Wanted! - 2011 Topps

Percent Completed: 92.0%

Red indicates pending trade... 

#	Player		#	Player		#	Player
333	Tom Wilhelmsen RC		507	Huston Street
340	Evan Longoria		508	Homer Bailey
359	Roy Halladay		510	Jason Heyward		588	Rajai Davis
412	Samuel Deduno RC		511	Philadelphia Phillies		590	Tim Lincecum
418	Zach Britton RC		515	Carlos Beltran		595	Michael Pineda RC
427	Brad Emaus RC		518	Mike Morse		598	Jonny Gomes
429	Skip Schumaker		526	Jason Donald
443	Brian Roberts		531	Juan Rivera		601	J.J. Putz
445	Mitch Talbot		541	John Jaso
450	Mark Teixeira		544	Justin Masterson		604	Joe Paterson RC
451	Livan Hernandez		546	Pat Burrell		607	Daniel Murphy
452	David Freese		547	Albert Pujols
457	Brandon Allen		553	Kyle Lohse		633	Aaron Crow RC
460	Cole Hamels		557	Wes Helms		638	Ryan Madson
461	Eric Sogard RC		563	Josh Rodriguez RC		639	Pedro Beato RC
464	Daniel Bard		566	Jordan Zimmermann		640	Dan Uggla
469	Joe Blanton		568	Kansas City Royals		643	Jaime Garcia
484	Gerardo Parra		574	Brandon Kintzler RC		645	Adam Wainwright
501	Tsuyoshi Nishioka RC		580	Chris Young		660	Ryan Zimmerman
504	Jhonny Peralta

Diamond Mining - Part I

I must say that I have been completely sucked into the Diamond Giveaway.  I can’t remember if I bought a pack of 2010 Topps last year, but if I did, I never got a Million Card Giveaway code, so I did not participate in the “Transmogrifier,” whatever that is.  Like I said, I’m hooked worse than riding the white horse.  The only problem is I have painted myself into a corner.  As I will eventually share, Crinkly Wrappers provided a HUGE chunk of my Want List.  I went from needing 227 cards down to a mere 60.

This is where the problem lies, I am now less likely to buy packs of cards.  Needing only 60 cards to complete Series One means it is easily attainable to do strictly through trades.  When one trades, one doesn’t buy packs.  If one doesn’t buy packs, one doesn’t get Diamond Giveaway Codes.  Oh, the irony.

 
Please don’t take this as a statement that I’m not grateful beyond measure as to Crinkly Wrappers assistance.  But now I’m like a junkie who can’t score his blow.  I did some quick math, and since I need only 60 cards, the odds of me pulling a card I need are low.  As we all know, Series One has 12 cards per standard pack at $1.99.  We can all reasonably assume that two of those cards are not base, so that leaves 10 cards per pack.  Since I already have 270 base cards, that means the next pack I buy, on average, will yield 1.8 cards that I need.  As that progresses, the odds get worse and worse and worse.

You see, I’m on a strict budget (self induced) and I can’t go throwing $2 bucks around to get two cards.  This is where Topps makes their money.  I’m sure they fiscally, secretly despise traders, but they know there will be some collector who spends exorbitant amounts of money chasing those last 60 cards.

Anyways, I’ve gone six days without buying a pack, and I feel that monkey slipping, but EVERY time I log onto the Giveaway, I have the tingle in my blood.  That little voice saying, “Come on.  It’s two bucks.  You could get a Code Card.  DO IT!”  Just like when I quit smoking, I get up and walk outside.

So, to make the Giveaway entertaining with my three virtual cards, I’ve gone on a quest.  Much similar to Play at the Plate’s MCG idea, I am on a Diamond Mining Adventure.  I’ve decided to take my 1977 Rod Gilbreath and 2002 A.J. Pierzynski, and turn them into the oldest card possible.  I’m not combining the cards to get one card.  I’m going one for one as far back as I can go.  How has it gone so far?  Painfully slow.

After four days of extremely reasonable offers, I finally took a step forwards, I mean backwards.  Rod Gilbreath became a 1976 Nate Colbert, one of my all time favorite players.  This trade shocked me, but I am elated.

Next, old A.J. had been giving me fits.  I was completely underselling him for any 2001 nobody.  No bites.  Then I thought I’d go for a star.  Not a superstar, but a star nonetheless.  And voila, it worked in less than 15 minutes!  A.J. morphed into a 2001 Fred McGriff and then immediately into a 2000 Fred McGriff.  Not bad, in my opinion.

