Why Can't You Be More Like Your Cousin Jeffrey?

Quick, for $100 what TV show am I sort of referencing?  If you guessed Seinfeld, you might think you are correct, but I was actually not referring to a TV show at all, but to Jeff from Cardboard Catastrophies.  I'm not sure if he's your cousin though, only you know for sure.  But he's my neighbor (he's in OK and I'm in AR), and I'd like to think, my pal. 

He drives me nuts a little though because he frequently sends these unannounced packages that are always awesome.  Recently, he single-handedly knocked my Topps 2012 Archives want list down several notches with a block of about 30 cards that I needed.

I've heard some negative feedback about Archives, but once you put the set together and look at in in an album, it's a really neat set.  I've got all the inserts and now have most of the base.  I'm skipping the SPs.

Here are a few of the cards Jeff sent:

 Yes, I know there is a glut of Mantle cards out there, but this is pretty cool looking.

 I also got one of these Darryl Strawberry's from Night Owl, which is great with me.  It's a beatiful card and I can put one in the Archives album and one with my Strawberry album.

 Thanks again for your generosity Jeff.  I'm looking forwad to finding something to send your way!

Brother, Can You Spare Some Archives?

Does anyone have some spare 2012 Archives available for trade?  I’ve completed all the insert sets to this set but still need 50+ base cards (I’m ignoring the SPs from 201-241 because, well, because I can).     This is a neat little set and I’d like to get it off my master checklist.  If you have some available, please let me know and I’m sure I can find something good to give you for them:

 

1              Matt Kemp

4              Matt Garza

5              Freddie Freeman
12           Pablo Sandoval
17           Mat Latos
21           Jeremy Hellickson
22           Mickey Mantle
26           Paul Konerko
28           Melky Cabrera
32           Adam Jones
46           John Danks
49           Mike Moustakas
50           Albert Pujols
54           Jemile Weeks
59           Hunter Pence
61           Brian Mccann
69           Ryan Zimmerman
71           Jimmy Rollins
74           Ty Cobb
76           Victor Martinez
78           Miguel Montero
82           Jose Reyes
83           Craig Kimbrel
86           Trevor Cahill
88           Mike Schmidt
92           Jordan Walden
97           Brett Lawrie
100         Miguel Cabrera
104         Yovani Gallardo
110         Jose Bautista
112         Todd Helton
113         Ryan Howard
120         Tim Lincecum
122         Dustin Pedroia
128         Shin-Soo Choo
129         Darryl Strawberry
130         Mike Stanton
135         Mike Napoli
138         Joe Dimaggio
140         Buster Posey
147         Justin Masterson
155         Ichiro Suzuki
163         Aramis Ramirez
164         Kevin Youkilis
171         Lucas Duda
180         David Wright
184         Jim Rice
185         Roberto Clemente
186         Brian Wilson
188         Vance Worley
194         Gary Carter
196         Andrew Bailey
199         Mark Reynolds
200         Derek Jeter

Black Friday COMC Spoils Part 7, sub part A: Completed Archives Cloth Set

So far I've been showing the cards that helped me make progress on sets I'm currently collecting.   I'm happy to say that I was also able to get a couple of onsies that completed two sets.

I only lacked this George Brett card from the cloth insert set from 2012 Archives.

I don't lack it anymore, but I do like it.  Say lack and like out loud and see for yourself how similar those words sound.  Say it with a of a blend of slight Texas/Arkansas accent and you'll know what I'm talking about.

The only thing I don't like about this set is the cards are "numbered" with letters, and to put them in order in the binder, I had to make sure my alphabet skills were on point.  Luckily, my three year old and I have been practicing the alphabet a lot lately and, not to brag, but I've pretty well got the whole thing memorized.  The key is to sing it to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." It's much easier to remember.  Here is the full set, in perfect alphabetical order by last name:

Black Friday COMC Spoils Part 6: Deckle Post Pressure Cooker

I was already feeling a little bit of pressure toward writing this post to begin with.  I mean, it's the freaking 6th post in a row in which I've blathered on about my COMC Black Friday purchases.  Black Friday was sooooo November.  But I've got a lot of cool cards to cover and must press on.    I already had every intention of making this post about Deckle Edge cards from 2012 Topps Archives fascinating, provocative and relevant to today's cultural climate.   Here are the cards I'm talking about:

Very cool insert set I must say.  Here is the completed set, all nice and crooked in the sheets because they don't really fit:

I could just let these cards speak for themselves, and leave it at that.

But then my man Spiegel had to go and nominate me as the greatest blogger of all time and now I have to live up to the hype and find a way to entertain you people yet again.

Don't know what  I'm talking about?  Well, you should, so go over to Jaybarkerfan's Junk blog and check out the nominations post for the 2nd Annual Blog of the Year contest that Wes is graciously coordinating.  

Perhaps Spiegel's nomination didn't specifically call my blog the "greatest of all time" but that's how it's being referred to around this household.  I assume I will receive some sort of plaque or citation for being nominated?  I've sent the press release to the local media, but they all seem to be focused on the Razorback Head Coach search (thanks for the mess and the stealing of my ink Bobby Petrino).

What I'm getting at is I'm not sure what to do with this post, so give me some time to stew over it and I'll get back to you.

Sweet Listia Win

Happy Thursday evening to you.  It's not earth shattering, but I was extremely pleased to pick this up off Listia recently:

I have no plans to try to complete the whole set of Archives Relics, but it's hard to argue with getting this beauty for free off Lisita.  That's all I've got tonight!

Important Blog News: The End Is Here

For my 2012 Archives 3D insert set:

I got the final two I needed this week- the Mantle from eBay, and the Kemp from Listia, which I'm enjoying quite a lot these days.

This was only a 15 card checklist, but wasn't that easy to put together.  It's pretty swell looking though, now that it's complete:

These cards aren't numbered, so I just put them in almost alphabetical order. 

Checklist Chipaway: 2012 Topps Archives Cloth Cards

I recently picked up almost all of the cards I needed for the Topps Achives Cloth set from a seller on sportlots.  The seller didn't quite have every card I needed, and I’m still lacking the George Brett card.    If anyone has one available, please let me know.  

Checklist Chipaway: 2012 Topps Archives Inserts

I'm probably going to wrap up the inserts from 2012 Topps Archives before the base set.  I'm very close on a few of them after picking these up this week:

I only need 5 more of the cloth set, and am halfway home on the deckle edge set.  I got all of these off sportlots.com.

My favorite insert in this set is the 3D.  I only need 2 more (Mantle and Kemp) to wrap this one up.  I got  Clemente this week: