A 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle for $5? Whaaaat

For weeks, I’d been itching to get back to one of my local card shops to dig through their vintage bargain bins. The Topps Million Giveaway promotion has rejuvenated my love for the old, smelly cards. So instead of paying inflated prices for a cardboard lottery ticket hoping to get something made before 1970, I [...]

Continue reading about A 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle for $5? Whaaaat »

Today was indeed a good day to look in my mailbox. Two TTM successes today, Pirates catching prospect Tony Sanchez, the No. 4 pick in the 2009 draft. And 2009 National League Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan, twice. The Coghlan’s are awesome. Perfect ink, and no creases in the cards.
Over the last few years [...]

Continue reading about Two more TTMs received including a Rookie of the Year »

When news came out Wednesday that Nomar Garciaparra was announcing his retirement, I echoed the sentiment that many others had — didn’t he already leave the game?
Fact is Nomar Garciaparra has been a shell of his former self for much of the last decade, thanks in large part to a string of injuries that led [...]

Continue reading about Is newly retired Nomar Garciaparra a Hall of Famer? »

After much searching, it appears that the 2010 Topps Heritage Blasters have started to arrive in retail stores. I found two at a Wal-Mart in the San Francisco Bay Area (southeast Fremont). Out of the two blasters I managed to pull two relics (Cristian Guzman Clubhouse Collection jersey and Brooks Robinson Flashbacks stadium seat) and [...]

Continue reading about 2010 Topps Heritage Blasters are LIVE »

So Topps wants to give you back the cards your mother threw out? I guess I do too, only you won’t be getting a 1987 Pete Rose or 2009 Paul Konerko. One lucky winner will receive an original vintage 1958 Topps “World Series Batting Foes” featuring Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron.
I am nearing 100,000 page [...]

Continue reading about Your chance to win a 1958 Topps Mickey Mantle/Hank Aaron! »

I received a neat little package from Topps today in the mail — my replacement for the failed Michael Bisping 2009 Topps UFC Autograph redemption. Apparently Bisping didn’t sign his cards/stickers so Topps is replacing them with signatures of Junior Dos Santos or Shane Carwin.
This card looks much better in person. It’s a clear sticker [...]

Continue reading about Topps replacing 2009 UFC Michael Bisping autos with Junior Dos Santos or Shane Carwin »

So the other day I made a stop at my local card shop to dig through the bargain vintage boxes. It had been a few months since I dug through these so I figured it was worth a shot since I was craving some old cardboard. As I thumbed through the decades-old cards encased in [...]

Continue reading about Sad reality for the vintage Topps Million Giveaway »

I received autographs from Tiger relief pitcher Daniel Schlereth and Dodger legend Ron Cey today, the first successes of my 2010 TTM requests. I’m not intending to do a post for every TTM card that comes in, but I may do them in bunches. HERE is who I have sent to thus far. I’ll be [...]

Continue reading about First Two 2010 TTM Spring Training success »

A few weeks ago, Topps released information about a promotion in which collectors could go to their local Home Team Advantage store on Opening Day — April 5 — and receive a free special Logoman card with their purchase of a 2010 Topps product. Well, it turns out that the Logoman cards being given away [...]

Continue reading about HTA-Exclusive 2010 Topps Logoman Opening Day promotion cards are NOT patches »

Without a doubt you’ve heard today that Major League Baseball Properties and Upper Deck have reached a settlement in their pending lawsuit. In a nutshell, UD cannot produce baseball cards in the future showing any MLBP logos without permission. This means no action shots with jersey logos or team names exposed. It also means that [...]

Continue reading about Did Topps put the final nail in UD’s baseball card coffin? »

After taking a year off, I’ve decided to send out a slew of TTM (Through The Mail) requests this spring training. I’ve got four batches out to a random mix of players, some guys who more than likely will not sign and a few others who probably will. As is the case with everything, you [...]

