bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog

Things That Should Have Been Posted in 2011: bdj610's 2010 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

2012-05-20T23:07:00.000-05:00

I am so sorry. AGAIN!!! I have no idea what happened here. For those of you who are still reading this blog, you will know that I create End-of-the-Year All-Star Teams (and have done this since 1988). And thanks to the Strategic Baseball Simulator (aka SBS), my fantasies had become somewhat of a reality as I could finally see which of the teams (I did one for the NL and one for the AL) would have won a game (or series of games) if they were to have competed against each other. You can see the on the sidebar the results of those games.

I had stalled so long on the my simulated 2010 ASG Series that I finally had them done. The seven game simulations were done in June, and the one-game All-Star Game took place...IN SEPTEMBER!!! It is now May 20, (happy 6th birthday to my nephew Jacob by the way), and it is only now that I am finally taking the time to get this done so that I can upload the 2011 rosters onto the SBS.

To review, here is how the simulations work:

I simulate seven series of games, pitting the six starting pitchers on each side and a set roster of eight or nine position players (somebody DH's when the AL All-Stars "host") against each other for the first six games, and then a seventh series of games where the rosters and the starting pitchers are chosen randomly. Each series consists of 10,000 simulated games. The winner of each series = the winner of a game. Presently, the National League All-Star Teams have a 13-10 advantage over their American League counterparts, and 12-11 record in the one-game All-Star Game (a far cry from reality, considering that the NL has only won 6 real All-Star Games since 1987).

Here are the results from the seven series simulations:

Game 1: AL vs. NL, CC Sabathia vs. Roy Halladay. The NL wins 5,450 games out of 10,000 simulations.
Game 2: AL vs. NL, David Price vs. Adam Wainwright. The NL wins 5,564 games.
Game 3: NL vs. AL, Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Jon Lester. The NL wins 5,459 games (using a DH).
Game 4: NL vs. AL, Tim Hudson vs. Justin Verlander. The AL wins 5,327 games (using a DH). The first ever multi-pitcher No-Hitter was performed by Verlander and Neftali Feliz.
Game 5: NL vs. AL, Tim Lincecum vs. Trevor Cahill. The AL wins 5,555 games (using a DH).
Game 6: AL vs. NL, Felix Hernandez vs. Josh Johnson. The NL wins 5,296 games. A second ever multi-pitcher No-Hitter was performed by King Felix and Rafael Soriano.
Game 7: AL vs. NL, anything goes. The NL wins 5,158 games.

The NL takes the seven game series 5-2. In 24 simulated series, the NL now has a comfortable 14-10 record against their AL rivals. With the NL also winning the crucial seventh game series where just about anything goes, would history be on their side for the one-game ASG? The team that wins the seventh series has won the final game 14 times.

For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Sabathia and Halladay and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. To follow the new rule that dictates that the ASG be played with designated hitters, regardless of which league hosts the game, the DH's (Vladimir Guerrero of the AL and Adrian Gonzalez of the NL) were never replaced.

The starting lineups, first for the American League (I'm using 2011 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to represent the players on my All-Star teams):

Now the National League starting lineup:

Here is the result:

The 2010 NL All-Stars beat the 2010 AL All-Stars by a final score of 6-3. Sabathia was a bit wild in the first inning, allowing all six of the NL runs in the first inning on three hits, two walks, and a hit batter. The rest of the AL pitching staff shut down the NL bats, allowing just one hit the rest of the way. The AL offense however, had the hits, but just were not able to drive in enough runs to catch up with the NL's first inning barrage.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look).

The scoring plays were as follows:

Bottom 1: CC Sabathia pitching. Hanley Ramirez is hit by a pitch. David Wright strikes out. Albert Pujols walks, Ramirez advancing to second. Adrian Gonzalez reaches first base on a fielders choice (4-6), Ramirez advancing to third, Wright out at second base. Ryan Braun draws a walk, A Gonzalez advances to second. Carlos Gonzalez hits a single, Ramirez scores, A Gonzalez advancing to third, Braun advancing to second. Matt Holliday hits a single, A Gonzalez scores, Braun advancing to third, C Gonzalez advancing to second. Brian McCann hits a home run, Braun scores, C Gonzalez scores, Holliday scores.

Top 2: Roy Halladay pitching. Josh Hamilton hits a single. Vladimir Guerrero hits a single, Hamilton advancing to second. Evan Longoria hits a double to center field, Hamilton scores, Guerrero is thrown out at home attempting to score (8-2).

Top 7: Mike Adams pitching. Victor Martinez draws a walk. Chone Figgins pops out to Troy Tulowitzki (6). Nick Markakis hits a double, Martinez advancing to third. Marco Scutaro grounds out to Rickie Weeks (4-3), Martinez scores, Markakis advancing to third.

Top 9: Marmol pitching. Adrian Beltre draws a walk. John Buck strikes out. Howie Kendrick hits a double, Beltre scores.

Your starters, CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay.

The MVP for the 2010 All-Star Game is Brian McCann.

If the game actually existed, the MVP would be Brian McCann, who went 1-2 with a grand slam. His home run proved to be the difference as the AL rallied with three runs. Funny, but didn't McCann win the MVP award for the actual All-Star Game in 2010??? Anyway, although the SBS simulation dictated that Adam Wainwright took the W, the real winner should have been Halladay. Sabathia takes the loss, and the players who did not appear include pitchers Trevor Cahill, Mariano Rivera, and Joakim Soria of the AL, and Josh Johnson, Billy Wagner, and Brian Wilson of the NL.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the AL .DAT file, then the NL .DAT file:

Now that the 2010 All-Star Games are officially over, maybe now I can start work on the 2011 rosters and simulations. Maybe I can get these in before the end of the year (at least before the All-Star Game). Maybe I'll get around to doing the tournament now that I have 24 pairs of teams in play (not counting the 2011 teams).

I better stop. I have to be better at actually doing the work instead of just talking about it.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2012 Topps Update Series Sell Sheets are Live!!!

2012-05-15T19:01:00.001-05:00

When the sell sheets for 2011 Topps Update Series came out last May, I asked, "Why put these out now??!" It was too early to do this. Guess what came down the pipeline earlier this week???

Once again, the cards will be numbered #US1 to #US330 like last year. While they are a bit vague on the details, this is what I can surmise for a breakdown of the set:

330 cards, 190 of them are accounted for based on the preliminary checklist (subject to change, of course)
247 players (of which there are 53 TBD Rookies and 10 TBD Veterans still to be named)
10 "Rookie Debut" cards (featuring ten rookies and what they did in his major league debut. Wonder Boy himself...Bryce Harper, presently holding card #US183. There are 4 TBD spots for this subset)
8 Home Run Derby participants (TBD of course)
5 Record Breakers/Checklists
EVERY All-Star Selection (we can only hope at this point as there are 60 TBD spots presently reserved for the All-Stars)

The problem here is that unless MLB plans on increasing or decreasing the number of players on each roster, there will be 68 All-Stars on both rosters. Eight guys, possibly more, will be missing in this subset. That's misleading and not "EVERY" the players. Now unless Topps is truly going to stick to its word on EVERY All-Star Selection, what will most likely happen is that they will only include the players who actually make it into the game. They almost pulled it off in last year's Update Series, replacing Topps holdout Matt "I'm Too Good for Topps" Wieters with Tim Lincecum (funny, but unless things turn around, I don't see him or Pujols going to the ASG, meaning that the pictures on the sell sheets ARE MOCKUPS AND SHOULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO APPEAR IN THE PRODUCT!!!)

There is no checklist on which legends will appear as variations to the regular set (obviously...there weren't any in Series 1 and who knows what will happen in series 2).

Topps Gold cards will make their appearance here, and all 990 cards from ALL SERIES will get the Gold Foil treatment (numbered to 2012 of course). Other parallels include the usual colored borders (black #'d to 61, platinum 1 of 1's, Golden Moments (which turns out NOT to be the replacement of the aforementioned Topps Gold cards, Wood cards (also 1 of 1's, should have been used for the actual design...digressing), red-bordered cards for Target, blue-bordered cards for Walmart, purple-bordered cards for Toys R Us, and I wouldn't put it past them if Topps was able to manage to create orange-bordered cards like they are doing for their Factory sets (will there be green-bordered cards in the Holiday sets???)

Golden Moments, Golden Greats, and the popular 1987 Topps Minis, the three continuity inserts in 2012, conclude here. A new insert set, Blockbusters, features 30 players who made big splashes when being acquired by a new team. The Golden Giveaway also concludes with another 10-card set. The 2012 set will also feature autos and relics from the All-Star Game. Golden Relic cards will be included, and you can see the explanations for yourself by clicking on the proper picture above.

I did not find a site with Product information (if I do find it,I will include it here on the blog). A preliminary checklist can be found here, but as repeated constantly (I can't stress it enough), it is always subject to change.

Bring on November!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Happy 4th Anniversary to bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog!!!

2012-05-12T14:33:00.004-05:00

On May 8, 2008, I started this humble, little blog. That means this past Tuesday, the blog turned four years old.

So...

Happy Anniversary to Me!!! (Note, I have run this same post for previous anniversaries...feel free to enjoy once again now!!!)

(the words to the song for those who either can't access the video, or for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing)

(Gioacchino Rossini; arr. William Hanna / Joseph Barbera)
Practically a restaurant standard, most people don't realize that these lyrics, to the tune of "The William Tell Overture", were written by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera for the episode titled "The Hot Piano".

Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Haaappy Anniversary

Pour a cheerful toast and fill it
Happy Anniversary
But be careful you don't spill it
Happy Anniversary

Ooooo Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Haaappy Anniversary

(Fred and Wilma Talking)

Ooooo Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Haaappy Anniversary

(Fred Talking)

Happy she and happy he
They're both as happy as can be
Celebrating merrily
their happy anniversary

(Fred and Wilma Talking)

Ooooo Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Haaappy Anniversary

(Fred Talking)

Ooooo Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Haaappy Anniversary

We now state emphatically
its happy anniversary
Not another day could be
a happy anniversary

Ooooo Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Happy Anniversary
Happy (slow)
Happy (slow)
Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy (fast) Anniversary!!!

Since I kept track of this last year, I think I'll do it again. Since May 8, 2011, I:

added 2,877 cards to my official collection
wrote 192 posts (not all necessarily about baseball cards)
had more than 40,000 people find their way here, and 60,000 plus hits to show for it
been added to at least 30 blogs on their blogrolls (this is a liberal estimate)
gained 36 followers (I'm finally at 200 followers...YAY!!!)
added 100 plus blogs to the Sports Card Blogroll, and most importantly
earned acceptance into this wonderful world called the Hobby Blogging Community

I want to thank everyone who's ever found their way here and decided to come back. Thank you very much for joining me on my journey as I continue building onto my collection. It is the hope for year 4 of bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog that I not only show off more of my growing collection or give my opinions about the Hobby topic of the day, but also to inform, possibly to entertain, to show more cards that might have never seen the light of day, and to become a stronger voice in the hobby (this last one will take some time...).

To celebrate the fourth anniversary of this dog and pony show, I'm going to try and bring back a number of segments that have not been featured in a while, including (yes, I promised this last year...maybe...):

the ever popular "Topps Cards that Make You Go...What??! of the Week"
the return of the "2011 Topps Archives Project" (I swear, I'll get this going again as part of "What I Should Have Written in 2011") especially now that there will be a 2012 Topps Archives

Future topics for the upcoming year will also include:

A tournament of my past All-Star Teams to determine the best of All-Time
As you probably know, one of the coolest things Topps included on the backs of each card in Series 1 was a mention of a card from the past 60 years that shared the same card number. Before Series 2 arrives in June, we will list the cards mentioned. This will be a feature of "What I Should Have Written in 2011."
Coming in June, the return of the Random Card of the Day...if I'm allowed to do some heavy typing.

Thank you for reading. Continue to enjoy the journey.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Retired But Relevant Section Added to the Sports Card Blogroll

2012-05-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. In fact, I think this is the first time I've written on here in May. This humble little blog will be 4-years-old very soon, a long time for a Hobby Card Blog.

I've been very busy these last few weeks. Yes, I've bought cards (I found the Cubs and the two All-Star Team retail sets and will go over them soon). If you catch the Facebook patch on the sidebar of the blog, you'd see that last week, my daughter (the big Derrek Lee fan) and her dance troupe won gold at the Starbound National Dance competition, and we got to watch her perform. I'm so proud of her. But I digress.

At the end of April, I updated the Sports Card Blogroll. The glitches, as you probably had read on here, have finally been fixed and I've been busy adding a number of new blogs to the site. But I also had to remove a few, including one that caught a lot of people's attention: '75 Topps (it's far out man). First came the comments:

Maybe a new list for blogs which have a start and finish, like the '75 Topps blog. He 'finished' it, but it's a great resource and a great read. Like Dickens, these are like serial novels, but they do end, yet continue to exist and serve.

Then from 30-Year Old Cardboard:

I agree with Anonymous, completing a set-based blog is a major accomplishment. Maybe creating a 'retired blogs' section would be a good idea? I would hate to see that blog just disappear...

Finally, an e-mail from friend of the blog Mark Aubrey:

I'm going to petition you to add the "1975 Topps (it's far out, man)"blog to the Sports Card Blogroll Hall of Fame section. I think thatis on par with the 88 Topps Cards blog.

It won't be updated and it really is a work.

What a dilemma. What should I do???

If you haven't read the blog, Night Owl, who already is a prolific writer and number one on many blogger's reading lists, did a great job with profiling every card from the 1975 Topps set. Breaking every down card into a ton of different and unique categories (down to the grouping of two-colored borders), he gave each card a glowing biography. The blog itself even reads like a book just of the iconic '75 Topps set.

Now the problem. Is the blog Hall of Fame Worthy? The Blogroll presently contains three blogs in the HOF section. These blogs will never be removed from the SCBR ever. All three were placed on the HOF section because the blogs and the writers broke new ground. They were influential to a number of writers (including yours truly) and inspired us to dive into the Hobby blogging pool. 88 Topps Cards was the first blog enshrined into the SCBR HOF. I wrote the reasons why almost three years ago. Andy, who wrote the blog, gave each card in both the regular and traded 1988 Topps sets its own day in the sun. And it was a pioneer in that nobody else had done a blog about one entire set and, up to that point, done so to completion. The fact that his site still gets more than a thousand readers a month, more than three years after the blog ended is a testament to what a incredible reference the site is and an influence to many who have dared to create a blog focused on one specific set. Want to know how challenging a blog of this magnitude is? Andy was working on a blog for the 1978 Topps set, but was not able to finish it (to his credit though, he did manage to complete a blog for the 1988 Score Traded set, and was working on another card blog before giving up on the genre altogether).

So back to the point? Is the '75 set blog HOF worthy? Perhaps.

Should every blog that focuses on a specific set manage to be completed be included into the HOF section of the blogroll? No.

I mean, even that 88' Score Traded blog managed to be completed, but it's not HOF worthy (nothing against it Andy...even if it highlights Score cards). Just like debates regarding which players should be inducted into real HOF's or not (and please, I don't want to get into any arguments here), I know that whatever I decide to do, I'll get called out on it. For now, I am not going to put the '75 blog on the HOF section (the writer is still active, and is presently working on not one, but TWO set blogs to go with his eponymous blog).

So before you get out the torches and pitchforks, I have come up with a compromise. I have added a new section to the blogroll called "Retired, but Relevant." It is not going to be part of the main page, but instead on the sidebar just underneath the HOF section. The blogs added to this section will never be removed (but they will also not count towards the active blog roster). I am going to add the '75 Topps blog to this site as it is still extremely relevant (and as a completed blog should be linked in perpetuity on the blogroll anyway). I have added five other blogs to this section as while they are no longer active (save for probably one...), they make great reference sites, especially because of the subject matter. This is probably where completed set blogs will be going when the time comes (note that I said COMPLETED set blogs...if you were working on one and didn't finish, it probably won't be going here). So along with the '75 Topps blog, I am adding the Red Hearts Cards blog to this section.

Yes, the set contains only 33 cards. Yes, the set consists of cards found as a premium that came included with cans of dog food. But when a small, hardly recognized set that came out in 1954 could score both Mickey Mantle and Stan Musial while Topps could not, (and Bowman didn't have Musial in 1954 either), you have an incredible looking set. Yes, the writing about each card is brief compared to the '88 and '75 Topps cards (understatement), but he completed the now 58-year-old set (and none were reprints). So that goes there.

Also, I've always wanted to put the sites that were created after the now popular Ginter Codes were solved. Jason Wong (2008), Nick Jacoby & Mike Gellner (2009), Jacoby & Company (2010), and the trio of Guillaume, Frank, and Ryan (2011) each cracked the Ginter Codes AND wrote blogs explaining how they did it. Instead of having to search for each one, I thought what better way than to have them added onto the blogroll in one easy to find location? So all four of the solution blogs have been added to this new section as well (honestly, the 2011 answer blog isn't retired, but I highly doubt that the boys will be writing on there any time soon).

So there you have it. A compromise. I'm not saying that the '75 Topps blog isn't HOF worthy. It's just that I wanted to save that section for the truly inspirational, the truly unique, the truly pioneering blogs of this Hobby (and they managed to reach six months of inactivity at one point or another). The three blogs inducted into the HOF meet that criteria (along with 88 Topps Cards, the other two blogs are The Baseball Card Blog and Dinged Corners). There are handful of blogs that, when the time comes, will be added to the HOF some day. But for now, the membership remains at three.

I thank all who left comments regarding Night Owl's '75 Topps blog. I invite all of you to tell me what blogs should be included in the R & R section of the blogroll. Certainly the six I picked are worthy of inclusion. But I leave it up to you to tell me if I'm missing any other blogs that are no longer on the active blogroll that should be added back into this new section. Send me e-mails at bdj610@hotmail.com or leave comments on this humble little blog and tell me what you think.

This makes three straight posts on here about the SCBR. Maybe one day, I might want to start talking about cards again.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

A Really Quick Update re: The Sports Card Blogroll

2012-04-30T21:58:00.003-05:00

THE MOST RECENT POSTS SECTION OF THE SPORTS CARD BLOGROLL HAS FINALLY BEEN FIXED!!! ALL 355 ACTIVE BLOGS HAVE BEEN ADDED WITHOUT THE ERRORS THAT WAS PLAGUING THE SECTION!!! I CAN'T STOP SHOUTING I'M SO EXCITED!!! THAT IS ALL!!!

(now trying to calm down)

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Two Months Worth of Blogroll Updating!!!

2012-04-30T18:37:00.002-05:00

The Blogger glitches that has plagued the Sports Card Blogroll (and for that matter every blog that tries to link more than 160 blogs on a roll at a time) is still ongoing. I am beginning to think that I should get rid of the Most Recent Blog Posts section entirely and reformat the rest of the rolls so that it features all the fun things (including pictures and blog previews) that made the Most Recent Blog Posts section popular in the first place.

