When the Blogging Muse Hits...

A few days ago, I posted a self-pitying post.  Luckily, I removed it before many people had the chance to see (and deleted it forever), but ever since that point I've had a plethora of ideas to blog about.  In fact:

That's right - I've got two posts per day ready to go for all of next week.  Oh sure, the majority of those go together (it's another theme week next week on my blog), but still.  Time spent blogging and scheduling is still time spent (or something like that).  Not only do I have posts ready to go for next week, I wrote down a list of potential blog ideas on a piece of paper for even more posts.  A blog can be a fickle mistress, but for now all is good again at Nachos Grande.

Delivery Time! Angels For Yankees?! What's Happened to Me?

The other day I posted a self-loathing sort of post full of "woe is me" attitude.  Luckily, my better sense caught up to me and I was able to delete the roughly 1,000 word diatribe before most of you were awake and reading the blogs.  One of my complaints in the essay was my lack of drive and focus in regards to new cards...but right after I wrote the piece I ended up agreeing to four or five different trades all involving 2012 Topps Archives.  I guess the self-pity post worked after all!

Today, we look at a simple sort of swap - I sent Tom (from Angels, In Order) a few Angels base cards from the Archives set. In return, he knocked off a couple of the rarer cards for me.

First, a Yankee (that I still needed):

The Archive short print set runs from card 201 through card 240 (ok, there is also a 241 that is a super-duper short print of Bryce Harper but I don't think I'll ever be getting that one).

The other card that I got was one of the Archive reprint cards.

The reprint set runs 50 cards in size - and seeing how they are seeded 1:4 packs they aren't overly rare, but there's so many to acquire that it's still proven to be quite a challenge.

Unfortunately for me, sometimes I end up agreeing to multiple trades for the same card - that's exactly what happened here.  As such, this card is now available for trade (preferably for one of the other reprint cards that I still do need)!

I should mention that I have a whole bunch of other Archive cards available for trade - including inserts, short prints, and those gold parallels if anyone is interested (you can find the full list here).

Thanks for the trade Tom!  And, as always, if anyone else wants to trade - check out my want list and make an offer!

Trade Stack 41: A Shiny Card plus Statistics!

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:  6/29/12

Before I get to the start of the newest stack, it's time to take a peek at the statistics for the first 40 Trade Stacks.  I don't know if there's anything of use in the following numbers (except a verification that I do mix the teams up fairly well...and that I have a lot of extra Reds cards that I sneak in the stacks)!

Trade Stack Statistics
Team	Base Cards	Inserts	Final Card
Braves	5	2	3
Nationals	2	1	2
Marlins	2
Mets	4	2	1
Phillies	1	3	1
Reds	21	3	1
Cardinals	6	6	4
Cubs	6		1
Astros	6		2
Pirates	5
Brewers	3		1
Dodgers	6		3
Diamondbacks	4
Rockies	4		1
Giants	4	2
Padres	4	1	1
Yankees	6	5	3
Red Sox	12	2	1
Orioles	5		1
Rays	2
Blue Jays	4		2
White Sox	2
Indians	3		2
Tigers	2	2	1
Royals	6	2	2
Twins	3	3	1
Athletics	6	1	1
Mariners	3	1	1
Rangers	10	4	2
Angels	5

Now that you've seen the results of trade stacks past, let's move on to the present.  Today's addition is a shiny sparkly card of a St. Louis Cardinal.  I'd love to get the Cardinal out of my collection and into yours, so claim it early!


2011 Topps:
Diamond parallel:
295.  Jon Jay - Cardinals

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:  ?? by ??

What I Bought Instead of a $20.00 Blaster (1800s Edition!)

In the grand scheme of things, $20 isn't a whole lot.  However, for a hobby that seems to encourage constant pack buying, each twenty dollar bill is a way to vote for the products you like.  For the most part, this year's baseball card releases haven't interested me much (besides my binge on Topps Archives).  Although Allen & Ginter isn't out yet (and that DOES interest me), that didn't stop me from acquiring a few more Ginter cards for my collection.

If you didn't pay attention to the post title, you might be expecting me to talk about acquiring some of the modern Allen & Ginter cards that I needed.  Heck, maybe even this Black-Footed Ferret that is residing on my Elusive Eight list.

As it turns out, if you expected that you'd be wrong.  Oh sure, I still want that Black-Footed Ferret but today's addition to my collection are a much older sort of animal cards...

For my twenty bucks (actually, just a hair less than $20.00), I landed a trio of original Allen & Ginter cards from the 1800s.  You may recall that I'm trying to chase one of the sets - the Fish of American Waters - which was the catalyst for the purchase since I reeled in (haha) my ninth fish from the set (out of 50):  The Pickerel.

Since the original Ginter cards are all so interesting to me, I also picked up a couple more since the seller combined shipping costs.  First, I got a Pintail Duck from the Game Birds series.

The Pintail Duck is actually my second Game Bird card (the other being the Kildeer Plover).  I don't have any plans to collect the set but you never know with me...

Finally, my third original Ginter card is from the Quadrupeds set:  Bloodhound.

The Bloodhound card seemed perfect since this year's Ginter set also includes a mini insert set of dogs.

Were the three purchases worth more than what I might have pulled from a blaster?  To me, the answer is unequivocally yes!  Should any of you happen to have any of these old Ginter cards lying around unwanted, let me know!