2013 Bowman Rockies Team Set w/ Prospect Breakdown

Something that I haven't done in a while is buying team sets, before getting involved in trades and finding site like COMC and Sportlots my collection was basically feed by buying a couple team sets a year. While not a huge Bowman fan this years set a couple things that made it worthwhile for me. First was the Ryan Wheeler rookie card. Wheeler played in 6 games for Colorado while Todd Helton was on the DL so I needed this card for the Rockies collection. The big draw of Bowman is the prospects and the Rockies checklist is pretty good, some people knock getting cards of players they have heard of, so I have broken down the prospects included below.

Thank You Saint Patrice!

That might have been the craziest ending to a series I have ever seen. Things looked pretty grim after Boston lost games 5 & 6 and were down 4-1 with 10 minutes left in the 3rd period of game 7. In all honesty I was just hanging on to watch the last 10 minutes of hockey that I really cared about this season, even Horton's goal to make it 4-2 did little to make me feel better, but after Lucic scored to make it 4-3 you could almost feel it, it was gonna happen, and it did. You knew that after the 3rd period collapse, that Toronto wasn't gonna score in OT. Seeing Lucic step up and put the team on his back was huge, and it seemed like he knew that if they lost this game he was probably gonna be moved in the offseason. In overtime Seguin finally stepped up and got his first point of the series on the final goal. Little needs to be said of Patrice Bergeron, Chara might be the captain but to me Bergeron is the face of the Bruins, and who better than to score the winning goal and give this Bruins fan a few more games to yell, cheer and swear loudly at the television.

A bonus Acetate Appreciation with a 1998 EX2001 based card from the 2012-13 Fleer Retro set.

Acetate Appreciation: 1995-96 Pinnacle Clear Shots

In honor of the NHL playoffs the first Acetate Appreciation focused on hockey. These were among the first acetate cards in my collection from when I collected mostly hockey as a kid. I was reminded of this set after finding the Doug Gilmour in a box of cards and found the Neely on COMC. Hockey seems to have embraced the clear cards more than any sport with Upper Deck seeming to lead the way. Not a ton to say on this one, nice simple design, well done set, Pinnacle is still one of my favorite brands from the card explosion of the 90's.

Trade with Dutch Card Guy

Everyone's favorite European baseball card blogger recent posted his side of our trade and after getting the post today here it's my turn. Upon opening the package I got thinking that American baseball cards coming from the Netherlands to Canada, these cards might have had a more adventurous life than I have. Starting off with an autograph of Greg Smith who was traded with Carlos Gonzalez among others from the Diamondbacks to the A's for Dan Haren, then traded with Cargo and Huston Street to Colorado for Matt Holliday. Smith went 1-2 with the Rockies in 2010 posting a 6.23 ERA, but probably provided more value with the bat, going 4-13 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Smith recently signed with the Phillies and is pitching in Double-A. The trade came to be based on 2013 Gypsy Queen, in return for a stack of minis, Jeroen sent me 19 base cards, leaving me 13 short of the base set. (Want/Trade list here if you can help me out).

Zistle Trade with Shoebox Legends

Another Zistle trade, this time with fellow blogger Shoebox Legends. The other side of trade can be found here. The card to the right completes my 2013 Heritage wantlist, actually the card to the right IS my 2013 Heritage wantlist. I will never get excited for a set comprised of posed headshots and close-ups of players in the dugout, and even worse the dead tree that was in all the 2012 Heritage Rockies cards is back for 2013, at least this card is dead tree free. So far this the only Wilton Lopez Rockies card so it's nice to have for the PC.

Also coming along was another Heritage card, this time for the Chris Iannetta collection, Darren Holmes, Darryl Hamilton and a red Jordan Pacheco. Two more 2011 Gypsy Queens to widdle down the list and some catchers with an Expos Ron Hassey and sweet Masked Marauders of Brad Ausmus from 1998 Collector's Choice. I really need to start looking for the rest of this catcher based subset.

Acetate Appreciation: 1997 Metal Universe Blast Furnace

Another post dedicated to clear plastic baseball cards, this time an insert from 1997 Metal Universe. One of the most bizarre sets I have ever seen, 1997 Metal Universe features player photos on a heavily foiled background with dragons, space ships and paratroopers among other random and nonsensical things. 