I also realize that I did not do any maintenance on the SCBR at the end of March. So now I'm a month behind (so what else is new). So at our last post, we were up to 354 active blogs. During March and April, a scant nine blogs were added, bringing the total to 363 blogs. Here are the blogs that should have been removed back at the end of March (now reaching seven months of inactivity):

And here are the ones now being removed due to six months of inactivity:

That's eight blogs total. This brings the grand total down to 355 active blogs, a net gain of +1 for a two month period.

I'll be honest, the new job and hours has taken a bit of time away from the 'net (which in a way was a good thing as it was taking away productivity). It didn't help that blogger was still having issues with the blog rolls and even after switching to Google Chrome, the problems still did not go away.

I do have a few e-mails asking to bring back a few blogs (Old School Box Breaks for one). And I'm still looking for new Hobby blogs to include onto the big blogroll, glitch or no glitch. So if you happen to have a blog about sports cards, or if you know of blogs that should be on the active roster, please send me an e-mail at bdj610@hotmail.com. Drop me a line on twitter (@bdj610) or send me a note through Facebook (if you've friended me) and tell me if you found a new blog. If you're the writer of a blog that hasn't been used in a while and plan on bringing it back, please feel free to do the same. There is so much going on in the Hobby. We need a lot of independent voices and collectors to cover it all. Until next time.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Introducing the Next Iconic Card of the Hobby!!!

2012-04-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

One of the 30 TBD RC spots has been taken...

by this guy:

So here we are, five weeks before Series 2 comes to market, and Topps now has to hurry and get Harper into the set and probably find a way to sneak him into EVERY insert set to boot (I see Golden Futures as a sure sign, not sure how he'll fit in with others). How's that boycott looking now guys???

I get the feeling that if Lendy Castillo doesn't get a card in this set, I'm going to be very disappointed. Regardless, the hype continues.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Are You Ready for Harper-Mania??!

2012-04-28T07:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Ryan Zimmerman being placed on the DL, the brain trust of the Washington Nationals have decided to call up the number 2 ranked prospect in the minor leagues per MLB.com (ironically, the Angels also called up the number 3 prospect in the minor leagues, but he made his Major League Debut last year).

That's right folks, Bryce Harper, the second coming of the Hobby apocalypse (the first was his teammate and today's starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg), is set to make his MLB debut today, April 28, 2012, at Dodgers Stadium.

Do you know what this means??! DO YOU??!

It means that the wait is over for collectors of Topps cards (note I am not saying Bowman or Pro Debut cards) to get their hands on a card featuring the Nationals' wunderkind with this:

Now, the Hobby Twitterverse has been abuzz with speculation ever since @toppscards wrote this:

So we are hearing something about some" kid" named Bryce getting called up to the Bigs? Anybody know what this is all about? :)

and

Check in next week, will begin to share our BIG plans for Bryce Harper, we are excited for his debut tomorrow. Stay tuned...

So speculation time folks. Will Topps put him in Series 2 or Update? Will Topps add a 2012 Topps designed card into their Golden Giveaway program akin to Strasburg just two years ago? Will there be exclusives at this year's National (which I can't go to this year)? Will there be #661 in the Update series AND Series 2 factory sets (again, just like Strasburg two years ago)?

I have a better question?

When Ryan Zimmerman is taken off the DL, will the Nationals be sending Harper down for more AAA seasoning?

Get ready for a storm folks. Things are about to get interesting.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Coming Soon to a Store Near You (If You Haven't Seen Them on the Internet Yet)...2012 Topps 17-Card Team Sets.

2012-04-18T19:30:00.000-05:00

How about that? I'm actually going to get this in on time.

Unlike last year when my source for pictures didn't have everything I needed (and thus last year's post came out until the middle of May), I have all the pictures. I have all the checklists (edited because of a number of spelling mistakes from my source). The only thing I don't have, however, are the sets themselves. The goal is to get them all before the All-Star Game rosters are announced. But until then, this will have to suffice.

For the uninitiated, here is a bit of a background behind my history with Topps Team Sets (much of this has been written before):

Since 2006, as a way to bring kids back to the Hobby, Topps began issuing Team Sets for each of the 30 MLB teams. And they could be found EVERYWHERE!!! From big box stores like Target and WalMart, to your local Supermarket, these blister packed sets contained at least 14 cards of your local team's heroes. No leafing through pack after pack to get cards of the team you root for, it's all here in easy-to-carry-to-the-register-package.

While many cards had pictures similar to those found in the 2006 base set, there were a number of cards of players who were pictured in different uniforms, had different pictures than what was used in the base set (photoshop was used in more than one instance), or players who were left of the base set included, meaning that they were only found in these retail only sets. These must have sold very well because in 2007 and 2008, these 14-card packages returned to store shelves. In 2009, a bonus 15th card was added to each of the sets. These bonus cards could have been of the stadium, the manager, the team mascot, a bonus player, or even a President or two. In 2010, two more cards were added to the blister packs, so each set contained an astounding 17 cards. In 2011, Topps introduced AL and NL All-Star Team Sets along with the 30 team sets. Of course I had to get those as well.

For the record, I have been insane enough to buy not just one set, or even two. I have bought ALL 30 TEAM SETS for the last SIX YEARS (plus the two All-Star Sets from 2011).That's 182 team sets, roughly 2764 cards total, that I have added to my collection. What can I say, I wanted to collect them all...

I found the preliminary checklists for all these sets back in February, just in time for spring training. However, a number of players who had found new homes before the season started weren't included. So the original checklist that I found vanished online. Keep in mind that the information gathered on here might not necessarily be accurate (they are of course subject to change) due to gathering this information online. If these are the correct checklists, before this post ends, I will share some of my grievances with the checklists (if you caught me on Twitter last week, you'll get the idea of what I'm talking about).

So who's in? It makes for one of the longest posts on the blog, but it's well worth it. So here they are again, the checklists for all 30 teams.

Arizona Diamondbacks
ARZ1 Justin Upton
ARZ2 Chris Young
ARZ3 Stephen Drew
ARZ4 Lyle Overbay
ARZ5 Ryan Roberts
ARZ6 Daniel Hudson
ARZ7 Gerardo Parra
ARZ8 J.J. Putz
ARZ9 Paul Goldschmidt
ARZ10 Ian Kennedy
ARZ11 Miguel Montero
ARZ12 Willie Bloomquist
ARZ13 Jason Kubel
ARZ14 Trevor Cahill
ARZ15 Aaron Hill
ARZ16 Josh Collmenter
ARZ17 Chase Field

Atlanta Braves
ATL1 Jason Heyward
ATL2 Jonny Venters
ATL3 Martin Prado
ATL4 Tim Hudson
ATL5 Freddie Freeman
ATL6 Mike Minor
ATL7 Michael Bourn
ATL8 Dan Uggla
ATL9 Tommy Hanson
ATL10 Brandon Beachy
ATL11 Jair Jurrjens
ATL12 Chipper Jones
ATL13 Craig Kimbrel
ATL14 Eric Hinske
ATL15 Brian McCann
ATL16 Julio Teheran
ATL17 Turner Field

Baltimore Orioles
BALT1 Adam Jones
BALT2 Nick Markakis
BALT3 Nolan Reimold
BALT4 Brian Roberts
BALT5 Chris Davis
BALT6 Alfredo Simon
BALT7 Kevin Gregg
BALT8 J.J. Hardy
BALT9 Endy Chavez
BALT10 Tommy Hunter
BALT11 Jake Arrieta
BALT12 Robert Andino
BALT13 Jim Johnson
BALT14 Brian Matusz
BALT15 Mark Reynolds
BALT16 Zach Britton
BALT17 Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Boston Red Sox
BOS1 Jacoby Ellsbury
BOS2 Josh Beckett
BOS3 Carl Crawford
BOS4 Kevin Youkilis
BOS5 Adrian Gonzalez
BOS6 Daniel Bard
BOS7 Jon Lester
BOS8 Dustin Pedroia
BOS9 David Ortiz
BOS10 Andrew Bailey
BOS11 Clay Buchholz
BOS12 Mike Aviles
BOS13 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
BOS14 Mark Melancon
BOS15 Fenway Park 1912
BOS16 Fenway Park 1967
BOS17 Fenway Park Modern Day

Chicago Cubs
CHC1 Starlin Castro
CHC2 Reed Johnson
CHC3 Alfonso Soriano
CHC4 Ryan Dempster
CHC5 Darwin Barney
CHC6 Kerry Wood
CHC7 Marlon Byrd
CHC8 Matt Garza
CHC9 Geovany Soto
CHC10 Randy Wells
CHC11 Carlos Marmol
CHC12 Bryan LaHair
CHC13 Anthony Rizzo
CHC14 David DeJesus
CHC15 Paul Maholm
CHC16 Ian Stewart
CHC17 Wrigley Field

Chicago White Sox
CWS1 Paul Konerko
CWS2 Jake Peavy
CWS3 Matt Thornton
CWS4 Gordon Beckham
CWS5 Brent Morel
CWS6 A.J. Pierzynski
CWS7 Alex Rios
CWS8 Dayan Viciedo
CWS9 Alexei Ramirez
CWS10 Adam Dunn
CWS11 Brent Lillibridge
CWS12 Alejandro De Aza
CWS13 Chris Sale
CWS14 John Danks
CWS15 Gavin Floyd
CWS16 Philip Humber
CWS17 US Cellular Field

