Zistle Trade with Justin aka Lightningfan7609 aka The Hopeful Chase

Recently I completed (well, sort of, my cards are going out tomorrow) a quick Zistle trade with a member named Lightningfan7609.  It was only once he sent me his address that I realized he was Justin of The Hopeful Chase.  We've been trading for years!  Anyway, Justin was kind enough to knock some 2013 Topps Heritage Red Sox cards off my Zistle want list.  These are very much appreciated as I purchased just a single rack pack of Heritage this year, which resulted in only Stephen Drew towards my Red Sox team set.  Thanks to Justin I'm now four cards closer...

Here's a couple of guys who have both been swinging good bats lately.  Middlebrooks leads the team with 8 home runs and his batting average is finally above the Mendoza line to stay.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, has Hanrahan already thrown his final pitch in a Red Sox uniform?  We'll see how he does with recovery from Tommy John surgery.

Here's a guy enjoying a career year.  I have to admit I was skeptical of Nava being on the roster this year, but he has proven me wrong on quite a few occasions already.

Finally, another guy who has been very solid and a pleasant surprise, Ryan Dempster.  Justin also included utility infielder Pedro Ciriaco's card, but sadly he was lost at the hands of the USPS with a nasty ding in the lower right corner.  Off to the pile of bookend cards that I use when sending out trade packages.

Thanks for the cards Justin.  Finally got yours packaged up tonight and threw in a couple of extras to make up for the wait time.  Hopefully we'll trade again sometime down the line.

Signature Sundays - Jon Lester

Here's the latest addition to my Boston Red Sox autograph collection, a player that's been missing for far too long:

Jon Lester's autograph has eluded me for years.  I don't get the sense that he has as big a hobby following as other stars on the team like David Ortiz or even Dustin Pedroia, but his autographs seem to draw decent attention on ebay nonetheless.  A couple of weeks back I followed an auction for the card above that turned out to be my ticket to finally landing Jon's signature.  Upper Deck's Baseball Heroes and Hockey Heroes designs have always been guilty pleasures of mine, and that was the main driving reason behind this purchase.  The other reason I really like the card is because it commemorates the 2007 World Series, where as the card indicates Jon won the clinching game for Boston.  The #'d/50 copies and the jersey swatch are just icing on the cake, I would have been interested in this card without either.

Given that Lester has been absolutely dominating so far this year (6-0, 2.72 ERA, 50 strikeouts to 15 walks), I expected to get a ton of competition bidding for this one, and to eventually have the card rise out of my predetermined price range.  I was pleasantly surprised to add it to my collection for less than the cost of a blaster, even with shipping included.  A steal in my mind for one of the best southpaws to ever pitch for the team.

That's all for today.  On a side note, if you've been trading with me and are waiting for me to post cards you sent, or send a return package, please be patient.  I'm on a huge project for work that has me traveling to Manhattan every week and living out of a suitcase.  If I owe you a package or a post I promise I haven't forgotten!

My Favorite Leafs Cards

Wow.  That was the most exciting playoff hockey game I've ever seen in my lifetime.  I thought about doing the obvious and posting a Bergeron card with some fan-boy rant to go along with it, but I decided I'll focus on the Leafs instead.  I'm sure all anyone is talking about in Toronto this morning is what went wrong.  How could our team have choked it away in historic fashion like that?

I have to say though, this series gave me a great deal of respect for the Leafs.  Quite frankly they just plain outplayed Boston, especially in the latter part of the series, and deserved to win.  I really liked the style of hockey that Toronto brought to the ice, and they proved to be a much more worthy opponent for Boston than I think almost anybody could have foreseen.  So in honor of Toronto's first playoff appearance in a good long time, here is a random smattering of some of my favorite (sorry, favourite!) Maple Leafs cards...

Congratulations on an amazing series Toronto!

Alright, so I couldn't resist just one!  On to the Rangers, let's go B's!

Signature Sundays - A Trio of Panini Classics

I have officially fallen hard for the 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures autos.  For today's Signature Sundays post we've got a trio of them, recently won from the same eBay seller.

