Almost a new year - Where I am, what I'm doing and where I'm going !

As another year comes to a close I sit here pondering the possibilities for 2013, while sipping coffee made in my new Christmas B&D coffee maker, thanks to my wonderful wife ! ( She also got me an awesome Cleveland Indians metal waste basket ! )

I don't anticipate any major changes in my buying, collecting or trading of baseball cards. I do want to keep better track of trades this year. I tried a plan last year that didn't last long, hopefully this year it will work better.

The very first thing on my agenda is to finish mailing out the free cards I promised. The holidays really took a toll on that project and I apologize to all who haven't yet received cards.  The list is right in front of me and I cross off each name as I send them out. I have three more ready to go and will prepare more this afternoon. It would have gone quicker, but I'm trying to include a few extra cards in each mailer that complements your want lists or fav team or player. Thank you for your patience !

I also have received packages from the following :

Nomo's Sushi Platter
The Sandlot
Nachos Grande
I't's Like Having My Own Card Shop
Brad's Blog
Dime Boxes
2 by 3 Heroes
Joe Average Card Collector

I will also be responding to each of these. Some were for cards already sent, some I owe cards.


Creating more, and better, wants lists is the next thing on the "to do" list.

At last count, I was approaching 14,500 Indian cards !
But I have one Indian card checklist that has over 40,000 listings and only goes through part of 2007.

 So I have a ways to go yet !!



Holiday time !

This has been a very busy month for me and my family, and tonight, all the work will start to culminate into a blessed time for all of us as we start the traditional Christmas celebration together.

I want to take this time to wish everyone  a very

 

 Merry Christmas

 

and

 

 

 Happy New Year !

Good Will find, pan fried flounder, Sizemore surfer and I love baseball !

 

 

What do all these things have in common ?

 

Last Tuesday was my 62nd birthday and this is how they are all tied together !

 

First, my wife doesn't like fish. I LOVE fish but don't get it very often. But on my birthday she always make me a great fish dinner.

 

 

 

My son Josh, gave me this Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indian surfer bobblehead.

Very cool !

 

 

My wife gave me this really neat little knick-knack.

 It's about 6 inches long and will go very nicely on my desk. 

 

 

 

On my way from work Tuesday, I stopped at  one of my favorite Good Will stores.I saw this this small bundle of cardboard sheets tied together.The baseball player is what caught my eye.Otherwise I would have just passed up this package.

 

Am I ever glad I didn't  !

 

It seems the USPS issued this set of 10, "Celebrate the Century" stamp collecting sheets in 1998/99.

The first one is the 1900's, then the 1920's, 1930's and so on. There are several baseball related stamps, which I will show in another post, but there is much more than that to this great deal. There were only 9 of the 10 sheets in this package, but each has 15 totally legal US postage stamps. The first sheets are 32 cent and the last ones 33 cent stamps. They total almost $44.00 in postage !

 

 



I paid $1.29 for the whole package !!

 

And that's why the title does make sense !

 

 

 

My baseball Christmas tree !!



Trade with This Way to the Clubhouse

This is such a busy time of the year ! I really need about 36 hours in each day.

The parts manager at work took all last week off to hunt Bambi, so I had to take over for him. (50 + hours last week)

That, right in the middle of my trying to get cards together for my free card give-a -way.( everyone will be getting more than than one card ! ) The first few are in the mail and the others will be going out soon.

Then the holidays are starting. My wife and I do a lot of Christmas candy making.

Plus I have other trades I need to catch up on.


This trade started about a month ago.

But I love to get emails like this one :

"Hi there. So, I was going through my secret-special box of favorite vintage cards that I would take to a desert island with me, and I somehow came across an autograph card of former prospect John Drennen. It's a sticker auto from 2005 Topps Rookie Cup. Apparently it's the red parallel version, numbered 056/399. I definitely remember getting this card in a pack several years ago, but I haven't a clue how it wound up in this box. Anyhow, now I'm looking for an appropriate home for this thing...."

He came across my blog and thought I might be interested !  Might be ?!
I definitely got back to him and he graciously sent it to me.

 



 

 



He also sent this great Albert Belle patch, along with small stack of other Tribe cards.
( can't post too many pictures right now, I'm approaching my Google limit !)

Mark, from This Way to the Clubhouse , was the sender of the email.

I know this post is a little late Mark, but thank you very much and I will get a nice return package to you.



