 8x10! It came with a COA. I’m not sure where Tiny picked this up, but I’m super happy to have it. I don’t have many signed 8x10s in my collection – maybe four or five - but one day I hope to have more and have a nice display. 

I still think Mason Williams will be an MLB player. He is already an elite defender and could play MLB CF right now. However, he needs to pick it up with bat. He was close a few years ago, as he hit .298 and jumped up to #32 in Baseball America’s prospect rankings. He’s had two straight down years since then, but spent all of 2014 in AA. If he can hit in the .250-.260 range, plus shows a bit more maturity (which has been a knock), I think he can find a way to NY as a reserve outfielder later this year or next. 

Tiny also sent me a Ty Hensley for my PC, and a cool Zach McAllister auto.

Aside from there, here’s an assortment of Bengals. My favorite is definitely the Gio Bernard relic, although the Blue Wave AJ McCarron is very cool too. I hope McCarron pushes Dalton next season. Someone needs to! 

 

 

Tiny, thanks again. You should be getting a package from me in the next day or two.

Topps Yankees Project - 2015 Edition

My first official 2015 spring training TTM success was a big one:

Shane Greene, now with the Tigers, signed my 2015 Topps card in 10 days. Why is it significant? Because it completes my Topps Yankees project for 2015 and keeps it current.

For those who don't know, I have a signed Topps Yankees card from 1951-2015, all obtained through the mail. I have no repeat players, something I'm very proud of. In the coming days, I'll show each of the cards.

For now, I'm glad to have it out of the way so quickly! I have a few more requests out to guys who could have been the 2015 entry, but I'm happy with Greene, even though he's no longer a Yankee. He's featured as a Yankee on the card, so it counts.

The first thing I do when the flagship checklist is received is start planning on who I'll send to for my project. I'm happy that I don't have to worry about it again until 2015.