Cards on Cards Contest Winnings--and a Well-Timed Trade

It has been well over two years since my last post. I have several reasons for putting the blog on hiatus, and I don't anticipate that I'll be coming back to it often...buuut, this is a post that probably needs to happen. Recently Kerry over at Cards on Cards ran his annual March Radness contest, and I won! The prize was a blaster of 2026 Heritage. I can think of no better way to say, "Thank you," for the contest and to let Kerry see what his lucky winner pulled out of the box.

Now, before we get to the box, there is another transaction to be dealt with. Serendipitously, Kerry and I were in the midst of a TCDB trade at the time of the contest. So he sent both the trade and the prize together in one well-timed package. Let's look at the trade first.

Yes, I'm still collecting BYU players. Fred Warner has become an absolute stud in the NFL. This Jamaal Williams card (which doubles as a Packers card--YES!) has a nice serial number of 100.

 

I was able to pick up some new Cubs from Kerry. I don't know how I didn't have a 1990 Fleer Joe Kraemer already. Not only that, but I had never heard of him before. This is a nice A&G Javy Baez insert. These are also the first Owen Caissie, Andrelton Simmons, Luke Little, and Ryan Pressly cards in my Cubs collection. Caissie had just a short stint in Chicago before being shipped off to Miami this offseason. I'm still not sure how I feel about that trade.

 

 

Another long-time collecting focus has been MLB Rookies of the Year and All-Star Game MVPs. Most of these players are new to my collection since the last time I posted anything.

I'm also still collecting NFL All-Decade performers. But for the latest iteration (the 2010s team), I don't feel as much nostalgia. So I decided to focus my collection for All-2010s players on inserts rather than anything I could get my hands on. This Chandler Jones card fits the bill.

I'm also still pursuing plenty of sets. Donruss Optic is the set I chose for 2024 football, and I'm getting down to the last 50 cards or so to complete it.

There is one new thing about my collection. With the Utah Mammoth coming into town, I'm learning how to be a hockey fan. So naturally, that means card collecting. A budding hockey collection and the early days of this blog sparked a new idea. One of my first blog projects was to create a Franchise 9 page for every NFL team. So I thought it would be fun to have one page of every team in the four major sports leagues. Though I had collected basketball cards as a kid, my attempt at one page per NBA team was essentially starting on equal footing as the hockey, which I had never collected. It has been a fun project, and Kerry helped me out with some cards.

Now for the prize. A big thanks to Kerry and his generosity. He holds a few annual contests and the prizes are always great. We'll go pack by pack through the blaster. Teaser: this particular box started out as just an average box in terms of my collection, but started to catch fire in the last few packs.

Pack 1:

A couple of collection hits here, with ROY Drake Baldwin and ASG MVP Kyle Schwarber getting a binder spot.

Pack 2:

PCA is the highlight for me here, though a couple of All-Star MVPs (Duran and Stanton) make appearances. An Isaac Collins Chrome is the first non-base of the box. On a side note, there appear to nine cards in this pack.

Pack 3:

Pete Alonso and Luis Gil are Rookies of the Year. It looks like we have a Pirate of Penzance here, too.

Pack 4:

Aaron Judge fits in my collection, but a shared card isn't quite as cool as a solo. We have our first "Dark Green" parallel of the box. Since there isn't much for my PC in this pack, I'll take a moment to talk about the break. I think this is probably just my 2nd or 3rd blaster box break since my blog went on hiatus. I just haven't been buying much new product. That's one reason why I stopped blogging. I wasn't yet alive for the release of the original 1977 Topps, let alone collecting, but it's a Top-3 offering of the decade in my book. I like this Heritage product.

Pack 5:

 

Wait, what's this? Only six cards? Well, that's because one is a relic, a nice surprise hit from a blaster! Riley Greene is a pretty good player to pull, too. Not only that, but here's a pink sparkle Austin Riley. Though nobody fits in my collection, it's still a good pack.

Pack 6: 

 Now we're going to add a couple of Cubs superstars--one of them Chrome, no less! And Shohei Ohtani insert. This is also my first Cal Raleigh that isn't part of a set build, so this card will go in my All-Time All-Star project. For this project, I'm collecting one card of every player who was ever a Major League All-Star. This is a great pack in my book. 

Pack 7:

We'll keep the Cubs rolling here with a little Nico Hoerner. Another Shohei, this time a highlight card. Circling back to the Owen Caissie trade--I mentioned earlier I was on the fence about the trade. I was high on Caissie as a prospect. Well, here we have Edward Cabrera--the return for Owen Caissie. I have to admit that I didn't know much about him when the trade happened. So far, he has been solid for the Cubs. I'll give him that.

