$5 Box Break

Over the weekend my family did our usual shopping trip to the local Walmart.  Do I like going?  No, but it is about the only place in town to get certain things.  They move things around too much and half the time there is a problem with self checkout.  This time the scanner would not read our gift card. 

I always try to use the lane by the card section.  Lately it has been fully stocked with everything you could want.  This weekend was the first time I spotted 2022 Topps.  As tempting as it was to grab a pack or two, I knew there was no need.  Last week I bought into a jumbo box break over on The Bench.  I received both the Cardinals and Pirates for $7 delivered.  3 days later the cards arrived from California.  

It was nice to knock out the Cardinals team set in 1 break.  If you search EBAY for the team set, quite a few listings leave out the Wainwright league leader card.  I do like the simple design this year.  I agree with quite a few other collectors that it has a Bowman feel to it.  One big strike against Topps is that the card backs are not all the same direction.  You would think they would have listened to all the complaints about last year's set and fixed this.  

My lone Cardinals insert was this silver pack Goldschmidt.  These look very nice with the 1987 design.  I did not have the time to scan all the Pirates before I shipped them off, but I did get the entire team set along with 3 inserts.  Nothing high dollar, but to get 2 team sets and 4 inserts from 1 box for $7 I was pretty pleased with this break.  
  

Icy Delivery

I was rather shocked to see my mailman yesterday.  I rarely see her anyway because I am at work, but yesterday marked the 4th Thursday in a row that my area received some type of winter weather.  The last two have involved ice and sleet.  I can honestly say yesterday was the slickest roads I have ever driven on.  It took me almost 20 minutes to go 2 miles.  I decided it was not worth going the next 10 to work, so I called in and headed back home.  

A lot of us have bashed the post office for one thing or another.  I have done it plenty of times myself.  I will not say a bad thing about my regular delivery person.  She may arrive late sometimes, but she almost always makes it.  The roads improved somewhat as the day progressed yesterday, but they were still very slick when she arrived about an hour later than usual.  I hope she finish her route without any problems.

It was great to see she delivered a trade envelope that occupied some of my spare time yesterday.  I managed to slide out to my box to retrieve a package from TCDB member Jquirp001.

Yesterday I was reading an article about DeJong adjusting his swing in hopes of having a better season (if they do get to play a 2022 season).  I have always liked him, so I hope he does figure something out.  This 2018 Opening Day insert is actually a sticker.  

There is really no good reason why I have not completed the 2021 Optic team set yet.  Most likely I have overlooked it because the cards just do not stand out to me.  After I find a couple more, I should not have to look at this bland design again.

These Goldschmidt and Arenado cards look a lot better.  Most refractors look better than base cards of any brand.  

Both of these are 2021 Chronicles base cards, but 1 definitely looks better than the other.  The Revolution cards blend the team uniforms and background together very well.  I am pretty sure both photos were taken during the same play, if not the same game.  

Even the non catcher cards look great.  Panini was smart enough to use the Astros spring training uniform to match the background on this Atluve card.  

      

Thursday Threesome

After a busy January on the trading front, my focus in February has been more to buying.  This morning I was logging my card related expenses into my spreadsheet and noticed my postage totals reflected this big time.  I spent close to $35 in postage in January, only around $8 so far this month.  I think I became so consumed with getting caught up with recaps and filing away cards that I forgot how fun it is to receive a package in the mail.  I will have to make a better trading effort in March.  

I have did manage to swing a handful of trades last week on TCDB.  The first arrived yesterday from member lpb331.  

According to the database, this is a Cardinals card from 1997 Donruss Limited.  I tend to agree, but even not it still goes in my collection.  If it has a Cardinals logo, or shows the player in a Cardinals uniform I consider it a Cardinals card.  

This was the best scan I could get of this 1996 Ultra Gold Medallion card after several attempts.  The card is not really that dark.  I guess it just has a little too much gold going for it.

I explained yesterday that I try to have 2 copies of every Lankford card.  One for the player collection and one for the team collection.  If this was my first copy, you can bet it would have appeared at the beginning of the post.  Even if it is my second copy, it is still a great looking card.  

First in Almost 3 Years

It has been almost 3 years since I have been able to show off a new Ray Lankford card.  It is great that I can search my blog and find out that March 2019 was the last time I could cross a card off my Lankford want list.  I have shown a few on my blog since then, but they are duplicates that go in my team collection.  I check a minimum of 7 sites almost daily in search of his cards.  Most of the time it is a quick check with no luck and I am done in 10 minutes.  

