The Blackest of Fridays - 2018

It's been my tradition now for almost a decade to take the day after Thanksgiving off from work and do my only Black Friday shopping over at COMC.com.  As is also my tradition I've been slowly stockpiling cards over at the site and take advantage of the free shipping during COMC's event.

First a shout out to the guys and gals over at COMC they did a great job packaging my order. It's the first time I've ever warranted a box for my goodies.

I did get a couple great oddballs this year.  My most expensive item was by and far the 2013 Panini Cooperstown Robin Yount Red Pennant.  I've been looking for one of these since the product came out and while not numbered they seem to be pretty rare and hard to find.  I can probably count on one hand the number I've actually seen for sale and while it was my most expensive item in the lot it still didn't break the bank.  I also finally picked up Robin's 1991 Topps Stand up candy dispenser.

I didn't pick this rainbow of Yelichs this Black Friday.  I preemptively bought the lot of them well before he was named the NL MVP this year. But it's nice to get their shiny goodness in hand. 

I also picked up a bunch of great auto and relic brewers cards. I had a Lyle Overbay auto featuring him as a Diamondback it's nice to have one featuring him as a Brewer.  It's also nice to be able to cross off that Braun Marketside off the need list.

Probably my favorite non-Yount pick up was this 2005 Sheets quad relic auto.  Man I really miss the variety they use to put into some of the products.

Only added a couple new Packers cards to the mix.  I was really bummed with Jonathan Franklin had to retire after his rookie season.  I saw lots of promise in the young running back.  And his cards even his sweet auto patch cards will set you back a little over a dollar.  

Of course I added 26 new Younts to the collection.  I'm always surprised when I don't have a card you'd think I'd have picked up already.  I picked up the 1989 Fleer Glossy and 1984 Topps Nestle to fill those holes.  And finally got my hands on Robin's 2018 Topps Archives Rookie History card.

I also finished my 1984 7-11 Slurpee coin set.  This one is the central region coin denoted on the back with an E.  I also picked up Robin 1993 Panini Sticker I didn't have, his base card from 2002 Topps Archives Reserve, his Ballpark Classics insert from 2002 Fleer Authenix, and 2006 SP Legendary Cuts - Baseball Chronology platinum parallel.

I also picked up the last 3 Topps Tiffany cards I need featuring Robin.

It was nice to get such a big amount of new Younts. Some of these I've been picking up advantageously as they pop up on the site, others I had been watching for quite awhile waiting to see if I could get them at a Black Friday discount.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my Black Friday pick ups.  All the Younts will eventually be featured over at the Yount Collector. 

Anyone else pick up some goodies?

Ala Twitter

Still digging out of the rubble up here in Alaska.  Just kidding we're doing just fine.  If you didn't hear we had a pretty big shaker a week ago and while the damage was surprisingly minimal and we had zero fatalities the city is still on edge as we've had almost 2900 aftershocks.  We lost a pot and a picture frame but other wise we didn't have a ton of damage or clean up and the man cave survived with almost no displacement.  But that's not an excuse for my lack of posting, no I have lots of other great excuses for that.  Anyway, while I haven't really felt like blogging in a while I do want to finish up a few trade posts.  This time it's a three in one post with a few mega trades that happened via Twitter.

I like to think there are couple different kinds of trades and trade styles.  There are those trades that are carefully crafted with a surgeon's precision.  One for one trades, a relic for relic, auto for auto, etc.  Sometimes those trades take a little back and forth before both parties are happy.  The other main type of trade is more of what I like to call the shotgun approach.  It's a bulk trade usually involving a team or player.  Here it's not so much quality, although it can be, but it's much more quantity.  I'm an unabashed Brewers fan.  I sometimes post new pick ups or an odd rant on the ole Twitter so it's not surprising I get a few trade requests. 