Pack 8:

The last pack is pretty good, too. We have a dark green Aaron judge to add to my collection and a nice Clayton Kershaw sunset card. That's a good ending to the box.

And there we have it. Once again, I have to say, "Thanks," for the trade and the contest, Kerry! 

 

A Big Box of Bulldog Cubs and a Contest Question

As a guy whose primary collection is football, I really love to see football cards pop up on blogs. I especially love it when bloggers have football on their wantlists because I have far more football available to send out than baseball. So one of my favorite blogs out there is Nothing If Not Random, run by Roy, AKA Bulldog. I put together a little package of Bills and Falcons and sent them out to Roy to initiate our first trading interaction. What he sent back was absolutely incredible.

I sent a bubble mailer. He returned fire with an 800-count box packed with Packers and Cubs. Mostly Cubs. Here are all the Cubs of the package divided by five year periods. In all, there were 726 Cubs cards in the box. I can't show them all here, but I have a few highlights.

We'll start out with some 2015 rookie cards of guys who are building pretty successful careers, even if Soler is doing it over in the AL. He's having the best season of the three, as Baez and Bryant are having a pretty rough go of it as we near the halfway point in 2020.

We have a couple of goodies from North of the Border, circa 1988. Both of these guys had pretty successful careers, too. This isn't my first 1988 Leaf, but I do believe this is the only 1988 OPC in my collection.

And let's stick with the themes of "pretty successful careers" and "late 80s I didn't have." Somehow, I don't think I ever knew about this All-Stars set from Donruss. I'm embarrassed to admit this to fellow collectors, but I'm happy to have added the Cubs from the set, and two Hall of Famers, to boot!

Speaking of Hall of Fame, Lee Smith is now in the Hall of Fame. These other guys all belong in the Facial Hair Hall of Fame, though. That 1981 Cubs squad was stacked mustache firepower.

Roy even managed to give me some set help. This Schwarber will go into my 2019 Big League build, which is crazy that I'm even still working on it.

There were a few inserts and parallels in the box. The die-cut Ryno looks really nice in-hand, but my favorite has to be the Zobrist Award Winner. How can I not love a card celebrating a Cub winning World Series MVP? It seems like so long ago now. This year's version of the Cubs has a pretty good record, but unless some bats start heating up, they won't be able to win it all again this year. The pitching has been pretty incredible, though, especially Yu Darvish.

I would be remiss not to highlight the legendary photography of Stadium Club. . .  and 1992 Fleer? Seriously, that Lancaster is awesome. Pitcher at the plate? Check. How about having him bunt? Okay. What about having the ball in the air, in the frame, with his eyes glued to it? You got it. Great card there.

Besides 92 Fleer, there is another set I would like to take a closer look at in this post. Of all the early-year Upper Deck sets, 1992 is the one I've really seen the least. But flipping through this package, I found that there is a lot to love about this set. I mean, you can see not one, but two bunts above and a player brushing his teeth in the dugout. But I found the backs of these cards is where the quirkiness of this set really comes to life.

Just look at how interesting these photos are. Jorge Bell tipping his cap during All-Star Game introductions. A helmetless Cy Young winner sliding into base. Shawon Dunston trying to make a diving tag on Paul O'Neill or Joe Girardi trying to pull the ball down in time to make the out at the plate. Then there is Andre Dawson spread-eagle (or spread-hawk in this case?) to rob a home run. Although, I can't tell if he made the catch or not. These are all great.

I started this post by praising Roy for his many football-related posts, so I can't leave out the Packers from the box. I'll take a Press Proof of Aaron Jones's rookie card any day. This is my first look at last year's Panini Illusions, and they're pretty impressive. They have a Fleer Flair or Topps Gold Label look going on. There's nothing wrong with either of those two brands.

These Packers will all go into a set build. I needed all of these for my 1997 Upper Deck Legends set. I still have a few needs for this posted on my wantlist, but I'm getting closer.

In the box, there were 43 Packers. 25 of them were new to me for a success rate of 58% being cards I added to my collection. Now we're going to play a little game. There were 726 Cubs cards in the box. I want you to guess what percentage of those 726 cards were new to my collection. Just leave a comment on this post with your guess by 11:59 pm on Thursday, September 3. The person whose guess is closest will get a little prize package from me.

