From Card Cave to a Cardboard Haven, Trade of the Year

I have made some recent transactions that have transcended my basement from cardboard hoarder's rat nest into something that looks almost like a respectable collector's trophy room.

Trade of the Year

No picture has ever represented a moment in my life so accurately!

The forums on The Trading Card Database are pretty entertaining. Other than the monthly idiot who creates a login and tries selling cards or pitching his website 10 minutes later, you can always find something good to read. I saw a post for an old lamp and from there ended up with a legendary swap. BOBSCARDZ on the site is a very active member posting to the forum often. I was able to work out a deal with him to swap a box of cards for his Upper Deck hockey lamp.

Picture the "FRAGILE" crate being dropped off and opened in A Christmas Story. This lamp is totally from the era I began collecting. I love it. Bob even included 6 hockey cards from 90-91 in a team bag in case I wanted to keep the lamp accurate to the time period. He is an awesome guy and I hope he is as happy with the cards I found for him as I am with this sweet beacon of nostalgia! I am still filling a box for him to hopefully send sometime in January as an extra thank you. 

I have followed @GypsyOak on twitter for a long time and admire the pieces of art depicting baseball's history in a modern way. To be honest I don't know if its one guy or a cooperative team that makes this stuff but with a black Friday deal too good to pass up I made my first order. I ordered the Pat Neshek print and the Ty Cobb print above. Everything pictured is what came to me today. The extras they were sending in this sale are unbelievable. Even cooler in hand than online. The post card print, stickers, cards, its all amazing stuff that I am going to have to display in a shadowbox or something. Someday when my wife is done with her residency and we get into our "forever home" I am going to order one of Gypsy Oak's bigger pieces for my hobby room. 

Fantasy Baseball; First Loser! Also, a Shout Out to The Lost Collector

I HATE LOSING. Its ingrained deep within me for whatever reason. It may be an oldest child thing, I don't know. I took second place in fantasy baseball this year and it sucks. I busted my butt making sure I had the best lineup each week but in the final matchup my own Tigers lost it for me. Matt Boyd threw a 2 inning outing and Michael Fulmer is a delicate flower. I guess thats what I get for being a homer and picking up Detroit guys. In my defense; Boyd was good all year but just shit the bed when I needed him most. I lost by ONE category! Matt Boyd is dead to me now. I really enjoyed having this league to work on. I wish it would have been a bit more interactive. I was able to make zero trades even though I offered like 30 throughout the year. There was zero chatter on the league forum. I think more than half of the people signed up ghosted the damn thing after the first month. Typical for fantasy baseball. I hate to say it but I think there is probably a correlation between being able to finish a fantasy baseball season actively and being able to sit and watch a baseball game. Damn millennials and their need for instant gratification and entertainment. Anyway, congratulations to The Bonds Squad whoever you are. It was an amazing championship that came down to the last inning on the last day. A huge thank you and shout out to Jake (I think, I only know the accounts from the league, Twitter @sportcardscollec,  and the blog) from Sports Card Collectors for setting up the league! I am not up on things, it may be a collectively owned blog but always good stuff and peeks at new products.


I had some pretty great trades via Twitter recently. I mistakenly got anxious and worked it all into my collection before taking scans or posting individual contributions. So, sorry to AJ The Lost Collector  or @Lost_Collector. He hooked me up with some sweet Tigers cards. Here are some of the examples that stayed close enough to the surface to grab and snap:

The Trammell was a bonus card AJ threw in. It ended up being my favorite of the whole lot!

Blog CPR - A Tiger Blogger Trip for Tramm3ll

I am back.

I may have lost some or all of my 4ish followers in my long hiatus from blogging. Oh well, the content never screamed "come back soon" anyway. Two things have kept me from blogging; 1. Lack of time, and 2. Trading Card Database . I am addicted to TCDB! Somehow life has gotten too rigorous lately to drop any thoughts on our blessed hobby but hasn't kept it out of my mind in any way. My collecting habits are as hot and heavy as they have ever been. I have found time spent screwing around on TCDB has offered me incoming trade packages almost everyday and drooling for more. I am almost to 100 trades completed and started in April. I now average about 3-5 trades a week. From PWE singles to 100 card lots. It is amazing what people will give you for cards you don't care for. If you aren't on the site you are missing out! If you are, I am pjdionne12 on there. Hit me up. 

Tiger Bloggers Unite!

I owe this post and a rejuvenation in blogging motivation to Dennis from Too Many Verlanders. Like roids to A-Rods ass; Dennis's invite to a Tiger game is the shot in the arm I needed and has sparked renewed appreciation for the blogging community. He never gave up on me and my horrible availability and found a way to unite he, myself and all star blogger John from John's Big League Baseball Blog for a dangerously hot Tiger game. Not just any game; the retiring of Alan Trammell's #3 game! 

There was a ceremony before the game celebrating Tram's career and many special guests attended. Between the guest speakers, the video clips and Alan's reaction to the whole thing I had chills the whole time. I would have paid for the ticket just for that! The Tigers whiff on special events OFTEN. This time they hit it out of the park.

Check out the scrolling 3's. 

The game itself was decent. The Tigers lost of course but there were some really great plays and some dingers. 

Our view of a great Ronny Rodriguez catch. He played very well at short. I am probably the toughest judge of short stops due to being the greatest undiscovered defensive short stop of my generation. He replaced Iglesias well for the day. 

We even got on TV for two homers. Well, 2 of us did. Sorry Dennis!

Being the card bloggers we are, you know we swapped some cardboard in the humid sun. Dennis and I always have running boxes going for each other. John and I had the same idea to grab a couple cards for each other too. There's bloggers for you. All the more reason to get this blog moving again. The comaraderie is second to none. I get ripped off from the trash on social media and ebay often. I have yet to find a blogger who isn't crazy generous. Here are the cards I took home:

The above are gifts from John. He pulled cards from his album that he pulled straight from packs and probably hasn't touched since. See: generosity at its best. Blogging is where its at! Crazy great cards. As you can see I have a thing for hard throwing pitchers. The Gary Nolan is the highlight for me. I might have heard the name before but knew nothing about the guy. I collect guys named Nolan and it is rare for Nolan to be the last name, how cool. Most notably for Mr. Nolan he was third in 1967 ROY voting behind some guy named Tom Seaver. Also, he averaged a balk a year in his 10 year career. Look, once in a while I drop some knowledge in here. 

Dennis brought some heat in a team bag himself as if we needed anymore on this day. Here is what he dropped on me:

Both autos are 01/ pretty sweet! Also continues my reign as #1 JaCoby Jones collector on TCDB. 

Such a sweet insert set!

Boesch is a personal favorite. The sig on this card has a blemishy smear. It makes it so much cooler to me. I don't know why. I guess it moves it from another scribbled on card to a more personally touched item. 

Refractor!

I LOVE acetate see-thru cards. Wish I could get better pics of them. Sweet card in person.

Crushing my Rey collection.

Gorgeous card! Churchs chicken insert. I might slab it its so pretty.

Busting out some HOF power! I needed all but one of these. Can't get enough Thome cards.

El Tigres. Brandon Inge was at the game for the Trammell ceremony too! Wish there would have been a signing somewhere. The local sports radio station I despise was dumbfounded by the warm reception Inge got on this day. 97.1 pull your heads out of your asses. I see through all your gimmicks, manipulation and exploitation of the local fan base. Shame on you and your agenda.

First edition! Both were needs.

Big Daddy!

One of my favorite sets! I need both of these. I love serial numbered cards from the pre-"serial number everything" era we are in. 

Dennis always brings something not-flat. This time an amazing SLU of Jose Canseco....in Devil Rays uni! Its so amazing. 

Such a great card compared to some of the older bland cards they used to make. 

Soooooooooooooo cool. 

Thank you to Dennis for setting up this get together and all the great stuff! You are the man. Can't wait to do it again. Thank you to John for joining us and the terrific cards. It was a pleasure listening to your baseball intel! Next time you'll have to join us Julie, you were missed. 

The blog is back, baby. 

Secret Santa Hath Visited! Whoa...

MERRY BLOGGIN' CHRISTMAS!

There are a number of bloggers that I have immense respect for and see their blogs as integral pieces of our niche blogosphere. Bob Walk the Plank created by Matt was one of the first blogs I found when getting back into spewing about cards. He was also a huge influence in changing my blog name to something catchy. He is such an awesome guy for putting together Secret Santa for us. Thank you Matt!

Angus from Dawg Day Cards blog, and I am sure many other media places, got stuck with me for Secret Santa...and he crushed it! I have seen some posts that lead me to believe I am a part of a large number of us who feel like we suck at being Santa and received much better gifts than we gave out. Its most likely not true at all but I know my package wasn't as personalized and perfect as the one bestowed upon me. I hope, hope, hope he stayed within the price limit and if he did he is one of the best deal finders on Earth. I know I spent half a day shopping for my secret person but did not send a package that looks anywhere close to as thoughtful and as much time consuming as the was put into mine. For that, my gift person, I hope you enjoy the package and hopefully next year Angus draws you.
Anyway, like steroids shot into A-Rod's butt; here is the package that has beefed up my collection:

Angus sent this awesome card depicting old Yankee Stadium (which I was lucky enough to visit) with the scoreboard lit up with an afternoon matinee with the Tigers. So awesome! I'm probably going to try to get this autographed its so cool.

Angus visited Comerica Park and got these sweet Tigers sunglasses. I was hoping to keep them in the collection but they have been claimed.

Big time vintage with big names! The Gene Lamont RC has been on my wishlist forever.

More vintage gems and not just Topps! Luckily, Angus put notes on most of the items so I knew what I was getting, not everything is what it seems in this hobby.

The backs of these are cooler than the fronts!

The man!

The '73 Tigers had some big names!

Big Daddy could knock down some Grand Slams!

Super awesome Tram. The condition is amazing!

I have often thought about collecting a set of these, I may have gotten the trigger to do so now!

Okay Angus, where did you find this? I can't find anything about it anywhere! I haven't had a ton of time to research but all the easy searches came up with nothing.

I didn't realize until now, I bought Sugar Crisp while grocery shopping and my wife asked why. I guess this card stuck in my head.

Another new Willie Horton! I think hes doing a signing coming up. The next time you see this it will hopefully be scribbled on.

1993 Tigers Gatorade jumbo team set. 29 Cards! This team is the first team I really remember watching and following hard. I love this set!

I had no idea the Tigers had so many stickers in this set! Absolutely awesome.

NOW FOR THE REAL JAW DROPPER FROM THE PRESENT:

Come on Angus! There is no way all this kept you under budget dude. This should illustrate how much effort my man put into this gift. I hope you have an awesome Christmas Angus! Expect a thank you package very soon!
 These cards are amazing! I am going to get them framed after Christmas. They are the coolest fishing cards I have to date. I have to really research their existence as I have never seen them before. I love them, I get pumped every time I see them.