Tis The Season Winnings, Part XII

Sometimes, I procrastinate posting and sorting some cards. Normally I don't pay too much attention to how long a particular item has been sitting on my desk, but given that this one was the Tis the Season contest from 2013, I've probably had it in my possession for a little over a year now. But, even with the long delay, I still want to throw Jeff at 2 by 3 Heroes some referral traffic while I show off my prize.
Part I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI

Today I have the last of the Red Sox and Yankees. When I sorted roughly by year, no Cardinals showed up in this last bunch.

2012 Bowman #102 Clay Buchholz
2012 Bowman - Prospects #BP105 Xander Bogaerts
2012 Topps Update #US310 Kelly Shoppach
2012 Topps Chrome #4 David Ortiz
2012 Topps Heritage #20 Derek Jeter
2013 Topps Update #US177 David Ortiz

I don't buy much Chrome, for some reason, so it's always nice to get them in the mail. Bowman products are sort of in that same category, because the sheer number of sets and subsets just overwhelms me. But, just like Chrome, I like getting them in the mail, because they're very rarely duplicates.

2011 Topps - Kimball Champions #KC-6 CLay Buchholz
2011 Topps Update - Kimball Champions #KC-130 Adrian Gonzalez
2013 Topps Update - Blue Parallel #212 Alfonso Soriano
2012 Topps #50 Adrian Gonzalez

Kimball Champions are one of those insert sets that Ambitious Me thought I would finish by now. Maybe someday.

Chavez Ravining Winnings

Alex at Chavez Ravining has had at least one contest running every day since I've been following him. A few weeks ago the Randomizer picked me, and I won a David Price Heritage Chrome card. He also threw in a few Cardinals for my collection.

2004 Topps Total - Team Checklists #TTC27 Albert Pujols
2008 Upper Deck First Edition Update #349 Matt Holliday
2008 Upper Deck First Edition Update #474 Chris Duncan
2012 Bowman Chrome #117 John Axford
2013 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects - Prospects #BDPP125 Jake Stone
2013 Heritage - Chrome #HC60 David Price #139/999

It felt unbalanced to post a scan that Holliday card by itself, and 5 vertical cards, so turn your head a bit if you really want to see it. That's from his time with the Rockies, so along with that orange and black All-Star jersey, he's got some (purple, I believe) pinstriped pants on. That's quite a look.

Also in the bunch was a Pujols card I didn't have, local radio personality Chris Duncan, recent rent-a-reliever John Axford, and a kid who's only played 1 year at Rookie level so far, Jake Stone.

Thanks for the cards, Alex, and all the contests of course.

College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 4

For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 ]

2012 Allen and Ginter
#133 Carlos Beltran
#134 David Freese
#202 Jaime Garcia
#311 Bob Gibson

Even though these are 3 of the Cardinals' biggest present-day stars, the best of this bunch of Bob Gibson.

2012 Bowman
#36 Lance Berkman
#132 Jason Motte

Bowman is fairly rare on my blog, but it seems to be showing up more and more these days.

2011 Allen and Ginter - Hometown Heroes
#HH2 Colby Rasmus
#HH15 Matt Holliday
#HH67 Jon Jay
#HH93 Lance Berkman

2011 Allen and Ginter
#240 Matt Holliday
#280 Adam Wainwright

It's rare to get more inserts than base out of someone's duplicates pile. Less rare is the phenomenon where receiving cards makes my want list longer. I've got 4 of the 6 Cardinals in the Hometown Heroes set, so I practically have to add Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter now.

Found Another New Blog Through a Contest

When a blogger offers a bonus entry in a contest for posting a link to it, I always do it for 2 reasons. First, I get a bonus entry of course. Second, I seem to keep finding new blogs, often just new to me, from the posts of others, so I figure I'm at least helping out a little.

On to today's new blog, it's Bass on Balls. The contest appears to be ongoing, so make sure you follow him and keep up with everyone else. First prize is the base set of 2012 Bowman, which I just dipped my toe into in my last post.

Go follow Bass on Balls, and good luck in the contest.

I Won at Card Anathema

This was less of a contest than it was a race, and luckily I was scrolling through Google Reader and was all caught up when this post at Card Anathema came up. Matt's impulsiveness is my gain, and I received a pack of 2012 Bowman in the mail Friday. He even put a little tape on it so it almost felt like opening a brand new pack with no knowledge of what's inside.

In a 10-card pack, I count 6 cards that I would consider inserts. That's a pretty crazy ratio, but maybe that's part of what drives everyone mad for Bowman each year.

2012 Bowman #21 Yunel Escobar

2012 Bowman #48 Zack Greinke

2012 Bowman #161 Jason Heyward

2012 Bowman #187 Kevin Youkilis

That's the 4 base cards, all of them Major Leaguers. Next up are some prospects

2012 Bowman - Prospects #BP5 A.J. Jiminez

2012 Bowman - Prospects #BP63 Todd McInnis

Next up: Chrome Prospects. I'm starting to really like Chrome cards, plus they are the only ones out of this set that appear to scan well.

2012 Bowman - Chrome Prospects #BCP84 Bryan Brickhouse

2012 Bowman - Chrome Prospects #BCP101 Julio Rodriguez

That's it for the prospects. I don't really know any of these guys, but I'm glad to get one that's in the Cardinals organization.

2012 Bowman - Gold #80 Jimmy Rollins

The obligatory Gold parallel, these are 1 per pack and actually look pretty good.

2012 Bowman - International #53 Adam Lind

These are inserted 1:8 packs, too bad Mr. Lind was just outrighted to the minors.


Thanks to Matt at Card Anathema for the cards!