A real Bru-haha

Right around Christmas, Marc aka Bru from the old school Remember The Astrodome and I made a nice swap on TCDB. It's really nice having someone to send crummy Astros to, and in turn, get Yankees I want.

It was around a 20 for 20 card swap, give or take. I helped him with a few Astros and set needs, he sent me some assorted Yankees from a bunch of brands. It was actually a really fun mixture of cards, especially because there were a bunch of Panini products I don't see a lot. I kind of hope Fanatics buys Panini as well, since they've been kicking Topps' butt with better designs and products the last few years. Although I guess it wouldn't be true competition if they all rolled up to the same mothership. 

Still, seeing Donruss and Prizm with official marks would be cool.

Regardless, back to the variety. I was able to add five Gleybers to the collection, including a couple with the RC logo...which apparently doesn't really mean what it used to a few years ago.

I also got my second card of Odor as a Yankees, and this one is pretty great at highlighting his fiery personality.

I won't lie, I laughed when I saw this mugshot. What a dopey card.

I still have hope for Clarke Schmidt being an impactful Yankees pitcher. It would be nice if a first rounder not named Judge panned out.

A few more Stantons. I need to do a count on his cards, but I must be approaching 175 or so. I like the Fire red foil a lot. Maybe my favorite card of the trade.

And here are the rest of the goodies.

Marc, thanks for the trade, and please enjoy your time with the beautiful baby girl you just had.

Orange you glad you use TCDB?

The TCDB trades have been rolling in, as many other forms of trading and acquiring new cards dry up. I don't post all of my swaps here, but one of my recents was a fun one.

I rarely add or peruse the basketball section of the site, but from time to time I do add a few cards of Syracuse Orange basketball cards just to keep my want a bit diverse. Luckily, it worked out in my favor for a trade with jrad1973, as I sent him a few Astros for the following cards.

While I absolutely hate baseball mascot cards (looking at you, Opening Day), I thought a card of Otto the Orange was cool to have. Typically Syracuse has four students play Otto each year, and during football they alternate each quarter. One of the best mascots in college sports!

A couple of Syracuse one-and-dones! The Carmelo is cool, especially with Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery in the back. Feels like a big event game!

It wasn't just Syracuse cards! Three Yankees were included in the package, as well. I don't hate Contenders baseball. I have no idea when or they were released. Retail blasters, I guess? But I would have never come across them if not for TCDB.

Pretty cool what resorting to TCDB can net you, especially for unwanted Astros cards!

Breaking a Bowman Blaster

Well, indeed it has been an awful start to the summer. It literally rained from Friday evening right up through last night. Plus, temperatures were in the high 40s. What a mess! I did use some time to organize my disaster of a card area, including deciding to order a BCW card bin to house my Tino collection. I am saying goodbye to binders.

Yesterday I needed a pick me up, and got it while watching the Indy 500. I got an email ping on my phone that a blaster of 2021 that I had ordered from Target had been delivered. I went outside and quickly rescued the box, which was getting poured on. Luckily, the box held up and the cards were fine.

I know it's fun around these parts to crap on Bowman, but I am not one of these people. I like Bowman more than most. In fact, I would rather open Bowman than:

• Allen & Ginter
• Gypsy Queen
• Heritage
• Stadium Club
• Big League
• Opening Day
• Donruss

I like the mix of current players, rookies, and prospects, including a draftee's first Bowman card. I like the inserts, which usually are very shiny. I like the chance at a prospect autograph.

Let's start with the RCs. I was glad to get Clarke Schmidt, as well as a few others like Alec Bohm and Jo Adell. Schmidt just started a throwing program in hopes of coming back later this year. He's got a world of talent, but it is starting to feel like he'll never be one who is healthy. I hope I am wrong.

I did land one parallel as well, a blue pApEr of Rockies catching prospect Drew Romo.

On to the Chromes, where the highlight was Blaze Jordan of the Red Sox. Sweet name. Not sweet team. I hope he doesn't torment the Yankees for years. This card alone will pay for at least half the price of the blaster.

I did ok with the inserts, although in pack 2 my day was made when I pulled a Jasson Dominguez Scouts Top 100. I have a couple Dominguez cards already, but this is the first time I pulled one for myself from a pack.

Here's the rest of my inserts. They always pack a lot of shine.

The weather looks better today to salvage some of the weekend, but overall, I'm happy with my blaster, as it helped save a rainy day.

Napkin Doon > The Easter Bunny

I didn't get cards in my Easter Basket this year.