A few months back a fellow Mark @markdwilkns, contacted me if I'd be interested in a bulk trade.  He had a bunch of Brewers he was looking to get rid of and would take any and all Red Sox.  Mark ended up sending me his side first without reservation, which I'm glad, I've had a few bad experiences with blind trades on twitter.  What I got was pure awesomeness.  Three 400 count boxes full of Brewers from the 1980 all the way up to present.

I have a ritual when I when I get a lot like this.  I have over 9400 unique Brewers cards and most of the Topps and other brands base cards, but I sort through the lot looking for inserts and other more premium brands and separate those out to check against what I have logged at TCDB.

What I ended up with was this stack.

In the end I ended up adding almost 200 new cards or more, I didn't keep very good track.  Here were a couple of my favorites in the bunch.

Man I miss those late 90's early 2000s inserts.

But this trade actually caused my next to bulk trades.  After I posted a thank you to Mark, or was it he posted a thank you to me, Matt @jmswyo asked if I'd be interested in more Brewers.  How could I say no and Matt wanted my extra Royals cards.  Originally Matt thought he only had about 700 cards for me, but when it was all said and done it was closer to 1200.  Matt was honest it was mostly junk era stuff.

He wasn't lying, but after my usual sorting ritual and cataloging I needed well over 100 of those cards and it help complete quite a few team sets.

My next trade came via Blair @blairrussell1 who also messaged me saying he a slug of Brewers, mostly modern commons to trade.  I was in this deep why not.

Blair's package was stuffed with 14 9 pocket pages full of Brewers slotted front to back.  While I had most of these as well, after careful sorting I still managed to find a good 20 to 30 cards I didn't already have.

So after my 2500 card trades I had to put the brakes on the bulk trading.  Right now I'm sitting on almost 10,000 dupe Brewers cards, some of which will make there way to fellow Brewers team collectors, but I have a feeling most will be sitting on my shelf for a long time.  

Anyways thanks to Mark, Matt, and Blair for the great trades

Finally getting around to it - trade post with Cardboard Collections

Finding time to blog has been a challenge the last two years.  I suppose I could always find something to talk about card related, but honestly I haven't had the drive to do it.  Except for my contests my posts have been few and far between and I've learned to be OK with that.  That being said I'm behind in a couple trade posts.  Recently I participated in one of Colbey's, who writes Cardboard Collections, cheap group breaks.  This time it was some vintage Pacific.  Anyway, I sent Colbey a stack of Braves and other cards and he graciously also added a bunch of extra Brewers he had to my spoils from the group break.  Unfortunately I already squirreled away most of what he sent to me, but not the best two cards.  I can remember Colbey posting he pulled that Woody auto a while back and the Thames is the Gold Artist Proof numbered to just 10.  Plus there was also a bunch of other great cards in the package.   Thanks again for the trade Colbey!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner - The 8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web comes to an end.

I was hoping that the series might go at least one more game, but the Red Sox really looked tough to beat.  We had 15 players make it to the final round picking either the Dodgers or the Red Sox.  Out of those 15 we had 4 that correctly picked the match-up, 3 for Boston, 1 for the Dodgers.  In the end the correct answer would have been:

Red Sox over Dodgers, in 5 games, 14 Home runs. 

No one had a 5 game series so we have to take it all the way to the home runs and with a guess of 17 home runs Matt, who writes the blog Diamond Jesters,  comes closest and takes home the Grand Prize of those sweet Hostess Panels and a nice selection of cards his favorite team, who just so happens to be the Boston Red Sox. 
 

Matt - Red Sox over Dodgers, 6 games, 17 HR - PIMP


Sport Card Collectors - Red Sox over Dodgers. 6 games and 18 homers


The Angels In Order - Red Sox over Dodgers in 4, 5 HR.


bbcardz -Dodgers over Red Sox in 7, 22 HR.


Alright now to see who gets to take home the door prize.  The Mike Trout Bowman rookie card and a nice stack of cards from their favorite team.  I entered everyone who entered into Random.org, if you were kind enough to promote the contest you got an extra entry. I randomized the list 3 times.

