Big Game James Pick Ups.

The last couple of months have been slim pickings for my James Shields PC. I have picked up a few base cards from various years and the odd refractor to fill some holes in the PC, but cool cards have been very few and far between, so far there have been no Shields autos in any set and until Update arrived no Game Used Either. Also appearing in Update was a Shields fake glove card, I'm not much of a fan of these type of cards due to the fact Topps sees them as a hit when clearly the are not. The cards come in the unnumbered tan style, the numbered to 99 black as we see above and the ever popular nickname card numbered 1/1. My chances of owning the nickname card are zero or less. To be honest I think it's a pretty cool card and am happy for it to sit in the collection. The card cost a massive $1.95 + $3.00 shipping, a bargain in my mind. My problem now is getting the more available tan version, these seem to be costing more than the numbered ones, go figure.

The other nice "card" I managed to get my grubby paws on was the 2011 A&G printing plate you see above. I think it's the magenta one and I can't be bothered to check the back to see if I'm right. I love A&G, I honestly think it's the coolest set of the year, mainly because Shields is always in it and there are some nice variations of the cards to collect. This is my first Ginter plate and at a cost of $20 a bit of a steal in my humble opinion. The new glossy set has just been released and a Shields glossy is on it's way to Tampa Towrs as I write. The only A&G 2011 card I am missing is the wood mini which surpassed my limit for a non auto card a few weeks back, I have a feeling I know who owns it and he has the best Shields PC I have ever seen, so there is no chance it will appear in my collection.

So as the sun sets on another baseball season the hunt for cards continues.

Couldn't resist. Sorry.

A big Hello to all Red Sox fans.

More Coolness From AJ.

A few weeks ago I did a trade with AJ from The Lost Collector blog, it was a smooth and easy trade with a really cool guy. Due to problems with immigration which forced a trip to Hong Kong to sort out a new Philipine visa and a typhoon which has just decimated the country I have not been able to post the results of said trade. Well wait no longer faithful viewers, because here ar the results. If I remember rightly AJ got a 1952 Gene Woodling and a 1955 Scooter Rizzuto, I'm sure I sent something else but for the life of me can't remember what it was. Anyway AJ was kind enough to trade me three 1953 Topps cards for my ever growing Brooklyn Dodgers PC. The thing I love so much about these cards is the "loved" condition.

I don't have a huge budget for cards and I really appreciate any trade that can get me a few vintage Dodger cards. Condition is always secondary to me where vintage is concerned, and the loved condition of the above cards just adds to the coolness. AJ didn't know me from a hole in the road when I emailed him via his blog, He probably thought "who is this oddball from the UK". AJ was a kind and gracious trading partner and someone I will be willing to trade with on a regular basis (even if he is a Yankee fan). I humbly suggest you search out his blog if you have not already, it's a really good read and very informative.

Carl Who???

We all knew Carl Crawford was going at the end of the 2010 season, we all knew he was going to be making 20 billion dollars over the next 500 years (or something like that), what we didn't know was where he was going. He decided to go to Boston and instantly became a Rays anti-hero. I wasn't a big fan of Crawford due to his insistance on not batting lead off and refusal to play centre field, but I wasn't a hater either. I respect his decision to go to the Sox, I just hope it blows up in his face.

Anyhow, on to the subject of todays rambling. Crawfords long term replacement is this guy above, Desmond Jennings. He was called up in June and I think he is staying for good. Last night against the Jays he hit two home runs and stole a base. His stats so far this years are as follows, .354 avg, 8 homers, 19 rbi's and 14 stolen bases. I believe he has more homers than Crawford and is not too far behind him in steals. Of course it is a small sample size, but I honestly believe Desmond Jennings is going to be a super star for many years.

On a side note about the card. I bet the dude to the right of Jennings wishes he was holding a different pose when the shot was taken, imagine for the rest of that dudes life he is the fish face dude from Opening Day 2011.

Look Into My Eyes.

What is Billy Loes thinking? That is a serious stare he has. The card is a Bowman 1954, picked up last week from good old ebay. My Brooklyn Dodgers PC has been lying dormant the last few months and I have had the urge recently to start collecting a few more cards. This one is the first of a few picked up through trades or buying.
Billy Loes played for the Dodgers from 1950-1956 he also played for the Giants and Orioles. He had a record of 80-64 in his eleven seasons of major league ball. He was an all star in 1957. Sadly Billy passed away in July of this year at the grand old age of 80.

Thank You Mr Fuji.

The rather sweet card above is a Fleer 1981 Willie McCovey, Mr McCovey was good enough to put his auto across the card. The card was my prize in the rather splendid contest run by Fuji from The Chronicles of Fuji. Not only does Fuji write a first class blog and run a really great contest he is also a really nice guy. So many thanks for the contest and the prize and keep up the good work.

Say Hey Ernie.

Ebay.co.uk is usually a pile of old toss, the usual junk wax era stuff with a bit of good thrown in, usually cards being sold by the other UK bloggers. Every now and again there are cards that will surprise. Last week during one of my seemingly fruitless trips through the crap, I came across a nine card lot of Topps 1970 cards. Aha I thought this will be guys I have never heard of, but I clicked on the link and to my utter surprise included in the lot were Willie and Ernie plus seven lesser cards. The problem now was how much to have as a highest bid, due to the auction ending when I would be tucked up in bed. So I bid fifteen pounds or twenty three dollars if you prefer and retired to bed. I was very surprised the next day to find that I had one the auction, even more surprised when I got an email from Tony (Collector across the pond) telling me he had just missed out on a lot of 1970 Topps. Tony is a massive Giants fan and was no doubt looking to get the Willie.

I guess the moral of the story is, just keep on looking as you never know what you may find. Hey Tony the Willie is for trade!!!!!