Same Card Different Color.

Bowman Platinum 2012

The same card in four delectable shades.



From The Land Of The Rising Sun.

 A few days ago a package arrived all the way from Japan. The card I was waiting for is the one above,it is a 2012 Sega Card Gen. As far as I am aware this is a type of baseball card game. As it was a James Shields card I had to have it. The Japanese ebayer I bought the card from has to be the most polite and and gracious person I have ever dealt with on ebay. So another slightly odd card hits the Shields PC. As well as getting the Shields I was surprised to find three more cards in the envelope, they are showcased below.

Konami Baseball Heroes 2009

Kazuki Kondon

Orix Buffaloes

Konami Baseball Heroes 2009

Cabrera

Orix Buffaloes

Konami Baseball Heroes 2010

Yoshinobu Takahasi

Yomuri Giants.



I know nothing about Japanese baseball cards and know nothing of the language but these are pretty cool cards. It's strange that Cabrera has no first name though, maybe he is too cool for one.

Die Cut Tastic.

 Here are the next two cards in my recent James Shields binge. Above we have the rather fancy Bowman Platinum Cutting Edge Stars card, a very nice design on this one,although as with all die cut cards it will be prone to damage around the edges. The second card is the Cutting Edge Stars GU card. Aha I hear you cry "just another workaday relic card", but dear reader you would be mistaken. The reason being is that this one is numbered 33/50 and of course that is Shields jersey number. I'm not one to hunt down jersey numbered cards, but is always nice when one becomes available.



At Long Last.

After a bit of a break due to work issues and finding out my dear wife is pregnant I have returned. A lot of James Shields cards have hit the welcome mat at Hairylemon Towers since the last post and over the next few days I will showcase them to my loyal reader. The first two cards are both from 2012 Triple Threads a set I am sure Shields has never appeared in. It's been a long time since he had an official auto in any set. The last I can think of is 2010 Upper Deck. First card on show is the Unity Relic card in Emerald 2/18. Not too sure if I like the design of this one, it's a tad too shimmery for my liking. As usual there are a few different color versions of the card to collect. Second comes the Daddy of the bunch, yes it's an auto'ed card from Triple Threads 2012. This little beauty is 5/18 and comes with the legend 11 CG IN 2011. That of course is Shields eleven complete games thrown last season. I am very happy that my boy is now showing up in the higher end products but my wallet is not so sure. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more Shields based jappery.

Triple Threads Unity Relic 2/18

Triple Threads Auto/Relic 5/18

Three Prized Possessions

 Mr Fuji has asked for my three prized sports possessions. So here they are in no particular order,first is a Bowman Chrome Shields rookie card. Ok it's not valuable or rare but it holds a place in my heart as it was the first Shields card I owned,if I remember it was one cent from ebay.

 Card two is a James Shields Exquisite Debut card 20/20. This is my first auto card of Shields and I remember setting my alarm for 3am so I would be awake to win it from ebay,remember folks I live in the UK and you good folks in the States are at least five hours behind us.

Last but not least is this 3x5 Stan Musial auto'ed card. My first auto of a Hall of Famer and surely on of the greatest hitters to ever wield the lumber. I bought a 6x4 auto'ed postcard of Stan from a fellow ebayer from Scotland and he threw this in as an extra!!!! How cool was that. If Fuji had wanted a fourth card it would be his own auto'ed card,there is something really cool about a Fuji card.

Most Expensive Card.

Fuji has come up with the question "Whats the most you ever spent on a sports card?" I normally limit myself to $20 per card and will only go over budget if is a card I really really want,I have let many James Shields cards pass due to high cost even though I had the paypal to get them. This baby is one I could not let go,it is a 2006 Sweet Spot Rookie card signed on (fake?) leather. It is my favorite PC card and one I wanted for so long. A collector on FCB pm'ed me about 12 months ago to tell me he was thinning his Shields PC and was there anything he had that I would be interested in. Well I asked if he was willing to part with this card and to my surprise he said yes. So $38 later it now resides in my PC and here it will stay forever. No way am I parting with this one.

Another 1 Cent Card.

A Topps 2012 Archives 1956 Game Used. This beauty cost One Cent or One English Penny,I love picking up PC cards for the very minimum price on Ebay. I really like this card,the 1956 Topps is an iconic card and Topps have not done a dis service to it by updating it slightly. Of course if Topps were going for reality there would only be twenty people behind James Shields in the stadium.

James Shields Gypsy Queen Style.

I am a wee bit behind with my Gypsy Queen post,to be honest I have been flat out lazy recently. Anyhoo here is the Shields Gypsy Queen 2012 Collection thus far.  Starting with the plain base card. I am a big fan of the design of these cards,just a bit unsure of the grey border.

Card number two is the Game Used Jersey card,this is the full size card.I love the background of this card,the game could only have been played at the Trop judging on the massive crowd in the background.

 Thirdly we have the framed mini game used,same design as the full size card. Again not a big fan of the frame color.

 Fourth is the Green Border mini,one of about 50 different variants of the mini card. A really rather icky color green to boot,not my favorite mini card of all time that's for sure.