The door prize winner is Matt Wilson who writes the Tenets of Wilson and is a Red Birds fan.  I'll be contacting both winners shortly to make sure I have correct mailing addresses.  Matt also happened to have won one of my Super Bowl contests a while back!

Thanks again everybody for the great contest.  

8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web - Championship Series Review

Well now.  I'm a bit disappointed.  But I it's been a great season as a Brewers fan.  Just wish they could have pulled one more out.  Anyways the Series is set.  We lost another 16 players.  We had 15 players correctly predict that either the Red Sox or the Dodgers will be winning the World Series.  And we have 4 players that correctly picked the match up!!! Nicely done guys.  Looks like the Red Sox are the odds on favorite with the group and if they win will have a 3 way tie going to games and maybe even homers to break the tie.  If the Dodgers pull it out bbcarz takes home the prize all by themselves.  Alright I'll have a summary after the series and the door prize winner.  Thanks for playing everybody.

Matt - Red Sox over Dodgers, 6 games, 17 HR - PIMP

Robert - Boston over Chicago in 6, 12 HR

Fuji - Astros over the Dodgers in 6, 20 HR's

RAZ - Astros over Braves in 6 games with 14 home runs total.

night owl - Astros beat Cubs in 6. 16 HRs.

ketchupman36 - Red Sox over Brewers in 6, 20 HRs

Jeff - Astros over Dodgers in 7, 15 HRs

JediJeff - BoSox over Brew Crew in 5 games, 11 ding dong dillies.

CaptKirk42 - Red Sox over Rockies in 5 games, 20 Homer Simpsons.

Sport Card Collectors - Red Sox over Dodgers. 6 games and 18 homers

Nachos Grande - Astros over Dodgers, again. 6 games. 18 home runs

John Sharp - Astros over Brewers in 6 games. 19 HRs.

Scribbled Ink - Astros over Brewers in 5 games, 8 Homers -  PIMP

Sportzcommish - Astros over Brewers in 5 with 17 homers.

shanepatrickwrites- brew crew over boston in six, 16 homers, three by yelich

defgav - Brewers over Astros in 7, 12 dingers

The Angels In Order - Red Sox over Dodgers in 4, 5 HR.

jasongerman9 - Red Sox over Brewers, 7 games, 19 home runs. PIMP

Jafronius - Red Sox sweep the Brewers (4). 7 Homers

Dion's IP Autos only - Red Sox over Brewers in 6 games 18 home runs.

Jeff S - Dodgers over Yankees 7 games, 11 HRs

Matt Prigge - Brewers over Astros 7 games 19 homers

C Erne33 - Astros over Dodgers 7 games 19 homers

Trevor P - Red Sox over Brewers in 6, 14 homers - PIMP

Brett Alan - Astros over Braves, 6 games, 12 home runs.

Greg Zakwin - Dodgers over Astros in 7 Games, 15 HRs

Defenders50 - Brewers over Indians in 6 games, 18 HR.

gregory - Red Sox over the Braves in 7 games, 12 HRs.

Robb - Brewers over Yankees in 6, 13 HR.

bbcardz -Dodgers over Red Sox in 7, 22 HR

Brandon - Dodgers over Astros in 6, 15 home runs

Wilson -Astros over Dodgers in 7, 13 HR - PIMP

8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series on the Web - Divisional Series Round Up

We've got our final 4 for the League Championship Series' starting tomorrow!!  And with that we have to say goodbye to some of our contestants, but not too many.  By my count we only lost 7 through the wild card and divisional series.  Looking through the picks the odds on favorites are Boston and the Astros, so we will lose about half our field when that series gets decided.  And I haven't looked to see if every combo is the in the field, but it looks like someone will have correctly guessed the match up too.  Alright let's go Brewers!!!  See you all after the Championship Series!