Thanks, Roy for the generous mail-day. I certainly hope we end up trading again in the future.

Contest Question--

Of the 726 Cubs Roy sent me, what percentage was new to my collection?

Banking on a Good Card: A Cardpocalypse Challenge, Day 1

Over on the newly revived blog Cardpocalypse, Tim recently laid down the gauntlet for a blogging challenge. I looked over the topics he suggested and thought,

Who doesn't love Barney Stinson?

Day 1 was an easy challenge and it gave me the chance to post about a card that has been in my queue of posts for a while anyway. About two months ago, Tom of The Angels, in Order held a contest to celebrate his 10th anniversary of blogging. I won, and Tom sent me hands down my favorite card of this quarantine. One of my favorites ever, in fact.

A 1956 Ernie Banks. Let's just go over what this card has going for it.

• It becomes the oldest card in my collection, by two years. It's the first card I own that is older than both of my parents.
• Ernie Banks is an absolute baseball legend. 
• I just happen to be a Cubs fan, so there is probably no more desirable name for me to add a vintage card to my collection.
• Let's just mention how great the inset picture is, too, of Banks being congratulated as he crosses the plate.

I don't think I can possibly thank Tom enough for putting this card into my hands. It's my favorite new acquisition of this quarantine, without a doubt.

Results of Johnny's Contest

John recently had an anniversary in his little Trading Spot, and he held a simple contest: be one of the first to comment and he had a prize package for you.  I happened to have come along at the just the right time and was able to get in on this contest.  The reward was much more than adequate to compensate the "effort" I expended send some simple well-wishes his way.

John hit me almost exclusively with Cubs I needed.  Here we have some Series 2 offerings.  Two of these players (Montgomery and Edwards) are no longer with the club, having been shipped out on the trade deadline.  And speaking of trade deadline moves, Hamels has been rock-solid since he came over last July.  I was worried that he might be slowing down, but he has been a stud in the rotation that has had its up-and-down moments this year.

Here we have an insert and a parallel.  Like the cards above, this features someone who is no longer with us and a pitcher who was acquired in a trade deadline move.

Moving back in time, here are two cards that left me baffled at first.  These are inserts from 2005 Upper Deck, which I have never opened in my life.  I thought they were some kind of game card, and they still could be, I guess.

 

The back looks like it might be used for a game.

Going even further back, there are some nice oddballs of all-time great Cubs, including Woody English and Lon Warneke, who both participated in the first All-Star Game.  According to the back of the cards, English entered the game as a pinch-hitter for his teammate, Warneke.  These cards come from a 1983 Big League Collectibles set.  Moving from [Woody] English to [Larry] French, we see a nice early 80s TCMA set commemorating the greatest Cubs up to that point in time.

The cards are newer here, from 2003 SP Legendary Cuts, but the players are still old.  Some Hall of Fame Cubbie goodness is here.  The highlight for me is my first Harry Caray card.  Holy cow!

John didn't stop there with the Hall of Famers.

Also included was this set, which others have already shown on their blogs.  This small boxed set features a Who's Who of Baseball checklist packed into 12 cards.

This is the side of the box.  These are not just cards, but stamps from the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  It's an innovative concept, marrying two popular collecting targets into one concept.  And now that I know these can actually be used as legal postage, I think they may be the most valuable cards in my collection!

Thanks for the contest and the prize, John.  I enjoy your blog and, as I mentioned in the comments on your page, I hope you have many more blogging anniversaries to come.  Stay safe down there through hurricane season!

The Phillies Won, So I Won

Over at the Trading Card Database, there is a member who goes by the name of herkojerko.  Old herko is a Phillies fan, so he gets all excited whenever the Phils win, as fans tend to do.  This summer, he stepped his excitement up a notch and tried to get all of us card collectors involved, too.  He is holding a season-long contest in which the first ten people to comment on his thread whenever the Phillies win a series get to choose 20 cards from his trade list for free.

via GIPHY

So when the Phils won a series, so I took advantage and commented on the thread.  Here are my spoils from the Philadelphia series triumph.

I got some set help.  There are some pretty big names here that I still needed for not-so-expensive sets.  The Thurman Thomas hologram was the final card needed to complete the 1991 Upper Deck Game Breakers set.

A couple of needs for my All-Decade and ASG MVP collection.

But, mostly, I was concerned with building my BYU collection.  Here we have three of former Cougar pitcher and World Series champion Jeremy Guthrie, and three football greats in Vai Sikahema, John Walsh, and Chad Lewis.