Continue reading about My 2010 Spring Training TTM request list »

The Spring is upon us. Yes, this time of year, baseball fans are going crazy waiting for live games. And also during this time, baseball card collectors who are familiar with through the mail (TTM) autographs start sending out their requests.
If you intend to send cards to prospects and other players this year and haven’t [...]

Continue reading about Ted Williams fought cancer using a ball point pen (TTM legend) »

For a company whose reputation was initially built on the success of its bubblegum, Topps really has failed to build on its empire in recent years, especially as it pertains to its candy inserted in Topps Heritage products.
I’ve already written my review of the Topps Heritage baseball card set (LINK), but I did not mention [...]

Continue reading about Dear Topps: Your bubblegum still sucks (2010 Topps Heritage) »

Damnit.
Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.
Every February I say these very words to myself because Topps really knows what they are doing. Just when baseball fans are craving the sport the most, the New York company releases its second product of the year, Topps Heritage, and sends the market into a frenzy. The set is always enticing to [...]

Continue reading about 2010 Topps Heritage Break and Review »

When I set out to complete the Topps Number Ones project, three big cards stood in my way: 1953 Jackie Robinson, 1954 Ted Williams and the 1957 Ted Williams. These represented the three most expensive cards that stood in my way to accomplish the feat.
I snagged both the Robinson and the earlier Williams this month, [...]

Continue reading about Last high-dollar card speared for Topps Number Ones project »

The hobby has been set ablaze again by Topps.
The company’s Million Card Giveaway has gained national media attention which has driven up the prices of unused redemption cards on eBay. One lot of 120 codes recently sold for nearly $300.
If you’re new to the Topps Million Card Giveaway, basically Topps inserted code cards one in [...]

Continue reading about A little perspective for the Topps Million Giveaway fanatics »

Jimmie was a sly Foxx.
I have finally obtained the final piece of this 17-card set, completing a task that I set out to conclude nearly 18 months ago. The set is by no means super scarce. The cards are readily attainable by going to eBay and plunking them one by one, or in lots, but [...]

Continue reading about Finally, 2008 Ginter ‘Baseball Icons’ completed! »

Yes, I know the Topps Web site has been a huge pain in the ass today, but one has to admit it is pretty fun to enter a code into a Web site and see what card you’ve unlocked.
I know a lot of us are getting a handful of commons from sets made within the [...]

Continue reading about Topps Million Card Giveway Is Pure Fun »

Just a quick word of warning to anyone who is contemplating buying some 2010 Topps retail blaster packs from Target. There are two DIFFERENT types of blasters on the shelves now, ones that have two RETRO packs and ones that contain only basic 2010 Topps cards. The packaging looks nearly identical, but you must read [...]

Continue reading about Buyer Beware: 2010 Topps Target Blasters w/ and w/o retro packs »

So I tried to stay away from 2009 Bowman Draft as I’ve been bitten in the ass way too many times by draft products. But after hearing that the retail version of this product seemed to be loaded, how could I resist. PLUS, those pretty purple refractors caught my eye. Yes, I called a baseball [...]

Continue reading about 2009 Bowman Draft Baseball retail packs loaded? »

Say what you will, but I do indeed partake in Beckett’s Free Stuff Friday contests. Nearly every Friday I look at the Beckett Blog to see what goodies they are giving away. Sometimes it’s stuff that does not intrigue me, but almost anything baseball-related always gets my attention.
About  two weeks ago Chris Olds and company [...]

Continue reading about 12 hobby packs of 2010 Topps Baseball courtesy of Free Stuff Friday »

Say what you want about the crappy state of our hobby, but one fact remains true — we all love cardboard. More and more we’ve become accustomed to the thought that shiny and signed is where the money is. I can’t argue with that notion. After all, that is what people will pay top dollar [...]

Continue reading about New big addition to the Topps Number Ones collection (‘53 Jackie Robinson) »

Heading into 2010, I’d venture to guess that 99 percent of baseball card collectors knew that there would be only one official producer of Major League Baseball cards. And we all knew that Upper Deck was going to go ahead with products of their own, even without the blessing of The Man. It was something [...]

