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?