Ty Detmer cards are great.  Not only is he one of my most beloved sports heroes from my childhood, but because the pinnacle of his NFL career came from 1996-2000, when card companies were producing all kinds of shiny and unique designs.

For those of you who are counting, that is only 19 cards.  The 20th card was meant to be another Cougar, tight end Chris Smith, but herkojerko mistakenly sent the wrong card.  I wasn't about to complain to him, though, seeing that it was only through his generosity that I got these cards anyway.

The Phillies have won series since this time, but I unsubscribed from the thread.  I could have won multiple times, I suppose, but I don't want to be greedy.  I'll take advantage of free cards, sure.  But I don't want to overdo it.  A one-time shot is good enough for me.  So, thank you, herkojerko.  And good luck Phillies! *Anytime they're not playing the Cubs.

I Finished Last in March Radness--Will I Survive to Tell About It?

Since I was appointed our school's testing coordinator last year, March has been an insanely busy month for me at work.  So when Cards on Cards opened up his March Radness NCAA basketball tournament this year, I wanted to enter without spending a lot of time choosing teams.  I ended up sitting down with my 10 year-old and 8 year-old and having them take turns choosing teams in the bracket.  When I ended up with Old Dominion in the championship, I knew I had a winner. . . or not.  It turns out that I did win, because Kerry puts together a package for last place.

He made some vague threats about the loser getting a really bad package.  I was curious.  I imagined a box of Norfin Trolls or *gasp* a priority mail box packed to the gills with junk wax dupes, like 50 copies of 1989 Fleer Steve Jeltz or something.  Kerry mentioned in one post he might send me a box of spiders.  I didn't think he was serious, but the thought creeped me out.  But I braced myself for the worst.

And this is the worst Kerry could do.  At first glance, it's a healthy stack of cards, and I could certainly imagine worse than Anthony Rizzo.  But is this top card merely hiding something a little more nefarious?

Three 2016 Cubs from the Topps National League Stars set?!  Why that's, that's--pretty cool, actually.  I didn't have any of these, although I think I have about a full page of that Jake Arrieta design, between Flagship, Chrome, Opening Day, parallels, etc.

This may be the extent of all the 2019 Donruss I get this year.  A red holofoil of Albert Almora and his currently hot bat and a really nice DK El Mago are two of my favorite cards of this package.

A couple more of 2019's offerings.  This is my first look at Opening Day's Rally Time inserts.  I like the concept, and that is definitely a fun card of David Bote, but why does it look just like a base card?  Could they really not come with anything to make a unique design? 

I didn't buy any Chrome at all last year, so these were all needs.  I really liked last year's design, and I do like it all chromed up, but I don't have much of it.  Once again, Javy is my favorite here.  I think I would like the Contreras more if it were a photo from the front angle.

More Javy.  This is the first Panini Chronicles card I've ever gotten, but I did get some blasters really cheap from Dave and Adam's last week that I'm going to bust.  I'm not in love with the product, but I figured for $6 a box, I would try a couple.

Who doesn't like early Bowman's Best?  Or the Cubs jerseys that look like they say "Cuba?"  I sure like them, and I'm glad to receive them.

And there's the junk wax I was expecting.  Walton, Sandberg, and Gracie are always welcome in my collection.  But Stadium Club has me in suspense--was Dwight safe or out?

Yes, there were some dupes for me, as I expected from Kerry's evil plan.

Some Team USA cards, including two players who made it to the Show in Austin Jackson and Kevin Gausman, and a relic of Cody Wheeler, who never did.

And now we're just getting some random stuff here.  I don't recall a "History of Topps" insert set.  I'm not a fan of either the card or the concept.

What's this?  Tyronn Lue?  Well, this is A&G, so I guess it's still a baseball card.  Kinda.

Now we're really getting random.  I never got into Star Trek.  My sci-fi fix comes from Doctor Who.  Like the good Doctor, the NBA sticker comes from overseas, from a European Upper Deck release.  That's kind of cool.

Also included were two unopened packs.  I have no interest in either of these two sets, so I gave them to my boys.  They were the ones who earned me this package, anyway.

I can see what Kerry was trying to do here.  As a Cardinals fan, the scariest thing he could think of was Cubs cards!  These were probably hiding in his closet, haunting him when the lights are off in the dead of the night.  He thought this package would keep me away from his contests forever.  But he failed!  I get the last laugh here, because, unbeknownst to him, I actually love Cubs cards.  I win!

But wait, what on Earth is this?

*Runs away screaming*