Delivery Time: More Unexpected Goodies from the Group Break (Sportscards from the Dollar Store)

Back when Topps' flagship set came out, I held a group break which ended up being quite successful for just about every team (something that I love to see as a host)!  Since then, I've actually gotten a few "thank you" packages for hosting the break.  The latest such thank-you envelope is a PWE from Douglas over at Sportscards from the Dollar Store.

Douglas claimed the Mets in my group break which ended up being an excellent choice.  You can see the full results of his end of the break here - and I will say that includes a case hit!  As a token of his appreciation for me choosing an awesome case, Douglas sent a few assorted Reds my way.

We begin with a Breaking Out insert card of Jay Bruce.

This card has a 2014 copyright date but I don't recall ever seeing the design before.  It reminds me somewhat of a comic book for some reason - maybe the multitude of colors (or else the falling meteors)?  Either way, this is an awesome addition to my Jay Bruce collection!

Out of the remaining Reds' cards that Douglas sent me, the two that most caught my eye were these two Draft Picks by Panini cards.  

I don't buy Panini stuff so getting Reds' cards from the brand are almost always great additions.  The blue Gavin LaValley card is numbered out of 199 which is cool.  I will admit though that I've never heard of either player - does that make me a bad Reds' fan?

Thanks for the "thank you" mailing Douglas!  I can only hope the upcoming 2015 Topps Heritage group break goes as well for all participants!

Barry Larkin Collection 343: 1995 Upper Deck - #405 - Electric Diamond Parallel

Barry Larkin
Year:  1995
Brand:  Upper Deck
Parallel set:  Electric Diamond
Card number:  405

The 1995 Upper Deck set pretty much completely escaped me when I was a kid so getting the regular Larkin base card was one of my first exposures to the set.  The only difference between the regular base card and the Electric Diamond parallel is that the parallel has a larger, all-foil logo in the upper right corner.  If you know anything about me, you know that more foil does not generally equal a more favorable impression...and that holds true here.  This is another example of a completely pointless parallel that only player collectors have a reason to chase.

I really do pity people who collect current players where every set seems to have at least five different parallels of varying degree of rarity.  Having one pointless parallel set is bad enough for me to track down!

Finishing off my 2004 Topps Bazooka Box (Final Eight Packs)!

My group break should be getting underway within a couple of days - so I really need to get this box of 2004 Bazooka that was a Christmas present for me off of my desk!  In order to do that, I first need to post the results of the final eight packs of the box!

As with the previous Bazooka post, I won't give a pack-by-pack blow...there will be plenty of that type of commentary when the group break begins.  Instead, I simply want to show off some of the highlights of the final third of the box.

We begin our tour of the final third of the box with my favorite base card of the bunch - a Jeffrey Allison first year card.

I have no idea who Allison is - but based on that card I'm thinking he is a pitcher for a 16-17 year team in south Florida.  His card back does say he was Baseball America's 2003 High School Player of the Year...so that explains his boyish looks.

We also found another pair of base card image variations.

Roy Halladay isn't a bad name to get duplicates of - and in this case while the card number is the same the image is not which means these aren't technically duplicates!

The red chunk parallels don't interest me that much but I did manage to get a Red this time around which was nice.

I actually like the Piazza red chunk too - even if that's a lot of red on a Mets card!  That's actually the second Mike Piazza red chunk parallel from the box...but the other one had a different front image on it.

The minis are much, much better (in my opinion).  I did well with this bunch too:

That's a really cool Jody Gerut image along with a classic Pujols photo.  Good stuff for sure there!

The final eight packs also yielded the usual assortment of inserts.  I found another three comic cards and another three sticker cards (not shown).  I also found one more tattoo card - this time of Manny Ramirez.

I believe I heard that the Cubs recently signed Manny Ramirez to be some sort of instructor?  I'm not sure that's a great idea...

What is a great idea though is getting a relic of a guy who you don't see featured in baseball card products much.  How about this?!

That's a cool Ron Darling relic - complete with a nice quote from him.  Darlin's career ran from 1983 - 1995 so he'd been out of MLB for about a decade before this card was made.

Overall, I crushed this box.  Getting a serially numbered relic was a big surprise and then the Darling relic pushed the box over the top.  For a cheap box, it was a lot of fun to bust...and what more can you ask for?  The only bad thing is that I didn't get all that close to completing the set...so now I have to decide whether or not to try for the set - decisions, decisions!

Trade Stack 66: The Stack Doubles in Size!

Here is how this works:

Every so often (i.e. whenever I feel like it), I will add a card to a "Trade Stack".  Whenever the stack becomes appealing enough to someone, that person needs to comment on the post saying they'd like to claim the stack AND tell me which card they are sending off of my want list.  That's all you have to do - trade me ONE card (or more, of course) card from my want list for the entire stack of cards that I'm offering.  Each time, it will be first come, first serve...so act quickly (unless of course you are a gambler and hope to wait it out until there are 10+ cards in the stack that you want in exchange for a single 2004 UD Vintage card that I am looking for)!

The Trade Stack:

Last update:  3/2/15

The Trade Stack has sat around unclaimed for way too long - so let's up the ante.  Today, we double the size of the stack!

