Buy My Baseball Cards! Rookies & Inserts, All for $25 Shipped!

I've got more cards floating around than I know what to do with, and while I had last week off from work I did a good deal of condensing. I've decided to try selling some excess cards here before listing them on eBay just to see how it goes. Please check back any time you see one of these posts, there will be some really nice stuff going up for sale in the next few weeks. I'm going to mimic Thorzul's "Pull the Trigger" posts (they say imitation is the highest form of flattery) for my format. So, everything you see listed here can be yours for $25, which includes shipping to your doorstep. Pretty reasonable when you consider that it's about the cost of a blaster plus shipping.

Just be the first to leave a comment, send a $25 Paypal payment to shanediaz82 at yahoo dot com and I'll ship out same day.  If nobody claims these within a couple of days, I'll add some more incentive to the pile for the same price.  Wait it out if you'd like, but if you snooze you may lose!  Click the pics for larger images, although I can assure you all of today's cards are pack fresh mint...

In this lot we've got 8 rookie cards of star players from last decade.  Some pretty big names here if rookie cards are your thing.  Longoria, Bruce, Fielder (x2!), Braun, Weaver, Uggla and Hanley Ramirez.  There's good value here, I believe the Longoria Bowman Heritage Prospects RC books for at least $10 alone.  These 8 cards on their own may be a fair deal for $25 shipped, but I'll sweeten the pot right out of the gate with a lot of 9 inserts from various 2006 Fleer products:

A nice array of inserts and again, some pretty good star power here.  Works out to under $1.50 shipped per card if you do the numbers, which is a deal given some of the rookies included in the lot.  Be the first to comment and pay, and all 17 cards are yours, or wait it out and see what gets added to the pot...

Signature Sundays - Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd

I purchased exactly one rack pack of 2013 Topps Archives, and I won't be buying any more.  I don't know if it's the flimsy card stock, or the fact that I'm getting a bit burnt out on Topps reusing their vintage designs over and over, but I'm just not feeling it.  So, all of the cards I pulled (minus the David Ortiz) went straight to my trade box, and I'll be pursuing a Red Sox team set only.  As is the case for most sets I don't like, I can usually still find a silver lining, whether it's one certain card that worked for whatever reason, an entire subset, or a hit for example.  For this team collector, that silver lining with Topps Archives is the Fan Favorites Autograph.

These signed cards have been the best part about Topps Archives for the past two sets as far as I'm concerned.  I love everything about them really.  They're on-card and the player selection is very interesting.  Sure, you could get super lucky and land something like a Ken Griffey, Jr. or Nolan Ryan, but in all likelihood you'll be staring at Delino DeShields or Tom Brunansky once your wax has been ripped and the dust settles.  I don't mind that though, in fact I prefer it.  As someone who busts very little wax and collects almost entirely from the secondary market, I am excited at the chance to land autographs of some of these mid-level stars, guys ordinarily relegated to the commons box.  Today's card is a perfect example:

I've wanted an Oil Can Boyd auto for a long time now, years even.  My requirements weren't much, I just wanted the card to be licensed so that it would have a team name and logo, and the autograph to be on-card.  Sure, there was a beautiful (still is at the moment) Goudey Sport Royalty autograph listed on eBay if I didn't mind paying $52.  Thanks to 2013 Topps Archives I can finally cross Dennis off my list, and what a great looking card too!  This one ran me a whole $11.27, and I could have had it even cheaper than that had I been willing to wait a bit.  I had been waiting so long already that I would have paid $25 to $30 for this card if that's what the market had commanded.  I was ecstatic to land it for less than half that amount.

Well done Topps, thank you!

Have you picked up any Archives autos the past couple of years?

Whoooo!!!

Coot Veal Red Sox - Part Three - More Superstars

Here's the next installment of the recent trade package I received from Dustin of Coot Veal and the Vealtones...

This portion of the package contained 29 new cards for my Red Sox collection.  Starting things off is a nice Bowman Hideki Okajima rookie card.  I really, really liked Okajima during his time with Boston and he is sadly under-represented in my Sox collection.  I thought for sure his MLB career was finished after he appeared just a handful of times for the Red Sox in 2011, but was pleasantly surprised to see he's back with the Oakland Athletics this season (and has given up just one earned run in 5 appearances).

I appreciate this card because Ken Ryan is actually a local guy from here in Rhode Island.  He actually runs a baseball academy about 15 minutes up the road from my house.  Also, this card features a great backdrop of an empty Fenway Park.

This insert from 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History is numbered to 999 copies.  A little busy on the design here.