First up is Brian Mullen.  I always picture him with the New York Rangers, given that he's depicted with them in the very first hockey card set I ever collected, 1989-90 Topps/O-Pee-Chee.  Brian broke into the league with Winnipeg though, and was a solid scorer before health issues forced him out of the game in the early '90s.  You could pretty much count on Mullen to provide you with 20-30 goals and 25-40 assists year in and year out.  This one will pair nicely with the Dave Babych I showed from this set a couple of weeks back since he's also shown with the Jets.

Next we have a tough guy, The Grim Reaper.  This one set me back just $2.84 if you can believe that.  I was happy to acquire this card because Stu did spend a single season with the Whalers (the very last before their move to Carolina).  Stu is featured with the Whalers on one of the insert autographs from this same set, but until I track that one down the autographed version of the base card will suit me just fine.  Remember those awful Mighty Ducks sweaters?  I am glad the team has moved away from that whole gimmick.

Panini did a nice job with the write-ups on the backs of these.  Did you know that Grimson pursued a legal career after hockey?

Rounding out the trio, we have goaltender Darren Pang.  I was sold on this one because I really like the photo, and because like Brian Mullen, Darren here was on the checklist for the first set I ever collected.  Someday, when I have more time, I'll have to sit down and see how many of the players from that set are represented with autographed cards in my collection.  Darren's got a very nice signature, definitely my favorite of these three.

Of course, as the back states, younger hockey fans are probably more familiar with Darren's work as a commentator than his time in pads.

These three cards set me back a grand total of $12.65, with shipping included.  They're the 7th, 8th and 9th autos I've tracked down from this set, but with prices like this they certainly won't be the last...

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #482

It's been far too long since I selected a card for my Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which is a lifelong project to build the ultimate franken-set composed of cards from all years and brands.  Today I'll be selecting card #482...

For such an obscure card number, I was surprised that I was able to find a few decent #482s in my collection.  This card would have been a solid pick because I was always an Olerud fan; he's a good representation of those dominant early-'90s Toronto teams.  Unfortunately for John there were a few others I liked a bit better...

Here's a decent contestant, the Padres team card from the 1971 Topps set.  I love a good vintage team card, and this one's in really great shape.  I don't really have any particular affinity to an early '70s Padres team though, so I'm passing on this one.

One of my favorite junk wax era sets, 1993 Upper Deck, has an interesting card #482.  Any card with The Wizard on it gets consideration, but there were two others that surpassed even this one.

First, the runner-up.  I had a really hard time passing over this card for inclusion.  The 1958 Topps All Star cards are some of my favorite baseball cards of all time.  I like them so much I've collected the entire set in grade PSA 6.  On top of that, I haven't shown much of it here, but I actually have a pretty respectable vintage Banks collection.  If Ernie's going to make it into the franken-set it will have to be a different card, because today he's been beaten out by another Hall-of-Famer:

1983 Topps - #482 - Tony Gwynn RC

I'm sure my viewpoint is skewed by the time period that I grew up in, but I consider this card a timeless classic.  It's certainly one of the top ten rookie cards from a decade that was all about the rookie card.  Gwynn was one of the most talented hitters who ever stepped to the plate, and the fact that his rookie comes from one of the most visually appealing sets of the decade made this the clear cut choice for #482 in my set.  I've had this exact copy since I was around 10 years old, and I still consider it one of my favorite cards a couple of decades later.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 5 cards and counting, can be seen here.

1953 Topps Project - Bob Porterfield

Let's knock off another card for my 1953 Topps Project this evening.  Tonight's subject is Bob Porterfield of the Washington Senators:

Porterfield is not exactly a household name, but he enjoyed a more notable career than I had realized when I first picked up this card.  He came up through the Yankees system in the late '40s before being dealt to the Senators in 1951. 

Of all the Bob Porterfield cards out there, this would be the one I'd take if I could choose just one.*  That's because 1953 was Porterfield's career year, his lone gem amongst a sea of mediocrity.  Aside from 1953, Porterfield reached double digits in wins just three times (13 being his best total), but lost more games than he won all three of those seasons.  In '53 though, Bob was dealing for sure!  He paced the league with 22 wins (to just 10 losses), 24 complete games (yes, you read that correctly) and 9 shutouts!  The Cy Young Award didn't exist back in 1953, but if it had there's a good chance the guy you're looking at above would have been your winner.  As it stands he was named The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year.