Cincinnati Reds
CIN1 Joey Votto
CIN2 Jay Bruce
CIN3 Mat Latos
CIN4 Scott Rolen
CIN5 Johnny Cueto
CIN6 Homer Bailey
CIN7 Drew Stubbs
CIN8 Brandon Phillips
CIN9 Ryan Hanigan
CIN10 Bronson Arroyo
CIN11 Mike Leake
CIN12 Juan Francisco
CIN13 Zack Cozart
CIN14 Ryan Madson
CIN15 Aroldis Chapman
CIN16 Chris Heisey
CIN17 Great American Ball Park

Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
CLE1 Carlos Santana
CLE2 Lonnie Chisenhall
CLE3 Shin-Soo Choo
CLE4 Travis Hafner
CLE5 Jason Kipnis
CLE6 Ubaldo Jimenez
CLE7 Michael Brantley
CLE8 Jason Donald
CLE9 Vinnie Pestano
CLE10 Josh Tomlin
CLE11 Matt Laporta
CLE12 Asdrubal Cabrera
CLE13 Grady Sizemore
CLE14 Justin Masterson
CLE15 Derek Lowe
CLE16 Chris Perez
CLE17 Progressive Field

Colorado Rockies
COL1 Troy Tulowitzki
COL2 Carlos Gonzalez
COL3 Eric Young
COL4 Jorge De La Rosa
COL5 Todd Helton
COL6 Drew Pomeranz
COL7 Dexter Fowler
COL8 Juan Nicasio
COL9 Jason Giambi
CLO10 Jhoulys Chacin
COL11 Ramon Hernandez
COL12 Jordan Pacheco
COL13 Jonathan Herrera
COL14 Rafael Betancourt
COL15 Michael Cuddyer
COL16 Guillermo Moscoso
COL17 Coors Field

Detroit Tigers
DET1 Prince Fielder
DET2 Ryan Raburn
DET3 Brennan Boesch
DET4 Alex Avila
DET5 Miguel Cabrera
DET6 Doug Fister
DET7 Delmon Young
DET8 Victor Martinez
DET9 Brandon Inge
DET10 Justin Verlander
DET11 Max Scherzer
DET12 Austin Jackson
DET13 Jhonny Peralta
DET14 Jacob Turner
DET15 Rick Porcello
DET16 Jose Valverde
DET17 Comerica Park

Houston Astros
HOU1 Jed Lowrie
HOU2 Jordan Schafer
HOU3 J.D. Martinez
HOU4 Brett Wallace
HOU5 Chris Johnson
HOU6 Wandy Rodriguez
HOU7 Jason Bourgeois
HOU8 Jimmy Paredes
HOU9 Humberto Quintero
HOU10 Brett Myers
HOU11 Carlos Lee
HOU12 Brian Bogusevic
HOU13 Jose Altuve
HOU14 Bud Norris
HOU15 J.A. Happ
HOU16 Matt Downs
HOU17 Minute Maid Park

Kansas City Royals
KAN1 Eric Hosmer
KAN2 Jeff Francoeur
KAN3 Alex Gordon
KAN4 Salvador Perez
KAN5 Johnny Giavotella
KAN6 Yuniesky Betancourt
KAN7 Bruce Chen
KAN8 Alcides Escobar
KAN9 Billy Butler
KAN10 Lorenzo Cain
KAN11 Danny Duffy
KAN12 Mike Moustakas
KAN13 Jonathan Sanchez
KAN14 Luke Hochevar
KAN15 Joakim Soria
KAN16 Aaron Crow
KAN17 Kauffman Stadium

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
ANG1 Albert Pujols
ANG2 Peter Bourjos
ANG3 Vernon Wells
ANG4 Mark Trumbo
ANG5 Alberto Callaspo
ANG6 Ervin Santana
ANG7 Mike Trout
ANG8 Bobby Abreu
ANG9 Howie Kendrick
ANG10 Dan Haren
ANG11 Jered Weaver
ANG12 Torii Hunter
ANG13 C.J. Wilson
ANG14 Chris Iannetta
ANG15 Erick Aybar
ANG16 Jordan Walden
ANG17 Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Los Angeles Dodgers
LAD1 Matt Kemp
LAD2 Jerry Sands
LAD3 Mark Ellis
LAD4 Juan Uribe
LAD5 Juan Rivera
LAD6 Ted Lilly
LAD7 Andre Ethier
LAD8 Clayton Kershaw
LAD9 James Loney
LAD10 Kenley Jansen
LAD11 Aaron Harang
LAD12 Tony Gwynn Jr
LAD13 Dee Gordon
LAD14 Chad Billingsley
LAD15 Javy Guerra
LAD16 Nathan Eovaldi
LAD17 Dodger Stadium

Miami Marlins
MIA1 Jose Reyes
MIA2 Logan Morrison
MIA3 Anibal Sanchez
MIA4 Ricky Nolasco
MIA5 Omar Infante
MIA6 Hanley Ramirez
MIA7 Josh Johnson
MIA8 Emilio Bonifacio
MIA9 John Buck
MIA10 Mark Buehrle
MIA11 Heath Bell
MIA12 Mike Stanton
MIA13 Gaby Sanchez
MIA14 Matt Dominguez
MIA15 Carlos Zambrano
MIA16 Bryan Petersen
MIA17 Marlins Park

Milwaukee Brewers
MIL1 Ryan Braun
MIL2 Carlos Gomez
MIL3 Zack Greinke
MIL4 Aramis Ramirez
MIL5 Mat Gamel
MIL6 Shaun Marcum
MIL7 Nyjer Morgan
MIL8 Rickie Weeks
MIL9 Alex Gonzalez
MIL10 Yovani Gallardo
MIL11 Randy Wolf
MIL12 Corey Hart
MIL13 Jonathan Lucroy
MIL14 John Axford
MIL15 Francisco Rodriguez
MIL16 Chris Narveson
MIL17 Miller Park

Minnesota Twins
MIN1 Joe Mauer
MIN2 Danny Valencia
MIN3 Ben Revere
MIN4 Trevor Plouffe
MIN5 Ryan Doumit
MIN6 Carl Pavano
MIN7 Denard Span
MIN8 Nick Blackburn
MIN9 Tsuyoshi Nishioka
MIN10 Josh Willingham
MIN11 Scott Baker
MIN12 Chris Parmelee
MIN13 Justin Morneau
MIN14 Francisco Liriano
MIN15 Matt Capps
MIN16 Joe Benson
MIN17 Target Field

New York Mets
NYM1 David Wright
NYM2 Mike Pelfrey
NYM3 Jason Bay
NYM4 Johan Santana
NYM5 Ike Davis
NYM6 Andres Torres
NYM7 Lucas Duda
NYM8 Josh Thole
NYM9 Jon Niese
NYM10 R.A. Dickey
NYM11 Frank Francisco
NYM12 Ruben Tejada
NYM13 Daniel Murphy
NYM14 Dillon Gee
NYM15 Bobby Parnell
NYM16 Justin Turner
NYM17 Citi Field

New York Yankees
NYY1 Derek Jeter
NYY2 Alex Rodriguez
NYY3 Brett Gardner
NYY4 Russell Martin
NYY5 Michael Pineda
NYY6 CC Sabathia
NYY7 Curtis Granderson
NYY8 Eduardo Nunez
NYY9 Mark Teixeira
NYY10 Hiroki Kuroda
NYY11 Ivan Nova
NYY12 Nick Swisher
NYY13 Robinson Cano
NYY14 Freddy Garcia
NYY15 Mariano Rivera
NYY16 Phil Hughes
NYY17 Yankee Stadium

Oakland Athletics
OAK1 Jemile Weeks
OAK2 Cliff Pennington
OAK3 Coco Crisp
OAK4 Dallas Braden
OAK5 Kurt Suzuki
OAK6 Seth Smith
OAK7 Scott Sizemore
OAK8 Brandon Allen
OAK9 Tom Milone
OAK10 Brandon McCarthy
OAK11 Michael Taylor
OAK12 Brett Anderson
OAK13 Collin Cowgill
OAK14 Josh Reddick
OAK15 Brad Peacock
OAK16 Rich Harden
OAK17 Oakland Alameda County Colliseum

Philadelphia Phillies
PHI1 Roy Halladay
PHI2 Shane Victorino
PHI3 Kyle Kendrick
PHI4 Jim Thome
PHI5 Jimmy Rollins
PHI6 Cliff Lee
PHI7 John Mayberry
PHI8 Placido Polanco
PHI9 Carlos Ruiz
PHI10 Ryan Howard
PHI11 Cole Hamels
PHI12 Hunter Pence
PHI13 Chase Utley
PHI14 Joe Blanton
PHI15 Jonathan Papelbon
PHI16 Vance Worley
PHI17 Citizens Bank Park

Pittsburgh Pirates
PIT1 Andrew McCutchen
PIT2 Alex Presley
PIT3 Clint Barmes
PIT4 Neil Walker
PIT5 Garrett Jones
PIT6 Casey McGehee
PIT7 Michael McKenry
PIT8 Jose Tabata
PIT9 Chase d'Arnaud
PIT10 Erik Bedard
PIT11 Charlie Morton
PIT12 Kevin Correia
PIT13 Pedro Alvarez
PIT14 James McDonald
PIT15 Jeff Karstens
PIT 16 Joel Hanrahan
PIT17 PNC Park