 Last but not least we have the Cyan Printing Plate of the mini variation card. I believe these came in a small separate box inside the hobby box,so they were short printed. I love a good 1/1.

Disco Joe A Big No No.

It was throwback uniform night last night at the Trop. The Tigers wore their cool 1979 uniforms,a uniform that has a history. The Rays on the other hand had the above uniform. As they were formed in 1998 it is a bit hard to do throwbacks,normally its a uniform of a long forgotten Tampa minor league squad such as the Smokers or Pelicans. Last night the Rays wore a uniform that was invented just for last night and what a wonderful sight it is, I only hope they never wear this again. If any of you are old enough to remember the 70's and early 80's I'm sure you will agree that baseball has no place for disco style shenanigans. Maybe next time a punk inspired uniform or better still a uniform in the style of Kiss complete with face paint. Who wouldn't want to see Maddon done up in the style of Gene Simmons?

Collecting The Laundry

This is my newest Shields card,a 2008 UD Ballpark Laundry Tag 8/8. This is the second one in my collection, so I am the proud owner of 25% of the print run. I love this set and the 2009 version,I hope Upper Deck can get back in the game at some point as they really could do the higher end as well if not better than Topps.

Hot Rods Ahoy!!!!

My newest piece of Goeddel goodness comes in the shape of this sweet 8x10 Bowling Green Hot Rods autographed team sheet. Picked up off ebay for a very good price. As well as Tyler Goeddel there are also autos of some of the Rays top prospects, including top hitting prospect Josh Sale and Ryan Brett. The Hot Rods play in the full season single A Mid West League and at the moment they are second in their division.

Spot The Difference.

Here we have my latest Tyler Goeddel additions,a pair of Panini Prime Cuts 2012 Prospect autos. The top one is the base auto numbered out of 299 and the bottom is the Gold version numbered out of 49. Can you spot the difference in the cards? Thats correct its the color of the writing on Prime Cuts, pretty crappy variation if you ask me, but hey-ho I like the styling and look of the cards and any Goeddel is a nice addition to my budding pc.

Tyler Goeddel Mail Week.

I had a bit of a crazy Goeddel week this week, first new card to appear was the Bowman Sterling 2011 auto, nice design as always but not the greatest picture.

The second card to arrive was this cool Donruss EEE 2011 Aspirations 10/100 Die Cut, a very nice card which was a very nice price, I am a big fan of Extra Edition cards and am always happy to pick up the rarer ones at a nice price. 

Card three was the little brother of the Aspirations auto,this one is the Franchise Futures auto 374/415 a very nice priced pick up.

Card four is another Extra Editon card, this time the yearbook version, this one is numbered out of 70.

Card five was another Panini card,this time a base auto from the Playoff Contenders set, a shame Panini used the exact same picture as the card above,but I can't complain too much. It's cool Panini bring out these prospect sets even though they're not licenced.

Last and by no means least is the Playoff Contenders Printing Plate 1/1 or 1/4 take your pick. This is my first Goeddel 1/1 and hopefully not my last.

If any of you guys have any Goeddel cards you want to trade away give me a buzz and hopefully we can work something out.

A Floating Head and An Asian Curio.

 A couple of new Shileds hit the door mat this week. First to arrive is this rather splendid Topps Heritage 2012 Sticker, there's just something sweet about a disembodied head. Strange but cool.

The second card to arrive was this rather nice Topps/Sega 2010 card from Japan. I have an inkling it's a type of game card but not too sure. All I know from the back is that Shields has a great change up.

I was fortunate enough to pay just .99c for this card,Tony the UK's biggest Adam Lind collector bid $10.00 on the Lind version and lost out. Is Adam Lind really that popular?

A Crap Card 1/1 Style.

Here is the worst card in the world or at least in my Shields pc in 1/1 form. It's a Print Plate from the 2010 Topps t-206 set. Regular readers will know how little love I have for the design of this card,it truly is the crappiest picture on any Shields card. Still,when you get the chance to own a 1/1 or 1/4 (you be the judge) it's hard to pass it up, so I didn't and for the huge price of $10.00 I know own this beauty.

Game Used Cards Are Like Buses.

Why like buses? Well you don't see one for two years and then two come along at once. First up is the Topps Update 2011 All Star Work Out Jersey. This is a card I thought I would never see, Shields in the ASG? Wow!!!! Lets hope 2012 is as good as 2011 was for the big guy.

Bus number two comes in the shape of the Heritage 2012 Clubhouse Collection card. As always Heritage delivers. Also this year it's a much better picture of Shields, last years was truly the worst card on the planet.

Hopefully this year there will be an auto or two in some of the sets,my last Shields auto is from 2010 and I would love to pick up a few more auto cards.

I Never Thought I Would See This.

I never thought I would see James Shields on a League Leaders card after his terrible 2010 season. Yet here he is in all his glory along with Justin Verlander and Jerad Weaver. Shields posted a 2.83 ERA in 2011 edging out Dug Fister for the third spot on the card.