It's actually been hit or miss for me on this one. Every couple of years my wife has put a pack or two in the small baskets we fill for one another. But I knew that this year wouldn't stand a chance given the current situation at Target.

I haven't even been to Target in months, so I'm not sure what sort of policy mine currently has. But it's never been one to carry much inventory anyways, so I don't even bother. It's actually nice to not have any needs in life where I need to go to Target or Walmart.

But I don't need the Easter Bunny. I still have cards coming in, whether eBay purchases or excellent TCDB trades or other random mailings. For instance, right before the weekend, an unexpected PWE arrived from Napkin Doon himself, a guy perhaps even more mysterious than the Easter Bunny himself.

The PWE contained three very shiny cards, and excellent additions to my collection.

These Refractors are from 2010 Finest. I was not collecting then, so the design is new to me. I don't think I've come across any cards from this set before, so it's like seeing a brand new set for the very first time. You could have told me it was 2021 Finest and I would have believed you.

The other card joining these two:

Beautiful! 2020 Bowman Prospects Mojo Refractor (thanks to TCDB for helping me identify this card). I have a lot of Schmidts, but this is a new one. I wish the name "mojo" wasn't official, but it's ok. It's a good looking card.

So while the basket was filled with delicious treats, my cards came from elsewhere. And that's just fine with me!

The RC treatment

One benefit to the shortened season last year is that it made for quite a large rookie class in 2021 Topps, something I'm sure Topps was thrilled to see.

While there isn't quite a Luis Robert to chase down as of now, guys like Jo Adell, Alec Bohm, Christian Pache, and Casey Mize lead a strong Series One rookie class. One the Yankees side, we got Deivi Garcia and Albert Abreu.

However, the player I wanted most will have to wait until Series Two, I assume, as Clarke Schmidt was not yet included.

Schmidt is the Yankees #1 or #2 pitching prospect based on which list you follow. He got a taste of the Bigs last year, appearing in three games. And like any top Yankees prospect, we have already received word that he is experiencing some elbow trouble already in camp and has been shut down.

Super.

While Schmidt did not receive his flagship RC, he did receive a card with the RC logo on it. He was included as an autograph subject in the 70 Years of Baseball set. I recently won this card on eBay, as it was a bit underpriced compared to comps:

Not the ugliest insert design in 2021 Topps, although hard to imagine a guy with 6.1 innings of Major League Ball to his resume as a subject in a 70 years of baseball set.

Regardless, it's a nice addition to my Schmidt collection. I currently sit #1 on his TCDB collection list with a whopping 29 cards, although I have quite a few more that I have not formally added to the site. That number is probably actually in the 50-60 range, if I had to guess.

Interestingly enough, he did have what is a 2020 card that shows him pitching in an actual game in an empty Major League Stadium:

Kind of crazy that's not his RC, right? But I guess that's not the rule.

A few TCDB trades

I haven't had much going on lately on the the TCDB. It's mostly my fault, as I have't added anything new for trade. Without buying new cards, there's not much trade bait to add, so no one gets pinged or notified when I add new cards for trade that match their wantlists.

I did strike up two trades last week to try and get something going.

The first was with Ed from BOCards. I sent Ed a few Orioles from 2020 Topps and 2020 Big League, and got these to cards in return. This is my 1,029th Tino.

I never see Topps Heritage Minors in the wild, so I was able to snag six of them from 2020 for a few cards from CardsInTheBasement. He's working on Heritage sets, so I helped him with a few 2020 needs.

I have a big stack of cards to add to the site, so hopefully I can get a few more trades like this going. If you're on the site, feel free to add me. My username is thelostcollector.

Will we see Schmidt?

It's going to be a weird year for prospects.

With no minor league season, key up and comers will be missing out on a crucial year of development. By this time we would have seen guys putting themselves on the map, others taking a step back, and then the start of short season rookie ball for new draftees. We might have even gotten our first glimpse at Jasson Dominguez.

Instead, teams will bring some prospects to Spring Training 2.0, but the numbers won't be vast. It'll be guys who need to keep developing and are close to the majors, which can be a combination of top prospects and organizational depth.

Yankees top pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt fits that mold. He's a guy that would have been knocking on the door at some point this season, assuming he stayed healthy.

Now, he'll have the chance to help the Big League club. Whether the Yankees will need to turn to him or not is another thing. The Yankees starting rotation should probably be Cole, Tanaka, Paxton, Happ, and Montgomery. I'd bet money on the Yankees needing to dip into that depth with the injury history of some of those guys.

Should they need a sixth or seventh starter, Schmidt could be in line.