St. Louis Cardinals
STL1 David Freese
STL2 Jon Jay
STL3 Matt Holliday
STL4 Carlos Beltran
STL5 Yadier Molina
STL6 Chris Carpenter
STL7 Allen Craig
STL8 Skip Schumaker
STL9 Rafael Furcal
STL10 Adam Wainwright
STL11 Kyle Lohse
STL12 Lance Berkman
STL13 Daniel Descalso
STL14 Jaime Garcia
STL15 Jason Motte
STL16 Fredbird
STL17 Busch Stadium

San Diego Padres
SD1 Cameron Maybin
SD2 Will Venable
SD3 Kyle Blanks
SD4 Huston Street
SD5 Orlando Hudson
SD6 Nick Hundley
SD7 Yonder Alonso
SD8 Jason Bartlett
SD9 Carlos Quentin
SD10 Edinson Volquez
SD11 Clayton Richard
SD12 Chase Headley
SD13 Jesus Guzman
SD14 Tim Stauffer
SD15 Cory Luebke
SD16 Dustin Moseley
SD17 PETCO Park

San Francisco Giants
SF1 Tim Lincecum
SF2 Brandon Belt
SF3 Melky Cabrera
SF4 Matt Cain
SF5 Angel Pagan
SF6 Ryan Vogelsong
SF7 Mike Fontenot
SF8 Aubrey Huff
SF9 Freddy Sanchez
SF10 Madison Bumgarner
SF11 Barry Zito
SF12 Pablo Sandoval
SF13 Buster Posey
SF14 Brian Wilson
SF15 Nate Schierholtz
SF16 Brandon Crawford
SF17 AT&T Park

Seattle Mariners
SEA1 Dustin Ackley
SEA2 Ichiro Suzuki
SEA3 Trayvon Robinson
SEA4 Franklin Gutierrez
SEA5 Felix Hernandez
SEA6 Jason Vargas
SEA7 Brandon League
SEA8 Brendan Ryan
SEA9 Mike Carp
SEA10 Miguel Olivo
SEA11 Jesus Montero
SEA12 Kyle Seager
SEA13 Justin Smoak
SEA14 Alex Liddi
SEA15 Mariner Moose
SEA16 The Kingdome
SEA17 Safeco Field

Tampa Bay Rays
TB1 David Price
TB2 Matt Joyce
TB3 Desmond Jennings
TB4 Wade Davis
TB5 Sean Rodriguez
TB6 Jeremy Hellickson
TB7 B.J. Upton
TB8 James Shields
TB9 Kyle Farnsworth
TB10 Evan Longoria
TB11 Matt Moore
TB12 Ben Zobrist
TB13 Reid Brignac
TB14 Jeff Niemann
TB15 Jose Molina
TB16 Joe Maddon
TB17 Tropicana Field

Texas Rangers
TEX1 Josh Hamilton
TEX2 Nelson Cruz
TEX3 Craig Gentry
TEX4 Mitch Moreland
TEX5 Michael Young
TEX6 Joe Nathan
TEX7 Mike Napoli
TEX8 Adrian Beltre
TEX9 Ian Kinsler
TEX10 Colby Lewis
TEX11 Matt Harrison
TEX12 David Murphy
TEX13 Elvis Andrus
TEX14 Derek Holland
TEX15 Neftali Feliz
TEX16 Alexi Ogando
TEX17 Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Toronto Blue Jays
TOR1 Jose Bautista
TOR2 Travis Snider
TOR3 Eric Thames
TOR4 Yunel Escobar
TOR5 Kelly Johnson
TOR6 Brett Cecil
TOR7 Colby Rasmus
TOR8 Ricky Romero
TOR9 J.P. Arencibia
TOR10 Brandon Morrow
TOR11 Henderson Alvarez
TOR12 Edwin Encarnacion
TOR13 Adam Lind
TOR14 Rajai Davis
TOR15 Sergio Santos
TOR16 Brett Lawrie
TOR17 Rogers Centre

Washington Nationals
WAS1 Stephen Strasburg
WAS2 Ian Desmond
WAS3 Jayson Werth
WAS4 John Lannan
WAS5 Wilson Ramos
WAS6 Gio Gonzalez
WAS7 Ryan Zimmerman
WAS8 Michael Morse
WAS9 Steve Lombardozzi
WAS10 Jordan Zimmermann
WAS11 Chien-Ming Wang
WAS12 Danny Espinosa
WAS13 Adam LaRoche
WAS14 Roger Bernadina
WAS15 Drew Storen
WAS16 Tyler Clippard
WAS17 Nationals Park

AL All-Stars
AL1 Albert Pujols
AL2 Evan Longoria
AL3 Miguel Cabrera
AL4 Josh Hamilton
AL5 Jacoby Ellsbury
AL6 Jose Bautista
AL7 Jered Weaver
AL8 Felix Hernandez
AL9 Justin Verlander
AL10 Ichiro Suzuki
AL11 Robinson Cano
AL12 CC Sabathia
AL13 Prince Fielder
AL14 Dustin Pedroia
AL15 Adrian Gonzalez
AL16 Derek Jeter
AL17 Alex Rodriguez

NL All-Stars
NL1 Matt Kemp
NL2 Ryan Braun
NL3 Jose Reyes
NL4 David Wright
NL5 Ryan Howard
NL6 Roy Halladay
NL7 Tim Lincecum
NL8 Clayton Kershaw
NL9 Troy Tulowitzki
NL10 Carlos Gonzalez
NL11 Dan Uggla
NL12 Hanley Ramirez
NL13 Buster Posey
NL14 Justin Upton
NL15 Joey Votto
NL16 Mike Stanton
NL17 Stephen Strasburg

All 30 team sets include the team's home stadium and unlike last year's "Home of the Reds" card, we now have a "Great American Ball Park" card. All the stadiums are properly named (okay, save the debate about how corporate sponsorships in naming rights for stadiums for another time). But I have a problem with this.

It's hard enough for some teams to get 16 players onto the eponymous set of 660. That's why I like these team sets...you get players who would otherwise be ignored. So I know that in past sets, we've had managers (Joe Maddon is on here this year), mascots (catch Fredbird with the rest of the Cardinals and Mariner Moose with the M's). I get that. If you notice, there is no trace of Mickey Mantle anywhere on the Yankees' team set (no offense to Mantle fans, but YAY!!!) I can live with these...really, I can.

But is there any reason why...WHY!!!...there are three cards of Fenway Park on the Red Sox team set? The Kingdome, I can understand (then again, is anybody in Seattle peeved that there are only 14 M's in your set to go with the Moose and two stadiums or are you content in knowing that 11 guys...maybe more...from your Opening Day roster was snubbed?) as it is no longer around.

Yes, Fenway is 100 years old. Was it really necessary though to include cards of what the Park looked like in 1912 AND 1967??? I think one card (of 1912 to show what the place originally looked like) would have made sense. But short of winning the pennant in 1967, why choose a picture from THAT year??? Hey Topps, any plans on doing a Fenway Park Legacy set since that other card company can't do it and the one with half the licenses can't use logos?

As prices for all 30 team sets are in the $4.99 - $8.99 range, I think I'll hold off on getting them right now (unless I happen to see them live at the Field of Dreams in Woodfield...all bets are off then) until the prices go down a bit (the one place I do enjoy ordering from doesn't even have anything listed). Regardless of when I get my hands on these cards and add them to my expanding collection, I hope putting these checklists online helps you decide to go out and get a team set, or two, or thirty.

Happy Hunting!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Jackie Robinson Day 2012

2012-04-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

Thank you.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Four Cards Off the Wantlist

2012-04-06T00:51:00.000-05:00

For years now (okay, since 2009), I have been searching in vain for the Target and Walmart exclusive Legends of the Game cards. For those who don't remember, here's a quick history:

In 2009, Topps included an insert set called Legends of the Game. Taking advantage of their CMG 17-player exclusive license, the set featured 17 legends whose feats were linked in a timeline, a history of the game if you will. The time lines were featured in the early years of this blog. Now to help retail sales at the two big box stores (that would be Walmart and Target), Topps inserted more Legends of the Game insert cards in packs distributed to either store. But instead of designing these exclusive cards in the same color scheme as the regular cards, Topps printed what was called "Platinum" cards for Walmart and "Gold" cards for Target. These cards featured the same legends but highlighted different points of the player's career in the big timeline.

After a mass search, I was finally able to get both sets down to a point where I only needed seven cards to complete each 30 card insert set. And then, the cards seemed to vanish. I couldn't find these at card shows, and I was too impatient for eBay to put these out, so the quest to complete this set was stalled.

Until last week.

For a while now, one of the big eBay sellers has had these four cards on a Buy-It-Now sale. However, nobody seemed to be biting. And for the longest time, I kept the auctions for these cards in my watch list, hoping that the prices would eventually drop and that nobody else would come in and take these cards. While the prices never lowered, the cards were slowly being snatched up by like-minded collectors. It came to the point where there was just one copy left for one of the cards. I had to get them now before they were gone for good.

So I bought them.

And after a week of waiting, they finally arrived:

Getting these four cards means a few things:

I finally completed the 30-card Walmart set (the Platinum set)
I am now down to three cards to complete the Target Gold set (and they were part of the Update & Highlights set from 2009).

So now I am down to these three cards to complete my master set:

LLG22 Ozzie Smith
LLG23 Babe Ruth
LLG25 Nolan Ryan

Anybody have these that they'd be willing to send my way??? They look like this (and while I know I could just buy them from Check Out My Cards...wait - the Ryan card is now Out of Stock..., I'd rather go the route of asking the people who read this blog first):

Help me finish this set. When I finally do, I'll enter the complete timeline on this blog. Should be interesting to say the least.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The Season Already Started...