As this is Topps series 1 there are about 300 different versions of this card to collect, red border,blue border,black border and the gold vomit style to name but three. So of I go to ebay and comc.com to hunt down the rest.

I Love Cheap Autos.

 First round draft picks + no logos = $4.00 of cool autos.

Tyler Goeddel My New Prospect To Collect.

Meet my new Rays prospect to collect, Mr Tyler Goeddel. Picked 41st in the 2011 draft, Goeddel is a third baseman from California who gave up the chance to go to UCLA to sign with the Rays. Tyler is still only nineteen years old, standing at six foot four he only weighs in at 175lbs. The Rays will be hoping he puts some muscle on his rangy frame.

Rated the 7th best 3rd base prospect in 2011 by Baseball America. Seen here on last years coolest design,the Leaf Valiant card. This is my first but not my last Goeddel auto. As with all the prospects I collect it's not really for profit just for the fun of collecting a young guy and seeing how he pans out. The Rays will be hoping for a good progression from him, this is so he will take over from Evan Longoria when the Rays have to trade him away due to his salary becoming unmanageable or the partying finally gets him.

My First 2012 Card.

Hurrah!!!! My first card from a 2012 set. A James Shields Golden Moments card from series one. For the life of me I can't remember what the golden moment was, something to do with Randy Johnson. Always nice to have pc cards, but I'm getting a bit pissed off with the Topps overkill on themes. Last year it was diamonds which was fair enough given it was the Diamond Anniversary of the company. This year it's gold, which does seem to have brought out some rather spectacular vomit style inserts. I can't wait to get all those added to the ole pc.

On the bright side it's good to see James Shields on an insert that celebrates goodness, after a lacklustre/crap 2010, 2011 was certainly a golden year for him.

Jeremy Who?

I know nothing about Basketball except it's played by very tall men with bad tattoos. Last week I got a package in the mail from Ryan at SCR, the main card in the package was a graded prospect card (post to come). Also included were a whole bunch of Basketball cards from various contests on SCR, the only reason I enter those contests is that my God sons are NBA mad and any cards I win go to them.

One card caught my eye though, the Jeremy Lin Bonus Shots 47/49, I knew nothing about Lin or the team he played for, after checking on ebay I found out his cards had gone through the roof pricewise, the last card #/49 sold for over $50. My card is currently on ebay and I'm hoping for a nice result so I can increase my Baseball PC's. So the morale of the story is this, keep on entering those contests because you never know what you will get. A big big thank you goes to Ryan and Colin at SCR for running some great contests and being all around good guys. If you haven't checked out SCR.com yet please do so as it's a great forum and not in the least bit snobby like other forums I could mention(I'm looking at you FCB.com).

Stan the Man Times Two.

Every now and again ebay.uk and an ebay seller will surprise you. While wading through pages of 1990 Donruss and various other junk wax cards I came across the postcard you see underneath. It's an official Stan Musial postcard and it's signed. The postcard cost me $15 including the shipping, the buyer got in contact with me after I had paid and told me he was adding another Musial card to the package.

 The other card he sent me was this really nice 5x3 card, and believe it or not this one is also signed by Stan Musial, so for my outlay of $15 I got two very sweet autographed cards of one of the real legends of the game. Very tasty!!!!

I was going to try and resell them as I believe there is a profit to be made from them,but on getting them I think I may have to frame them and put them up on my bedroom wall. So it pays to wade through pages of crap because sometimes there is a diamond waiting to be found.

Superbowl? No Thanks.

                                  Tom Brady,Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin with a Jets fan.




Boston vs New York. Yay!!!!!!

Yep think I'll give that a miss thank you very much. Normally I can find a white hat and a black hat in any given match up, but these two teams are both black hats.

Another Exquisite Auto.

Here is my seventh 2007 Exquisite Auto, this is my second dual auto. The first was James Shields with Fernando Salas who is now working in Burger King (probably). This is a super nice card 16/20, what I really like about this one is the fact I know who the other guy is. Chad Billingsley is of course a Dodger, that is unless he has been traded and I didn't notice.

The reason I own this card is as follows, I logged into Blowout Cards Forum to see I had a pm. It was from a guy who had found a very old thread I had made asking about Shields cards. He asked if I was interested in the Exquisite. Sure am said I, how much? He used the old "make me an offer" routine. So being the classy lowballer I am (joke) I offered him $10, He countered with $15 dlvd to the UK. Done deal Says I, quite happy as I was willing to go as high as $20 to get it.

I am so in love with the Exquisite cards and can't wait to bag a few more Shields for the collection.

Dragon or Lion?

Here we have a Leaf Valiant 2011 Auto of Rays pitching prospect Taylor Guerrieri. I'm not normally one to chase after non licensed cards but I made an exception for this set. Why? I hear you shout. Two reasons, first it's shiny and Simon likes shiny things. Secondly it has a Dragon wearing a crown on it or a Lion wearing a crown.

I'm going with Lion, what do you guys think it is? This set kicks Leaf Drafts ass by the way, much nicer cards and clearer autos.