The baseball card blogging community is just so awesome  !

A day of Thanks

So much to be thankful for !! 

 

Whatever Thanksgiving means to you, I hope you have a great day !

 





Free card winners !! Speak now,or forever hold your peace. There is no crying in baseball !

 

 

I really had a good time with this,

but now there is work to do.

I had 29 requests,

if my calculations are correct,

for free cards,

they are all shown below.

 

Sorry ! That just kind of came to me as I was writing !

 

But seriously, it has been a lot of fun. I added a few followers, I started following a few new (to me) blogs. I was familiar with some of you, but have never traded before.That also added some more contacts to my address book. 

 

 

 



And the winners, in chronological order (I think), are :

 

Al KawamotoNovember 14, 2012 10:24 PM

the four minis please

Joe Average Card CollectorNovember 14, 2012 11:09 PM

2012 Topps Purple Border Jordan Pacheco

P-town TomNovember 15, 2012 10:10 PM

Ooooh! Junk wax of Jim Thome!
I mean, may I please have the '91 Bowman Jim Thome?

Brad's BlogNovember 15, 2012 10:59 PM

I'll take the phillies carlos silva auto dont have that one

coronado2010November 15, 2012 11:00 PM

choices choices...but who can resist a non-tattooed Hamilton Minors card? Can I please have that? Thanks!

Spiegel83November 16, 2012 4:15 AM

May I pick the Murray SPX please? Thanks.

Mark KazNovember 16, 2012 12:31 PM

Too late to claim the Jeff Kent?? If not, I'd like that one...

Josh D.November 16, 2012 1:21 PM

I think I will jump in and take the David Cone (the good Royals one, not the yucky Mets one). My collection is currently Pacific-Cone-free, and I need to remedy that.

buckstorecardsNovember 16, 2012 9:11 PM

If you're willing to ship to the Great White North, I'd love to JLarry Walker.

Jeff WilkNovember 16, 2012 9:13 PM

I am glad I waited, but only in the sense that the card I would have jumped at day 3 is something I have. So I will claim the UD Frank Howard please

The DimwitNovember 16, 2012 9:15 PM

Biggio

Greg ZakwinNovember 16, 2012 9:21 PM

Olsen auto please.

Captain CanuckNovember 16, 2012 9:40 PM

Brian McCann super shiny refratory goodness please!

WilsonNovember 16, 2012 9:43 PM

The Ludwick jersey, please.

NY Hitman 23November 16, 2012 9:46 PM

You know I'm going to claim that Matt Hague refractor! Thanks for the card giveaway and congratulations on 4 years!

Mark A.November 16, 2012 10:02 PM

Mr. Dad, I'd be honored to claim that Dubois encased in plastic.

Steve D.November 16, 2012 10:04 PM

Happy anniversary, and congrats! I'd like to claim the Thurman auto. Thanks!

NickNovember 16, 2012 10:16 PM

I'd like to claim that Kellogg's Dave Kingman, if it's still available. Do you still have my mailing address?

Brian ConradNovember 16, 2012 11:38 PM

Is the Miguel Cabrera still available? Gotta go for the MVP

arpsmithNovember 16, 2012 11:45 PM

I need the Boggs Triple Play card for my set. I would love to claim it!

The Angels In OrderNovember 17, 2012 12:13 AM

Matt Campbell Jersey! Sweet!

Ruben LNovember 17, 2012 1:47 AM

Being a Canadian baseball fan, I would love the Joey Votto card.

night owlNovember 17, 2012 2:44 AM

I'll take the Orioles team card gold refractor.

ChunterNovember 17, 2012 11:10 AM

Brett Wallace Purple, please! :-)

Ryan GNovember 18, 2012 8:37 PM

I'll get my grubby little (big?) hands on that Shanks Canseco card. Thanks a ton!

CaptKirk42November 18, 2012 10:10 PM

OK you twisted my arm enough the 2009 Enterplay an Pack Standee Ryan Zimmerman Please.

EWSNovember 18, 2012 2:20 PM

I'll take the Santana!

DanNovember 18, 2012 3:06 PM

Is the Utley Gypsy Queen still available? Thanks!

daddyohohoNovember 18, 2012 9:42 PM

I am another Phillies Phan late to the party. I would like the Cliff Lee Bowman Gold if it is still available.

 

 

Let me know ASAP if you think there are any mistakes !!

