Fireworks Free

This may be one of the first times I can remember the fine citizens of my town abiding by the fireworks ban that's been put in place due to the heat and drought.  And after the destruction the Waldo Canyon fire caused in Colorado Springs, I couldn't be happier to be living with such law-abiding citizens.

So, how about some patriotic themed cards of my favorite players?

And what's a post without Old Glory?

Let freedom ring!

Trade Report: More Like 'Fantastic Cards'

When Superduperman99 of the blog Fantastic Catch told me that he had some Dexter Fowlers that I may need, I was super pumped to work out a trade with him because for some odd reason, I'd never traded with a Cardinals fan and had a huge stack of Cardinals cards to send him.

In return I received the Dexter Fowlers he told me about.  And sure enough, I needed all three for my collection.

But, in true blogger-trading fashion, there were a couple of extra special cards tucked between the Fowlers.  Turns out, Superduperman99 is a custom card maker and made two for me featuring my two favorite players.

I dig the hand written backs, especially the logos.  Thanks for the great trade and I can't wait to unload another pile of Cardinals on you in our next trade!

I'm Blanking

I'm not sure that I have writers block as much as I have run out of inspirational material to write about.  Also, it didn't help that the past couple of weeks have been hectic at work.  So, for the most part, my blog compositions have been as blank as the back of this Dexter Fowler card.

But, I am hoping to turn around this blog and find some fresh new material, just like what happens when I turned over this Dexter Fowler card.

So, I now have three of the 2012 Gypsy Queen mini variations and the Gypsy Queen 1/1 Blank Back Dexter Fowler, and yet I don't have the base card.  This hobby is weird sometimes. 

So, I'm now 3 days away from summer vacation, and I've got some big plans for sprucing up my collection, my blog, my want list, and my trade bait list during my time off. 

Dex Knows Golf

I stumbled into this kick ass Mile High Sports Magazine on eBay, and it happens to feature two of my favorite things: Dexter Fowler and golf.

And how did they know that on my Colorado Golf Bucket List is a round with Dex.  This magazine is a mind reader.

GQ Triple Back

Saw this lot of Dexter Fowler 2012 GQ minis on the bay and ended up winning them for less than a buck a piece shipped.  Not too shabby.  I much prefer gathering these mini parallels in groups than the usual piece-meal method I use on the bay.

Nothing too fancy on the fronts.

But straight sexy on the back.

And speaking of Dexter Fowler. 

Thanks to a tip from fellow Rockies fan Hiflew (Cards from the Quarry, duh!), I was able to attend Dexter Fowler t-shirt night.  Here I am wearing said t-shirt and the new hat from my bro-in-law.

 My wife also picked up a program and guest guide while she was buying a Dinger doll for my golfing buddy Ryan.

And the Rockies seem to be taking their "Year of the Fan" slogan to heart, because they sure gave the fans a performance in the bottom of the 5th Friday night.  

If you missed the highlights, after giving up four runs to the Mets in the top of the 5th, the Rockies followed Eric Young's hustle on the base paths with three walks, seven hits (including two three-run homers from Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler), and a hit batsman, along with four errors from the Mets, to score 11 runs, one shy of the Rockies' record for runs in an inning. Gonzalez set a club record with five RBIs in the inning, as the Rockies sent 15 men to the plate.

It was an absolute pleasure to watch.

Also, while at the game, I ended up sitting next to the high school football coach of Met's center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis.  Turns out, Kirk went to high school at Denver Christian Academy, which means he'll soon be a member of the Colorado Collection. 

It was an all around great night at the ballpark with my wife and brother-in-law.

And thanks again to Hiflew for letting me know about Dex Night at the ball park.  Be on the lookout for your Colorado Rockies care package in the mail in the near future.  I believe you'll enjoy what I rounded up for you!

Trade Report: Condition (Not) Poor

When slangon of the blog Condition: Poor contacted me about working out a trade, I hoped I'd have something that he'd find valuable enough to persuade him to send what he was proposing.  Turns out I did. 

