Trade Bait Draft Results from the Daily Dimwit

Monday, 9 April 2012

After having taken part in the very first trade bait draft about a year ago, I have come to really enjoy these.  Sometimes they serve to replenish my trade coffers, which is very useful in and of itself, and other times they give some very nice keepers.  This particular draft hosted by Sam at the Daily Dimwit did both for me.  The main reason it did both is because it was sponsored by BigHits Sports Cards, so the variety went far beyond the average collector's trade bait.  It really seems like a very sound business plan for the modern card shop, at least for a quick cash injection.  But enough about my economic theory, let's take a look at some cards.

The main reason I got into this draft was the abundance of Rockies "hits." There were a total of 8 cards that featured a Rockie and I ended up with 7 of them, which is what I expected since the third was a quad bat featuring Todd Helton along with some guys named Sosa, ARod and Griffey.

Here is a pair of parallel jerseys from Upper Deck.  The Tulo is my favorite from the break and is a gold version #'d out of 75.  The Holliday is a bronze version from SPx and is #'d to 199.  The completist team collector in me really despises parallel jersey cards, because the lower numbered cards are not that different than the more common varieties. 

Here are three pinstriped jersey from the early 2000s.  As expected the jersey are of Larry Walker and Todd Helton.  From 1999-2003, 90% of all Rockies relics are these two guys.  (That statistic was completely made up by me, but seems close to accurate)

Multi-team cards, yet another scourge of the team collector.  I mentioned earlier that I missed out on the quad bat card with Helton and the three superstars, but I didn't miss the Helton and the three lesser stars.  I do like that future Rockie Preston Wilson is one of the three on the card with Helton.  The Mike Hampton / Todd Helton was actually a card that was selected by jaybarkerfan, but he was nice enough to trade it to me during the draft for future considerations.  I have some of the considerations Wes, and I should have the rest by the end of the week.

Everyone got 11 selections in the "hit" category (well I got 12 thanks to Wes.), and since I was out of Rockies I decided to draft for future trades.  The only card up there not up for grabs is the Bryan Bullington #'d to 51, which Pirates Treasure Room has dibs on.  I hope he wants it, because who else would want a Bryan Bullington card?

11 hits in a draft was pretty good in and of itself, but Sam wasn't one to leave it at that.  He added a chunk of nice cards from his personal stash for the rest of us drafters.

I got the two Rockies I needed.  The 2007 Masterpieces Troy Tulowitzki is a Green Linen version.  I already had the Windsor Green version and had to guide Sam through telling me which one this one was.  The Linen version has a textured border while the Windsor is slick.  Now I have both so I don't have to figure it out anymore.  Well except for the two black versions that I still need to track down of that card.  The Xponential X2 Troy Tulowitzki brings me within one of finishing the Rockies team set.  I still need the Garrett Atkins X1 and my Rockies are finished.

A couple of other cards I plan to keep are two of my favorite Presidents of all time.  The Bill Clinton is a Windsor Green parallel.  The Teddy Roosevelt is from 2009 Goodwin, which is normally a set I despise.  I do like the Citizens of the Day though.  The other card I got is pure trade bait.  It is a Derek Jeter Windsor Green parallel.

The final three cards I got from the draft are also for trade.  The Felix Hernandez is a cloth sticker from 2011 Topps Lineage.  The Gary Sheffield is from 2008 Topps Heritage and is a regular chrome #'d to 1959.  The final card I picked up was a Joe Morgan from 2005(?) Upper Deck All Star Classics commemorating his All Star Game MVP Award in 1972.

As a bonus for each and every drafter, BigHit threw in a full set of the Home Run Legends from 2012 Topps, because apparently they were severely overstocked.  I like the idea of trying to help hobby stores with this promotion, but it doesn't seem to be working. 

As far as the set goes, it is horrible.  Here is why.  Of the 9 cards, 4 are Yankees and only 5 of these guys are in the top ten of all time in home runs.  Reggie is 13th, Mantle is 16th, Banks is tied for 21st, and Pujols is 37th.  I can appreciate why Topps left out Bonds (1st), Sosa (7th), and McGwire (10th), but why were Ken Griffey Jr. (5th) and Jim Thome (8th) excluded not to mention Harmon Killebrew(11th).  We all know that Mantle is Topps' special friend, but I would have replaced Banks, Pujols, and Mantle with those three.  Especially Killebrew since he passed away last year.  It would have been a fitting tribute.



Thanks Sam for a great draft and everyone else let me know of there is something you are interested in.

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Group Break Swag from the Dimwit (March Edition)

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

One of the two breaks that I try to get in every month is with Sam of The Daily Dimwit.  Rarely does one of Sam's breaks go poorly for my Rockies.  Unfortunately, this was one of those rare occasions.  I only got 9 Rockies total and 4 of them were dupes.  Considering that with the sets involved, I only had maybe 8 total cards before the break...4 dupes ain't good.  You can't win them all and I did get 5 new cards of my Rockies.  Here are all nine cards for my Rockies.