Remember, you can have the entire Trade Stack in exchange for any one card off of my want list!

1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated:
60.  Matt Clement, Ben Davis, Stan Spencer - Padres

2015 Topps:
15.  Joey Votto - Reds

If you want the stack, remember - all you need to do is offer up any one card from my want list.  

Want the card(s) in the stack?  Act fast - tell me which card you will send me off my want list in the comments below!  You must leave a comment on the trade stack post in order to claim the card - no more claims via email!  If no one claims this card within a reasonable amount of time (a few hours up to a few days, depending) - I'll add another card to the stack and the process will start again!

Previously Claimed Trade Stacks:

Stack 01:  2 cards by dayf
Stack 02:  8 cards by Justin
Stack 03:  17 cards by Cam
Stack 04:  4 cards by Cam
Stack 05:  9 cards by Daily Dimwit
Stack 06:  4 cards by The Lost Collector
Stack 07:  1 card by Baseball Dad
Stack 08:  1 card by M. Spiegel
Stack 09:  6 cards by bwsmith25
Stack 10:  6 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 11:  1 card by Patrick
Stack 12:  5 cards by Matt B.
Stack 13:  4 cards by Steve G.
Stack 14:  3 cards by ShaneK
Stack 15:  7 cards by Ryan G
Stack 16:  1 card by longlivethewho
Stack 17:  4 cards by hiflew
Stack 18:  4 cards by Potch
Stack 19:  2 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 20:  5 cards by by Play at the Plate
Stack 21:  5 cards by BA Benny
Stack 22:  1 card by IkesCards
Stack 23:  8 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 24:  1 card by BA Benny
Stack 25:  2 cards by Jeff P.
Stack 26:  10 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 27:  1 card by BA Benny
Stack 28:  7 cards by ThingsAreFunnerHere
Stack 29:  3 cards by TheBrooklynMet
Stack 30:  4 cards by Adam C.
Stack 31:  10 cards by Play at the Plate
Stack 32:  8 cards by Josh D.
Stack 33:  6 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 34:  1 card by Potch
Stack 35:  9 cards by Cool Breeze
Stack 36:  11 cards by Kev 
Stack 37:  6 cards by Tunguska
Stack 38:  12 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 39:  8 cards by Spiegel83
Stack 40:  1 card by Kyle4KC
Stack 41:  4 cards by dayf
Stack 42:  1 card by AdamE
Stack 43:  1 card by madding
Stack 44:  10 cards by Commishbob
Stack 45:  1 (almost complete) puzzle by Baseball Dad
Stack 46:  8 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 47:  5 cards by The Junior Junkie
Stack 48:  4 cards by dayf
Stack 49:  9 cards by Swing and a Pop-Up
Stack 50:  9 cards by Commishbob
Stack 51:  3 cards by Need More Cardboard
Stack 52:  1 card by Play at the Plate
Stack 53:  12 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 54:  4 cards by The Junior Junkie
Stack 55:  9 cards by Spiegel83
Stack 56:  2 cards cards by Joe Frecker
Stack 57:  4 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 58:  2 cards by Chunter
Stack 59:  9 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 60:  8 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 61:  13 cards by Mark Hoyle
Stack 62:  9 cards by Nick
Stack 63:  9 cards by buckstorecards 
Stack 64:  7 cards by Mark Hoyle
Stack 65:  2 cards by Play at the Plate
Stack 66:  ?? cards by ??

Delivery Time: Getting Close to a Complete Set (2013 Topps Chrome Edition)

A week or two ago, I posted a blog entry where I basically begged for some trade partners to help me finish off my 2013 Topps Chrome set.  I didn't get a lot of bites from that post - but I did get one.  Adam from ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession offered to shoot five shiny cards that I needed my way!

As I mentioned, Adam had five of the seventeen cards that I needed - that's a huge chunk when you get down close to the end (as any set builder will tell you)!

Before I get to what I still need, here's a look at the five that will shortly be residing safely in my binder:

The best card of the five (in my opinion) is the Alex Wood - it's a great horizontal image plus it's Wood's rookie card.  I also like the Montero quite a bit...but not as much as the Alex Wood card!

The most unfortunate player of the five is, of course, Josh Hamilton.  The poor guy seems like he cares for everyone (fans, players, etc.)...everyone, that is, but himself.  Talk about having some demons.

Note:  I'm writing this post before Hamilton's punishment has been meted out by MLB.  I'm hoping that A) Hamilton gets back on track, B) Hamilton is ok, and C) MLB is fair to Hamilton.

With that out of the way, here's a list of the 2013 Topps Chrome cards that I still need:

Regular Base Card Needs:
1.  Mike Trout
10.  Derek Jeter
16.  Wil Myers
32.  Jose Fernandez
48.  Andre Ethier
55.  Mike Olt
119.  Micheal Wacha
133.  Will Middlebrooks
136.  Albert Pujols
190.  Adam LaRoche
210.  Gerrit Cole
220.  Bryce Harper

If you have any of the above cards for trade, please let me know.  I also have listed a bunch of my duplicate and/or unwanted 2013 Topps Chrome cards - including a variety of inserts (including die-cuts)!  I'd happily make some sort of deal!