 

 

Thanks to all who participated. There will only be three of us here for Thanksgiving. My wife, our oldest son Josh and myself, and I don't watch football, so I hope to get most of these done and ready to mail on Friday.

 

I do still need addresses for the following :

 

Jeff Wilk      Frank Howard

 

Matt Wilson  Ludwick jersey

 

EWS  ?    The Santana card

 

 

 



 

Last chance ! Plus, I do use ebay

 

 

Good  Morning  AMERICA !

 

Today is your last chance to claim one of my free cards.

What ever is left after midnight EST tonight will become trade bait.

All the details are right here !

 

 

I do use ebay once in a while.Mostly just for buying hard to find cards.I don't usually post my winnings here unless I find something really exciting or something I want to use as trade bait.I do keep all of you bloggers in mind when I'm surfing through the myriad of cards available, especially when I'm viewing the seller's other auctions.

 

 

Here are a few Tribe cards I recently received.

 

 I miss the '90's ! There were so many different choices and some really great looking cards.
The Leaf 50th anniversary cards were some of my favorites.

 1994 Leaf Gold Leaf Rookie Manny Ramiriz. A very dark card and hard to look at,even in person.

2010 Bowman Josh Tomlin Gold

And back to the 1990's ! 1994 Score Hall of Gold Eddie Murray.They were right, he was headed for the HOF.

 

1995 Pacific Collection Manny Ramiriz.

Will he make it ?

He certainly has the numbers, but a storied career to go with them.

What do you think ?



Baseball cards in Amish country and free card update !

 

Good Morning everyone !

 

Actually it's almost noon here but I've been up and around for about 5 hours. I've been going over the Free Card post comments and have determined that at least 23 people are reading my blog and are interested in one of my free cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the list I have so far unless someone else has commented in the last hour.

Everyone else has the rest of today and all day tomorrow to request a free card.

On Monday the remaining cards will become trade bait if anyone is interested.

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned, my wife and I took a trip to the Amish country yesterday.

The basic area is a little over an hour from here. Berlin,Ohio claims to be the largest Amish community in the world. And that place was busy !! People everywhere.

 

The main point of our trip was the store called "Tis the Season".  A huge Christmas shopping experience. The store is much larger than it looks, it has three levels. After that, we stopped at Cindy's Diner for a late lunch. That's where the cards come into play. The diner is under the same roof as a very large antique mall. After a great meal we needed to walk around for a while, and even though the words "antique mall" usually means "flea market with Sax of 5th  Ave prices". we decided to look around. I did see a few baseball items here and there, a few old gloves that looked interesting but way out of my price range. Then finally, clear in the back of the second story, I found a vendor with some baseball cards!

 

 

 

1985 Topps 3-D

 

4 1/4 x 6" , vacuum formed baseball "photo" as it's called.

 

If any of you remember the old Mattel VAC-U-FORM , they could have been made with it !

 

I have a couple of these around somewhere but I never had a wrapper.

Now I do ! $2.00

 

 

Then he had a box with a mixture of smaller stuff to search through.

 

 

 

 

1992 Topps Kids.

Once again, I have some of these cards but never had a pack. Unfortunately, the vendors are not always there so they have to have a sticker on each item, which a clerk removes so the proper seller gets credit. Well the sticker removed part of the wrapper with it, so I'll be looking for an upgrade on this one.

I always liked this card set. It seemed like something that would appeal to kids. After all, I like it ! Actually, I've been saving the ones I find. Don't know if I will ever complete the set, as I don't actively collect it, but who knows.

 

I really liked these cards where they put a face on a caricature body like this Ozzie Smith on steroids ! I had never seen the gum before either. Clever to put it in a regular gum wrapper to protect the cards.  50 cents for a pack.

 

 

 

There were also two packs of these. 1990 Starline cards sponsored by Long John Silvers and Coke.
They were given away with a purchase  at Long John Silvers. There were 8 different 5-card sets with most players having more than one card. Not a single Tribe card in the whole set !

I got set numbers 5 and 8.

 

 

 

Finally there were some Awesome All Stars packs.

99 different sticker cards aimed at the younger set.

Some of the cards are slightly funny, but someone at Leaf had a really demented sense on humor !

 

 

 

I do need some help on these.

 

There are no dates on the cards or wrappers.

 

When were they issued and do the different colored wrappers denote anything ?

 

I'm sure someone out there knows !!

 

Thanks !