2012-04-04T18:38:00.001-05:00

Tonight, MLB officially opens the North American portion of the season as the defending World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals takes on the Miami Marlins (they're playing right now). And as the new look Marlins take the field at their new stadium to take on the now Pujols-less Redbirds, let us pause and remember...

that the season started last week in Japan!!! For those who didn't keep track, the Athletics and Mariners split their two game series at the Land of the Rising Sun.

Okay...now that it's out of the way.

Let the games begin. May your team have a successful 2012 season.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2012 Topps Factory Set Sell Sheets are Live!!!

2012-04-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

The sell sheet for this year's Topps Baseball Factory Sets is now live. Please take a look and see what is in store for 2012:

There was no checklist included, so we don't know who shows up in series 2...although that is a nice Prince Fielder card (notice he's in Tiger threads).

And instead of rookie variations (I think we don't have to worry about those anymore for the foreseeable future), each box will include a five card pack of ORANGE BASE PARALLEL CARDS!!! For the insane set collector or player collector who just HAS TO HAVE every color of the rainbow imaginable (remember, there are red parallel cards exclusive to Target, blue ones exclusive to Walmart, and purple cards found at Toys R Us. Who knows, maybe there will be green parallels when the Holiday set comes...making for an almost true rainbow experience (where does yellow fit in all of this???)

Thought I'd share. Happy Hunting!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. I'm beginning to love this Google Chrome thing...jba

Two Shows and Twelve Cards Later...

2012-04-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

With Blogger acting up saying that my Internet Browser is no longer able to see certain features, I now have Google Chrome as a third Internet browser (along with IE which I don't know what version I have, and Opera).

Anyway, I tweeted earlier (follow me @bdj610):

I don't know what the fuss is about. Went to 2 card shows within 2 miles of each other. Both full & there were kids. Hobby dying? Not here.

On the rare Sundays that there is not one but TWO card shows within distance of each other, I try to find ways to get to either, if not both. Today, I was able to do just that. Will I complete my ToppsTown set? Will there be more surprise Original Backs found in the quarter bins? Will I find my missing Gold Futures card? Stay tuned.

I arrived at the first show at 10:00 am CST, and the place was already hopping. It was packed as usual, and believe it or not, there were kids. KIDS!!! I found the one card I needed to complete my Gold Futures set (Mark Trumbo), and found an original back card from 2010 Topps Update Series (1975 Berra/Campanella MVP). Total spent on both cards: $0.50.

Seeing nothing else that I needed, I proceeded to the second card show. This was another Fred Copp production. Less of a crowd here (the spillover from the first show had not yet arrived). Saw a stack of 2011 and 2012 Topps Stickers. I do not yet have the 2012 Topps Sticker album, and I still need five more stickers to finish off the 2011 book. Unfortunately, I did not find any of the five I needed. I did find five of the nine Prime 9 Home Run Legends cards. The dealer said he had six, and was going to sell them to me for $5.00, but it turned out that he only had five of them (missing #5, Alex Rodriguez). Still paid him $5.00 for the cards.

The same dealer also had three SP cards from 2010 Update series. Now, I have really been bad about trying to hunt these down lately. But thanks to other commitments (like mortgage, utility bills, groceries), these SP cards have been less of a priority. And they're getting harder to find!!! But this guy had three of them (Steve Carlton, Washington Senators, New York Giants). And I could have them all for $15.00. Unfortunately, I was out of cash, so I asked him to hold on to them and that I would return shortly.

I ran to the bank, but decided to stop back at the first show, just in case anyone had the missing Home Run Legend cards that I needed. Sure enough, one dealer not only had the ARod card, but also card #7, Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks. For $3.00, the pair was mine. After double checking all the tables to see if there was anything I had missed (a stack of ToppsTown cards turned out to be from Series 1), I headed back to the Copp show.

The person who had the Prime 9 cards did find the ARod card in his possession, but because I already bought it at the other show, I had to decline. But after giving the gentleman the $15.00 for the three SP's, my trip was done; and it was time to head home.

I wound up spending a grand total of $23.50 for twelve cards. All make great additions to my want list. I spent a bit more than I had anticipated, but I had to have those Prime 9 cards, and now only need the Frank Robinson #8 and I think it's Albert Pujols for #9 to complete the set. Maybe I'll check the Bay later on for the last two.

Who said the Hobby is dead??! It certainly isn't here in Chicago.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

I've Got Nothing

2012-04-01T00:57:00.000-05:00

Really. Not a thing to write about today. Not surprising since I have been off in terms of my blogging habits. I had given thoughts of shutting the whole thing down since CBS announced that our Hobby is dead and there is no sense in continuing.

The Master Set that came in was even missing a few cards (ten to be exact). It isn't even worth it anymore, I think, if even the people on eBay aren't even putting in the effort to keep this sinking ship of a Hobby afloat. So I just have one card to post today. It's a favorite of mine, and I thought I'd share it.

Yeah right...Happy April Fools' Day everybody!!! If you really believe that our Hobby is dead? Then you most certainy are a fool. Keep the pranks to a minimum, will you?

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

It Finally Arrived!!!

2012-03-28T13:03:00.002-05:00

My 2012 Topps Series 1 Master Set is in. More details to come. I am very happy.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Is the Hobby Dead??? Are You Kidding Me??!

2012-03-27T01:03:00.001-05:00

Normally, I love it when our Hobby of Sports Card Collecting gets press with the mainstream media. It gets people talking about things we who are knee-deep in it already know about and it may possibly get people interested in the Hobby. From the Billy Ripken thing from many years ago, to Skip Schumaker's right foot (oh yeah, there was a squirrel involved), from former President G. W. Bush appearing making an appearance in Derek Jeter's card to anything involving the legendary T206 Wagner, people are made aware that the Hobby is still around.

Then something like the story CBS Sunday Morning comes on.

Boom goes the dynamite.

The story can be summarized in four very simple words:

THE HOBBY IS DEAD!!!

Thanks to video of Mr. Mint, stock video of 1990's baseball card productions, and a comparison of the National in the mid-90's to a recent Tuesday night in Parsippany, NJ, Armen Keteyian showed the world that our Hobby is dying. Quoting the transcript, "The card business struck out." And it is the Internet, video games, and "soaring prices for glossy gimmicks" that is bringing the Hobby to a likely death.

Since this story aired, many of your favorite Hobby bloggers and sources in the Hobby have weighed their opinions on Twitter and their respective sites. The consensus is this:

The story was poorly researched
No balance to disprove otherwise
The use of stock footage from a mid 90's National was a joke
Mr. Mint is not the definitive Voice of the Hobby that he once was
That if the idea was mentioning that the Hobby we know is dead, they did an excellent job of selling their case

Armen Keteyian has been defending his story on Twitter. Some of the highlights (he is responding to tweets directed towards him...his words begin after the ">"

@armenketeyian ya think??!?!??? Countless new cards regularly sell for $1,000 and up ...> not the sale, the demo. It's dying.
@armenketeyian guess u don't fact chk like used 2. Like saying shoe sales are down & not interviewing Nike, Reebok & Adidas>Topps declined (my note: smart move on Topps' part...last thing they need is to have been party to this)
@sportsmktgguy: Look any biz that worked in 80s & everyone will tell you way they do biz has changed>no debate, biz down 75%, few kids
We @PaniniAmerica personally inviting @darrenrovell & @ArmenKeteyian 2 join us & 30k collectors @National in Baltimore-Aug #sportsbiz”>kids?
@sportsmktgguy: Going to hotel for show & saying category is inaccurate: look at mass retail, hobby & internet>>disputing Rosen, book?
@sportsmktgguy: @ArmenKeteyian down 75% from what? its evolved. Males 18-55 drive category.”> from $1.2B in 1991. And 18-50 shell of past
@cmc918 agree on hobby. Just nowhere near the 1B industry it was. Without fresh blood - kids- you're on a respirator.
@SCUncensored obvious to you. Not SM audience or me either, who did a lot of card/autograph stories in 80s and 90s.

So basically he is now saying that because there are no "kids" taking up the Hobby, it will die with those of us who are presently collecting. We've heard all of this before. And you know of the many efforts EVERY company (from Topps to those other card companies) has made to attract more kids to the Hobby. They are meeting this initiative with somewhat moderate success. But who said this could be done overnight? It takes time.

I will be one of many to say that the Hobby as we knew it in the 80's and early 90's will never be back. And to that I say, "Good Riddance." Thanks to the speculators who thought that their 1987 Topps cards would hold the same value as a 1952 Mantle (not his rookie card by the way) in time only to realize that this would not become the case nearly crippled the Hobby, sending it to life support. The same could be said with comic books. In fact, take out the words baseball cards from the piece and replace them with with comic books, and you get the same news story.

But what Mr. Keteyian failed to mention was that while the Hobby we knew then is gone, the Hobby has evolved to what it has become now. Thanks to the Internet (the same driving force that supposedly is killing the Hobby), many collectors have become a bit more selective in what we collect. We are able to pick the players we collect by doing a bit of research. Information about sets from days gone by and cards coming soon to the market are at our fingertips. And yes, kids are coming. Not in droves as once before. But if CBS had taken a bit more time to record the Sun-Times show last weekend (and they did for a bit...they should have done more), the average viewer at home would have seen a good sized crowd with LOTS OF YOUNG PEOPLE in attendance. Yes, the target market is the adult collector. They have the money to spend on mid-to-high end products. But there are still products (like the eponymous Topps brand) that are catered to and priced for kids (see Opening Day, Attax, et. al).