Yet something tells me that "Condition: Poor" is a gimmick, a hook, a rouse, a smoke-screen, etc., because as it turns out, none of the cards he sent were in poor condition at all.  In fact, they were in fantastic condition.  Here, see for yourself.

The meat-and-potatoes of the trade for me were these two manupatches.  While they don't fit into any of my current collections, there is no way I'm turning away manupatches of  Roger Maris and Frank Thomas. 

And I don't think I could consider myself a manupatch collector without at least one commemorative patch of the All-Star Game and the World Series in my collection.

The icing on the cake came in the form of some additions to three of my major player collections and a couple of cool Royals cards that I don't believe I had yet.

Thanks again for the trade slangon!  I look forward to our next meeting.

Art of the Steal

Visiting An LCS

This time, it wasn't the traditional local card shop LCS, but rather, a Local Card Show.  My wife and I made a trip up to the big city of Colorado Springs to have a (belated) Valentine's Day lunch at Biaggis, some antiquing in an attempt to find a hutch for the kitchen, and I somehow convinced her to go to a 20-table card show.

Nick of Dime Boxes had a great list of tips for how to enjoy a card show without going broke, so I was inspired to go dime box digging.

So imagine my disappointment when I found the hotel basement conference hall filled with a 5:1 glass case filled with hits to dime box ratio.  And it seemed that football was king of this show as there were hardly any baseball cards in the displays.

Since I didn't want to bore the wife too much, I casually surfed the glass cases until I got to one seller who had his Colorado Rockies separated by player.  I walked away three cards richer and $12 lighter in the wallet.

First, I found a Todd Helton that I knew I didn't already have.  While it wasn't a dime, I felt comfortable giving seventy-five cents for this card.

Then I found two Dexter Fowlers that I knew I couldn't leave the show without.  First, a 2011 A&G mini for a quarter.

And then I shelled out $11 for this beauty (which was marked $15 but the seller was cool and gave me a deal on it).  It's a 2009 Heritage Chrome Black parallel, #'d 46/60

Sure, it's majorly miscut, but I'd never seen one of these for under $20 so I knew I had to get home with it. 

Big thanks to Nick for inspiring me to get outta the house, off the bay, and doing some in-person card hunting. 

Maize and Blue

No, I'm not the newest writter over at Too Many Manninghams.  I just thought that it would be a fun way to introduce my newest Dexters.

Once again, I picked up parallels before getting my mitts on a base version of Dexter. 

Future Watch

After I sent Hiflew a Dexter Fowler autograph, I decided I needed to fill the void.

So I bought this.

It's an SP Authentic Future Watch auto, #/d 25/125.  I like the symmetry of the serial number.

Yes, I'm Still Collection Baseball Cards. Slowly.

I thought I'd take a moment during the Great Tobacco Card Revolution of 2012 to assure my fans that, yes, I am in fact still collecting baseball cards.  Problem is, I rarely find ones I want/need these days.  So, I feed my collecting addiction by going back to my collecting roots.

But, once in a blue moon, I find a card that I like, that I need, and that I feel is worth the shipping costs.  Today's card that fit the bill is a 2010 Topps Silk Dexter Fowler card which is numbered 46/50. 

The seller also had a manupatch for a buck and combined shipping, so I grabbed it as well.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the 4th of July hat logos, so to be able to own a second one for Dexter for a buck was too good of a deal to pass up.

I now return you to your regularly schedule program, "A Trip Down Tobacco Card Lane".

Pride of a Nation

I just noticed that yesterday's post was my 300th post on my blog, which seems about right.  I'm a month away from the blog's 1st birthday, which means I've done about 1 post a day all year.  Not too shabby.

And since this blog is the Pride of a Nation*, I figure this is a perfect time to show off my latest Dexter Fowler / Manupatch / Autographed card purchase.

Also, I've spent my first few days of Christmas Vacation getting my library card catalog cabinet organized with my cards and I'm really happy with how it's turning out.  I even figured out a great way to label the drawers.  I'll be sure to post some pictures when I'm finished.

*Obviously the nation I'm referring to is the Republic of Kazakhstan.  It's the weirdest thing, but those guys love manupatches and mustaches.

