Tradewinds

I've been wheeling and dealing all kinds of trades lately and I my ends for a couple in the mail last week.

First up, we got some goodness from reader Hugo. This guy actually NEEDS '87 Topps cards, so I was not hesitant to send him about 100 or so off his want list.

Unlike 99.99999999999999999999999% of the baseball world and most Mets fans I've talked to, I'm excited to see alot of things with the Mets this year. A full year of Thole behind the plate is one of them. He seems like one of those scrappy guys that'll be fun to watch every day!

A wright Bronze from last years 206. I've gotten almost half the Bronze team set without even trying or seeking them out in trades. I've never finished a parallel set, but I'm close on a few...

Fact: I fucking hate Roger Clemens more than Alex Rodriguez. True story. Throw at my favorite players head and then a year later the business end of a broken bat and that's just what happens. So how can we make this card better you ask?

That's more like it.

Next up is my first exchange with Marie Bay from a Cardboard Problem. She responded to my Jeter post and got my fair share of awesome from the trade...


2 Piazza GU annnnddddddd

A Mel Ott GU!!! While technically a Giants cards, it's still very cool and I love the look and feel of the old jerseys.

Despite all the other Mets, Wrights and Piazzas both Hugo and Marie sent, that wasn't even close to the best ting I got in the mail last week.

I got the invitation to my friends wedding this summer! The invitation is just a formality really, since I talked to her the previous week, but I'm stoked for this not only because I've been friends with her forever, but also because she asked me to be her Man of Honor! It's gonna be a humbucker of a good time!

(...Joe)

Philisophical Fridays

"Watching a spring training game is as exciting as watching a tree form its annual ring. "

Jerry Izenberg

1:400 Buy!

A little while ago, I exchanged the coins I had accumulating for some cold hard cash. I then spent said cash on Piazza cards, because I am financially irresponsible. That's just how I roll.

I had already picked up some great cards for the collection, but nothing compared to this...

No jersey piece
No auto
No serial numbering
Just one of those super awesome impossible to find '90s inserts.

Not too much to say here. It comes from the "Soaring Stars" insert set from 1999 Fleer Brilliants. This is the "Pulsar" parallel which is seeded at 1:400 packs making it the 2nd rarest Piazza in my collection. I had never seen any of these cards on ebay before, let alone a Piazza, so I was ready to bid on it. I had some other bids going at the same time so the most I could put down on it was $15 and luckily I won it for just over $13. I still have some other goodness to show from that spree, but this was definitely the top score!

(...Joe)

Do I Have to Attend the Funeral?

Oliver Perez is like that friend that everyone has. You know the one I'm talking about, right? He's that guy in the group that nobody likes and every time you see them you think to yourself "why the fuck do we still hang out with this guy?"

Well, no longer! He's finally done with the Mets and you'd be hard pressed to find a Mets fan who isn't ecstatic. From reading different Mets blogs, listening to the radio, talking to other Mets fans and from my own reactions, I found it amazing to see and hear the reactions that would surface every time Perez would enter the game, whether it was spring or regular season. Never before have I rooted so intensely for player on the same team to root for to fail.

With the new front office and coaching staff coming in this year I knew (hopeful) that it was only a matter of time before Perez was released. They toned it down in the off season and at the beginning of spring, but I'm pretty sure they knew what's been going on and they had no intention of keeping him around. They did a good job though with keeping up appearances and getting him into games to prove his worthlessness. His last outing obviously was all the proof they needed to get him away from the team for good.

I'd say "Pour some out for homies lost" but, that'd be a waste of beer...

(...Joe)

Wanna Hear a Joke?

Oliver Perez

Get it?
(...Joe)

Any Jeter Collectors Out There?

How is it that in a years time now, I haven't come across a single Derek Jeter collector? Come to think of it, I probably have, I just don't know it but STILL! I thought he was one of the most popular guys in the hobby, right?!

Anyways, I'm doing a bit of downsizing and reorganizing, so I have some small stacks of players to trade off. First up I wanna try to trade away some Jeters, there's about 40 (different) cards here. Nothing too crazy, just some base and common inserts and parallels. If anyone out there's interested, let me know! I can send you a list of all the cards too if anyone would like.







(...Joe)

Tradewinds

It seemed fitting that this should be the next post for no other reason than because All Tribe Baseball was the very first trade I made since getting back to collecting. I sent him the Indians out of my box of '11 Topps and in return I got my Mets!

I've already finished off the base team set for series 1 BUT the joys of being a team set collector and a player collector who's on said team, involves needing 2 copies of said players card! Luckily, this card takes care of that.

This is an '89 Topps Big card, the first I've ever gotten. I'm not sure if they got bigger in later years, but it's barely larger than a standard card. In hindsight, I should have taken a pic with it next to a regular card but, oh well. Shulda coulda woulda.