Gotta' get back to the free cards now.

 

 



Is that your final decision ?

 

Well, the big day is here!
 

Four years ago this site popped up in the blogosphere.

I've had a lot of fun with it and gained a lot of new cards for my collection.

I've also sent out a lot of cards to others and made a lot of friends along the way.

So now I'm giving back a little.

 

I realized I never set a time limit on this so I will let you pick free cards through Sunday night.

By Monday night I hope to have all the chosen cards marked with red lettering and then all cards that are left will become trade bait.

 

Once again, if this is your first trip here, all the details and rules for this free card give-a way can be found here !

 

I hope everyone has enjoyed this and can find something interesting you'ld like to own !

UPDATE !

All cards with RED descriptions have been claimed !! 

 

1981 Topps Scratch-Offs (all three still attached)
Lance Parrish
Mickey Rivers
Jim Palmer

1989 Bowman Jim Abbott ROOKIE

 2012 Pannini Triple Play Wade Boggs

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Gold Border Chase Utley

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Tony Gwynn

 2012 Bowman Platinum A.J. Cole

2012 Topps Chrome Refractor Brian McCann

2012 Topps Purple Shaun Marcum

2012 Topps Chrome Refractor Matt Hague  ROOKIE

2003 Upper Deck Masters of the Game  Torii Hunter

1999 Topps Finest  Craig Biggio

1990 Score Young Super Star Kenny Rogers

1980 Kellogg's 3-D Dave Kingman

Two cards - One Choice !
2006 Ultra Zack Greinke  Base and Gold

2012 Topps Golden Greats Joe DiMaggio

2012  Topps Purple Brett Wallace

2012 Topps Blue Colby Lewis

2012 Topps Opening Day Fantasy Squad Jose Reyes

2012 Topps Opening Day Rob a Home Run Jose Bautista

2012 Bowman Gold Cliff Lee

2012 Bowman Gold Ike Davis

2012 Bowman Platinum Paul Kornerko

2002 Topps Pristine Uncirculated Refractor Jason Dubois  1304/1999

2009 A&G Ryan Ludwick jersey

2006 Topps Certified On - Card auto Scott Olsen

2001 Leaf Certified Materials Fabric of the Game  Larry Walker jersey

1996 Best BEST Prospects  Mike Thurman on - card auto

2003 Upper Deck USA Baseball  National Pride Matt Campbell jersey

These cards are 2 separate choices
1980 Topps Bert Hooten
1982 Topps Dave Righetti

These cards are 2 separate choices
1980 Topps Bud Harrelson
1980 Topps Chris Chambliss

These cards are 2 separate choices
1982 Topps Career Highlights Pete Rose ( didn't notice until I started to list, has creases in
             upper right corner  and waves down through card)
1978 Topps Butch Metzger

These cards are 2 separate choices
1977 Topps Dave Moates (crease in both right corners)
1977 Topps Paul Splittorff

These cards are 2 separate choices
1974 Topps Wayne Twitchell
1973 Topps Ron Bryant

These cards are 2 separate choices
2004 Bazooka Kaz Ishii
2007 Topps Turkey Red Andruw Jones

These cards are 2 separate choices
1997 SP Kenny Lofton
2004 Upper Deck National Trading Card Day Hideki Matsui

These cards are 2 separate choices
1983 Donruss HOF Heroes Hank Greenberg
1983 Donruss HOF Heroes Johnny Mize

These cards are 2 separate choices
1983 Donruss HOF Heroes Josh Gibson
1983 Donruss HOF Heroes Walter Johnson

These cards are 2 separate choices
2012 Topps Archives Larry Doby
1979 Topps Rick Manning

2011 Topps The Lost Cards 1955 Topps Bob Feller

These cards are 2 separate choices
2008 SP Authentic  C.C. Sabathia
2012 Topps Archives Asdrubal Cabrera

 

2010 Topps Chrome Carlos Santana ROOKIE

2010 Topps Chrome Carlos Santana ROOKIE





 



 

                                                   2012 Career Day Joey Votto

 

1991 Upper Deck Jim Abbott

 

 

Well, I hope everyone has enjoyed this.

 

I'm waiting for the comments tonight.

Especially from the ones who already made their choices !!

 

I know a lot of the cards are not real exciting to all of you, but they are free !

 

Remember to email your mailing address if you haven't traded with me before.

If you have, I should have all the info in my email contacts.