Trade Report/Fave Five: Cool Veal Style

Dhoff recently sent me four team-bags full of cardboard goodness. Here are my Fave Five from each bag.

FIVE:  Future Royalty (and a Bip)

FOUR:  Classic Royalty

THREE:  Helton

TWO:  Eck

ONE:  Needed Hochevars and Fowlers

Thanks a bunch Dhoff and I'm sorry that I'm sending considerably fewer cards your way than you sent me.  I definitely owe you.

Fave Five: My Cardboard Mistress' Group Break

I picked up the Rockies in the massive group break that Spankee put together.  While I didn't walk away with a Tulo autograph, I did manage to pick up some sweet Rocks for a low price.

Here are my Fave Five from the break.

FIVE:  Hits

FOUR:  Cargo

THREE:  Helton

TWO: Tulo

ONE:  Dexter

Thanks for the great cards Spankee!

Why, Yes Virginia, There is a (Secret) Santa

Once I saw Bad Wax's Secret Santa idea, I knew it was something of which I wanted to be a part.  I've had fun searching ebay for cards to send away in trade (Dennis and Greg know what I'm talking about) and the thought of receiving a "surprise" gift in the mail sealed the deal for me.

Earlier this week, I received my package, and, just like in real life, the package didn't make it to Christmas before I opened it (but to be fair to me, I had no idea it was a "Christmas gift"). 

And, suffice to say, my Secret Santa is this year's winner.  I am almost ashamed to send off my Secret Santa gift, because it pales in comparison to this one.

My Secret Santa hit upon four of my personal collection categories and sent along a staggering nine cards. 

First, my Colorado Collection increased to 14-cards with this LenDale White autograph.

Next, my Eddy Mac collection got a card closer to hitting the Trifecta with this jersey relic.  Even better was that a piece of Rod Smith's jersey is also attached.

And I love that they tell when and where Eddy wore the jersey.  If the card back is to be trusted, this jersey could have remnants of Mile High Stadium's final season's turf on it.  Anyone have a home cloning kit handy?

My Secret Santa didn't stop there because he added another Dexter Fowler autograph to my collection.  These Goudy Graphs are one of my all-time favorite autograph cards.  This one is pitch-perfect from top to bottom.

And, last, but certainly not least, my Secret Santa sent along SIX!!!! team logo cards for my MLB Manupatch collection.

When these beauties started spilling out of the bubble mailer, I was dumbstruck by the kindness and generosity that my Secret Santa displayed.

I don't know if you blog and I don't have your email, but if you see this Mike D, thanks a ton!

Dexter for a Buck

The title really says all that needs to be said.

Sometimes, eBay is very, very good to me.

Trade Report: Heavenly Cardboard

Cardboard Heaven's Cam shipped out some late additions to my 2011 Mustache FrankenSet and included a slew of killer Royals cards and a Dexter.

Thanks for the cards Cameron!

e-Rookies

Last month, I helped kill the "doonboggle" which was Napkin Doon's catch phrase for a bad beat in the collection world.  Actually, my lack of helping is what helped kill it, as I told Nap that I'd write him a post describing one of my "doonboggles" and never followed through (in my defense, I'm a well known liar).

Yet, Napkin was able to look past my personality deficiencies and was kind enough to send me my first eTopps cards.  And they're of my two main guys, to boot!

As with most encased cards, the scans don't do the cards justice.  They are absolutely gorgeous in hand.  If you've ever had reservations about the eTopps cards, you should definitely talk to Napkin, as his knowledge about the subject is only eclipsed by his generousity.

As if these cards are great enough, I also enjoyed Napkin's calling card.  On one side is one of the strongest logos in the biz.

And the back features a great cause, with an even better Napkin doodle.

eBay one-of-one bitches!

Thanks for the cards Napkin!  You're a true gentleman and scholar.

__________________________________________________________

In other collection news, by the time this post posts, I'll be making a three-hour drive to pick up one of the most important purchases of my collecting career.  I'll post pics as soon as possible.  The anticipation of this trip nearly killed me this week.  Here's to hoping the weather cooperates.