 

So, after six days, I’ve mined backwards one year for one card and two years for the other.  Who knows what I'll do with that Jair Jurrjens Diamond Die Cut.  I’ve got until December 31st, so who knows what will happen.   

Finally, the moral of the story is: If someone offers you a 2000 common for a 1999 common, you may be making my day!

May 3rd - 2011 MLB Tuesday Tournament Update

Well, we're down to the wire in 10 match-ups, and everything will be resolved by next week's update.  The Phillies, Marlins, Rockies and Indians have all punched their cards to the Sweet 16 thanks to the Pirates, Dodgers, Mets and White Sox putting up little fight.  I guess that statement isn't quite true for the Dodgers, as they were faced with the buzz saw also known as Florida, but I'm a Padre fan so I'll let that comment stand.

Several of the final match-ups are still extremely close to call, so after the jump, I provided a breakdown of each teams remaining opponents for the first 32 games.  Unfortunately, no head to head match-ups will occur to decide the winner, save for one game between the Brewers and the Cardinals.

Enough of my prattling, here is the bracket as it stands with the Magic Number and Game Lead to peruse... 

 Click to enlarge

And here are the games remaining:

Brewers	@ATL	@ATL	@ATL	@STL
Cardinals	FLA	FLA	FLA
Nationals	@PHI	@PHI	@PHI	@FLA
Reds	HOU	HOU	HOU	@CHC
Diamondbacks	COL	COL	COL	@SDP	@SDP
Giants	@NYM	@NYM	@NYM	COL
Astros	@CIN	@CIN	@CIN	@PIT
Padres	PIT	PIT	ARI
Cubs	@LAD	@LAD	CIN	CIN
Braves	MIL	MIL
Mariners	TEX	TEX	TEX
Twins	@CHW	@CHW	@BOS	@BOS	@BOS
Angels	@BOS	@BOS	@BOS
Blue Jays	@TBR	@TBR	@TBR	DET
Royals	BAL	BAL	BAL	OAK
Red Sox	LAA	LAA	LAA	MIN
Orioles	@KCR	@KCR	@KCR	TBR	TBR
Rangers	@SEA	@SEA	@SEA
Tigers	NYY	NYY	NYY
A's	CLE	CLE	CLE

Finally, I'll have a trade post up shortly about a nice package I received from Crinkly Wrappers that has put a sizable dent in my quest for 2011 Topps Series One.  I surmise that based on his apparent generosity and humbleness, one of you readers will get a nice gift from me.

Wanted! - 2011 Topps Series 1

Completed January 30, 2013!

Dipping my Toe into the Diamond Giveaway

Finally, I am catching up with the times.  Goodbye yesteryear, hello 2011!

If you read my last post and made it alllllllll the way to the bottom, you would have read that I have been buying a few 2011 Series One packs.  A whole seven have made into my clutches.  Surprisingly, from those seven packs, I amassed one double, so I've made a reasonable dent in the Series One set (~20%).

Today, I found myself in a Target and noticed the four packs with a guaranteed Diamond Giveaway Code.  I thought, heck, I'm going to buy two packs anyways, might as well pony up for two more packs and get a code.  My FIRST CODE ever.

Ripped the packs and ended up with three codes total, plus some assorted inserts (No Dodgers, YES!).  Anyways, I moseyed on over to the Giveaway site and felt immediately OLD.  I read all the FAQ and then created an account.  I entered my first code and got a:

Joy.  I was immediately thrilled and let down simultaneously.  After all the reading I've done from last year's giveaway to this year's, I was mixed.  I was happy to finally get a card, and then befuddled at the Orange Horror.  I then found my next card and tentatively entered the code and got this:
 

Better.  Not awe inspiring, and I'm pretty sure I have at least three of these at home, but at least we are pre-86.  I figure some Braves fan will make an offer and it will likely be accepted.

Then I looked at my final code card, and thought "Should I enter it, or save it?"  Then I remembered you could see what cards had recently been pulled, and try to get into the good groove.  I saw the three most recent pulls and they were from the late 60s and early 70s.  Sweet, pull that trigger.  I entered the code and got this:

Whaaaa?  What in the world is that?  What is a Diamond Die Cut and WHO is JAIR JURRJENS?  I can feel the sun racing around to come up behind me again, Pink.

Anyways, I'm not sure if you can select a "user" to trade with.  Anyone know?  And if anyone has pointers on how to actually trade, I'd appreciate the 411 (hah, look at me, all trendy and stuff. LOL).

Finally, I need to get a 2011 want list up, as the four packs I got yielded at least 25% doubles.  Also, I really don't care for inserts, so I'll have to post that trade bait, too.