Next we have what has become an absolute necessity, a Mets for Mets trade!!! I have more Mets (doubles) to trade then I do of any other team right now, same goes for Piazza doubles, so after checking out the Brooklyn Mets' Piazza checklist and finding 72 cards from my doubles stack he didn't have, we struck a deal.

WARNING: ALOT OF DAVID WRIGHTS LAY AHEAD!!!


First up, an '09 Allen & Ginter mini. I (like the rest of the world) really like the A&G designs, but I can't pull myself to spending close to $100 on a box where there's a good chance I'll pull an auto from a surfer or billiards player. Nuh-uh, not happening.

Some bling. (get it, bling? Gold... bling?)

Next an A Piece of History "Cut From the Same Cloth" insert #/999. In this particular piece, Wright shares the card with Fuck-head, I mean Shit-eater, err Cock-sucking-dip-shit-man. No, no that's not right either. Oh well, I'm sure I'll remember Man-child's name soon...

It's always good to get some Heritage in trades. I like the cards, the way they feel and all, but the price for a box is just way too high. The "Propaganda" insert is the first I've gotten and it's pretty nice. I think it would work better in a Heritage set than a modern flagship, but then I guess Topps would have to invent a set for the 1940's...

Now, from the same package, I'll give you a chance to guess what player this next card is of. K, ready?
1-
2-
GUESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!




you're wrong, it's Bobby Parnell...


(...Joe)

It's Been One Year!!!

It's been a full year since my first post! Thank you to everyone who's ever read and commented posts and an extra thanks to everyone I've traded with! I'm looking forward to more of everything! As a way to truly say thanks to all you guys, I'm planing on holding another one of my free group breaks soon. Just gotta wait to see what that tax return looks like!

Thanks again and let's take a look back at what started it all...

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Prelude to an Epic

"Hi, my name is Joe and I'm a Mets fan."

"Hi, Joe" The crowd called out in an unenthusiastic, monotone drawl.

"I became a fan in the mid-90's after seeing my first Todd Hundley home run laced with a few Rey Ordonez plays in the field. I became hooked. They promised so much, looked so fun! Little did I know the reality it all hid.

"Mid-9o's!?" someone called out. Couldn't see who.
"You look so young, how old were you?"

"I was only in elementary school."

he crowd collectively grumbled. Shocked at what they had just heard. Someone so young, full with promise and potential, wasted, destined to be a life long die hard Mets fan. Pirates fans shook thier heads. Astros fans needed to be excused. Only those who were also Mets fans, were able to console, comfort and understand my problem. My, addiction...

Yup, that's kindda what being a Mets fan is like lately. You get picked on, scoffed at and are the basis of many jokes. But that's what being a fan of the Amazin's is about. It's an obsession with the underdog, an understanding that it's not how often you win, but when.

With that, I feel I've introduced myself. My name's Joe, I'm a Mets fan and I can be a bit out there. I'm gonna give the whole "blog" thingy a shot and see what happens. My main goal of this is to find other people to trade with because, let's face it, every time I pull a Cole Hamels card I die a little on the inside. So if I can find someone who feels the same way towards a David Wright card, then that's a sweet deal. I have a surplus of cards, as I started collecting as a little kid, so PLEASE let me know if you're interested in trading.

About:

I am a Mets collector. My main goal is collecting team sets and have embarked on the task of collecting EVERY TEAM SET EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE WORLD.

true story

Player collection consists of Mike Piazza. Base cards, inserts, GU, the extremly hard to come by autos, oddball and all. I do have a "secondary" collection of David Wright, but I'm not really focused on that right now. It's basically just what I may pull from packs or recieve in trades and the like. I also want to begin collecting Rey Ordonez and Todd Hundley somewhere along the way, but am focusing on the Piazza collection 100% for now.

I don't plan on posting every day, but hopefully a couple times a week (2-3).

I will be saying... typing?.. so called "bad words" here. Letter combinations including (but not limited to) shit, piss, fuck (all forms) etc. may/will be seen... read?.. on these posts. If this offends and/or scares you, then I'm sorry, read something else.

Right now I am overhauling a good 95% of my collection, so until I have it all organized I will not be buying boxes. When I do though, I will post them (if they're interesting enough). I will mostly likely be buying mostly stuff from the mid-90's through the early/mid-2000's but I am not an "old school" breaker. Right now, I'm on a serious budget, so that's what's affordable.

I do not have a scanner nor a camera. Yes, I am that cool. SO all pictures will be stock photos from beckett and whatnot.

Lastly, I apologize if me thoughts seem scattered sometimes, or it take me awhile to make this look pretty and organized. I am absolutely horrid with computers so something as simple for the common person (like making a link) I have no clue how to do.

(...Joe)

1972 Scorecard

Weak title, I know. I had no idea what the hell to name this post. Like seriously, it took me longer to name this thing than it did to write it... and I settled with that? Yeah...

Quite some time ago, I got one of those super awesome trade packages from My Past Time.... I Love It!!!! and included in the deal were two Mets programs (with completed scorecards)! I never really did much of a post on them, so I figured I'd change that tonight.

