Prizes, Trades and Gifts Are What Makes The Cardboard World Go Round

Hey everybody,

Gotta get in a post about more great cards that graced my mail lately...

First up is a thanks, (but no pics this time).  HUGE THANKS go out to Patrick, the mastermind behind The Card Hobbyist.  If you like a blog that also features cool games with da shite prizes, Patrick's place is definitely in your wheelhouse.  As a matter of fact, I'm happy to say this is the second time I won a contest over there.

But why no pics?  Two reasons:

1. I won basically the same A & G Dodger cards in a box break at Tribecards a couple of weeks ago and I've already  posted them.  Yes, they were essentially doubles, but they were also doubly great because they were 2013 Dodgers, and they contained a second Puig RC!

2. Since they were doubles, I gave the cards from Patrick right over to my son, who was stoked to have his own Puig rookie.  Thus, those particular cards were not scanned are now stashed away securely in his binder. No pics, but double thanks for the great prize, Patrick.

The next batch does have pics. These are the result of my first trade with Nate, who is kinda new on the blogs.  Nate's site is Big 44 Sports Cards.  Nate's a stone Pittsburgh collector, so that means, you best have some Pirates or Steelers for trade.  But no Penguins, Nate?  To each his own.

Heck, I don't collect hockey myself, but here's a note for all you hockey collectors out there. I would love a hockey card from one of the baddest L.A. Kings to ever wear the uni...Tiger Williams.  I grew up on Tiger in the days the Kings wore the Purple and Gold of the L.A. Forum.  Did you know Tiger holds the all-time record for most penalty minutes?  Yeah, back in those days, the Kings were doormats of the league, but Tiger wasn't one. Tiger was bad- ass personified.

So I shipped some black and gold Pirates to Nate, and he sent over some cool stuff to me...

You can never go wrong with golden sparkle Kershaw

And you can't ever go wrong with Cobb on cardboard.  Here we get a fantastic portrait of the Georgia Peach. That sly glance of Cobb's says everything, but reveals nothing.  Also, limited number.  Sweet card that I hadda have.

Finally, comes a great gift I received a while back.   A gift - unexpected and out of the blue.  This was no simple PWE.

Supercool Bert, from Swing And a Pop-Up, came through once again and sent me another fistful of cardboard from the 1987 Hy-Grade "Baseball's All-time Greats" set.  Bert has now helped me to get the chase to under 10 cards.  I can't believe it!  Just 9 cards to completion.  Check my "What I Collect" page if you have any extra Hy-Grades lying around.  You just might have those final 9.

This Hy-Grade set is very cool.  It's big limitations are the simplified green border and cardstock thinner than Topps.  But the upsides are a checklist of baseball history and royalty, and the photography is mostly great.  It features quality early color photo technology and lots of close up photography.   In addition, the players are often shown in their primes and we get more than a few legendary stadiums in the background. 

Since the Dodgers are opening a 4-game series against the ELIMINATED team from the bay, let's start off with a Dodgers/Giants face off.

 You're gonna feel like you're walking down a wing in the baseball Hall of Fame...

How's about all that cardboard?  Pretty good, thanks to my fellow collectors.

You Say Dog Days Of Summer - I Say It's Raining Dodgers

Hey everybody,

My mailbox was pretty happy on Thursday and Friday as several packages and one PWE arrived chock-fulla Dodger cardboard.

A few trades came in, but the first package I received was the loot from an A&G 2013 box break that David held over at Tribecards.  I didn't see myself buying a lot of A&G this year, so this break was a good way to pick up some cards from my favorite team, and by golly, I just might catch lightning in a bottle and pick up my very first Puig RC!!

Alright, I bit.  Let's see what I caught...

 Speaking of caught, here's a great card of the Dodger's ready-steady backstop.  A.J. is a solid catcher, and one of the best in the biz in throwing out would-be base stealers. 

 Here's Dre posing like a man.  And why shouldn't he?  Ever since Damn Mattingly called him out midseason, Ethier has reinvented himself into a decent center fielder in Matt Kemp's absence, and has begun to rebuild his reputation as a clutch hitter.

Here's a sweet new addition to my Kershaw collection.  A very nice pull.

 I said Dodgers, right?  Why is there a Padre here?

 Well, the break paired up our chosen teams with one random team, and I got the Padres.  I only got 3 Padre cards, but one of them was of Volquez here.  Volquez just joined the Dodgers this week.  Even the cards I got from guys on other teams turned out to be Dodgers after all.

I love this playful smile shot of Hanley.  I don't prefer these images in the straight up photography sets, but for some reason, I totally accept them in these 'artistic' presentations.   

 

 Now we're cookin'.  Sandy Koufax is ALWAYS a good pull.  This Koufax might have been my favorite card from the break...but, when it rains Dodgers, it pours Puigs.....

 BANG!

I got the Puig.  Happiness abounds.

Thanks for pulling such great cards for me, David. Have a great holiday weekend, everybody.