A nice O-Pee-Chee black parallel.  Still can't believe the Dodgers took this contract.  He's 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA and is currently on the DL for Los Angeles.  Thanks again LA!

Here's an insert I had never seen before, from 2007 Topps.  Sort of a dumb name for the set considering that Loretta signed as a free agent with Houston and was not traded there by Boston.

Here's a new Adrian Gonzalez card, nice!  I'll be featuring this one again and tallying towards my official count in my next "Adrian Gonzalez, We Hardly Knew Ye" post.

One of my favorite cards in the entire package believe it or not, a Trot Nixon Electric Diamond rookie from 1994 Upper Deck.  I don't know too many Red Sox fans who didn't like this guy, it was almost impossible.  As a child of the early '90s I'm a total sucker for the Electric Diamond parallels as well.  Just an awesome card all around.

Here's another Nixon rookie, this one from the Collector's Choice set.

I had never seen these before, but found thanks to Zistle that this is from the 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Forever insert set (what a mouthful).  Dom's 1953 Topps card is currently very high on the list of graded vintage cards I'm searching for.

There were four new Frank Violas in this section...

It's a complete coincidence that I finished scanning these in time, but today is actually Wade Boggs' 55th birthday.

There were a handful of his cards in this bag.

Interesting photo on this one, looks like Wade just held off on a pitch and is about to look up to the umpire for the call.

Even though this card is from one of the most hideous sets any company ever unleashed on collectors, I still needed it for my collection so it's a win.  Here's something a little easier on the eyes:

This is actually from the 2002 Topps Traded set (the Red Sox got Floyd in a trade from Montreal).  It's a gold parallel numbered to 2002 copies.

Here's another gold parallel, from the 2009 Updates & Highlights set, numbered to 2009 copies.

Here's another Boggs, pretty comical shot of Wade as a kid.

A couple from the 1990 Fleer set.  I especially like this Boggs/Greenwell card.  Actually I have a really great Greenwell card to post in the near future.

No, this isn't a 1973 Aparicio, it's one of those Cards Your Mom Threw Out inserts.  I do have the O-Pee-Chee version of this card though!  I do have an original though, thanks to a very generous blogger.

Another 2010 insert...

This one was very cool, even though the painting is strange to say the least.  My first black bordered parallel from the 2008 Masterpieces set.  Funny because I think I sent Dustin a black parallel in his package.  Coincidence?

My first 2012 Gypsy Queen mini...

I had no clue what this one was at first, looks like it was part of a promotion and the cards were given away at hobby shops.  Not a terrible looking card, although I question why the MLB logo needs to be so dominant.

Finally, a fantastic Yaz, numbered to 399 copies.  I've said this over and over but I absolutely love the 2005 and 2008 Baseball Heroes sets.  Really happy to have this one.  Thanks for another great run of cards Dustin, I'll have the next portion of the package up early next week...

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #248

Time to select another card for The Ultimate Baseball Set, a franken-set compiled from all of the baseball cards I own from any brand or year.  Today I'll select card #248.  Don't worry, I'm not going with Wilbur Howard and his obnoxious 'Stros uniform.  Even for such an obscure card number as 248 there were at least a few cards in my collection that outranked Wilbur here:

Babe Ruth occupies #248 in the 2007 Goudey set with a nice Heads Up short print.  I don't have any vintage Ruth cards, so this is the closest thing I've got.  Not going to make the cut though.

I've yet to select a Red Sox card for this set yet, and I had hopes that this would be my first chance.  I like this Pedroia Gypsy Queen mini, but honestly I wouldn't rank it above even the Goudey Ruth card.

Now here's a much more interesting Red Sox card, a 1964 Topps Johnny Pesky.  One of my favorite Red Sox cards, from one of my favorite '60s sets.  I would have loved to have chosen this card for inclusion in the set, but unfortunately I had to pass on it.

The 1959 Topps Red Sox team card was another really strong choice at #248.  I love everything about this card, most of all the old school batting sock logo.  There was one #248 that won out over even this card though.

1984 Donruss - #248 - Don Mattingly RC

Yeah, I chose a Yankee over those two great Red Sox cards.  I sound like a broken record here (four of the six cards I've selected now are big-name '80s rookie cards), but during the time when I collected cards as a child the rookie card was king.  The 1984 Donruss Mattingly was right up there with the best of the decade.  In fact, this may be the biggest non-Hall-of-Fame rookie card of the decade.  Maybe?

