A Brock for my little tot

I have found that I need little projects to keep me engaged in the hobby. I'm not a set builder, so I have to get creative. That's why there is my Topps Yankees Project, my Rizzuto vintage collection, and a new project that I just came up with.

I have a 13-month old son. He's an animal. A complete beast. And he's awesome. I will never force cards on him, but I do want to build a collection for him. Plus, one day mine will be his. I've put a couple cards aside for him - a Jeter rookie, a few relics that fellow collectors have sent me specifically for him, and a binder full of Yankee dupes that I have.

One other thing I want to do is start acquiring vintage cards of Hall of Famers. I'm not going to go after every Hall of Famer, but some of the more popular guys to play, such as Koufax, Gibson, Clemente, Aaron, etc. Name brand players. I'll eventually create a targeted player list.

Here is my first pick up for the project, a 1973 Topps Lou Brock. Pretty sweet card. Weird buying cards of non-Yanks. Very liberating.

For all you Dodger fans

Scratch that, for all you Baseball fans, check out Google's homepage today in honor of Jackie Robinson's 94th birthday. Pretty f'in cool.

The opposite of 2013 Topps

Vintage, that is. I haven't had a chance to make it to any retail stores to pick up some new stuff, so I figured I'd post a few oldies but goodies that I recently picked up.

These came as part of lots and are completely for trade:

Rocco Baldelli laughs in my face

A few days ago, we made a family run to Target. Diapers, cleaning supplies, etc. I swung by the card row, hoping to find a discount blaster from the previous year. While everything was fully marked, I did find a discount pack that contained "one relic card plus three packs." I've read stories about other bloggers finding some true gems in these packs, even a Mickey Mantle jersey. With thoughts of a major score dancing in my head, I plucked one off the rack.

Why on earth would I think I'd even get a halfway decent card? I should have known and saved the money, but my mind does weird things in the card row. My hit was of the one and only, the next DiMaggio (at the time), Rocco Baldelli. Sigh. I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed, but I was.

As for the three packs that were included? About what you'd expect.

A few more TTMs that trickled in

I haven't sent out a TTM in a few months, but a few have still managed to trickle in.

A TTM Happy Ending

No, not that kind of happy ending, sicko. Something tells me that if that were the case, the TTM hobby would be a lot more crowded than it already is.

You may recall that over the last two years,I've had a hard time getting Mason Williams to sign for me. Mason is one of my favorite Yankee prospects. He's pretty much a consensus Top 50 guy, and probably top-three in the Yankees system depending on who you ask.

One time I sent to Mason, my card came back unsigned. The next time, I got this note below.

I figured I was just destined to never get him TTM. Luckily, my pal Paul over at Carl Crawford Cards was able to hook me up with a Mason signed card from his summer spent in Charleston. I was content.

However, on December 31st, two TTM envelopes arrived. They were sent to my old address, and luckily the post office forwarded them. Each of them contained a Mason Williams signature - one on a Bowman Chrome, one on a regular Bowman. I couldn't believe it!

It was a pretty darned good way to end 2012.

Credit card? You got it!

Bonus points if you know what movie that title is from.

Was aka Jaybarkerfan once again sent me some goodies. Seriously, this is one of the coolest cards ever.

1995 Studio is one of the coolest sets of all time. The credit card set. This Boggs is a gold insert, which I had never seen. It’s cut more like a credit card with rounded corners. I’m really tempted to keep this in my wallet

Here are a few other cool cards that Wes sent.

Wes, congrats on the Upton brothers!

A "package" from S-Napkin Doon

It’s been fun being back in the “blogosphere” this past month.

I wouldn’t say I’m totally “back” or that I ever went fully “away.” I just had other things going and had to prioritize.

However, I wouldn’t say that I lost interest in the hobby. I’ll always love meeting new collectors and adding Yankee cards to my collection. Since joining the “blog world” I’ve done both.

One of the best “blogging friends” I’ve made so far is Napkin Doon. “Nap” and I have done a few trades, and I really enjoy reading his “musings” on collecting.

Doon sent me a “welcome back” package in the mail, and it was awesome!

Included in the package was a “snap” case that took me about five minutes to open. I haven’t seen such fancy card “contraptions.” Is that what came out while I was gone? I’m guessing they’ve been around a while and I just never had one. Maybe he’ll change his name to “Snapkin Doon.” Oh, snap!

There were three cards inside. All gems. The first was a 2012 Panini Joe DiMaggio. I’ve been putting cards of the “Yankee Clipper” aside since he and my son share the same first name. I hadn’t seen this set from Panini, but it looks pretty cool. 

The second card I saw made me do a “double take”. Could it be? A 2003 Heritage Grand Stand Glory stadium seat relic of Phil Rizzuto. This will be a “staple” in my Rizzuto collection. 

Last but not least, a 2011 Bowman Chrome Futures Fusion X-Fractor. I loved these die cut cards.

Snapkin, thanks for the cards. They will all find a special spot in my collection.

My Golden Giveaway card arrives

I'm not going to harp on how boring the 2012 Topps Golden Giveaway. I think most of us have mentioned how we would have preferred the format from the two years prior. You know, when you redeemed codes and got actual cards that you could trade. In this past year's format, you either got a limited edition die cut, or a fake coin. I hear 2013 is different as well, and that's more of a fantasy type game. I would enjoy going back to the old way, personally.

I was lucky enough to redeem a code and actually get a card...and a good one, too. I got a Reggie Jackson Angels card, which I flipped for Robinson Cano. Then I disappeared from collecting, and in my online portfolio it sat. But then I made the dumb choice to buy a blaster of Update, and I got a code card. I went to redeem it and remembered that I had a card sitting there!

Fearing that I would never visit the site again, I decided to spend the few bucks to have the Cano shipped to me. It just arrived, and while it's nice, I'm not overly impressed. These really feel like a Bowman Chrome insert to me, especially the design. Last year's cards were beautifully designed and played into the diamond motif. While there are gold parallels to these, nothing about the standard version screams "gold".

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice, thick card. It just feels like something I could have pulled from a pack and not a special promotion.

The present and future...on one card

This was a random card I recently picked up. It’s very refractory. I’m not really sure how these two players tie together for the sake of the card, but cool to have a card of Cano and Tyler Austin. Cano is pictured in his baby blue HR Derby jersey. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Cano did not hit a HR on this swing. I bet he got booed as well. And look at that goofy "C" on his jersey. Straight out of the

Tyler Austin had a huge year and really increased his stock as a prospect. The Yanks haven’t had many good OF prospects recently, and Austin really does have a chance to change that. He has raked at every level of the minors. He’ll probably open 2012 in AA.

He represented the Yanks at the Futures Game, and since both players participated in All Star Weekend, I'm sure that's the connection on this card. Whatever. Cool to have the present and (hopefully) the future share a card.

Jinxed by an eBay seller

Manny Banuelos is a prospect I still have a lot of hope for. He showed great promise over the last few years, but was injured in 2012 and needed Tommy John surgery. He was advanced for his age in terms of the level he was playing at, so when he returns in 2014 (he’ll miss 2013), he’ll still only be around 23 years old.

His cards aren’t as steep as they once were, so I’ve been picking up a few. Here’s a refractor I got on the cheap from 2012 Bowman Platinum.

The seller also had an unintentional sense of humor. This Matt Schaub card randomly arrived with Banuelos (for no reason) on the Saturday of the Bengals-Texans game. Obviously, being a Bengals fan, I wasn’t pleased to see this. And the Texans won. Did this card jinx it? Of course not, the Bengals being the Benagls jinxed it. But still! What kind of sick person does this?