Trade Bait

Hey to all of you that survived the rapture! So here is the follow-up post I talked about earlier this week. It's going to be nothing but trade bait pictures. (Click on each set to see them full sized.) If you see something you like leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail with your offer(s). I'm mainly looking for Royals and Vikings cards for sports and will entertain any non-sport offers as well. I will cross trade as also (sketch card for sports card for example) Don't be shy about any offer the worst thing I can say is no and I probably won't say that too much! I just have stuff that doesn't do me any good but others might like. Thanks again for stopping in and until later.... ciao!


Any questions just ask as well!

Recent Additions

So I haven't had anything to post here recently and I don't know if anybody still stops by but I finally have a few updates to share. After not being able to purchase much in the last couple months I finally got a few extra funds and spent some of it on cards. I stopped at "The Rookie" and grabbed several packs of SP Authentic basketball, Press Pass Premium and his last box of Star Wars Galaxy 6. I did well, the worst of the lot was actually the one I had hoped would be the best, the Galaxy 6. As I mentioned before a lot of the boxes were yielding two or more sketches, mine did not. I had only one sketch, a nice ink sketch of a Dianoga by Brent Engstrom.


The Press Pass included one of the 3-D cards and one autograph of Juan Pablo Montoya numbered 48/161. (THis is a really bad scan as the card is mainly foil)


The SP Authentic came out of a fresh box and I got two hits off six packs. Firstly was a By the Letter of Devin Ebanks and second was one of the North Carolina Michael Jordan floor pieces. It's the common version but looks really cool next to my Jordan autograph. All told not a bad day at the shop!


I have won several card off E-bay as well. The first is an Artist Exclusive from the 5finity Sheena set by one of my favorite artists Amber Stone.
I also picked up a couple Royals autographs. One is a 2007 UD Exquisite rookie of Alex Gordon and the other is a UD Premier of Alex Gordon and Luke Hochevar. Both were under $20 and I feel were great pick ups. Alex has been playing better since being switched to the outfield and Luke has been a bright spot on the pitching staff this year after being the opening day starter.


The last card was a pick up from Jeff at I Am Joe Collector and his Masterpieces case binge. Alex was a short print autograph and at one time was selling at over $60. I didn't pay nearly that much and thank Jeff for passing one my way.

I also got into touch with my favorite Star Wars artist Shea Standefer and was able to purchase two of her return cards. One each from Galaxy 5 and 6. The Galaxy 5 card she's had finished since the set came out and I'd been bugging her from time to time about getting it. It's a beautiful full color of Star Wars Legacy character Deliah Blue.


The Galaxy 6 card was a blank and Shea let me pick my own character and scene. One of my favorite Extended Universe series is the Republic Commando series by Karen Travis. These books focus mainly on the clone troops but have a few Jedi that they work with one of them being Jedi Etain Tur-Mukan. Shea has a couple sketches of her floating around somewhere but I wanted one for myself and had her do a full color of her holding her son Kad and protecting him with her lit lightsaber. It came out better than I could have hoped for.....

I'll have another post going up in the next day or so with a bunch of cards for trade. I'll mainly be looking for Royals in return so if you have any be on the lookout for that post. Hope somebody is still checking in here every once and a while, if you are thanks and until the next post ciao!

Way to go Rook!

Congratulations to the Royals rookie reliever Aaron Crow on getting his first win of the season!!

Groups Break Pimp

Dimwit is holding a group break of two boxes of the upcoming Topps Gypsy Queen. Click here to see the remaining teams. If all teams are taken he is adding an extra box of something. These last few teams are also discounted to $10.00 each. Join the fun and help us check out this new product!

A New Opportunity

As some of you may have noticed my banner as changed recently. This is due to a recent opportunity given to me by the web site and design company Build a Sign. Since I don't get the chance to open free boxes for review I took the offer and made three different designs sponsoring the blog in different ways. I was able to create a 3'x6' banner, a regular bumper sticker and a magnetic bumper "sticker" that will allow me to give some away.

The design process was really fun. I just had to remember that when layering pictures and text to start from the bottom up! For the banner I wanted something that I could possibly use a local card shows as I've been thinking about setting up to try and get rid of some of the thousands of singles I have. I wanted to show what types of cards I collect the most and think I accomplished this in the different pictures on either side of the picture of Iowa. The blog name and the web address are, of course, at the top and bottom and the star in the middle of the state show approximately where I'm located. You'll see this on one of the other designs as well. I think the banner looks great. It's heavy duty and has metal rings on the corners to help with the displaying.


