A Very Donruss-y Trade

I don't buy much Donruss (or Panini) but it does make it to my wantlists from some weird part of me that misses junk wax and middle names on backs of cards, so here are two need additions to the Nolan James Arenado collection.

Massive Man-Cave Upgrade

Not much card related recently other than a big-time upgrade to the card room, the above is a before shot, a couple old desks and stuff randomly piled everywhere, ans this was taken midway through the clean-up so it was actually worse than this.

And this is after picking up a used office desk, the color is nice and it is sturdy as hell, and has tons of binder storage in the top shelves. And look, I finally hung some of the posters than have been in frames leaning against the wall for months. I am still only slightly more organized, but it least it looks like I have things under control.

2016 Stadium Club - Rockies Custom Card Re-Do

Since rebooting in 2014, Stadium Club has been about the photos, full bleed, gloss stock with high quality photos. But for Rockies fans, it has been kind of boring. Sure we got a nice Todd Helton in 2014 and another winner in 2015 Drew Stubbs, but other than that, pretty much straight forward baseball card photos. So this year I decided to make the set my way, with my pictures, for the most part, while keeping the blatantly ripped off 1997 Fleer design.

The above Trevor Story photo is from opening day and while not a great action photo, it works with what he did on that day. A case where the tale the picture tells is more important than the actually picture.

Archives Sampler

Same days I don't look forward going to the LCS. I know I need supplies and want to support the local guy, but I feel kind of like a douche buying supplies for cards that I obviously didn't buy from him. Not that I don't want to buy from him, but being in Canada it is a hockey focused store and the baseball he does have seems really overpriced too me. So this trip, after passing on the $8.00 packs of Gypsy Queen, I decided to try out some Archives, probably my second favorite yearly set that Topps does. My 3 packs gave me nothing but base and no Rockies (so I borrowed some scans from Zistle), but I did get to rip some wax.

Happy Canada Day!

Just a quick post wishing everyone a Happy Canada Day.

Zistle Trade #62

A really cool zistle trade starting with a really cool Darren Daulton Slideshow insert from 1994 Leaf. Not really an acetate card, but the picture is like a piece of film, hence Slideshow, making for something different and a really interesting card to have in-hand.

May 2016 Pick-ups Feat. Trippy Parallels.

I have to admit, I am still not a fan of the logo-less Panini stuff, but when they put out something like the above Tie-dyed parallel, they deserve to get some credit. I don't know if Prizm will return for 2016, but if it does, I hope these show up again.

Custom Card: 2015-16 Panini Absolute - Tony Wolters

Once a staple of this blog and looking back, something I am pretty proud of is custom cards. It has been over a year since I posted one and I finally found a couple reasons to start messing around. First was the 2015-16 Panini Absolute Basketball set. I have yet to actual hold some in my hands, but I have a few in my COMC account waiting to get shipped out, but based on the scans I really like the design. Whenever I see a nice Panini design I wonder what it would look like as a baseball card, and this one worked pretty well. I made a few adjustments as foil doesn't really scan well or lend itself to digital designs that well. I also lightened it up and put more of a focus on the brushed metal background. I really like how this one turned out. The other inspiration was Rockies rookie catcher Tony Wolters. A 24 year old middle infielder turned catcher, Wolters was claimed from the Indians and was a surprise addition to the opening day roster. He has earned rave reviews behind the plate and has been a nice change from the mess of catchers the Rockies have employed recently. I noticed he was not in Topps Series 2, but there is still hope for update, or maybe he will do something special enough to get on a Topps Now card, but for now, this will have to do.

10 Card Sportlots Mailday

I like Sportlots, although it takes a lot for me to make an order, adding things until there is enough from one seller to justify placing an order. One card that was on my list for a while was this 2001 Topps Traded Roberto Kelly. Kelly played in 1,337 MLB games, but none of those with the Rockies making this a true "Zero year" card. He did play 63 games with the Rockies AAA team in Colorado Springs, but never made it to the majors in 2001. A two time All-Star and the guy that broke up Dave Stieb's perfect game with 2 outs in the 9th in 1989.

Awesome Relic Card Reminds Me I Don't Like Relic Cards

From the recent pick-ups pile, a card, that if you suspend disbelief, is an awesome card. I collect catchers in gear, and bat cards of the top home run hitting catchers of all-time, which Dickey sits 14th by my count. It is Panini, but the pose and the gear make no logo airbrushing necessary. A nice photo of a Hall of Famer on a super thick high end card with a piece of bat that may or may not have hit one of his 202 career MLB home runs, and I only paid $8.00. What's not to like?