I'm all for it. He's 24. If you can get something valuable out of him this season, I say you do it. In a year like this, it's almost like you might need to throw service time out the window if you've got a shot.

I've continued to pick up Schmidt cards here and there, although they have much more momentum now than they did a year ago, when I was routinely picking up autographs for $5.

Yes, it'll be a weird year for sure. But with that weirdness could come the debut of some prospects I've been looking forward to seeing.

A 2020 Bowman Blaster

From what I understand, Bowman in the wild is quite rare.

We're still relatively locked down in here in NJ. While Targets and Walmarts are indeed open, I'm not going to risk it by going hunting for baseball cards. That's silly.

What I did do, back in April, was pre-order a blaster of 2020 Bowman on Amazon. I paid $22 for it, which is $2 more than the price tag in store, but much less than you can find them on eBay from retail flippers who fill their cards and take a picture of it for Twitter. Ever notice how these flood your timelines, even when you don't follow 99.9% of the people posting them?

Since the product was still a month away, and prices went crazy, I figured I'd end up getting an order cancelation. That's apparently happening with the big box stores, unable to fulfill online orders.

However, in a true credit to this Amazon seller, I recently received a notification that my order had shipped.

I did hope to pull a Jasson Dominguez card. He's the prospect rage right now, and surely many of you consider him an overhyped Yankees prospect. Maybe he is. But he would be this hyped on any team. That's what happens when you sign for $5.1Mil and are nicked The Martian. His tools are that good. Remember, last year it was a Rays prospect who was the rage. The Rays. Whether or not he puts it all together in a few years, obviously we won't know.

Spoiler alert: of my 72 cards, he was not one of them. Bummer.

Still, it was nice to open a few packs, and I was still in disbelief the vendor came through for me.

In a rare occurrence, I pulled an autograph. First pack too. This is Reds 3B prospect Rece Hinds. He's their #8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. These fall 1:62 in a blaster.

I also pulled a shimmer blue refractor. These are awesome looking, and actually fall 1:256, so actually a pretty rare pull from a blaster. I don't know much about him, but hopefully will recoup a couple bucks back on eBay with this card. It's numbered /150.

In terms of Yankees, I did come away with two decent ones.

I am a big Clarke Schmidt fan, so I'm happy to get his base card here. Yep, not calling this a "paper" version because that is dumb.

As for major leaguers, the only ones in the set are Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres. I was able to snag the Gleyber. Fun to see him officially listed as "SS."

Otherwise, I got a few solid RCs and prospects, which is to be expected in Bowman. I know Luis Robert is well regarded, although nit sure why this is a RC? I guess because he was expected to be in the Majors by this time when planning was underway?

And the inserts - while no keepers (these are available on TCDB) - are all nice looking and very refractory. The 1990 Reprints look cool as Refractors, that's for sure.

It was fun to open some cards. I haven't done that in quite a while, and more than anything, appreciated the seller here honoring the original price.

1st Edition

I don't know much about 2020 Bowman 1st Edition.

I don't pay close enough attention to Topps' website to know what's coming out and what's all the rage.

I do know from Twitter that it was hard to get these packs. Like trying to get concert tickets. Log on too late, and you're out of the luck.

The big draw in this set is Yankees top prospect Jasson Dominguez, the 17-year-old from the Dominican Republic. Dubbed as one of the next big things, The Martian has taken the prospecting world my storm. It's definitely early. Too early? The tools are there, but a lot can happen between now and whenever - if ever - he finds himself on the doorstep of NY.

One guy already on that doorstep is top pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt, the Yankees 2017 1st Rounder, selected 16th overall. They selected Schmidt right after he had had TJ surgery, knowing patience with him was going to be key.

It's paid off, as his 2019 season was largely a success. His 2020 spring training showed massive glimpses of promise, and put Schmidt firmly on track for a 2020 debut in the Yankees rotation. If that happens now, who knows?

So while the world was focused on Dominguez, I decided to snag the Schmidt for a buck. And for good measure, I got the yellow for a few bucks more, numbered to 75 copies.

It'd be cool to have a Dominguez card, but that can wait. For now I'd rather focus on the guy who is right there, not 4 years away.

Filler cards are getting better

I'm not someone who gets annoyed when an eBay seller throws in extra filler cards in the packaging.

I once saw someone Twitter complain (shocking, right?) about getting extra cards. Me? Nope. It's fun. Sometimes a seller will send extra Yankee cards, figuring I'm a fan for buying a Yankees card. Sometimes I'll buy a Tino Cardinals card and get Cardinals cards. No big deal.