Sales may be down 75 percent, but that's comparing today's total to the mid 1990's, when there were tons of companies making tons of cards to meet the demands of tons of people. I think (no, I don't have the numbers in front of me) that if you figure in today's factors (less companies, less cards, less people) that the sales in today's world are about the same if not more than they were twenty-plus-years ago.

The Hobby as we know it is not dead. The sky is not falling. I wish Armen Keteyian or someone else could do a counter-point story, featuring all the good things that are happening in today's Hobby. Because there are a lot of good things going on in our Hobby.

I leave tonight with one final pair of tweets. It certainly shows how united we are as collectors in this crazy world of Sports Card Collecting:

Cardboard Connection ‏ @CardboardRadio If there is anything positive to take from @CBS piece, it's that in 24 hours we've seen #thehobby unite to prove them WRONG! #collect
SportsCardBlog.net ‏ @SportsCardBlog @CardboardRadio Some of us may differ on opinions of #thehobby, but when push comes to shove we're all in it together. #collect

Truer words have never been spoken/typed.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

My Daughter's Want List...Really!!!

2012-03-22T00:22:00.000-05:00

I brought my daughter to the Sun-Times show on Friday night. I told her as we were walking down the aisles of the show that she has been with me to many card shows...even when she was just a baby. In fact, I think we took her to a card shop before heading home from the hospital that first night we brought her home (had to get those last few cards from 2000 Topps that were saved for me).

It was easier when she was younger. Her favorite player of all-time is Derrek Lee. She even did a bio on him for a writing assignment at school (with visual aids aka my entire D-Lee card collection up to that point). She collected cards that she thought looked nice, and even the dealers at shows she attended would give her free cards. I even remember that day at the National when the eTopps booth (not Topps, eTopps) when we were able to nab a ton of 2008 ToppsTown cards (they were just sitting there...really).

Alas, she's growing up. There are other things that have taken precedence in her life over baseball cards. Now she looks at her dad as a big card geek. It was inevitable. Between dance (she made the big dance troupe from the park district in the fall), band (she's a percussionist in school...love the picture of her with the drumsticks), newspaper (the sixth grade "supereporter") and the usual middle school schedule, her life is pretty busy as it is. Baseball cards have rightfully (and sadly for this dad) have taken a back seat. Maybe she'll get into it again, if only as a reminder of how she and I bonded all those years ago (I'm almost in tears writing this...)

But I digress.

Besides baseball cards, it turns out that my daughter is a fan of the ghost hunting shows on the television. While she likes the TAPS group on Ghost Hunters, she is a really big fan of Ghost Adventures. Loves the show. And I could only be proud of this because I love reading about REAL ghost stories (something I got from my mother so she's thrilled that her China doll loves these shows).

Now to the point of the title of the post. One of the mini set themes found in 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter was called "Uninvited Guests." It is a ten-card set of houses and other locations that have had infamous ghost sightings. The backs of each of these cards even has a brief summary or two about what goes on at each location. Perusing the checklist, it looks like either the TAPS or the GAC have been to almost all of these locations (save possibly the White House and Amityville). Now at the National last year, we were able to find three of the ten cards in the set. She was hoping to find the rest at the show last weekend. Suffice it to say, we are now in possession (pun intended) of all but ONE of the cards, and it will haunt us to no end.

That is because of the ten cards, we are missing card #5 (or #UG5 The Amityville Haunting).

She also liked the look of the Ascent of Man set from last year's A & G and asked if we could make a go of completing the set. Now, we had few cards from the National. And I had no idea until we bought more that these cards, when put together, create a 26-card long mural that begins with Prokaryotes and ends with Modern Man. After buying what we could find at the show, we're down to the following cards to complete the set:

AOM1 Prokryotes
AOM15 Catarrhini
AOM17 Hominidae
AOM23 Homo erectus

She likes the Allen & Ginter sets for what she calls "all the weird stuff that's there" (which includes the Revolving Door that she HAD TO HAVE). She's looking for cards of Lucy, Area 51, Pluto, and other odds and ends (we'll get a list up soon...she has to see what's in all of the A & G sets first).

Now, if I could only help my son finish that Spongebob Squarepants Panini sticker book...

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Éirinn go brách! We're Celebrating Where??!

2012-03-17T07:16:00.000-05:00

Public Service Announcement: As we celebrate St. Patrick's Day, please remember to celebrate responsibly.

(Please note that a lot of what is written below has been written before, with a bit of changes to make it relevant for the events transpiring today).

Today is St. Patrick's Day. It is the day that honors St. Patrick, who is the patron saint of Ireland. It also commemorates the arrival of Christianity to the Emerald Isle. In fact, it is said (thanks Wikipedia) that he used shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity.

The Chicago River will be dyed a nice green this year. And it is said that they do a fantastic job of it as it pretty much stays that color for the rest of the year. And for the first time in a few years, the South Side St. Patrick's Day Parade will be happening today. This, along with many parades happening today, will make the Chicago area THE PLACE TO BE to get into the Irish spirit. For my part, because I (and I'm not kidding when I type this) love Irish and Celtic music, my CD player will be playing a few Irish music CD's. I like the Celtic Twilight series and need #'s 5 and 6 to catch up. I also have a number of NatureQuest CD's with music set to nature (from the days I needed to relax unless I wanted to suffer nervous breakdowns). My family enjoyed the corned beef dinner on Thursday night and unless we find a restaurant serving it, won't be having it tonight.

Why???

Because it's a busy day for the Anama family. This weekend is the big Sun-Times Card Show at the convention center down the street from the house. My daughter and I went to it last night. It was the first time I ever attended a show on a Friday. I was told beforehand that the show on Friday night is relatively quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of Saturdays. And tonight was no exception. Many of the usual vintage card dealers were there, a few of the big box dealers too. The auction houses were there showing off items that they plan on putting up for sale in the near future. And even a certain Mr. Mint was there to greet customers as they began their walk through the show aisles. I found only one or two dealers in the entire show dealing catering to set collectors working on current sets. As 2012 Topps Heritage is the set of the moment, I was able to see many of the variations and...ahem...gimmick cards up close. I don't buy the Heritage line of products, but the cards did look nice in person.

I did manage to buy a grand total of 32 cards to knock a tiny dent to my want list. I would have bought more, but my favorite dealer from New York AGAIN did not set up for this show. As disappointed as I was about that, I still managed to spend some refund money. I am focusing right now on four sets (in order of importance to finish the set):

2012 Topps Update ToppsTown cards
Legend SP's from 2009, 2010, and 2011
Original Back SP's from 2010 and 2011
Everything Else on the Wantlist on the Sidebar of this blog

How did I do?

8 ToppsTown cards
13 Legend SP's from 2011 Topps
11 Original Back cards from both years
One Complete Set of 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter w/SP's and the 75 card This Day in History set

Not a bad haul for a Friday night. My daughter is after the 2011 Topps A & G mini set of haunted houses and we were able to get a dealer to hold onto some cards for us for when we come back today. That said, the highlight of her night was (don't laugh, she will kill me) buying a card from the 2010 A & G set of...The Revolving Door!

That's right...The Revolving Door!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! And she's proud of it too. Hey, whatever works, right?

Today, I go back to the show. This time, with my son. My wife and my daughter are going to make a trip to Chicago to help out an uncle clearing things out from his storage facility for sale. Then after that, we all get together and drive down to Governor's State University, where my daughter will meet up with her dance troupe and perform in a competition. Governor's State is located way south of my comfort (meaning "I won't get lost because I know the area") zone (which is EVERYWHERE south of the 290).

Now for the baseball portion of the program. If you're wondering, while there are many players of Irish descent in both the Major Leagues and the Minor Leagues, the last native born Irish player was Joe Cleary. Born in County Cork, Cleary only appeared in one game (08/04/1945) in 0.1 inning of work for the Washington Senators. But in that eventful inning, he struck out one batter (the good news), but allowed five hits, three walks, and seven earned runs to score. Saving time for the math, but seven runs in 1/3 innings equals an ERA of 189.

If anybody says, "Top of the morning to you," to you today, make sure to respond in kind, "And the rest of the day to yourself."

So now, a quick toast...

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be at your back.
May your cards collections grow to unmeasurable heights in both volume and value.
May the quest for new cards be swift.
May the journey of life treat you well today and always.
And may a certain North Side baseball team win it all this year.
If you catch my drift.

Sláinte!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

The "March 12 Birthday" All-Star Team!!!

2012-03-12T07:30:00.001-05:00

Of the 17, 736 athletes who made an appearance in Major League Baseball, only 60 were born on March 12. Of these 60, eight became All-Stars.

The split between pitchers and position players is even at 30. Combined, the hitters have a batting average of .261, hit 2107 home runs, driven in 8231, and stolen 1714 bases. The pitchers have a combined record of 529-508 with 90 saves, an ERA of 3.75 and a WHIP of 1.361.

The youngest (as of the beginning of the 2012 season) was born in 1985 (also the only active player on the list). The oldest was born all the way in 1857.

So without further ado, enclosed is the "I Was Born on March 12" All-Star Team.

Manager: Larry Rothschild - (1954): 1998-2001. 205-294 career record. Can double as team's pitching coach.

Pitchers:

Vern Law (1930): 1950-1967. 162-147, 3.77 ERA, 364 Games Started, 1092 K's, 1.284 WHIP, 13 Saves. Two All-Star Games.