Last week I almost fell out of my chair when I found a needed Lankford on EBAY.  It was listed for a little more than I wanted to pay, so I contacted the seller to see if he had any wiggle room.  He did give in some, and also sent me a list of a few other Lankfords he was going to list.  I needed 1 of them.  In the end I worked out a deal for the 2 I needed for a price that was not too bad considering I have not seen either of these cards in over 20 years.

Both cards arrived yesterday in a standard envelope.  Lately I have been singing the praises of this delivery method for lower end cards.  I was not thrilled to see these arrive this way considering I paid well over the price of a blaster boxes for them.  They were in a top sleeve and loader that was taped at the top and wrapped in the invoice.  Thankfully they were both in great condition.  Enough of my rambling, let's see what I got.

1999 Pacific Crown Collection red parallel cards were inserted into retail packs.  I have read that there were distribution issues with retail boxes that led to a big chuck of these not being released.  That makes some sense considering the Platinum Blue parallel numbered to 67 is easier to find.

It is not very easy to tell what version of 1998 Stadium Club Triumvirate card you have.  Luminous has a chrome finish, Luminescent has a refractor finish, and Illuminator is a acetate card with a refractor finish.  This is the Illuminator card.  Awesome looking card in hand.  Bernie Williams and Ken Griffey Jr.  are the other 2 players to make up the Triumvirate.  

2 great cards that I can finally tuck away in my binders.  Really hope it is not another 3 years before I find another.

 
  

2021 Bowman Mega Box Break

My second box break of February went a little better than my first.  One of my Facebook groups was running a break for 6 2021 Bowman Mega Boxes.  The Cardinals spot cost me $15 delivered.  The big draw of course is the Mojo refractors.  

I already had the 4 base Chrome cards, but managed to work out a trade involving them with another collector.  

I did not have any of the Mojo refractors before the break.  A little downer to receive a duplicate, but at least it was a good one.  It should not be a problem trading the Walker to another Cardinals fan.  

I knew the odds were not great going into the break of pulling a colored refractor or autograph of a Cardinals.  There are 4 Cardinals in the set and a Walker autograph.  There was only 1 auto pulled from the 6 boxes and 3 colored refractors.  If I had to rate the break, I would give it a 6 out of 10.  

  

Care Package from Ron B

If I had to rank my favorite trading partners, Trading Bases member Ron B would be one of the top ones.  We are constantly sending each other cards for ourselves and our sons.  Since Ron lives on the east coast it is easy for him to find Cardinals and Altuves.  Here in the Midwest I have pretty good luck finding Pirates and Yankees for him.  His latest package arrived on Tuesday and did not disappoint.

These are my first 2021 A&G Chrome cards.  They are actually the first I have seen in person.  Very sharp looking cards.  I am sure the colored refractors look pretty amazing.

Carlson does not have a base card in 2022 Series 1, only some inserts.  That is ok though, as I can track down the hundreds of 2021 cards I do not have.  This may be one of the few times I prefer a Panini card over a Topps card.  The Chronicles Phoenix really stands out with the red and silver background.  The Topps Fire Gold Minted insert has a little too much gold going on for me.  A little contrast never hurt any card.

The Holo Red parallel really works well with the Cardinals uniform.  The Holo Blue DK is alright, but I am guessing the base card looks better considering Goldschmidt is wear the Cardinals alternate baby blue uniform.

My son added to nice Altuves for his chase to 500.  Just like the Cardinals the A&G Chrome is very nice.  It is not hard to tell the Donruss card is the 100 Emoji parallel.  If you could not see the silver numbering in the picture, you cannot miss the red 100s all over the border.  

  

 

  
  

Love the Standard Envelope

Last Friday I showed off an autographed card that I won on EBAY which was delivered by standard envelope.  As I mentioned in that post, I am guessing the low ending price had something to do with the shipping method.  I know plenty of collectors who refuse to accept mail in anything other than a bubble mailer or box.  I am not one of those.  If the card is not very valuable, there is no reason to spend over $3 to ship it.  

Last week I won another auction for a Cardinals autograph that came in a standard envelope.  This one cost me less than $2.50 delivered.

Austin Love was the Cardinals third round pick in the 2021 draft.  He did not appear in too many games last year because he also pitched for North Carolina.  My guess is he starts the year in low A Palm Beach, but should come through high A Peoria at some point.  My son and I will have to see if his in person autograph is as bad as this on card auto from 2021 Bowman Draft.  
  