Porterfield's name was actually Erwin Coolidge Porterfield.  I can see why he adopted Bob.  Aside from his impressive 1953 season he clubbed half a dozen home runs and went on the play for my hometown team, the Red Sox.  I'm definitely grateful to have added this one to my set.

*I'm guessing this is the first time that sentence has ever been written by anyone

Set Progress:  53 of 274 (19%)

White Whale Harpooned! I Think I Have a New Favorite Hockey Card...

Last year I picked up a card that is absolutely a cornerstone of my hockey card collection, and will be for as long as I collect, the 1933 Sport Kings Howie Morenz:

This one makes me smile every time I look at it, even a year later.  I liked it so much that I decided to try chasing down the other three hockey players from the set.

Much later in the year I was fortunate enough to land the Ching Johnson, also in a PSA 4 to match my Morenz.  Johnson is an interesting figure, and this is a great card for sure, but if I'm being honest it doesn't quite hold the same level of excitement as the Morenz in my eyes.

There is one card from this set that I've wanted even more than the Morenz though.  It's a card I've been searching out for years, and have mentioned numerous times here on the blog.  Recently a copy in the grade I want surfaced on eBay for literally the first time in years, and I'm happy to report that I snagged it.  Here's the card:

Sweet, huh?  Shore was the original hard-nosed player who set records for penalty minutes, but also won more Hart Trophies than anyone not named Gretzky or Howe.  There's not much I can say about Eddie that hasn't already been said (more eloquently, as well), so I'm just going to bask in this scan and keep the write-up to a minimum.

Here's a look at the back, you can click the image for a larger scan if you care to read the bio.  This fantastic card is one I don't ever plan on parting with, and is now quite possibly my favorite hockey card, period.  The only hockey figure I'm missing from this set now is, ironically, Ace Bailey, whose career was ended by Shore.  You can bet if I run across one of those in a PSA 4 at a reasonable price I'm going to bite!

Signature Sundays - Another Milt Schmidt

Here's my latest Milt Schmidt autograph, this might be my favorite one yet.

This is an Original Six Signature from the 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee Premier set.  Numbered to 100 copies, it features a classic black and white shot of Schmidt from his playing days, and a really nice on-card signature over a Bruins watermark.  I've got a copy, and so does Casey from Drop the Gloves, so just 98 more of these out there if you want to snatch one up!

It continues to amaze me just how cheap cards of this Hall-of-Famer go for.  He's certainly one of the most interesting characters in the league's history, yet this card set me back just $15.  This is my fifth Schmidt auto, and it certainly won't be my last!

Quick Trade with The Underdog Card Collector

I am absolutely destroying my previous years' totals when it comes to trades in 2013.  Just this morning I sent packages out to Dustin of Coot Veal and the Vealtones, Michael of The Card Raven, and Brad of Brad's Blog.  Now, for today's trade post...a while back Zach of The Underdog Card Collector posted some Gypsy Queen trade bait, and I bit.  The card I was interested in was this fantastic blue framed parallel of Wade Boggs:

Gypsy Queen seems to be a set that really divides collectors, but I think most everybody on either side appreciates the framed parallels.  This one's a beauty, numbered to 499.  My Boggs collection has really been moving along as I've been scanning and cataloging all of my Red Sox cards, I've got about 60 unique cards of Wade at this point.

Zach was generous enough to throw in 8 bonus cards.  I already had one of them, the 2013 Heritage Brock Holt, which beat him to my mailbox in another trade package just days prior.  I'll be sending that one back out elsewhere, but the other 7 cards I needed, including this 2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars Youkilis.

My first three 2013 Gypsy Queen cards (aside from the Boggs parallel) were in this package as well.

My first Gomes Red Sox card...

Another Heritage insert, thanks to trading I'm starting to do alright with this team set, despite having purchased just a single rack pack of this stuff.

My first 1992 O-Pee-Chee card, much appreciated.  Definitely have quite a few Red Sox to track down from this huge set.

In closing a sweet Stadium Club card of The Hawk.

Thanks for the great package Zach!  I hope you enjoyed the Padres I sent in return, I'm sure we'll be trading again.