Matt - Red Sox over Dodgers, 6 games, 17 HR - PIMP

Robert - Boston over Chicago in 6, 12 HR

John Miller - Braves over Houston in 7, 28 HRs

Fuji - Astros over the Dodgers in 6, 20 HR's

RAZ - Astros over Braves in 6 games with 14 home runs total.

night owl - Astros beat Cubs in 6. 16 HRs.

ketchupman36 - Red Sox over Brewers in 6, 20 HRs

Jeff - Astros over Dodgers in 7, 15 HRs

JediJeff - BoSox over Brew Crew in 5 games, 11 ding dong dillies.

Jay O'Neill - Yankees over the Braves in 6 games. 20 home runs.

CaptKirk42 - Red Sox over Rockies in 5 games, 20 Homer Simpsons.

Sport Card Collectors - Red Sox over Dodgers. 6 games and 18 homers

Nachos Grande - Astros over Dodgers, again. 6 games. 18 home runs

Anthony Monforte - Cleveland over the Braves in 6, 16 HR's

John Sharp - Astros over Brewers in 6 games. 19 HRs.

Scribbled Ink - Astros over Brewers in 5 games, 8 Homers -  PIMP

Sportzcommish - Astros over Brewers in 5 with 17 homers.

David Switzer- A's over Rockies in 6. 17 HRs

shanepatrickwrites- brew crew over boston in six, 16 homers, three by yelich

defgav - Brewers over Astros in 7, 12 dingers

Adam Sanders - Indians over Brewers, 20 HRs

The Angels In Order - Red Sox over Dodgers in 4, 5 HR.

GCA - Indians over Braves in 7, 11 homers. PIMP

Matt Stupienski - Braves over Yankees in 6, 9 HRs

jasongerman9 - Red Sox over Brewers, 7 games, 19 home runs. PIMP

Jafronius - Red Sox sweep the Brewers (4). 7 Homers

Dion's IP Autos only - Red Sox over Brewers in 6 games 18 home runs.

Jeff S - Dodgers over Yankees 7 games, 11 HRs

Matt Prigge - Brewers over Astros 7 games 19 homers

C Erne33 - Astros over Dodgers 7 games 19 homers

Trevor P - Red Sox over Brewers in 6, 14 homers - PIMP

Brett Alan - Astros over Braves, 6 games, 12 home runs.

Greg Zakwin - Dodgers over Astros in 7 Games, 15 HRs

Defenders50 - Brewers over Indians in 6 games, 18 HR.

gregory - Red Sox over the Braves in 7 games, 12 HRs.

Robb - Brewers over Yankees in 6, 13 HR.

bbcardz -Dodgers over Red Sox in 7, 22 HR

Brandon - Dodgers over Astros in 6, 15 home runs

Wilson -Astros over Dodgers in 7, 13 HR - PIMP

8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web - Official Entry Post

Sorry for the delay.  First I want to say thank you to all 39 people who entered the contest!!  I've been neglecting this blog all year and it seems I have less and less I want to try and find time to blog about.  But I do still contribute pretty regularly to A Pack A Day and post fairly frequently on my Robin Yount blog.  Ahem enough excuses, what I'm trying to say is that it's a great turn out since I don't blog here much anymore.  I've copied over your entries from the official entry post, so if you entered and I screwed up and you're missing let me know.  Also let me know if you shared or promoted the contest and forgot to let me know on your entry.  If you have a PIMP by your name it means you helped spread the word.  I also have to apologize.  In contests past I've let people who got in before the wild card games and one of their teams didn't make it update their picks.  I meant to do that this year, but forgot to mention it.  That being said if anyone would like to pick a team other than Chicago or the A's let me know by Monday!  You can't however change anything else about your pick.  Leave a comment on this post, please.
OK see you all after the Divisional Series' get done. 