The other reason I selected this one is because I am a huge fan of the 1984 Donruss set.  Like many other collectors, I feel it's a level above anything else Donruss ever released.  I could devote entire posts to this set (and hope to at some point), but for now I'm happy to have it represented in my Ultimate Baseball Card Set.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 6 cards and counting, can be seen here.

COMC Blaster - Red Sox, Whalers & Short Prints

Let's blow through another $20 on COMC, shall we?  Today's virtual blaster features 17 cards, so figure about $1.18 average per card.  If you can find a site with better deals than this online then I want to know about it!

 2013 Topps Turkey Red #45 - Jon Lester - $1.63

We'll start things off with a couple of Red Sox from the 2013 Turkey Red set, which I think was some kind of internet-sale-only gimmick by Topps.  They're relatively scarce, I've read maybe 500 copies or so of each card, so I was happy when my $1.63 offer for Jon Lester's card was accepted.

2013 Topps Turkey Red #52 - Dustin Pedroia - $1.25

I ended up with the Pedroia for even less than that, which was surprising to me.  Best part is these are the only two Red Sox on the checklist so that's a complete team set right there for less than $3.

2013 Topps #241 - Jacoby Ellsbury Emerald Foil Parallel - $1.00

$1 might have been a bit much for this one, but it was purchased shortly after release and prices were still a bit crazy.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good parallel.

2013 Topps #64 - Will Middlebrooks Wal-Mart Blue Parallel - $.75

Here's another one, featuring one of my favorite photos from the 2013 set.  Fantastic shot.

2011-12 O-Pee-Chee #530 - Ron Francis Rainbow Foil Parallel - $1.99

I might have been able to find this parallel in a dollar bin at some point had I waited it out long enough, but I didn't feel like waiting any longer so $2 it is.

2010-11 Upper Deck SPx #107 - Gordie Howe #'d/999 - $1.12

Here's another new Whalers card, numbered to 999 copies.  It's a little busy for me, but a new Whalers card of Mr. Hockey for just over a buck was too hard to turn down.

1995-96 Metal International Steel #3 - Sergei Fedorov - $.77

I grabbed two Fedorov inserts from the '95-96 Metal set for $.77 each.  The International Steel card you see here is decent enough, but I like the other one a bit more.

2006-07 Parkhurst #227 - Kevin Dineen Captains #'d/3,999 - $.77

Here's a card I've needed for a good long while, but never wanted to pay the shipping costs required to snag one off of eBay.  I still need the Mike Rogers Captains card to go along with this one.

1995-96 Metal Heavy Metal #2 - Sergei Fedorov - $.77

Here's the other Metal Fedorov insert, this one is much nicer.  It didn't scan so well but it's an impressive card in person.

2012 Topps Archives #207 - Vida Blue SP - $.82

I'm still half-heartedly chasing the 2012 Archives set (although I won't be pursuing 2013 other than Red Sox cards).  Thanks to Brad of Brad's Blog I completed the 200-card short set earlier this year.  I'm still whittling away at the short prints, here's one off the list.  Great card of Vida, I would have probably picked this one up even if I wasn't chasing the set.

2001-02 Topps Archives #38 - Bill Clement - $.75

Here's another Archives card I needed, this one from the '01-02 hockey set.  Now that I've got Bill Clement in hand I'm down to needing just two cards to kill this one off...

2011-12 O-Pee-Chee #L8 - Ron Francis Marquee Legends - $1.88

Here's another O-Pee-Chee Francis, with Kevin Dineen lurking in the background.

 2010-11 Upper Deck French 20th Anniversary Buyback #172 - Pat Verbeek - $1.88

Upper Deck included buybacks from their inaugural flagship set in their 2010-11 French set.  I've been picking up Whalers cards as I see them for a reasonable price (stopped bidding on a Ron Francis when it went above $14!).  I was able to land Pat Verbeek...

2010-11 Upper Deck French 20th Anniversary Buyback #327 - Brad Shaw - $1.88

...and Brad Shaw for $1.88 each, both from the same seller.  Would love to complete this team set someday, but these don't crop up all that often.  Anyone else out there have any of these buybacks?

2007 Goudey #243 - Ichiro Heads Up SP - $1.06

To finish this post off, a trio of short prints towards my 2007 Goudey set...

2007 Goudey #231 - Akinori Iwamura SP RC - $.89

2007 Goudey #246 - Kei Igawa Heads Up SP - $.85

There you have it, 17 new cards for $20.06.  Best of all no buyer's remorse, which is more than I can say about a blaster most of the time.  I think I have enough COMC purchases left to do maybe one more of these, I'll try to get it posted sometime this coming week...