Top Blog Moments- IT'S A LIST, LOST COLLECTOR

Remember that time the Lost Collector wrote a post about how lists were lame, and it rubbed Night Owl the wrong way?  That was funny.

I'm happy to say that for as much grief as I give AJ (The Lost Collector), I consider him a friend and one of the best people I've met as a result of this blog business.  

So before my last post tomorrow, in honor of AJ, I wanted to stroll down memory lane and list out my Top 9 favorite blog moments from the last three years.  Why 9?  Because 7 ate 9.  Wait, no that's a punch line to one of my 4 year old's jokes.  Why 9?  Because.... I couldn't come up with 10.

Here they are, sort of ranked and sort of not:


#9 : Auctions/Gifts From Cleve:

Obviously auctions at Cleve's were a major part of my blog.  My involvement with Cleve's won't end with the ending of the blog thankfully.  And I'm still stunned by some of the incredible cards that Cleve has given me over the years:

Yes that's a Triple Threads dual autograph book card of Evan Longoria and Josh Hamilton.  It is indeed.

I guess these aren't directly tied to the blog, but they are so nice and Cleve is so awesome that they need to be on the countdown.



#8 :  Dayf sends me the best card I ever received from another blogger:

 

As you may recall, I made a lazy, half ass attempt to get George Will, my hero, on a card in Allen & Ginter.  It went nowhere, but did result in me receiving a custom made Will A&G card, courtesy of everyone's favorite Cardboard Junkie.

#7:  AJ Gets Ranced:

Speaking of exchanging cards between bloggers, I was very proud of what I sent AJ after he made a smart ass remark about some tainted cards I had opened.  His post is perhaps my favorite post related to my blog from another blogger.

I also want to send a kudos to Cardboard Catastrophes for the best title of a post about a trade with me:  Paper Products From a Paper Product.  That was brilliant, and Jeff is a fantastic writer and generous dude.

#6:  Etopps Scandal:

This is as close to fame in the baseball card world as I ever got.  I was mentioned on eTopps message boards and it led to a mild scandal.  It's a weak 15 minutes of fame grant you, but it's mine.

#5:  Hot Dog Tournament:

I know this was a stupid bit on my part, but it was a blast.  My stomach didn't appreciate it, and I won't do it again, but it was fun to write.  It's also been fun to re-live all the matchups and the controversies that occured.  What a thrilling tournament!

#4:  The Becky Bridwell Interview:

I was pretty of proud of this one.  It's as close to journalistic "work" as my blog ever got.  Adventures of Napkin Doon is not interview-centric at all, but the interview with Oriole's prospect Parker Bridwell's mom was fun, and she was an awesome person to correspond with.

#3:  Doon Discs:

This was a totally stupid spoof of phiten discs, but it was a wonderful creative release.  I was also able to use artwork from stuff I received from AJ and Dayf to make the "discs".

#2:  My Collecting "Food" Pyramid:

 

Other than my first Big Fun Game, this post was one I got the best response to early in my blogging days.  I think the analogy still holds up for me as a collector.  In fact, the comparison of junk wax to candy was spot on for me personally, because I'm getting to the age where splurging on either really makes me feel like crap.  I think it was my best "contribution" to the "blogosphere."

#1:  George Will Sends Me An Autographed Card:

Sure, this is number one for purely selfish reasons.  But getting an autographed card from George Will, and having his assistant tell me he was amused with my letter still gives me chills.  Best autograph I have by far.  This alone was worth starting the blog.


I'm sure there are a few things I'm forgetting that should make this list, but for now, that's it, that's the list. 

Stage 1 of My Set Building Process: Sampling

I'm arriving a little late on the scene with a Heritage post.  Heritage hasn't traditionally been a set I'm all that into, but I think this year's set intrigues me.  I "think" it intrigues me I say.  Sometimes I know immediately if I like a set, and sometimes I need to go through a steps to know for sure, like this: 

I suppose this isn't a Heritage post as much as it's a forum for me to articulate my set collecting process (see above). For a good review of 2013 Heritage,  I direct anyone interested  to these fantastic posts about the set from dayf. 

Basically, when I set I'm maybe interested in comes out, I start like this:

Stage 1:  Sampling

If I'm not certain I'm going to go all in and collect a set, I like to test the waters with a rack pack or a couple of wax packs.  There's little money spent, I get enough cards to get a sense of the set, and I can count on at least pulling 1 or 2 cards that I'd want for my collection anyway.

The sampling phase is:


A first date over lunch
Renting a game at Red Box
The first sip of the first jack and coke
The free 30 second listen of a song on iTunes

My sampling of 2013 Heritage was:

This was the first card out of the pack- a good omen for me I guess.  Moustakas a player I collect, mostly because he was someone I was able to see play several times in person while he was in the area playing for the Royals AA team.  A pretty sharp card I think.