TCDB Tuesday

Tuesday is usually a TCDB 2 for Tuesday, but today I only have 1 trade to recap.  I have cut back my trading the last 2 weeks due to the upcoming release of 2022 Topps and the hopes of attending a card show this weekend.  There are only so many collecting dollars to go around, and that includes the price of postage.  

I received 13 cards in this trade with member dallasdanger.  6 are for another trader, 6 for me, and 1 for my son.

I was surprised to find out these 2 Musial cards give me 324 different ones in my collection.  I was guessing that total to be much higher.  Topps includes him in over half of there non Bowman sets every year.  Maybe I will have to make it a goal this year to get to 400.  I am not overly crazy about the manufactured 2021 Topps card, but the 2021 Archives 1989 Big Foil card is pretty sweet.  

If the 2022 season ever starts, Flaherty and Reyes will be 2 pitchers to watch.  Flaherty was off to a great start last year before he suffered an injury.  Reyes made the All Star team as a closer, but had a very bad last month.  If the Cardinals hope to make the playoffs again, both of them will need to play a big role.  

These are my first base cards from 2021 Topps Gallery.  There are a ton of these boxes at my local Walmart, but I have resisted the urge to buy any.  I do like the looks of them this year compared to the drawings of years past.  

Altuve #478 is now in my son's binder.  I doubt if he hits 500 at the card show, but you never know what we may find.  The last time we went to this show we had great luck with value boxes.  Hope lightning strikes twice.

  

EBAY autograph

My EBAY recaps are not very exciting compared to other collectors.  It is very rare for me to spend over $20 on a card, lot, or break.  It is not that I don't like or want cards over that amount, it has more to do with being on a budget.  I try very had to stick to my card budget each month.  Some months I go over, some I go under.  For 2021, I went over $13.  Not bad at all.

In keeping with my low spending habits, last week I found a nice autograph of a Cardinals player I did not have that cost me a little more than $5 delivered.  

Prater was a third round pick in the 2020 draft.  He did not fare too well in his first minor league season last year.  1 win, 9 losses, and ERA close to 7, and walking a batter an inning are not stats that make you think you are watching a big league pitcher.  He is lefthanded though, and struck out almost 2 batters per inning.  At 23, there is still time for him to learn better control and maybe turn into an effective reliever at least.  He does have a nice autograph though.  

This Bowman Draft refractor was shipped in a EBAY standard envelope.  I am guessing that is why there were not very many bidders.  I have had great luck with this type of auction.  I would not buy a high dollar card that used standard shipping, but for what I buy it works great.  

  

EBAY Bowman Draft Lot

The results of my 2021 Chrome Update break from yesterday's post helped me decide against entering a break for 2021 Bowman Draft.  I had been watching auctions ever since the cards came out at the end of December, but never pulled the trigger.  Instead I started searching for a team lot.  I found 1 a few weeks back with over 100 cards for just over $11 delivered.

There were at least 10 paper cards of the 6 different Cardinals in the set.  I already had all of them, but plan to use the extras for in person autographs or trade them to other Cardinals fans.  

I also had a copy of this insert, but the duplicates will not go to waste.  2 have already been spoken for, while I plan to keep one to get autographed.  McGreevy should pass through Peoria sometime this year.

I received 2 copies of each Chrome card.  I did not have any of them yet.

The last cards of the lot were these 4 refractors.  The seller packaged the cards in a 200 count box with packing peanuts, then put that into a medium flat rate box filled with more peanuts.  It cost him over $16 to mail it.  I am grateful he took that much care to ship, but did not expect him to lose money from the auction.  

  

4 for $5

If you have participated in very many box breaks, you know by now that you win some and you lose some.  I would venture to say most people lose the majority of the time.  Unless you get the big rookie auto or hit a rare insert, you will most likely feel like you did not get your money's worth.  

Last year I took part in quite a few breaks.  Most of the time I set my limit in the $20-$25 range.  Anything over that yields too many duplicates for my taste, or is too high end that you may only get 1 or 2 cards.  It had been quite a while since I was involved in a break, so 2 weeks ago when a cheap break was offered on The Bench I joined.  I paid $5 for the Cardinals spot in a 2 box break of 2021 Topps Chrome Update.  With only 40 cards per box, I was not expecting too much.  There are 3 Cardinals in the base set to go along with a handful of inserts and a handful of different colored refractors.  I ended up with 4 cards.