Reb Russell (1889): 1913-1923. 80-59, 2.33 ERA, 148 GS, 495 K's, 1.080 WHIP, 13 Saves.
Phil Knell (1865): 1888-1895. 79-90, 4.05 ERA, 163 GS, 575 K's, 1.503 WHIP.
Bill James (1892): 1913-1919. 37-21, 2.28 ERA, 60 GS, 253 K's, 1.233 WHIP, 3 Saves.
Bud Tinning (1906): 1932-1935. 22-15, 3.19 ERA, 35 GS, 135 K's, 1.331 WHIP, 4 Saves.
Joe Engel (1893): 1912-1920. 17-23, 3.38 ERA, 53 GS, 151 K's, 1.439 WHIP, 4 Saves.
Mike Ignasiak (1966): 1991-1995. 10-4, 4.80 ERA, 88 K's, 1.504 WHIP.

Horacio Pina (1945): 1968-1978. 23-23, 3.25 ERA, 278 K's, 38 Saves.

P.J. Walters (1985): 2009-2011. 2-0, 7.24 ERA, 40 K's, 1.529 WHIP.

Position Players:

1B Ray Barker (1936): 1960-1967. 10 HR, 44 RBI, .214, .642 OPS.

2B Otto Huber (1914): 1939. 0 HR, 3 RBI, .273, .591 OPS.
3B Denny Lyons (1866): 1885-1897. 62 HR, 756 RBI, .310, .850 OPS, 224 SB.
3B George Arias (1972): 1996-1999. 14 HR, 55 RBI, .238, .649 OPS.

SS Felix Escalona (1979): 2002-2005. 0 HR, 13 RBI, .209, .543 OPS.
OF Darryl Strawberry (1962): 1983-1999. 335 HR, 1000 RBI, .259, .862 OPS, 221 SB. Eight All-Star Games.

OF Steve Finley (1965): 1989-2007. 304 HR, 1167 RBI, .271, .775 OPS, 320 SB. Two All-Star Games.

OF Johnny Callison (1939): 1958-1973. 226 HR, 840 RBI, .264, .773 OPS. Four All-Star Games.

OF Jim Wynn (1942): 1963-1977. 291 HR, 964 RBI, .250, .802 OPS, 225 SB. Three All-Star Games.

OF Raul Mondesi (1971): 1993-2005. 271 HR, 860 RBI, .273, .815 OPS, 229 SB. One All-Star Game.

OF Ruppert Jones (1955): 1976-1987. 147 HR, 579 RBI, .250, .746 OPS. Two All-Star Games.

C-OF Dale Murphy (1956): 1976-1993. 398 HR, 1266 RBI, .265, .815 OPS. Seven All-Star Games.

C Alex Gaston (1893): 1920-1929. 3 HR, 40 RBI, .218, .550 OPS.

After reviewing the roster, I realize that I while finding outfielders and catchers for this team was relatively easy (how can you go wrong with an outfield corp that appeared in a combined 27 ASG rosters???), I was really scraping to find players for the infield.

To be honest, I started writing this post a year ago today. I just never had the time to finish it. So let's wish the above players, as well as the other 38 major leaguers a big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. Special birthday greetings to Bryan Hebson (1976). He turns 36 today. And, oh yeah...Happy Birthday to me!!!. jba

Let Me Take You Down, 'Cause I'm Going to...

2012-03-09T23:36:00.001-06:00

I've been a very, very bad trader.

I admit it. I'm really bad at sending packages for trading.

But it's not because of ill intent.

It's because I haven't had either time or money to trade with other collectors on a regular basis.

Cards, of course I have cards.

But finding good homes for them and the money to send them to all points around the world hasn't been easy.

Then last week, I finally got around to sending a few cards to people.

I sent both winners of my All-Star Rookie Team contest one Hobby pack each of 2011 Topps Update Series AND 2012 Topps Series 1. To Steve and Kyle, thank you for participating in the contest.

To Edgar Galvan, I apologize for the long delay in getting your cards out to you. So I hope that the Hobby packs of Topps Update Series and 2012 Topps Series 1, along with most of the cards from your wantlist arrived safely to you.

To the Night Owl, I hope that the James Loney gold card arrived to you safely. I think I still owe you on a trade...but if not, then at least the card went to a Dodgers fan.

And finally, to Ryan Hughes (and to explain why I titled the post the way I did). Thank you very much for holding this for me:

2011 Topps Update Series Darryl Strawberry #US238B.

I can only assume that the package of cards I sent to you arrived safely. I am glad that the 1996 Cal Ripken Score card I sent to you found a good home in your collection. Thank you very much for the Strawberry card. What a picture on the Darryl here. He was one of the reasons I would be nervous whenever the Cubs took on the Mets when I first started watching baseball. He could beat you in so many ways (home runs seemed to do it against the Cubbies).

That's one more card from the growing list of SP's that I need for my collection. I am sorry for the long delays in sending out everything. But better late than never, I guess. Thank you all for your patience.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

So the Yankees and Blue Jays Are Getting 2012 Topps Team Sets After All

2012-03-04T23:34:00.000-06:00

In December, I thought I'd beat everyone to the punch and announce that Topps is going to continue the retail packed team sets in 2012. I did this because I have EVERY team set they've put out in this format since 2006.

Yes, I'm insane.

And, yes, I will be going after these sets when they are put out to market whether online or live.

But there was a bit of a problem.

The source I had used to gather pictures of the packages I will (and that's a guarantee, folks) get this year only had 28 of the 30 team sets. In fact, in December and January...EVERY site pre-selling these sets had many, and not all of the team sets depicted. And in EVERY case, the teams involved were the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.

Well, that is now no longer the case.

Below are the pictures of the two sets I couldn't find back in December:

2012 Topps New York Yankees Team Set

2012 Topps Toronto Blue Jays Team Set

Why not bring all 30 team sets together for the first time on this humble, little blog:

If you want a preliminary checklist, well, the link is gone (I knew I should have taken the link when I had the chance. The latest change to the checklist was the addition of Prince Fielder to the Tigers team set, which means somebody's going to be excluded from the original plans. Oh well...

That's better. Now if I can only get my hands on some money for the Master Set...

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Oops!!! Missed the February Update of the SCBR!!! So Let's Get It Done!!!

2012-03-03T15:52:00.000-06:00

One of the unfortunate facets of changing work hours is that I'm not up as late (or should not be) to do work on this humble, little blog, or the SCBR.

In the last week (or two), I had e-mails (at bdj610@hotmail.com) asking to add new blogs to the Big Blogroll. So last night, they were added. Presently, the blogroll contains a record 360 active blogs about the Hobby of Sports Card Collecting. At the beginning of February (right around the time that Blogger started having issues), the SCBR held 340 blogs. So in February, 20...

THAT'S RIGHT...TWENTY...

new blogs were added. Better late than never to remove the inactive ones though. Here are the blogs being removed from the active roster:

With the above six blogs being moved to the inactive list, this brings the number of blogs down to 354, for an awesome net gain of +14. As always, if you, or someone you know, has a blog that should be added to the Sports Card Blogroll, send me an e-mail (at bdj610@hotmail.com). If you're coming back to the Hobby Blogging Community with baseball fast approaching and want to have your blog added back, just let me know too. At 354 blogs, the number of consistant voices in the blogosphere continues to grow. Let's hope for more to join us now that the games (albeit spring training) are getting underway.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

You Mean to Tell Me Somebody FINALLY Cracked the 2011 Ginter Code??!

2012-02-25T15:05:00.000-06:00

After months and months of twitter clues, websites with every card posted, and tons of theories regarding the 2011 Crack the Ginter Code Contest, it looks like somebody (or some bodies) finally did it.

Want to know how??? Visit the site below to learn how Frank, with the help of Ryan, and Guillaume, cracked the code.
First Point of Aries: The 2011 Ginter Code Story

Congratulations gentlemen on a job well done. Frank should be able to make it onto this year's set (he should...there were a number of TBA's in the initial checklist), but his victory (and Ryan's and Guillaume's) is well deserved.

Next you're going to tell me that 100 people entered 200 coins in the Golden Giveaway Con...oh, it happened??!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Shaun Marcum's Golden Moment...or Hey, I Got A Relic Card!

2012-02-25T10:30:00.000-06:00

I tweeted last week that after I get my taxes done that I'd be looking for a master set of 2012 Topps on the 'Bay. Well, I spent money on half of the things I wanted to do. Taxes??? Done. Master set??? Not yet. Shooting for next pay day. In the mean time, I finally did get around to buying the hobby packs I promised to send to the two winners of my All-Star Rookie Team Competition. Now if I could only get to the post office...

While at the store, I purchased a few packs of 2012 Topps, this time, the Hobby version. Packs at the store cost a whopping $3.00 for a pack of ten cards. OUCH!!! Can't complain though...this stuff sold out at the store and these guys had to scramble to find more. The store owner allowed me to pick what I wanted, so I took five random packs from the box. At $3.00 a pack, and what looked like a half-full box, I wasn't expecting much other than a bunch of base cards that will just become extras eventually when I get my master set. But one pack I did open did come with a nice surprise:

2012 Topps Shaun Marcum Golden Moments Relic Card #GMR-SM

That's right. I beat the odds and somehow got a relic card.

Yes, granted it's of a Brewers pitcher. Yes, it's just a plain road jersey swatch. Yes, the back of the card even says, "THE RELIC CONTAINED ON THIS CARD IS NOT FROM ANY SPECIFIC GAME, EVENT, OR SEASON." (which means that this was most likely NOT THE JERSEY he wore during the game being highlighted - Brewers vs. Astros on September 4, 2011). But it is a relic card from this set is found in 1:47 hobby packs. So yes, I'm ecstatic.

Payday can't come fast enough...

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama