Opening Day!

Opening Day is finally here, in honor here are a few Rockies opening day notes. Justin Morneau makes his Rockies debut becoming the third opening day first-baseman in team history, breaking Todd Helton's streak of 16 straight seasons.

1997 Donruss Todd Greene - Cards from the Keeper Pile

Welcome to my version of random cardboard appreciation. The first card featured is one of my favorites from the Tools of Ignorance collection, 1997 Donruss Todd Greene with a nice close shot of his painted goalie style mask.

Mini Mailday

It took me a while to jump aboard the mini bandwagon, and while I am not fully obsessed with them, I jump at the chance to add certain tobacco size cards. First up is a 2011 Gypsy Queen photo variation of Troy Tulowitzki, the first 100 card in the Gypsy Queen set have mini versions with different photos, and are very hard to find.

Zistle trade with Pittpanther88

More set help from a fellow Zistler, again I will not flood a post with base cards, but just taking time for a quick thanks. More 2014 Topps Flagship and another 1971 style from 2012 Archives. The 2012 Update Brian Bogusevic is seemingly pretty random, but after seeing it mentioned on a few blogs showing the at-the-wall catch and the lady with her dog in the stands, it was added to my wantlist and included in this swap. Thanks for the trade!

Small Sportlots Mailday

I have a love/hate relationship with Sportlots, I love the huge amount of random commons usually listed at 18 cents a piece. I hate trying to find multiple cards from the same seller to fill out an order. The above Arturs Irbe led to a search that lasted over an hour and netted me a total of four cards. I am trying to keep my hockey card budget very small, but when I saw Irbe skating out of the giant sharks mouth with his second hand store looking goalie equipment, I knew it was a card I wanted to add.

Almost Acetate Appreciation: 2000 Stadium Club 3x3 Luminious

This is the second time I have been tricked into thinking a card was acetate then it wasn't. Usually when the card back has a mirrored image of the front, it's a good sign. This card is different in that its a regular chrome card, but the sideways lines in the card are actually die-cut slits. A very weird idea on an already weird card, part of the 3x3 Luminous insert set that has a left, right and center (this card being a right) that interlock into each other.  An interesting idea, but one that doesn't do much for me, as I really get annoyed by trying to store cards that are not the regular rectangle shape.

Set Help From Zistle

More activity on the trade front from Zistle.com. Not the usual Rockies and Randoms, but mostly set help. The lone Rockies card was a Joe Girardi from 1993 Flair, which was the first real attempt at a high-end set, before everything was autographs and patches. I remember the Hockey version of Flair coming in cardboard packs instead of the regular wax, pretty impressive for 1993.

Topps Redemption Success - Jonathan Gray

A card that instantly moves to the top of favorite cards in my collection, a redemption from Bowman Draft that arrived today. Hand signed, numbered to 25 and black bordered. This is also the new record holder for most I have ever paid for a single card, but I really want to finish the Rockies team set of these Black Collection auto's and I think I actually got a decent deal considering what Jonathan Gray cards have been going for.

Custom Card: 1990 Skybox Mike McKenry

A design I have used before, but this was a card that I spend way to much time on not to post. 1990-91 Skybox basketball, a set that even almost 25 years after it was released, blows my mind with its weird background and glowing basketballs. I wanted to try and bring the glowing ball element into a baseball design and see how it looks.

Micheal McKenry looks like he has a good chance of making the 2014 Rockies as the back-up catcher after spending the last couple seasons with the Pirates. Originally a Rockies draft pick, McKenry made his MLB debut with Colorado in 2010 and returned to the organization as a non-roster invitee in 2014.

Ellis Burks 1998 Donruss Signature

The "things to post" folder is getting pretty empty waiting for a few packages that are expected to arrive until next week, so I will take the time to show off a recent purchase from COMC. This was the only Burks certified auto until 2013 Topps Archives and 2013 Hometown Heroes (Beckett lists a dual auto with Dante Bichette in Pastime, but I have been looking for one since it came out and am almost sure the card was never made). A nice on-card auto, and while Beckett lists the card limited to 900 copies, mine is number 922. I would assume this is actually limited to 1000 as this is the Millennium version, with there being a century version limited to 100.

Hockey Set Help from the Buckstore

Not long after I posted my 2013-14 Upper Deck wants, I received a package from Sportscards From The Dollar Store, a frequent trading partner, and fellow Hose-head. I would flood this post with base-cards, but it does give me an excuse to post some Goalie cards. As always thanks for knocking a few of the want-list and expect a return package in the near future.

Updated 2013-14 UD tradelist here.

2014 Topps Trade/Want list

2014 Topps Wantlist
Updated March 11, 2015

Base: 
215

Red Hot Foil:
13, 17, 20, 25, 69, 139, 152, 221, 225, 273, 277, 290

Green
275

Walmart Blue: 
273, 275

Target Red
275

75th Anniversary Buybacks
Any 1971s

For Trade

Base:
4, 8 (x2), 11 (x2), 13 (x2), 15, 19, 22 (x2), 32, 33, 35, 45, 46, 48, 57 (x2), 59, 67, 69, 83, 86, 90, 92, 94, 95, 112, 115, 116, 123 (x2), 129, 134, 136, 137 (x2), 152, 159, 167, 182, 183, 184, 186 (x2), 189, 191, 192, 194, 198, 201, 208, 209, 212 (x2), 219, 220, 226, 230, 231 (x2), 236 (x2), 241, 252 (x2), 256, 260, 261, 263, 264, 268, 269, 274, 277, 282 (x2), 283 (x2), 284, 288, 292 (x2), 301 (x2), 302, 305 (x2), 312 (x2), 322, 329

Red Hot Foil:
55, 61, 71, 102, 141, 143, 195, 224, 227, 251, 259

Gold:
51, 81, 102, 158, 181, 25, 319

Green:
28, 67, 111, 144, 145, 171, 184, 186, 188, 280, 305

Power Players:
52, 92

50 Years of the Draft
3 David Price, 6 Josh Hamilton, 8 Ken Griffey Jr. (x2)

75th Anniversary Buybacks
1974 #503 Eric Soderholm

Future is Now:
1, 2 (x2), 7, 12 (x2), 16, 19 (x2), 23 (x2), 25, 27

Super Veteran
11 Matt Holliday

All Rookie Cup Team
2 McCovey, 3 Morgan, 8 Griffey Jr.

Upper Class
1, 2, 9, 13, 14, 18 (x2), 19, 20, 28, 32, 36