Traffic from Craigslist

I thought this was pretty comical and worthy of a post. First, let me lay some groundwork.

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about 1991 Ultimate Hockey, where I argued that it's possibly one of the worst hockey sets ever produced. The post generated some interesting comments, I learned a bit about the Smokey's card shop that's featured on all the jerseys that the players wore for the set. I even deflated one reader, who was given a set by a neighbor, thought he had struck gold, and then stumbled upon my post on the web while researching. Anyway, onto the point of this post...

I never check the "stats" for my blog, but the other day I took a look at what the feature offers. One of the things I found interesting was traffic sources, the ability to see how readers located your blog. When I happened to look at mine I noticed I had some people being directed here from Craigslist. Of course I checked it out. The readers were being directed from the following listing:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/clt/2449047745.html

Since I know the listing will disappear I took a couple of screen shots. It's your typical junk wax lot:


Here's the funny part though, and the reason I've been getting traffic from this post:


In case you can't make that out it reads:

"Also, a 36 pack factory sealed box of 1991 Ultimate Hockey Cards (this set is extremely rare -- and for good reason--most collectors consider this 90 card set to be one of the most unusual ever produced for any sport - go to http://shoeboxlegends.blogspot.com/2009/03/1991-ultimate-worst-hockey-set-ever.html to see why"

So, this guy claims that 1991 Ultimate is one of the most rare and unusual sets ever produced, yet links to my post where I referred to it as "one of the most terrible hockey card sets I own", wrote that "nobody bought this awful set anyway", commented that their staff must've been composed of "barely literate 2nd graders", and closed out by saying that "there's a whole lot of crap packed into this small, 90 card set". I mean even the URL for the article ends with /1991-ultimate-worst-hockey-set-ever.html.

May want to rethink your sales tactics buddy...

Pack Rip - 2011 Gypsy Queen Value Pack #5

Yup, another one of these. If you're getting sick of them you can rest assured there won't be too many more. I have yet to see retail Gypsy Queen anywhere after my first round of value pack purchases. I need something to pass the time between now and tonight's face-off so here we go with my fifth value pack...

#53 - Jimmie Foxx

#37 - Ryan Braun

#96 - Ubaldo Jimenez

Pack 1:

#54 - Frank Thomas

#214 - Pedro Alvarez

#290 - Jake McGee

#WC7 - Franklin Gutierrez - Wall Climbers

Mini #207 - Kyle Drabek

#FS13 - Stephen Strasburg - Future Stars

Double. Fitting end to a not-so-great pack...

Pack 2:

#63 - Jimmie Foxx

Great card!

#175 - Edwin Jackson

#259 - Aubrey Huff

And that would be a triple. I've ripped 5 of these value packs and 3 have contained a Huff base card, what are the odds?

#70 - Rogers Hornsby - Framed Paper Parallel (#d/999)

Awesome. My first framed paper parallel and I couldn't be happier with the subject. Just like the framed green retail parallels, these look amazing.

Mini Red Gypsy Queen Back #253 - Carlos Lee

My first red Gypsy Queen back and of course it's Carlos Lee, who I seem to pull left and right. Into the trade pile this one goes...

#FS5 - Desmond Jennings - Future Stars

Pack 3:

#98 - Aroldis Chapman

#21 - David Wright

#158 - Madison Bumgarner

#157 - Ryan Ludwick

Mini #65 - Babe Ruth

#GO19 - Rogers Hornsby - The Great Ones

A good value pack for a Cardinals fan I guess, both an insert and a parallel of Hornsby. This was better than my last value pack, yielding my first framed paper and red gypsy queen back mini parallel cards.

8 hours to go!!!

Pack Rip - 2011 Topps Opening Day

This one's gonna be short and sweet. Why did I bother with this? Three reasons I guess. First and foremost, it's something new to me and I was bored. In fact, come to think of it I'm pretty sure this is the first pack of Opening Day I've ever purchased from any year. Secondly, I can get behind just about any product that offers 24 cards for $3. Finally, I need something to occupy my attention and keep me from going into cardiac arrest between now and Wednesday night at 8 PM Eastern. Here are the 24 cards my pack netted me:

#84 - Brian Matusz

#64 - Miguel Tejada

#78 - Garrett Jones

#67 - Johnny Cueto

#11 - Jaime Garcia

#90 - Chase Utley

#98 - Angel Pagan

#21 - Martin Prado

#41 - Aubrey Huff

#209 - Shane Victorino

And now the inserts...

#TTOD-25 - Derek Jeter - ToppsTown

Snooze...

#SC1 - Jason Heyward - Superstar Celebrations

Canuck, you need either this one or the Prado base card?

#UL-4 - Alex Rodriguez - Stadium Lights

#PFP-6 - Woodrow Wilson - Presidential First Pitch

#M-6 - Gapper - Mascots

These inserts are actually pretty cool in my opinion. I'll be hanging onto this one.

#165 - Carlos Zambrano

#157 - Adam Lind

#162 - Gordon Beckham

#192 - Dustin Pedroia

Nice!

#182 - Troy Tulowitzki

#171 - Yovani Gallardo

#114 - Ervin Santana

#217 - Andy Pettitte

#197 - Kelly Johnson

Admittedly not the world's most exciting pack, but for $3 how can I complain? For now, I'm hanging onto the mascot insert and the Pedroia, everything else has been added to my tradelist on Zistle.

Pack Rip - 2011 Gypsy Queen Value Pack #4

Alright, so my incredible luck with pulling autos in my first two Gypsy Queen value packs came to an end in pack three. Nonetheless, I pulled two short prints and two pretty cool minis (Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker), which was enough for me to try again at $9 a pop, so I'm back for more. Here's my fourth value pack:

#42 - Jose Reyes

#11 - Zack Greinke

#18 - Christy Mathewson

Christy is obviously the pick of the lot as far as the green framed parallels in this pack. 373 career wins, over 2,500 strikeouts and one of the first members elected to the Hall...not too shabby.

Pack 1:

#71 - CC Sabathia

#287 - Jorge De La Rosa

#265 - Stephen Drew

Double...and the trade pile begins...

#WC10 - David DeJesus - Wall Climbers

Another double, here we go...

Mini #273 - Chad Billingsley

#GO7 - George Sisler - The Great Ones

Pack 2:

#47 - Jimmy Rollins

#242 - Joba Chamberlain

CC and Joba in the same value pack, this has not been a winner for a Red Sox fan like myself.

#261 - Daniel Bard

Ah, that's better.

#SF12 - Orlando Hudson - Sticky Fingers

Mini #300 - Franklin Gutierrez

#346 - Shane Victorino - SP

Pack 3:

#35 - Pee Wee Reese

#170 - Nick Swisher

A Yankee in every pack. Wonderful.

#259 - Aubrey Huff

Another double.

#272 - Felix Pie

Yet another double. In fact I pulled Huff and Pie right next to each other like this just last value pack. I hope these aren't riddled with collation issues.

Mini Black #180 - Alexei Ramirez

I'd be willing to trade this one away, make me an offer if you're interested!

#HH19 - Johnny Mize - Home Run Heroes

There you have it. Probably the worst of the four value packs I've opened. For my favorite card out of this bunch, I'll have to go with the green framed Mathewson.