Recently, I bought a fun Clarke Schmidt die cut autograph:

Cool card. Not much to say. If baseball ever comes back, I hope he stays on his upward trajectory to NY.

The package was also full of filler cards surrounding the purchased card.

It looks like this seller was cutting back on some 2018 Topps inserts.

Pretty cool! I never saw the Postseason Prominence cards. Fairly run of the mill Topps inserts, but a new Jeter I didn't have.

I thought these were cool and a nice gesture. I'll probably add some to TCDB. Or pass them on through a free card Friday.

Regardless, it's cool when a seller throws in something extra, whether it fits my collection or not.

A straight up investment

I know the words "investing", when mixed with "hobby", create quite the visceral reaction, especially on Twitter. There are some who are firmly in the camp that collecting cards is a hobby and only a hobby. There are some who want to stock up on all he latest prospects now, taking a more investment-based approach.

I fall in the middle. I don't chase massive hits and open cases of the latest looking for Vlad Jr and Tatis and Wander Franco. But I don't get upset at people who do. Everyone collects for different reasons. Some to actually collect. Some to make money. Some to do both.

I recently bought an autograph of a Yankees prospect that I have no intention to keep.

It's not that I'm not a huge fan of him. I've been advocating for Clarke Schmidt for a long time. I have a lot of his cards, specifically autographs.

However, this one doesn't mean much to me. It's just another card. Emotionless. It's a sticker, it came from some on-demand product, and it's not one I particularly care to own. But Schmidt is having a fine spring and showing massive potential.

And it's numbered 7/10. That's nice. I have every intention of selling this card once he makes it to the majors or the hype train picks up while he's in the minors. And it might not. There's always risk, especially with pitchers. And Yankees pitching prospects. And he's a pitcher who had TJ Surgery before. It's a risk.

At worst, I bought a Yankees autograph for $24 that will sit in my collection. At best, I'll sell it for twice that or more and buy something I'd rather have, such as a Jorge Posada or Rickey Henderson autograph.

Investing? Hobby? Whichever. It's all gambling, and I just placed a futures bet on Mr. Schmidt, whether I keep the card or not.

No Saturday Blues

I don't have the blues. It's going to be a great and productive Saturday. It's supposed to be in the mid 60s today in NJ, which is pretty unheard of for mid-January. I should be snowblowing today, but nope! I'm going to rock some shorts and do things I need to do outside.

High up on that list is taking down the Christmas lights off of the house/bushes. Usually that's a task I hate because it's frigid, but not today. Perfect day for that. Plus, the Patriots-less NFL Playoffs are on.

Nope, no blues here. Instead, the only blues I have is a new card of Yankees prospect Clarke Schmidt.

This parallel came from Heritage Minors.

Schmidt is pretty awesome. He out dueled Casey Mize last season on Opening Day, throwing five no-hit innings against him. By the end of 2019, he was dominating in the AA playoffs for Trenton. If things go according to plan, he should find a way to the Bronx in 2020. Although, things never go the way they are supposed to, especially for pitching prospects.

Still, he is talented, a bulldog, and is a very exciting prospect who is still flying under the radar.

A big eBay bozo

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have a seen a few Tweets from me about a bizarre shipping case that occurred on a recent eBay purchase.

I purchased the following card for $6.75 + $3.82 shipping:

For $3.82 shipping, I think we'd all expect a bubble mailer. I am someone who has ZERO issue with PWEs, especially if the auction has free or $1 shipping. It's expected.

By my $3.82 shipping charge got me a PWE.

Now, the card arrived just fine and in a top loader, but honestly, I felt robbed of $2. The seller didn't get what he wanted in the auction, so he made two extra bucks by undercutting the shipping.

Feeling a bit chapped, I reached out. Here is the full eBay message exchange:

I apologize if that was a little tough to follow, so here is the breakdown:

1. I ask about the shipping, feeling like it should have been a bubble mailer.

2. Seller says he didn't look at the shipping, asks if card was damaged.

3. I say "no", but the cost still seems too high given what I paid.

4. Seller justifies his actions by saying I got a good deal on the card.

5. Since it didn't get to me damaged, he didn't think he needed to offer a refund. He finally gave a partial refund.

6. I said thank you and that his logic is bizarre.

7. He says he was drinking during Game 6 of the World Series.

Freakin' weird.

All in all, card arrived ok, I got a partial refund, and I got some good laughs and a bunch of Twitter followers out of it. I still think the seller was wrong and probably does this a bunch, knowing most buyers won't ever reach out about it.

eBay really is the land of bozos.