Here are your official picks.  Good Luck

Matt - Red Sox over Dodgers, 6 games, 17 HR - PIMP

Robert - Boston over Chicago in 6, 12 HR

John Miller - Braves over Houston in 7, 28 HRs

Fuji - Astros over the Dodgers in 6, 20 HR's

RAZ - Astros over Braves in 6 games with 14 home runs total.

night owl - Astros beat Cubs in 6. 16 HRs.

ketchupman36 - Red Sox over Brewers in 6, 20 HRs

Jeff - Astros over Dodgers in 7, 15 HRs

JediJeff - BoSox over Brew Crew in 5 games, 11 ding dong dillies.

Jay O'Neill - Yankees over the Braves in 6 games. 20 home runs.

CaptKirk42 - Red Sox over Rockies in 5 games, 20 Homer Simpsons.

Sport Card Collectors - Red Sox over Dodgers. 6 games and 18 homers

Nachos Grande - Astros over Dodgers, again. 6 games. 18 home runs

Anthony Monforte - Cleveland over the Braves in 6, 16 HR's

John Sharp - Astros over Brewers in 6 games. 19 HRs.

Scribbled Ink - Astros over Brewers in 5 games, 8 Homers -  PIMP

Sportzcommish - Astros over Brewers in 5 with 17 homers.

David Switzer- A's over Rockies in 6. 17 HRs

shanepatrickwrites- brew crew over boston in six, 16 homers, three by yelich

defgav - Brewers over Astros in 7, 12 dingers

Adam Sanders - Indians over Brewers, 20 HRs

The Angels In Order - Red Sox over Dodgers in 4, 5 HR.

GCA - Indians over Braves in 7, 11 homers. PIMP

Matt Stupienski - Braves over Yankees in 6, 9 HRs

jasongerman9 - Red Sox over Brewers, 7 games, 19 home runs. PIMP

Jafronius - Red Sox sweep the Brewers (4). 7 Homers

Dion's IP Autos only - Red Sox over Brewers in 6 games 18 home runs.

Jeff S - Dodgers over Yankees 7 games, 11 HRs

Matt Prigge - Brewers over Astros 7 games 19 homers

C Erne33 - Astros over Dodgers 7 games 19 homers

Trevor P - Red Sox over Brewers in 6, 14 homers - PIMP

Brett Alan - Astros over Braves, 6 games, 12 home runs.

Greg Zakwin - Dodgers over Astros in 7 Games, 15 HRs

Defenders50 - Brewers over Indians in 6 games, 18 HR.

gregory - Red Sox over the Braves in 7 games, 12 HRs.

Robb - Brewers over Yankees in 6, 13 HR.

bbcardz -Dodgers over Red Sox in 7, 22 HR

Brandon - Dodgers over Astros in 6, 15 home runs

Wilson -Astros over Dodgers in 7, 13 HR - PIMP

8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web - Bottom of the 9th, Last reminder I promise.

Well the Wild Card games are done and the first divisional series games are in the books.  With that said you still have time to enter my World Series contest!!  If you've been waiting now's the time!

You have until noon Alaska time, or 4pm EST to enter.  And don't forget you get an extra entry into the door prize drawing for sharing or promoting the contest.  Please make sure to leave a link or note about the share on you pick.

Go HERE to enter.

Good Luck everybody, I'll have a summary sometime Saturday or Sunday with everyone's picks.

8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web - 7th inning stretch

I'm home with a sick son today the bonus I upgraded my HULU account so I can now watch my Brewers play in the playoffs!!  Anyways the Wild Cards are over so just another friendly reminder to get you picks in for the contest.

For rules and to enter  Go HERE to enter.
I did find a nice little door prize for entering.

How about a 2011 Bowman Mike Trout Rookie Card?

Good luck everybody.  I'll be putting out a final call tomorrow.

8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web - Just a Friendly Reminder

We had a first couple days for the contest with quite a few getting picks in early.  Should be a great couple of early series.  Remember you have until Saturday to get your picks in and yes that means that you can wait to see who makes it through the Wildcard games.  But don't wait too long!

Go HERE to enter the contest and for full rules and prizes.

8th Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web - Official Sign up Post!!