The bumper sticker I did was partially taken from a design that was already on the site as a template. The only things I changed were the colors and what I'd rather be doing. It's a simple saying that has SOOO much truth to it! I have several of these to give away so if you're interested let me know.


The last item is the bumper magnet that once again features my home location but also gives you an idea on how long I've been collecting. These magnets are really nice. Thick and strong magnet makes them perfect for the back of your car and the printing is easy to read. I didn't get too many of these but have a couple to give out if you like this design better, so give me a shout.


Build a Sign is a great company to work with. Looking at their prices they seem very reasonable and I may have to go back and see what else I can mock up for future use. The design template is fun to work with and you can use clip art that they have on site or you can import your own pictures for use. If you have questions I worked with Megan and she is great. I had her look at all me ideas and she made one change but that was to conform the design to a different template. Thanks again to Build a Sign for their sponsorship!

Pick-Ups Off A Tip-Off

While reading Dennis' blog recently he mentiond that one of his favorite sellers on the Blowout Forums was having a great sale on his game used and autographed cards in his $2.50 folders. This sounded like it might be promising and I proceeded to see what I could find. There wasn't much in those two folders that interested me but I did see he had some really nice breakdowns of higher end cards. I dove into the folder containing the Vikings and went broke. Well maybe not broke but it would have been really easy!! I limited myself this time to some nice PC stuff. I started with the 1st round draft pick from 2006 who is quickly becoming one of the best linebackers in the NFL Chad Greenway. And for those who don't know Chad attended the University of Iowa so that makes him a great home state player to collect. I picked up three rookie autographs for my collection.

Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket

SPX #32/1299

Bowman Sterling #1/900

All three great cards. My favorite is probably the Contenders as it's the best picture but the Sterling is a close second. It's kinda fun to own the very first autograph in the series and the gold card looks great with the Vikings uniform.

The last card I picked up is a 2009 Certified of Percy Harvin. It's a bit of a gimmick and I won't deny that one bit but I really like it and got it at a great price.

#22/25

I have a couple of the stamp/patch/autographs in my collection but this makes my first Percy Harvin jersey or patch card. The Vikings stamp is a nice touch as well. So there you have it, short and sweet. I'll post the link to the Blowout Forum for those who would like to try and make a deal as well. For now enjoy March Madness..... ciao!

Mdskyhawks Buy/Sell/Trade Thread

Star Wars Galaxy 6

Topps recently came out with its newest offering in the Galaxy line, number 6. When it was first announced there was a lot of skepticism about what most of the collectors go after, the sketch cards. Some of the cards for Galaxy 5, ESB 30 and the Clone Wars were shall we say less than stellar. This happens with a fair share of releases and not just with Topps but history has shown that buyers can get burned from time to time. However when people started getting their Galaxy 6 cases and boxes and started opening them we quickly realized that Topps wasn't fooling around this time. A normal box has one sketch and case will include one or two die-cuts and maybe a printing plate. What people were finding was two or three sketches a box and as many as 18 or 19 hits a case, WAY more than normal. Prices immediately went through the roof. Boxes went from $50 up to over $100 and cases that pre-ordered at $500 pushed $1000. I wasn't able to pre-order anything but this time wanted to save my money and just buy the cards I wanted, hopefully saving me a little money in the process. The main cards I'm after are by one of my favorite artists Shea Standefer. She continued her depiction of Extended Universe characters for Galaxy 6 and I can't get enough. Here are a couple of my favorites I've picked up so far.


I did find that my card shop owner had ordered a case and this last weekend I bought two boxes from him hoping to get a good card or two. I'll let you guys decide.......

Box 1:

Darth Vader by Bob Stevlic

2-1B die-cut by Martina & Frank

Aurra Sing by Lawrence Reynolds

Box 2:

Qui-Gon Jinn by Otis Frampton

Me personally, I'm thrilled. Box one was the killer box as the Vader was in the very first pack I opened! My original goal was to sell any sketches I pulled to buy one I really want but I'm having a hard time as these are some of the best I've pulled from a Star Wars product. I may have to track a few prices and see what I might be able to get, and if someone makes me one of those offers I can't refuse I won't say no. But for now I'm going to hold onto them and see what happens.

New Stuff

So since I haven't been lucky enough to get any free boxes to review I stopped by the card shop today to pick up a couple boxes. I just got a new computer and don't have my scanner running so no pics but if something strikes you in the description let me know and I'll try to get a pic to you. I wanted something a bit different then my normal fair so I decided on Upper Deck World of Sports, 2010-11 Upper Deck SPX Hockey and 2011 Playoff Contenders Patches.

I'll start with the SPX Hockey and beg for your help as it's one of the sports that I know the least about. I purchased a box that had been opened but still had 18 packs and the Bonus pack included. This means I had no idea how many hits there were going to be. The bonus pack had an Ice rookie card of Jared Cowen #405/999. The box itself actually ended up with five hits! The first was a dual jersey of Sidney Crosby, dual white pieces but still "Sid the Kid," good start. Second a rookie jersey of Marcus Johansson. Third an autographed jersey of the Bruins Zach Hamill #35/799. Forth another autographed jersey this time of Flyers keeper Sergei Bobrovsky #191/799. Fifth a single jersey of rookie Zac Dalpe. I feel really good about this box. A normal box only gets four hits and looking at a breakdown it appears that I got an extra autographed jersey rookie card. I like the base cards but won't be collecting the set or anything. There are a few cards I'll keep of some of my favorite players but if anyone is collecting I can help out.

Upper Deck World of Sports seemed like a good idea when I first heard about it but some of the box breaks have been less than stellar. I took a chance and am very pleased with the results. The box states that there are two autographs in each but most have been producing three, including mine. Autograph one is of pitcher Andrew Liebel who was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 2008 Amateur Draft and is currently playing A+ ball in the Florida League. The second autograph is staying in the personal collection as it's U.S. National Team member and Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. The picture is from his college days as a member of the NC State Wolfpack but what a great pull for a soccer fan. The third autograph followed the same line but as one of the Athletes of the World subset that has an autograph only and no picture of the athlete. Mine is, again, U.S. National Team member and Hannover 96 midfielder DaMarcus Beasley. Beasley has been hampered by injury recently but is an excellent player and will hopefully get the chance to play for the MNT in the coming years. I also pulled a relic card from the box and have to wonder if it could have gotten much better. The swatch itself is solid red but comes from a jersey worn by Team Canada's own "Great One" Wayne Gretzky! Two boxes and jerseys of two of Canada's greatest hockey players...... frak...... Captain Canuck is going to drive down here and steal both of these if I'm not careful!

Now on the the basketball. I choose Contenders Patches because I love the look of the autograph rookie patches. I know that they are manufactured and that there is a "gimmick" of home and away logos and truthfully I don't care! They look even better in person. All four of my autographs were of the rookie persuasion which is ok but it would have been nice to get one of the other autograph types that you can pull. No real big numbered diecut hits except for a Rookie of the Year Contender of Blake Griffin #37/99. As for the Rookie Patches they are as follows: Spurs gaurd Gary Neal with a black patch, Lakers forward Derrick Caracter with a yellow patch, Wizards forward Trevor Booker with a blue patch (Crap wrong Wizard! Oh well) and the hit of the box, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins with a gray patch. The base cards are very similar to the football Contenders so if you like that look, as I do, then you should like these as well.

Recent E-bay pick-ups include two 2008 Razor Letterman cards to finish Royals first round draft pick Aaron Crow's last name. I also received a great package from Eric at Manupatches & Chrome Scratches that had a stack of Royals cards along with Letterman patches of Eric Hosmer #1/5 and a Jeremy Beckham #13/20 that we had agreed to trade. Off E-bay I also now have autograph number six for my Harry Potter art and autos set that I'm working on, Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks is now in hand. Also picked up a 2011 Topps 60th autograph of Alex Gordon cheap. This will make a nice addition to my Royals collection and the blue card with the white and blue Royals jersey looks really nice! Hopefully I'll have some pictures to show you guys soon. Thanks again for reading, ciao!

Recent Pickups

So with the NASCAR season starting this last couple weekends I've been on a bit of a bender picking up some new cards. This first one is from my local card shop where after I pulled the previously mentioned Danica Patrick the owner ripped the other two boxes of 2010 Showcase. A really nice looking autograph and firesuit card numbered to 25.


Kasey is currently driving for Red Bull Racing for the year and will join Hendrick Motorsports at the beginning of next year. I also picked up a handful of base cards that he had of some of my favorite drivers.

The rest of these cards are all e-bay wins. First the two that came in the mail today....


Yeah so they kinda look similar don't they. I actually didn't mean to win them both but as Smoke is my favorite current driver I'm not going to complain a whole lot! The top card is firesuit/sheet metal/shoe numbered 26/45 while the bottom one is shoe/firesuit/sheet metal numbered 20/25. Lastly are two cards to add to my Darrell Waltrip collection.


