RLC Custom Card Project: Justin Miller

The Player: I was alway surprised Justin Miller never got a card with the Rockies. In fact, as far as I can tell, he has no MLB cards, no Bowman prospects, no nothing. After pitching in 8 games as a rookie with the Tigers in 2014, Miller pitched in 34 games with the Rockies in 2015, going 3-3 with 1 save and a 4.05 ERA, good for a 115 ERA+, which is outstanding for a Rockies reliever. His 2016 was not as strong, but still passable. His 2017 was spend in Triple-A, but he returned to the majors in 2018 with the Nationals, and has an impressive 4-0 record over only 10 games so far, but a far less impressive beard.

The Card: 1953 Topps is a classic design, that I feel still holds up well. Topps obviously agrees with 53 getting some love in the 2016 Archives release, then being the base for the new, and very popular, Living Set.

The Project: Rockies Legacy Collection custom project to make digital cards of Rockies players who never had one issued.

Sportlots Box Canadian Review Part 1

As a Canadian, I am always looking for better ways to buy cards, or anything online for that matter. Shipping rates have become crazy high, and now two of my trade packages have been lost in the mail so far this year alone, after only losing one since I started trading in 2012. So when Sportlots added their "Sportlot box" feature I was intrigued. I have always loved the sheer number of cards that are available there, but also hated the difficultly of browsing to fill up an order with cards from the same seller. The Sportlots Box, which seems like a cross between basic COMC and the COMC mailbox system, looks to help reduce this problem, or at least make it more reasonable to make smaller orders. So I loaded up my card and made an order, half as an experiment, and half to just get some cards that I can not find anywhere else. Below are the 10 I picked, from 9 different sellers (The top row counts shipping for two cards and accounts for the second row, allowing that value to be zero). Normally this would have cost $36.35 in shipping, with the one seller asking $10.50 for a single card as the outlier. With the Sportlots Box, my shipping was $5.57, or a full $30 cheaper.

This was just stage one, the cards still need to get to Sportlots, then on to myself, which will cost something obviously. I will continue to make update posts along the process, partly to document it, and partly in case anyone else cares to see how this all works. Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

Check Out My Rockies (Summer 2018)

You knew it was coming after the NBA post, my COMC Rockies package with a mix of the mailbox service cards, Spring cleaning sale, a random stuff I have bought over the last few months. Starting off with 3 different (I assure you they are different) Jonathan Lucroy cards from 2018 Heritage. We have the 100th Anniversary, the Flip Stock and the Red Back. I just need the Black border and the base for the rainbow. Despite playing in 46 games with the Rockies in 2017, this as a photoshop from his Rangers days. The beard is a dead giveaway.Also Despite being in Oakland all year, Lucroy is listed on the Series 2 checklist with the Rockies.

Check Out My NBA

The results of a small basketball binge arrived in my recent COMC mailday. Some decent stuff, including the above Peja Stojakovic, capturing his 2 game career with the Raptors in his sunset season before going to Dallas and helping them win a title. As a bonus it an on-card auto from a nice looking higher end set. I am a sucker for the Gold Standard brand.

Recent Hockey Pick-ups

I don't buy a ton of hockey anymore, but playoff fever struck and I bit on a few things from different places. They are all thrown together in favor of three smaller posts. The first from the Bay. High on the list of my hockey interests are Pelle Lindbergh and acetate, so when this card came out in the new Upper Deck Ice offering, I watched around and found one cheap from a Canadian seller meaning low shipping and the card came direct to me instead of through a mail forwarding service, so win-win. It didn't scan well (old scanner), but the clear section has a little holographic thing, very cool card.

RLC Custom Card Project: Nick Masset

The Player: Nick Masset was a very good relief pitcher from 2006 through 2011, but someone probably only Reds fan will remember. He would miss all of 2012 and 2013 with injuries, finally returning to the majors with the Rockies in 2014. He never reached his pre-injury form, pitching in 51 games with Colorado with a 5.80 ERA, then splitting the 2015 season with the Marlins and Braves. His most famous Rockies moment was probably hitting Evan Gattis and being suspended for 3 games.

The Card: A brand that seems to have got lost in the over-production era, but I always have liked, 1995 Score Summit. I stayed very loyal to the original design, just tweaking the player name font into something a little more to my liking. If you are not familiar with this set, check out the Nth Degree parallels for some mid 90's greatness.

The Project: Rockies Legacy Collection custom project to make digital cards of Rockies players who never had one issued.

April Showers Bring May Cards: 2016 Threads

Finally finishing off my April Showers Blowout order, this was one that really caught my eye after missing out on it during the Black Friday sale, 2016-17 Panini Threads Basketball.

April Showers Bring May Cards: 2018 Gypsy Queen

Consider my rubber arm twisted. I resisted 2 boxes of Gypsy Queen this year, but I couldn't resist a blaster. First pack, first card, see above, Shohei Otani. Nice to get that one out of the way if I decide to build the set.

RLC Custom Card Project: Mike Ekstrom

The Player: Mike Ekstrom appeared in 15 games for the Rockies in 2012, in what would be his final season in the majors, tying his career high for games. In total he pitched in 51 MLB games, all in relief with a 0-3 record and a 5.61 ERA.

The Card: Probably my favorite modern set, and one of my all-time favorites, 2011 Gypsy Queen. This set helped really define what my collection looks like as this is far and away the product I have bought the most of over the years.

The Project: Rockies Legacy Collection custom project to make digital cards of Rockies players who never had one issued.

April Showers Bring May Cards: 2017 Diamond Kings

Continuing on with my last post, along with the 2013 Update, I picked up two blasters of 2017 Diamond Kings, a product that I have liked the little bit I have seen, but have not opened a ton of. I really like this product, I like the feel of the cards, I like the look and other than the obvious Panini no-logo issue, these are great in my eyes. Starting with the old timers, it's a way bigger, more varied group than you see from Topps, interesting to learn a little about these guys like Harry Brecheen.