Pie Face Funded: Gypsy Queen Greens

I picked up 3 of the green paper framed parallels I needed from 2011 Gypsy Queen- all big stars.

I only need 4 more:

Carl Crawford
Albert Pujols
Stan Musial
Ozzie Smith

Nothing more to say today- let's all focus on another Razorback victory!!!

Pie Face Funded: Elvis Bat

Hey, look, here is something else I bought using my "Pie Face" funds:

 

I have a couple of these Museum jumbo bat cards, and I have to say- they are fantastic!  The wood is fairly smooth, so if I ever get the chance, I'd love to have Andrus autograph it.  Or maybe engrave his signature with a wood burning kit.  I think I still have one of those from when I was kid.  

Points to for identifying this pop culture reference:  Who once got in trouble for burning house numbers into the actual structure of their house and not using a separate peice of wood like he should have? 

 

Pie Face Funded: 2003 Diamond Kings

I was able to knock out one of the insert sets from 2003 Diamond Kings using my "Pie Face" funds, and it's a satisfying feeling.  I mean, I've been working off and on towards completing this master set over 10 years now.   I've got a few of the inserts done, and I've got a bunch of the autos/relics.

I can include the "Team Timelines" set to the "done" pile:

The cards are all numbered to 1,000 and have a nice leathery feel to them.  Here is the beautiul set in a full page:

 The Gehrig/Soriano card is number 10 and is on a separate page.  I kind of wish card compaines would make all of their sets and inserts in multiples of 9s rather than 5/10s. 


I also picked up one of the 3 cards I needed from the "Heritage" insert set:

 

I'm only missing Thurmon Munson and Barry Bonds now, so if you happen to have either of those available, please let me know!

Pie Face Funded: Kinslers and Beltres

I love waking up on days when I know I'm due a padded envelope of cards in the mail that day!  That was Saturday for me, as my "Pie Face" funded purchase from COMC.com came in.  I don't at all regret my decision to purchase a bunch of smaller value cards rather than one or two big vintage cards.   Besides, I'll be able to produce at least 5 or so blog posts over this shipment, starting with some great Ian Kinsler cards:

These two Bowman's Best rookies were the main highlights of the Kinsler portion of this purchase.  I don't have either of these, and therefore my Kinsler collection was not serious.  The Green version on the left is numbered to 899.   I apologize for the cruddy scans.  We bought a new scanner and I haven't played with the settings yet.  I was thrilled with the speed of the scans- but now I see what I get with that.  Guess I need to increase the resolution next time.

For good measure, I picked up chrome and gold versions of his Bowman rookie.  Didn't have them either.

Finally, I tossed in a pair of rad die cuts.  Yes I said "rad."  These cards are rad.  If these aren't rad, I don't know what rad is. 

I added a few cards of one of my other favorite Rangers, Adrian Beltre.  I was going to do a separate post on these, but since it's only four cards, I might as well add them in:

Beltre is frequently referred to in social media as "OS!" As in "Oh Shit!" which is something he is sometimes overheard yelling when a fellow Ranger hits a home run.  Or when he hits one  himself.    I think he's yelling "Oh Shit!" on this card.  This beautiful blue refractor numbered to 250, that is.

 He's saying it on this green parallel, too.  The green isn't numbered, but it's just as pretty as the blue. Have I mentioned I love Adrian Beltre? 

I now have 3 of these green parallel Finest cards.  They're numbered to 199.  So if my math is right,  that means I have about 20% this run in my possession.   

I only have 1 of these orange cards, numbered to 99.  I can't figure out about what percent that equals.  Probably like a dozen % or something like that.

Pie Face Funded: Ranger Relics

A while back I bragged about stumbling upon a Mark Teixeira "pie in the face" variation card while digging through my boxes. 

I sold it online, and got a LOT more for it than I expected.  As soon as the buyer put his funds in my paypal account, I was ready to turn around and spend it, but I was also faced with a decision:  should I get one or two really nice cards, or should I get a bunch of little stuff and maybe knock off some of my checklist needs?  I was spying a T206 Eddie Cicotte card, as well as a 1952 Topps Bob Feller.  Either would have been great additions to my collection.

However, once I started shopping on COMC.com and sportlots.com, I came across too many cards that I "need" for my checklists and decided to go that direction.  But man, that Cicotte would have been nice...

My first pie face funded cards came in today- a group of Ranger relics, starting with 3 from 2013 Allen and Ginter:

This Ian Kinsler card is really nice.  I love the cardboard stock and the bright red swatch.    These full size Allen and Ginter Relics might be something I want to collect later on.  Super nice card.

I like the minis too, just not as much as the full size.  At first I was excited to see a stain on this Elvis Andrus card.  But couldn't that just as easily come from some doofus handling the card and rubbing dirt on it from his back yard?

Does anyone know why the frames are different colors on these?  Does it mean anything? 

Finally, I picked up my first relic card of one of my newest favorite Rangers, Martin Perez. 

Love these cards, and there is more great stuff on the way!  Still, that Cicotte would have been nice....