First a Press Pass Legends Family Relics dual sheet metal card of Darrell and baby brother Michael. Second an autographed firesuit Showcase card numbered 24/25. I was thrilled to get the Showcase card as is looks great next to the sheet metal version I already have. Now I have to watch for any other versions on this card to try and pick up. Thanks for reading and ciao!

Diamonds

This afternoon while wondering around one of the local Targets I picked up another blaster of 2011 Topps to see what I could find. Out of this I pulled four of the Diamond Giveaway cards. I know it's a rehash of the Million Card from last year but I think it's fun to see what Topps has to offer. One of the interesting add-ons this year of course is the Diamond Dig. For each card you unlock you get to dig a spot on a baseball field to collect rings and for each different ring you work your way up a ladder that offers prizes up to a 60th anniversary ring. SO after unlocking my four cards today, the best of which was a 1967 John Buzhardt, I went to the ball field and dug my four spots. On the fourth dig this showed up

TOPPS 60TH ANNIVERSARY
COMMEMORATIVE SET
AN EXCLUSIVE 60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION COMPLETE SET

HOLY FRAK I just won a prize from Topps!! Now what I wonder is 1. How much will the shipping be and 2. is this the shiny foil set Dayf is trying to put together by Hand? From the note listed in the prize section I won't be able to even think about getting this until August 15th so I guess I have some time to figure it all out! I wonder what other prizes are out there to be dug up? Ciao!

Recent Stuff

So as I mentioned earlier this morning I was able to stop by my favorite card shop and pick up a couple boxes. The first was a box of the new Playoff Contenders. I had seen some nice autos come out and I really like the design of the base cards. My box yielded five autographs: three of the sticker version and two on-card. Sticker wise I pulled Antonio Brown, Devin McCourty and Derrick Morgan. For on-card I found a Marcus Easley and Eric Decker. Not sure if either one is a variation or not but still pleased with both pulls. I also pulled the Suh rookie I showed before, that was numbered 9/99 and an Otis Anderson Super Bowl Ticket numbered 3/100.




The other box I picked up is something I've been wanting to try for a long time but needed some extra cash to be able to afford. Well with my tax return coming in I was finally able to buy a box of Press Pass Showcase racing. I've always liked NASCAR and there are some amazing cards to be pulled from this. Three packs and three hits. Pack number one gave me an autograph and sheet metal card of a driver that is in the top ten of all-time winners, Former driver of the #2 Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac Rusty Wallace.

The scan doesn't show it very well but the sheet metal piece, even though it's all white, is really dirty and scuffed and the autograph is most defiantly on-card! Numbered 5/45 this was a great way to start a box. Next pack was super heavy and led me to think I had another sheet metal piece and I wasn't wrong. I pulled a jumbo piece of the #42 Target car driven by Juan Pablo Montoya that includes part of a sponsor sticker and is numbered 12/45.


The last pack wasn't as heavy and I wasn't sure what it was going to yield. As I peeled back the top couple cards I got to the one clear card in each pack and could see part of the hit behind it. That small piece was colored bright green and my heart started racing just a bit. See each six box half-case promises to have one autograph or race-used card of a certain NASCAR rookie and I was hoping beyond hope that I might get lucky. Well ladies and gentlemen here it is.....


That's right I pulled a triple race-used card of Miss Danica Patrick! Sheet metal, tire and fire-suit. With my scanner the green doesn't show up very well but it's much brighter than this is showing. The tire piece is cool as it appears to have the number 5 and a rubber "hair" on it and the dual colored sheet metal is a plus. I really like this product and may have to save up for a couple more boxes. I have three other Showcase cards coming in the mail that I won off E-bay and I'll show those when they get here.

I also picked up off E-bay part of a Battlestar Galactica collection that a seller was getting rid of. The best this I got were six of the Shelter Poster cards. These came six or so boxes and are the only numbered cards to be included in the sets. So for the cost of just over one box I actually got the complete sets for seasons 3 and 4.

I also got the complete insert set of the Razor mini-series for less then $10

The last couple cards I got were an autograph of Leah Cairns who played pilot Margaret "Racetrack" Edmonson and a costume card of Sharon "Boomer" Valerii. The costume card gives me all of the variations of the Boomer cards from all five sets. So all in all it's been a pretty good couple weeks card wise for me after not liking anything new and kinda getting down on the hobby it's nice to find some cards I actually like. I'll hopefully be back later in the week with the rest of my E-bay wins but until then....... ciao