Whenever I'm looking through an old magazine or anything of the like, my favorite parts are always the advertisements. Just seeing what is and isn't around anymore and the way things have evolved... or, devolved. Anyways, 7. 7 different ads for Scotch in 38 pages. I don't like Scotch. Never have...

I digress. The real interest here was the scorecard! The Mets were playing the Giants and there are some fun names back in 1972! For the Giants...

Leading off and playing RF, Bobby Bonds. Hitting clean up and playing 1B and 3B were Willie McCovey and Dave Kingman respectively!

As for the Mets, the big name here is Willy Mays! And Jon Matlock in his rookie year, but that doesn't really mean much unless you're a Mets fan.

I've never kept score myself. I know how to, I can read a score card but I just never found the need to do it during a game. However, I'm finding it really interesting looking at this, it's like a snapshot.

Turns out the game is from July 12th, 1972 and Matlock threw a gem! A 4 hit complete game shutout!
Bonds- 0-4 1K
McCovey- 0-3 2K
Kingman- 0-3 2K
Wahooo!!!

Buddy Harelson rapped a triple in the 2nd and Mays went 2-2 with a double all with the Mets rolling to a 4-0 win!

I've always thought about a side project collecting 1 program from each year of Mets existence. They're pretty cheap on the bay, but I'm still on the fence about it. Anyways, it's pretty cool being able to look back like this and there are some great articles in it as well. Please excuse me now, the 1/2 a bag of M&Ms I ate is beginning to take it's toll. Yup, definitely gonna throw up soon...

(...Joe)

SAY UNCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been wayyyyyy too long since I've done an Uncle post so, here we go!

First up...

...Lou Brock and Curt Flood!

What do Lou Brock, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Joe Adcock all have in common Home Run wise? The only 4 players to ever hit a ball over the center field wall in the old Polo Grounds. Craziness.

Anyways, the year's '67 and the card has seen better days with creases here and there and fuzzy corners, but that's how I like my vintage. It gives it character, let's ya know it's seen some things...

Nextly...

The 2 Robinsons in all their '68 goodness!!!

I've always wondered what was going on when this picture was taken to warrant Brooks' reaction. I can't imagine it was taken during a game as I'm sure Frank Robinson would have put the photographer through a wall. Makes ya wonder. Makes me wonder, do you wonder? These are the things that keep me up at night... I've been told I'm not well.

So there it is, two more cards from the grab bag that was my Uncles surviving collection.

(...Joe)

It Ain't Easy Bein' a Pimp

Sing ups for one of the most super mega ultra awesome group breaks ever is going down at Community Gum!!!


















Why the fuck are you still reading this?

GO!!!!!!!!!!!

(...Joe)

Tradewinds

Hi, my name is Joe and I'm a horrible person.

HI JOE!!!

Well, I've done it again. I've composed and received a group of great trades all within a few days of each other, opened them up, stacked them up all nice nice in individual piles on my desk with their little notes saying who they're from. I take pictures of the highlights and then after a week or so I say to myself "Why haven't I set these cards up into binders yet?". So I do, and then I remember... "oh yeah, it's because I haven't put the pictures on my computer and labeled them yet."

Sooo now I have very little idea on who each card came from but I know as a whole. So here are the players:
Lifetime Topps Project
Emerald City Diamond Gems
The Daily Dimwit
My Past Time.....I Love It!!!
"O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog

First up...

This is an easy one. This came from The Lifetime Topps Project. For those of you who don't know, this guy actually NEEDS '87 Topps cards!!! And that's what I sent him, over 100 '87 Topps off hi want list and in return a gotst a bunch of Mets goodness that put a dent into my team sets including...

...a Strawberry RC! You wouldn't believe what people want on ebay for '84 Mets sets just because of this card. $15 for a 1984 team set? Nuh-uh, not happening. So it's good to get this card out of the way and now I can start picking off the commons to finish it up.

These next cards I have no clue who they came from. Please feel free to lay your claim in the comments...


This is my first 2020 insert and they're kindda cool. I like the scratchy sound it makes when you run your fingernail across it real quick.


Next up is from The Daily Dimwit...

My first Mets Diamond Vision card and it couldn't have been of a better player! (for me at least).

I think these next cards are from Ryan at "O" No!!!


A bunch of '10 Bowman goodness. 3 gold parallels and a handful of shiny chromes!

And lastly we have a trade from the Don, the Godfather of baseball cards...

These '03 Topps Chrome cards are intense! This is a "Black" parallel #/199 and the color scheme looks great against Alfonzo's jersey, but even without being color coordinated, these are still awesome cards. I opened a box of this in my free group break and am thinking about busting it again for my next one. That's right... my NEXT free group break.

And we finish it off with a '68 Mets team. I'm a long way from finishing off the '68 team set, in fact, this is card number 2, but it puts me one step closer to NY Mets cardboard domination... and that's all that matters!




(...Joe)