Continue reading about Upper Deck Follows Through With 2010 Series One … literally »

I lasted 39 days. I’d be remiss if I had lied and said I actually made it to 40, which I somewhat alluded to in a post I wrote about a week and a half ago explaining my whereabouts. Moments after I finished that write-up, I got an e-mail from my local card shop — [...]

Continue reading about 40 Days and 40 Nights … almost (2010 Topps baseball) »

I arrived home Wednesday evening to a surprise: a Through The Mail success from 1998 American League Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve. Growing up in the Bay Area, I remember the few good seasons Grieve had with the Oakland Athletics. For a good while it appeared that Grieve was going to be a solid [...]

Continue reading about TTM Success: Ben Grieve »

Tomorrow marks the 40th day since I last opened a pack of baseball cards. It’s pretty big milestone for a guy who at times can be addicted to ripping packs and thumbing through new baseball cards. But I know that tough times are ahead as 2010 Topps baseball has already started to hit the market.
But [...]

Continue reading about Living a fantasy »

With a wink, corny smile and a thumbs up, Sammy Stewart etched his place in cardboard collecting history. This 1988 Fleer Stewart card has always made me laugh. But it was not until recently that I tried to figure out a way to bring this card into the mainstream, maybe turn it into this hobby’s [...]

Continue reading about No Laughing Matter: Former MLB Pitcher in Jail »

So the other day while browsing eBay, I stumbled upon a 1954 Topps Ted Williams card I needed for my Red Sox Collection and Topps Number Ones collections. I always wanted this card, but because it is Ted Williams, because it is a 1954 Topps card and because it is the first card in the [...]

Continue reading about Classic example of eye appeal meaning everything »

I didn’t live a single minute of the 1970s, but for whatever reason I find the entire decade intriguing. From the music, cars and television, to the quaffed hair and abundance of denim and polyester, the era before my birth has captured my imagination. What was it really like to live during this time, when [...]

Continue reading about Thrift Treasures Part XXIII: I (HEART) the ’70s! »

My jaw dropped, my heart skipped a beat; for a few seconds I wondered if someone had sent the Associated Press a false statement reportedly on behalf of Mark McGwire. But within minutes, it became increasingly clear. This was not a joke: Mark McGwire was admitting to using steroids.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay [...]

Continue reading about For McGwire, the past has become the present and future »

I am so close, I can taste it. When 2008 Allen & Ginter’s baseball hit the market nearly two years ago, there was one insert set I absolutely geeked over — the Baseball Icons inserts. These mini inserts exemplify all that is good about the hobby. No foilboard, serial numbering or flashy design. Just an [...]

Continue reading about Oh, Jimmie Foxx, where art thou? »

For the last two weeks I have been seeking and not finding a particular card that I wanted to put in my display case. It was a beauty I thought I had displayed here before, a 1951 Bowman Roy Campanella. A card like this should not get lost in someone’s collection, right? I mean it’s [...]

Continue reading about The Case of the Missing Roy Campanella »

It’s been a crazy decade to say the least. I’ve gone from a struggling lowly college student spending all of his money on cards from three sports, to a husband and father who enjoys buying only baseball cards. But the journey to where I am today has been a fun one. Here is a quick [...]

Continue reading about This Decade in Baseball Card Collecting »

This is part 20 of an ongoing series. To see the rest of this series, click here.
Bob Cerv was a Yankee at three times in his career, briefly replaced Mickey Mantle during the Hall of Famer’s rookie season, and in his first year as a starter away from New York, excelled by smashing 38 homers, [...]

Continue reading about Rookie Card Showcase: 1953 Topps Bob Cerv »

Snagged these new Topps Number One cards for my collection over the last few days. The William Harridge card is by far my favorite, probably because it’s oversized and colorful … plus it’s not something you see everyday. Have a look at the rest of the Number Ones collection. Got something I don’t? I’m interested. [...]

Continue reading about We’re Number One! »