All 4 are base cards.  2 of the Williams cards were in 1 pack.  Overall the coalition in the 2 boxes was horrible.  Each pack contained 1 purple parallel.  Of the 40 purple cards, I remember 3 Kolten Wongs and 3 Willy Adames cards.  There was also a ton of other base duplicates.  Glad this break did not get too far into my collecting budget.  
        

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #10

I have finally reached the end of the road.  Today will be the last 2 trade recaps I have received so far this year.  I do have some other trades in the works, but nothing that should be arriving this week.  I do have a pwe that has been in limbo for 3 weeks, but I am not really counting on that one showing up anytime soon if at all.  

First pwe is from member tightmugg.  I sent him 2 Freddie Freeman cards form 2 Cardinals.

These 2 Class 1 Gold Label cards are from the 2019 set.  I rarely see any Gold Label cards at card shows.  Not sure why as they are great looking cards.  The Hicks 2020 Holo Purple is actually a duplicate.  Not sure where the first copy came from.  I do my best to enter cards from shows or trades from other sites to my TCDB collection, but sometimes they slip through the cracks.

Second pwe came from member sspeegle.  I sent him about 25 base cards from the 1980s for 3 different Cardinals.  That may sound like a lopsided deal, but I will happily move out cards from that era in bulk even if I only add a handful of Cardinals I need.  

These are the only 3 Cardinals in the 1984 Fleer Update set.  They have been on my wantlist for a long time.  It was nice to finally find someone that had all 3 of them.  

It feel great to be caught up.  I have some EBAY purchases and box breaks to highlight in the next few days.  My son and I are looking forward to our next card show on the 19th.  The long range forecast is free of any snow, so we should be able to make this one.  By that time 2022 Topps should be out.

  

Almost there

Thanks to the ice/snow storm of last week, I had the last 4 days to get my card room in order.  All cards received from trades have been entered into my spreadsheets and filed away.  In doing so, I realized I need to buy another couple monster boxes for my Cardinals collection.  For now I filled a couple of 1600 count boxes.  I even remembered to scan all cards before filing them away.  Just 2 more trade posts before I can finally say I am caught up.  There will be a few EBAY purchases coming in that will get my attention then.  

Today's recap is a nice trade with frequent TCDB trading partner Orry04.  This was our 7th trade completed in the last 2 years.   

There should not be as many Dylan Carlson cards produced in 2022 since he is no longer a rookie.  There were over 2,000 of them made in 2021.  I am getting closer to the 100 card mark thanks to this trade.  The A&G mini is a photo variation.

Quite a few Carlsons are not very expensive like this Optic insert.  I still need 4 more base cards to finish my team set.  Either I am getting lazy or there was not as much Optic opened last year.  

I love the Magnitude acetate cards from 2021 Panini Chronicles.  The team colors really stand out on the clear background.  It helps that Panini did not have to airbrush the photo.  

This Chronicles card on the other had is pretty blah.  I really do not think of the Astros wearing blue.  Panini should have found a picture with a lot more orange.  It is somewhat hard to tell that is even Altuve on the card.  
    

Prizm Trade

Winter storm Landon hit my area yesterday just like much of the Midwest.  I made it home from work about 4:00 in the afternoon before the roads were very bad.  2 hours later they were covered with ice.  The snow started some time early this morning and is not suppose to let up until later tonight.  Looking out my window I am guessing 5 or 6 inches already.  The 20 mph winds are not helping matters either.  Schools are closed the rest of the week along with quite a few businesses.  

I thankfully do not have to go to work.  Things are going to be slow in the concrete business for a few days.  What better time to finish getting caught up on my trade recaps.  Today's cards arrived on Monday from TCDB member Sandycoach.  All 5 cards in the pwe are the Panini Prizm variety.

The 2021 red, white, and blue Prizms are great looking cards.  Think how awesome they would be with logos.  

The purple Prizms are not too bad either.  Unlike Topps, the majority of Panini McGwire cards in 2021 show him in a Cardinals uniform.  I do not bid on any of his cards on EBAY, but have noticed there is still a strong group of McGwire collectors out there despite his past.  His autographs bring good money regardless of the uniform he is pictured in.

My son received a 2020 base card and a 2021 silver Prizm parallel.  The silver card has a great refractor finish to it.  

With only 1 more trade incoming, I should get caught up in the next week.  I do have some EBAY wins coming, but who knows how long that will take with the weather situation all across the county.  My mail service did not operate today.  Cannot say I blame them.  Hope everyone stays safe and warm the next few days.  

 

I Love the Big Cardinals Trades

To nobody's surprise, the MLB contract talks went nowhere yesterday.  It is almost a sure bet the start of spring training will be delayed.  That means you will not see any action involving current players such as free agent signings and trades for the near future.  It was 1 year ago yesterday the Cardinals pulled off a big trade for Nolan Arenado.  That is just the latest in a a line of trades that brought players like him, Paul Goldschmidt, Scott Rolen, and others to St. Louis.  Who knows when the next one will happen.

At least I can still work out big Cardinals trade on my own of the cardboard variety.  Most of the time these involve other Cardinals collectors.  That was the case 2 weeks ago when TCDB member PartagasX and I worked out a large trade.  I sent him 100 Cardinals duplicates in exchange for 69 that I needed.  Over the weekend I finally had a chance to scan all the great cards.

It is rare for me to receive such nice vintage cards in a trade, mainly because I have no vintage to send back.  The oldest card I sent in this trade was from 1989.  These 4 1967 Topps cards are all very close to mint condition.  My scanner cut off the right edge of the Jaster card for some reason.  

It also cut off this 1968 Ricketts card. If you are wondering, Ed is the father of Scott.

These 1969 cards are also close to mint.  I like the simple design, but am not a fan of the yellow text.  

The 1970s portion of the trade features 2 1978 TCMA cards, a 1979 OPC, and a 1979 Hostess.  

Topps put out a ton of stickers during the 1980s.  The top 3 are 1984 OPC, McGee is from 1986, and the bottom Herr is from 1986 OPC.  I have mentioned before how baseball stickers remind me of the 1989 Red Foley book I still have.  That was back when the majority of people who bought cards did it for fun, not for profit.

1980s cards included a 1983 TCMA and a 1987 Jiffy Pop disc.  

I also received some great stickers from the 1990s.  These are all from the 1991 Panini Canadian set.  

These 3 1993 Panini stickers finished my team set.  The 1993 Action Packed Dizzy Dean leaves me 1 card shy of the team set.  Anyone have a Red Schoendienst laying around?

1993 was a popular year for this trade as these 2 Stadium Club Members Only cards are also from that year.  A lot of cards I need from the early 1990s are one of the Smiths.  Most other guys were just commons.

I traded away a small stack of minor league cards in this trade, but did receive 2 in return from the 1990 CMC set.  This is actually the second Clarke I received this month.  Go figure.

There was also a nice chunk of minor league cards from the 1994-1995 Fleer Excel set.  This 300 card set features 20 different Cardinals and a team checklist.  Not very many household names except for the Joe McEwing card in the middle of the third row.  

The last 2 minor league cards feature a 1995  Upper Deck Minors Future Stock parallel and a1995 Best short print.  The Lankford is not a minor league card, but is one I needed for a team set.  Not sure what he is trying to do in this photo.  Maybe get out of the way of a high and tight pitch.

The final 1990s cards are from 1999 Ultimate Victory and 1996 Ultra Gold Medallion.  

Starting the next decade are 4 cards from 2000.  The Omega Stechschulte is a short print numbered to 999.  The Eric Davis finish my Pacific team set.  All the 2000 Ultra Gold Medallion cards feature the arched die cut like the 2 above.  It is a nice idea, but it is hard to store them when you have horizontal and vertical cards.  

The lone card from the trade that gets its own scan is this 2001 Topps Through the Years Reprint Musial.  Stan deserves to stand alone.  

Most Topps Gold Label sets only have 3 or 4 Cardinals in them.  The 2002 set has 12.  I was surprised to see I only need 1 more after adding these 4.  Great looking cards like always.  The Gibson is from the 2002 Topps American Pie set.  

I will finish things off with 4 legends cards and a underrated pitcher on these 2003 cards.  The Durocher and Musial are from the Fleer Fall Classics set.  The Durocher is a team variation.  His other card is in a Giants uniform.  The Dean and Musial are SP Legendary Cuts cards.  The Dean is numbered to 1299.  The SPX card features Matt Morris.  He won 101 games during his 8 years with the Cardinals.  He appeared in 2 All Star Games and led the league in wins in 2001.  Pretty good stats for a guy who rarely gets talked about.  

With this recap, I am all caught up except for 4 trades that arrived on Monday.  With the terrible weather that is going to hit southern Illinois the next few days, I will have plenty of time to get everything files away.  As of noon today it is just raining here.  By 3 we could get some freezing rain that will change over to snow.  When it is all done sometime on Thursday we could have up to 8 inches.  It could be worse though as northern Illinois will have over a foot of snow.