2013 Topps Chrome Mailday

I am far from a Chromey, but I did buy a couple boxes to keep me busy for a while and celebrate selling my house, full break details, recap and trade/wants coming soon.

Custom Card: 1990-91 Skybox NBA Todd Helton

A design I have been playing with for a while, 1990-91 Skybox was a favorite of mine when it came out, combining a simple border design with weird and colorful background and a glowing basketball. Now considered junk wax, it remember it being a pretty big deal back in the day.

The second point of this post is just to acknowledge Todd Helton who played his last game in Denver and will have 3 games in L.A. this weekend to close out his career. Obviously as a Rockies fan I loved watching Helton and really hope he makes the Hall of Fame. He will be fighting the Coors Field stigma, as well as playing in a market without much national media attention but that's an argument for a later date, now is just a time to reflect on a great career and just say "Thank You Todd".

Rockies From Japan (2006)

I didn't collect much from around 1998-2011, but I did pick up the odd team set including these Japanese cards. From what I can find they are from the 150 card 2006 Konami Powerful MLB set. Judging by the card backs these might have been a video game cross promotion. Nothing really special here, just a chance to show off some unusual cards while waiting for some packages to arrive and show off some new stuff.

COMC Mailbox Service Review

As a Canadian it has been getting harder and harder to buy singles from online site like the Bay and Sportlots with the postal rate increases on packages to Canada. So when COMC.com added their Mailbox Service (link here) I was hoping this would be the answer to sellers asking $7.00 to ship a single card up North. Last month I found a couple cards I wanted that did not offer Canadian shipping so I decided to try it out. If you are already a buyer on COMC this service is great, all I needed to do was change my shipping address to the COMC Mailbox one and my cards shipped out. About a week later I got an email with a picture of the package and the cards. Over the month I ordered three packages (2 from the Bay and 1 from Sportlots) with a total of 5 cards and all it cost was $5.00. The cards were added to my account and added to a stack of cards I had waiting to be shipped, very easy and much cheaper for me than international shipping would have been.

Zistle Trade #12

 

Another trade from Zislte, a site I can not recommend enough for organizing a collection and trading. I have been staying away from football cards as I have around 1,000 Redskins on my trade-list, but I could not resist a Sonny Jurgensen with the old Spear helmet from 2012 Topps. The Rest was the usual mix of Rockies, catchers and a few set needs.

Acetate Appreciation: 1996 CE President's Reserve NFL

President's Reverse was a product put out by Collector's Edge, a company that focused mainly on NFL cards during the 1990's. 1996 would be the only year a President's Reverse line was released and it really is a pretty forgettable set. The design doesn't use the clear portion well and the photo is not the sharpest which is a problem with most acetate cards. The entire 400 card base set is acetate with each card listed as being "1 of 20,000". Not a set I like very much, but it is an excuse to post a card of a punter, not something you see very often anymore.

2014 Gypsy Queen First Look

Something most people have probably seen already, but seeing as Gypsy Queen is my favorite Topps product I just want to take a moment to look at the newly revealed 2014 version.

The first thing that struck me was how similar this feels to 2011, the color looks similar and the player and team name are outside the border in a small strip. While the border design got more complicated and intricate from 2011-2013, 2014 breaks that trend with a nice simple border, while keeping with the knotwork-like accents. I really like how, to me anyway, it looks like the emphasis has has been moved back to the player photo, where in 2013 this first thing I noticed was the border. To me, going back to rounded corners really helps rather than the sharp corners at the top of the 2013 design.

A big selling point for Gypsy Queen is the on card autographs, and these will now have colored parallels, which I would guess will still stick with the framed borders that have been a part of the product since 2011. Another new feature is 1/1 acetate mini cards, while I love acetate cards, I am a little disappointed they are limited to one each, which will probably put them out of my price range.

So far every release of Gypsy Queen has had things I liked and things I didn't like, and based on a first impression, I would personally rank the 2014 design above the 2013 and 2012 releases, but still a step behind my personal favorite, 2011.

Gypsy Queen from My Cardboard Habit

A nice package from My Cardboard Habit that has been sitting here a while waiting to be scanned in. Along with the last cards I needed for the base set, the package also included two Rockies autographs, two Collisions at the Plate and a short print of Hal Newhouser. Thanks for the much appreciated cards and a return package is being assembled.

2013 Topps Update Wishlist

A Short list of what I, as a Rockies fan, would like to see in 2013 Topps Update .

Michael Cuddyer Autograph - A 2013 National League All-Star, Cuddyer has not had a certified auto since 2009. For a guy that has had articles written on how nice his autograph is (link), it's a shame he doesn't have more examples out there.

Jon Garland - As a fan of Garland, I was pretty disappointed at how short and unproductive his Rockies career was. He hasn't been with Colorado since early June, but if we can get Jamie Moyer in 3 sets last year long after he was released, I hope we can get at least one of Garland this year.

Edgmer Escalona - This was a make or break year for Escalona in Colorado and injuries combined with lack of performance probably has spelled the end to his Rockies career, but can we please get a card of the best player in MLB history named Edgmer.

Josh Outman - A left-handed reliever who has been solid out of the Rockies pen this year, but more importantly, we need a card in 2013 of a guy in the old-school sturrups.

Roy Oswalt -With a less than impressive 0-4 record and a 7.64 ERA before his injury, this has not been a good year of Oswalt, so this might be a possible sunset card.

Adam Ottavino -  A workhorse reliever I profiled with a Topps Total custom in May, can pitch multiple innings and has saved the Rockies bullpen with 79 innings pitched in 2012, and so far in 2013 has thrown 71 innings with a 2.79 ERA.

Nolan Arenado - Has had Bowman cards since 2010, but still doesn't have a "true" rookie card. After making his MLB debut in late April I would be shocked if he's not included in update.

TTM Success: Matt Herges

Kind of a weird TTM success in the fact I didn't actually mail this to Matt Herges himself. About a month ago I got an email about one of the first customs I posted, a 1992 Pinnacle Matt Herges, and if I would sell a couple to get signed. Not wanting to sell homemade cards I asked if that I mailed a few out, that one could be signed and mailed back to me. The deal was made and the return arrived in the mail today, signed with a gold sharpie at a R.C. Quakes game, a Dodgers affiliate where Herges is the pitching coach.