These 3 were the highlight of the break for me Rockie-wise.  Sam actually decided to include this 2003 Playoff Portraits in this break because of a trade with me that included a relic from this set.  It really does look and feel very nice.  The cards are textured just like a canvas, you can actually feel the brushstrokes.  A very nice set.

Here we have from 2004 Upper Deck Diamond Collection Pro Sigs, the Rockies non-SP team set.  I didn't have the Walker, but I had the other two.  I still need several SPs and all the parallels from this set.

The other two boxes in this break were 2003 Topps 205 and 2003 Upper Deck Standing O.  Above is the Rockies entire haul from both boxes combined.  Ugh.  The even worse news is that the Jennings mini is the only card I needed.  The cherry on top is the Helton die cut is the only card from Standing O that I had before the break and it stayed that way.  So like I said, my Rockies did horrible.


However, with my second team, the Cubs, I did relatively well.  I picked them up in a trade with Ryan H of O No Another Orioles Blog for my randomized team, the Blue Jays.  I didn't get a "hit," but I did get some interesting cards and a couple of SPs.

The Ryne Sandberg from the Playoff Portraits box is probably my favorite card from the break.  It's absolutely dead on.  The middle card is one of those instances where it kind of sucks to be a fan of a team created within your lifetime.  It is a George "Peaches" Graham from the 2003 205 set.  Graham played half year for the Cubs in 1911 after being traded from the Boston Rustlers.  The Rustlers was one of the many former nicknames of the team now known as the Atlanta Braves.  I can't learn that much history from a team created in 1993, because I was there.  The Sammy Sosa is a silver signature parallel for the UDDCPS set.

Here is smattering of Cubs that I collected for one person in particular.  Jon from Community Gum is a big-time collector of both Kerry Wood and Greg Maddux and is one of my better trading buddies.  Jon if you read this, you have dibs on these six.

It wouldn't a 2003 set without an abundance of Mark "The Bird" Prior (yes I know that's not his nickname, but his career mirrored Fidrych).  I ended up with both the base Prior with the modern logo and the SP with a what looks like roadkill logo.  The Sosa is just a base mini, but doesn't he look douchey with the shades tilted on his hat.

I'll end this with a trio of SP rookies.  In the early 2000s, many sets had short-printed rookies.  If a player took off, like Pujols or Ichiro the card became worth a mint.  Most of the time you end up paying like $2 for someone you never heard of like these three.  Actually that's not true, I have heard of Todd Wellemeyer but you get the point. 


All of these Cubs (and many others I didn't show) are for trade, but like I said Jon has dibs on the Woods and Maddux. 

Thanks for the break, Sam, and I am looking forward to the Trade Bait Draft tomorrow night.

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I Gots Me a New Scanner plus Results from the Dimwit's January Group Break

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

After getting my tax refund on Monday, I did a little shopping and picked up a new scanner/printer.  I had a couple of issues with it such as the USB cable not being included and a couple of tricky bugs to work out, but all is now well and I can again have pictures that aren't either old and/or "borrowed" and properly thank future trade partners. 

First up on the scanner schedule is my group break results from The Daily Dimwit.  The weird thing about this group break was I received the cards before the break actually finished.  Now that's efficiency.  Sam always runs a great break and this was no exception, but I didn't do so great this go around at least with my want list.  I still got some good cards though.

Sam busted two boxes each of 2007 SP Rookie Edition and 2009 UD Signature Stars.  I got my Rockies and was randomized the Orioles.  I already had about half of the 2007 set and most of the 2009 set, but I figured I'd try to beat the odds and knock out a couple of needs.

This Jeff Francis is the sum total of cards knocked off my want list.  It is a cool looking card especially with the purple background.

Here is the remainder of the 2007 SP Rookie Rockies.  Troy Tulowitzki and Jeff Baker are both featured on 4 different cards (1993, 1995, 1996, and 2007 designs).  I already had the 2007 and the 1996 for both, but needed the others.  Unfortunately, the two that I got were the 1996 version, but it is my favorite of the four designs at least.

Here is the entire team set from the 100 card base set from 2009 UD Signature Stars.  It's okay, but seems a little off somehow.  Perhaps if the gray polygons in the corners were team-colored it would have been better.  I already had these two, but was hoping for one of the autos to hit for me.  Actually of the four autos, I only still need Jhoulys Chacin.  The odds weren't with me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Here's all the Orioles I got which are up for trade (along with all the Rockies minus Francis)

I got two of the Markakis, if there are more than one of you that want it.  Markakis is probably the only Oriole I know other than former Rockies Jason Hammel and Matt Lindstrom who were traded there yesterday.  Melvin Mora was a future Rockie when this card came out and is currently a former Rockie.  Brian Roberts has been rumored as a Rockies trade target since the first Clinton administration, but it never works out.  Oh well.

Here are the two SP O's I got.  The Brian Burres is the 1993 design I believe.  In 1993 SP was out of my price range, so I never really learned the designs. 



Thanks for the break Sam and I look forward to getting in next month's break.

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