Later in the pack was this Cliff Lee card, another of my favorites.  Former Razorback, former Ranger.   Two big feathers in his cap. 

I'm under the impression that there are mixed reviews on Heritage out there.  I'm not completely sure I'm going to chase the set, but the criticism I don't understand is the complaint about the card stock.  I'm with dayf on this one and like the card stock just fine.  More than fine in fact.

So I got a couple of cards I like and I'm on board with the look and feel of the set.  But I'm not all in yet.  The next phase is gathering, which means I need to open a blaster (or two) and get more context on the set.  I need to see if inserts take up a lot of space, and if so, do I like them?  My instinct is that this is a set where I won't give a rip about building the insert sets, so I hope the blaster I get doesn't have a lot of them.

Once I have gathered some cards (more on that later this week when I have a blaster to open) I can decide if I'm collecting, the final phase of building a set, or if I'm in danger of simply accumulating these cards.  I'll explain the difference between "collecting" and as I see it, it's ugly step sister "accumulating", later as well.

It’s Your Loss, Allen and Ginter

Even though the 2012 Allen & Ginter checklist has been known for a while now, I come to you today  still in stunned disbelief that  my campaign to get George Will on an Allen and Ginter card did not bear fruit.  I spent a whole 20 minutes creating a little “George Will for Allen & Ginter” campaign sign, posting it on my blog, sending a few of my business cards out to other bloggers with said sign on the back, creating a “George Will For Allen and Ginter” Facebook page (ahem- which only 1 person liked) and then taking a step back to watch the magic happen.  And…. Nothing.  If I’m not going to be rewarded for this kind of effort, then I truly am afraid of where this country is heading.  Thanks a lot, Obamacare.

I should take my damn ball and go home, but dammit, getting Mr. Will a baseball card just means too damn much to me, dammit.

I don't know, maybe Topps got wind of this:

 and realized they couldn't top it.


Between getting this from dayf and my gen-u-wine autograph from Mr. Will,

my project had some high points.




I’m going to collect my thoughts, decide on a new campaign strategy, and come out on fire.

George Will for Allen and Ginter 2013 is coming soon.  With special sauce.

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Checklist Chipaway- SPX Winnng Materials 2003

I'm still stunned over this:

Lost in the shadow of yesterday's package from the Cardboard Junkie, was another addition to my 2003 SPX Winning Materials set:

This is the only Blue Jay from the set, and that's too bad, because it's really nice.  A Roy Halladay would have been excellent.  I'm 74% done with 11 cards to go.

The Cardboard Junkie Made Me Tear Up

I come to you today with a spring in my step.  I received some cards from the King of baseball card blogs, dayf, aka, the Cardboard Junkie.   His was the first blog that got my attention as , as it pertained to baseball cards.  In fact, it was this post that I specifically remember that hooked me.   I followed dayf's posts about A&G religiously every day.  He made me want to buy Allen and Ginter.   His posts were creative, funny and informative.   And he inspired me to write my own baseball card blog, not because I thought I could do it as well as him, but because he seemed to be having so much damn fun doing his. 

 

And dayf is an extremely generous gentleman, too.  I sent him a little note recently, just teasing, saying he didn’t love me because he hadn’t ever replied to an email I sent when I first started blogging and asked him to pretty please put me on his blog roll.    I guess I made him feel bad because he said he was going to send me some cards I needed for my Gypsy Queen master set (which made me feel bad for making him feel bad).  The cards came in the mail today.  

I could not believe one particular card that was included.  I stared in disbelief at it for a good 20 minutes.  I'm saving it for the end of this post though. 

First, here was the note in the package:

My very own "My Little Pony" sketch from the great Carboard Junkie!  How awesome is that?  Next, I noticed that there were way more cards in the package than I was anticipating.  He sent about 20 Gypsy Queen base that I needed.  I give you but a sampling:

He also sent a couple of the very cool Sticky Fingers inserts that I needed:

I only need one more (Jeter) to knock this sucker out.

Then, I came across the first big surprise:

This 2003 Diamond King Heritage insert not only knocks the rust off my 03 Diamond King master checklist, but this is one of the toughest cards to find.   I was stunned to see it, and am extremely appreciative!  But, what I came across last, in a simple penny sleeve, immediately became the highlight of my blogging experience to date:

A 1/1 sketch card of George Will.  As you may know, I am half-ass campaigning/wishing to get George Will on a 2012 Allen and Ginter Card.  Dayf beat Topps to it, and I don't think I would trade this for one from Topps if I had a choice.   And as I stated to him, the greatness of the front is only matched by the brilliance of the write up on the back:

I'm speechless over this card.  I'm glad I have dayf's address so that I can attempt to return the favor.  I'll never be able to fully though, because the Will card is priceless.    I hope my sincere gratitude is a start.  Thank you again dayf, you are the king.