I will limit this post to the Blast Furnace insert set, 12 cards featuring power hitters of the day. A subtle design compared to the base set with the clear part having a red/orange tint to look like fire, despite not being really flashy, these rank pretty high on my list of acetate cards.

Small Sportlots April 2013

Another small Sportlots order, I noticed the seller lowered the price on the Toys 'r us Purple Ramon Hernandez, probably the hardest to find of the retail parallels, so the search began to find more cards to even out the shipping. I can't beleive I didn't pick up the 2011 Gypsy Queen of Gary Carter in an Expos uniform until now, I love seeing Expos jerseys in newer products. I already had the Craig Counsell base but not the foil, that completes the Craig Counsell Rockies Rainbow. Jim Abbott was a player I collected as a kid and didn't have a card of him with the Brewers until now, it fits into the "pitchers batting" collection and is my first 1999 Upper Deck card. Brandon Inge fits into the catchers with hockey masks collection featuring a pretty decent paint job on his 2000 Just card.

Acetate Appreciation: 1997 E-X2000 Hall or Nothing

A 20 card set inserted into 1997 E-X2000 at a rate of 1 per 20 packs. These cards are not only acetate but die-cut as well adding to the weirdness factor. A nice clean design without to much going on, I really like the design of these.

The interesting part of this insert set is the idea of predicting Hall of Famers. In 1997, most of the 20 players featured were on the path to the Hall, but we all know that things happened in that era to change that. Below is the checklist and the players current Hall of Fame status.

Frank Thomas - First year eligible in 2014
Ken Griffey, Jr. - First year eligible in 2016
Eddie Murray - 2003 Hall of Famer
Cal Ripken, Jr. - 2007 Hall of Famer
Ryne Sandberg - 2005 Hall of Famer
Wade Boggs - 2005 Hall of Famer
Roger Clemens - 1 year on ballot (37.6%)
Tony Gywnn - 2007 Hall of Famer
Alex Rodriguez - Still active
Mark McGwire - 7 years on ballot (21.3% average)
Barry Bonds - 1 year on ballot (36.2%)
Greg Maddux - First year eligible in 2014
Juan Gonzalez - Removed from ballot in 2012 (4.0%)
Albert Belle - Removed from ballot in 2007 (3.5%)
Mike Piazza - 1 year on ballot (57.8%)
Jeff Bagwell - 3 years on ballot (52.4% average)
Dennis Eckerlsey - 2004 Hall of Famer
Mo Vaughn - Removed from ballot in 2009 (1.1%)
Roberto Alomar - 2011 Hall of Famer
Kenny Lofton - Removed from ballot in 2013 (3.2%)

How to spend 1,600 Imaginary Dollars

A pretty interesting contest over at Drop the Gloves asking what you would buy if you had $1,600.00 to blow on eBay. As someone who is on a tight budget and is mostly limited to lower end cards, this is kind of a fun little time waster.

1) 2007-08 Upper Deck Trilogy Ice Scripts Bobby Orr ($170.00 / $170 Total)
 In my biased opinion as a Bruins fan, Saint Robert is the best Hockey player ever when you consider what he did as a D-Man and in the era that he played. It would have been amazing to see what he could have done with good knees and a couple more healthy seasons. I do have a Bobby Orr autographed puck, but I still don't have a certified auto card. Not the most expensive Orr auto around, but my love for clear thick plastic cards makes this a easy pick.

Ramon Wrapper Redemption Rainbow

Two separate eBay actions merged into one post. Part of the quest to complete my first rainbow, the 2013 Flagship of now former Rockie and current Dodger Ramon Hernandez.

Pretty nice cards, I overpaid for the blue thinking they would be hard to find, but for cards that are reportedly limited to a print run of 150, they are very easy to find for reasonable prices. They don't scan great, but look really good in hand, similar to the emerald green parallels. I though I made out ok with the silver as it's limited to ten and only 2 have shown up on eBay so far. The silver is a framed border, think Gypsy Queen framed parallels, and looks really nice with the name and the logo having an etched look, really simple and works well.