Hard to believe it's that time of year again.  Also hard to believe this will be my 8th World Series contest.   And man a couple down to the wire divisional contests.  I've got my fingers crossed the Brewers can upset the Cubs in Wrigley tomorrow to take the division.  And while the divisions may not be decided the post season has.

Like years past all I want you to tell me is who's going to win the whole thing!  Of course it's likely will have more than one person pick the right team so we need some tie breakers as well.

So you'll also need to pick the opponent, the number of games the series will go, and total number of home runs hit by both teams.

Your pick should look something like this.

Brewers over the Yankees in 5, 15 HR's

Here are your choices
National League
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Atlanta Braves
Colorado Rockies
LA Dodgers

American League
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians
Houston Astros
Oakland A's

You'll have till Saturday Oct. 6th, 4pm Alaska Time, Noon EST to get your picks in.  Feel free to wait till after the wild card games if you want.  

So what are you playing for?  How about a nice stack of 6 1979 Hostess 3 card panels.  Most still have enough of the border to be nicely cut out.  Full discloser there is some staining on the backs of a few of these. But included is a nice Garvey/Schmidt and Stargell. Plus the prize will include a bunch of cards from the winners favorite team(s), that might include autos, relic, parallels, inserts, who knows depends on what I have and find in the stacks.

And as like usual there will be a door prize. Not sure exactly what that will be yet, but it will include cards of that winners favorite team as well.  Plus if you share or promote this post on social media or your own blog you'll get an additional entry into the door prize contest. Please leave a link to your share or promotion so I know you did it.  Alright get to picking! And I'll have reminders all week.

TTM Success - Franklin Stubbs

Wow it's been a long time since I've had a TTM success.  But it's also been awhile since I sent any out.  I had seen some recent success with Franklin Stubbs.  And the beauty is I also got to fill a hole in my TTM project filling in the 1993 Topps and Donruss spots.

Address Used: 

C/O The Visalia Rawhides

300 N Giddings St

Visalia, Ca 93291

Date Sent: 8/20/18

Date Received: 9/17/18

A big old box of cards for National Baseball Card Day

So for National Baseball Card Day a couple weeks ago the son and I hit our two LCS's to pick up free packs and check out the deals.  While at Don's Sportcards here in Anchorage I spied a Super Shoebox full of randomness that I couldn't resist for $10.  Let's see what was inside.  

First off 1/3 of the box was 2012 Triple Play and close to another 1/3 was 1990 Topps, but mixed in was some great inserts, a few player collections, and even a card that paid for most of the box.

First up 3 1991 Fleer Ultra Ultra Team inserts.  Sadly one of the was not Bo Jackson

Next up a nice pile of Kevin Youkilis cards.

and a stack of Manny Ramirez..

What would a box of random 90's cards be without some Barry Bonds?

How about a stack of Evan Longoria?

Any Uggla fans?

Some Gary Sheffields.

A really nice collection of Arod, too bad I don't collect him.

Even more and rare Uggla cards!

A nice stack of 1990 Swell Baseball Greats.

This the stack that actually sealed the deal for me.  1989 Panini baseball stickers.  And it's almost a complete set.  And had a Robin Yount sticker I didn't have for my PC!  There was also an almost complete set of 1989 Topps Mini Leaders, which also had a new Yount for my collection.

Complete 2007 Topps Boston Red Sox team set

A little more randomness and gold from 2003.

Chipper rookie?  Yes please! And a cool insert of Chuck Carr, who? Yeah.  Oh 94 inserts!

2000 Pacific Prism Mariano Rivera Rapture Silver parallel.  Neat.

But the money card was this 2011 Phil Rizzuto SP Legends Variation.

In all I'm pretty pleased with the contents.  The Triple Play and 1990 Topps will be used to fill Halloween giveaway packs.  And getting two new Younts was surprising and well worth the price of admission, plus the box alone is worth almost $5, so all in all a fun buy.