Shiny Chromeness...

And so it begins, the yearly hunt for every variation of Topps Chrome James Shields cards. In 2010 I was fortunate enough to get a Superfractorless rainbow. How will I fair this year? To start with I have the very nice looking Sepia Refractor #/99, I have to be honest here and say well done to Topps, these sepia cards are very very nice.

Moving right along to the Black Refractor, again a new addition to this years set. These are #ed to 100, again a very nice looking card.

Which brings us to the Atomic Refractor #ed to 225. Unsure if I like this card or not, I like the effect on it but it does look a bit like a broken window to me.

Finally today we have the retail only Orange Refractor, strangely the orange and purple are sometimes the hardest to find for a UK collector.

I have incoming the Gold,Purple,Blue refractors, an xfractor and a base refractor. The hunt for a plate and a Red refractor continues.

Drum Roll Please!!! 100 Shields Cards!!!

Well folks I have finally achieved a collecting landmark.I have just got my 100th James Shields card.Actually its 102 but that doesn't look so cool as a title.I was just collecting game used and autographed cards until I discovered the forums and COMC.com. Now I am collecting everything I can lay my grubby little paws on. Thanks to forums and comc I can now get base and inserts at a very reasonable price or trade away my crap for cards I need.

The card above is the very first James Shields card I got. Aptly it's a 2006 Sweet Beginnings Jersey card.If my memory is correct I believe I paid the grand sum of $1 for it.

Above is card number 100.A 2006 Exquisite dual Rookie Auto of James Shields and Jason Hamels.Hamels of course is now a starter with the Rockies.

The goal now is to carry on collecting and try to reach 200 cards by the end of 2011.This shouldn't be too much of a problem due to the amount of parallels printed in each set.Also I want to try and pick up a few more 1/1 cards and maybe even a Superfractor,but that may be out of my price range.Rumours abound that Shields may be traded away from the Rays,if he is I will still continue to pick up his cards,unlike my Kazmir pc which is strictly Rays cards only.

I would like to thank Tony McD for putting me on to COMC and his help in finding Shields cards for me. Also it was Tony's awesome Adam Lind collection that finally spured me on to get the more common Shields cards. Cheers Tony.

Oh Dear.

I hate this card,in fact I loathe this card. I can't decide if Shields looks more like a Rabbi or Circus clown. Imagine a red nose and make up and bingo you have Coco the clown. Topps seem to have scored a bit of an own goal this year. Firstly we had the Chicle set,which if we are honest was a bit of a let down.Some fantastic artwork mixed in with some bloody awful artwork. Tony at collecter from across the pond has addressed the Chicle issue in his blog,including the Tom Seaver "evil twin"card. I know Topps wanted to keep the 206 series in keeping with the original,but unless all those old timers were suffering water on the brain Topps missed big time.The Shields above is not the only weird looking card in the set,many of the players seem to be suffering from pumpkin head syndrome. About time Topps got some new artists I think.

Another Mail Day.

First up from the last lot of mail I recieved we hav a Bowman Draft 2006 Blue Refractor 12/199,this was part of a trade I did with drays4life over on FCB. Chris has the most amazing collection of James Shields cards.His website is definatly worth taking a look at www.drays4life.com.

Secondly we have another James Shields 2007 Exquisite card,this one is Exquisite Endorsements and is #/50 this is the first I have with the red ink auto. Got this from SCF for $10 after I convinced the seller it was cool to send to the UK.

Next is possibly the coolest card I own. Bowman Sterling Black Refractor 17/25. This is the real deal and not a backdoor no number card, I have been conned by a seller for one of those. This little baby comes sealed in a Topps case. This was the second part of the deal with Chris. I really think I got the good end of the deal, I gave up a Jake McGee refractor auto and a Longoria Topps Tribute bat relic and got back the two refractors plus $10 paypal.

Next is a very cool looking John Jaso Bowman Xfractor 2008 auto. Not one I am particularly looking to keep,but I must admit I do find Xfractors very cool looking cards.

Last but not least is this little beauty, Cole Hamels 2008 Sweet Spot Auto 1/300. Yes indeed it's an E Bay 1/1, if anyone is interested this one is already listed on E Bay.

Rain Delay.

The Rays got mullered 13-5. My scanner has gone on the Fritz, I seen to have picked up a fever of some sort and to cap it all off we are having the monsoon storm from hell right now. I just spent the last 15 minutes making sure the hatches were well and truely battened down in the old homestead. The only god thing about a storm like this is that it shuts up my neighbours fighting cocks ( I live in the Philippines at the moment). I thought a cock was only supposed to crow at dawn, not these buggers, every minute of everyday one of them is cock a doodle dooing. I wish they would cock a doodle don't.

So how do you cheer yourself up on a day like today? You show off one of your favorite cards. A James Shields Exquisite Phenoms Gold Auto 11/15. What I love most about this card is the look on Shield's face, a look left over from old portraits of 18th century nobles. This is not the look of a man who is going to surrender six home runs in one game. This is the look of a man who will shoot game birds before retiring to the study for brandy,the look of a man who may do something unsavoury to the under maid. So I have decided when i have a day like today I am just going to adopt the Shields face and everything will be ok. If you ever see a six five slightly overweight Englishman moaning about noisy fighting cocks, take a look at his face,because if he is wearing this look come over and say hi to me.

ps. Anyone trading with me should know all my trades are handled from the UK. My dad does all the posting and shipping, so don't worry if you were thinking they were coming from the soggy Philippines.

A Little PC For Me.

Over the last few weeks I have neglected my James Shields PC in favor of buying some Rays prospect cards. I have decided it's time to pick up a few more Shields cards. First up we have a 2006 Sweet Spot Rookie Bat Barrel auto. I love Sweet Spot cards, and have been trying to find a Shields bat barrel for a long time. Most of the ones I found have been way to expensive for my wallet. I decided to post a thread on SCF asking for Shields cards and the first response was a guy offering me this beauty. A wee bit of negotiating later it was mine and I am really happy to have this in my PC. Stay tuned for Shields sweetness.

My Favourite Cards Pt1.

Exquisite 2007 James Shields/Juan Salas Gold Dual Auto 1/25.

This card is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons.Firstly it's a James Shields auto and he is my main man when it comes to collecting and also is my favorite Ray.The other reason it's in my favorite list is because it's my first ever dual auto,even though the other guy Salas has sunk without trace.

Also I love the Exquisite cards,such a nice looking card and it has the feel and thickness of a high quality card.This baby was bought from E Bay for the princely sum of $8 in an auction.The other dual autos of the same card are all buy it nows and are up for over $40.So even though they are two lesser players it still ranks as a steal in my book.