'09 UD Icons..

Packs 3-4:

four more cards for the PC. Tiger Woods? really? Not so much of an Icons these days though, is he?

thanks for reading,
Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

2nd Annual Bracket Contest

Over at the Great Orioles Autograph Project. Go on over and join in on the fun.
Go PHILLIES!!!

Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

2009 Upper Deck Icons

So, I picked up a blaster of '09 UD Icons last weekend, mainly cause you are guaranteed "One Jersey Card in Every Box!"
Hoping to score a Phillie, I did not. Did get a few cards for my PCs though.
so, Pack 1 & 2:

Yep, fooled you, Everybody saves the hits for last, not me, not this time, I'm starting out with the "hit". A very nice Jeff Francoeur from the Atlanta Braves (Hey, at least it wasn't a Met!)And I'm currently in the process of changing that one into a Phillie.

 got a Wright, a D-Back, and a Halladay for those collections as well, not too shabby.

If anybody needs any of these cards, we can work something out, I'm sure.

thanks for reading,
Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

The real Break post...

After yesterday's little rant, let's show off some goodies. Of course, it still does not measure up to Spankee's haul, he absolutely killed this one. But I did not do poorly at all.

First, the base cards:

 

If this wasn't a break, I'd swear Sam was trying to Bip me!! Look at all those Abreus!

then a few more base cards:

Sam always throws in extras, rack-packs, packs, blasters, crap he doesn't want... (just kidding!!)

He opened some Masterpieces, which scored me a very nice framed Hamels, as well as a nice Howard for that page in the binder!!

and then the hits: (you were guaranteed at least 1 hit in this break, if Sam had to pull it from his collection or purchase one for your team!! Can't beat those odds)

no, you're not seeing double, yes, I got two Kruks out of this break, but 1 is Silver 246/250, while the second one is Gold 147/150. Too cool. And you could say that Howard relic would make more than a few Phillies fans Green with envy!! (wish that would have been Utely since it's #26/150)

And I can't let this post go, without a shout-out to my BOYS, 101 wins, best record in the majors for the second season in a row, tied for the franchise win record. It's an AWESOME time to be a Phillies fan!!

All in all, this was a fun break, there were a ton of nice cards pulled for everybody involved, and some very nice autos and relics pulled, including the Phils that came my way, and well worth the 40 cents extra I had to pay in ransom!!

Thanks for a GReat break, as always, Sam. And as I said yesterday, if you have not trade with Sam, or joined in on the break fun, what he hell are you waiting for?

Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat day!!
Dawgbones

A contest just spotted...

over at The Card Hobbyist, go on over and check it out, sounds like it's going to be a real good time, with the possibilities for multiple entries and wins!!

and as always, tellem Dawgbones sentcha!!

later.
~D

Arrrg, P.O.'d at the P.O.

I was absolutely looking forward to posting about my latest Group Break participation this month over at the Daily Dimwit. Peeking in on the fun was a blast and I eagerly anticipated getting my grubby lil' ole paws on the results.

Now, one thing leading to another, so forth and so on. Life gets in the way sometimes. Major life bummers in the Dimwit's life led to some delay (very, very minor delay) in departure of the afore mentioned goodness.

Then I start seeing break posts popping up here and there as folks start receiving their packages from Sam.

I begin formulating a post for my success in this latest adventure. Now, I say say success, and I believe success, but I did not have anywhere near the success rate that Spankee experienced!! You can read all about those results on his blog, My Cardboard Mistress. What? You don't follow Spankee?? Why on earth not, he posts some GReat stuff over there. I make the merest hint of a suggestion, Awe SCREW that, follow his blog dammit, you'll not be disappointed. Start with his post on Sam's break here. (you should seriously consider following Sam's blog as well for that matter)

I digress...
fast forward to Tuesday evening...
I get home from work to find something waiting for me on the dining room table...
It's from zip code 36695... ~ Mobile, Alabama...
I know a certain Dimwit that recently changed his abode to Mobile, Alabama...
But...
NOOOOOOOOO...
It's a pink slip from my local post office...
Wow, Sam sent me something too big to fit in my mailbox!!!
and I've got an over sized mailbox too!!!
NOOOOOOOOO...
it's an undercharge slip, informing me that I owe the post office 40 cents postage!!

Now I've got a small problem when it comes to the post office, as most of my trade partners this year can attest to. The fine folks over at my local post office have WAY better hours than I do this summer as I've been averaging 68+ hours a week for the last 7~8 months. How the heck am I going to get by the main branch to pay them the money!! Luckily, my mom and dad are retired and my mom took a bit of pity on me, going by there for me (we live in the same neighborhood).

Now, I could see not being able to get to the post to mail something, taking a guess, and chancing loading the front of the envelope with what you think is the right amount of postage stamps and coming up short. But Sam, like myself when it comes to mailing more than 1 package, or totally wanting to ensure proper postage, trudged down to the post office, stand in line to hand the packages to the desk clerk for weighing, and pay for mailing (as evidenced by the Post Office printed postage label). How the hell do you come up 40 cents short? That's like Walmart putting an incorrect lower price on an item, and expecting you to pay the actual price that should have been on the item, but at least they have the business ethics to charge you what the shelf tag is and correct the shelf tag later!

Now I know why the Postal Service is in trouble, damned jackasses that run the joint can't figure out how to do their jobs. You charge the wrong price for mailing something, then totally inconvenience me for your error by making me try to figure out how to get to you during your now ridiculously short hours of operation, all for 40 cents that you should be absorbing as YOUR mistake!!

Now, don't get me wrong, this post has very little to do with Sam. He's a top-notch, real stand-up kind of guy. If you have not traded with him, or joined one of his Group Breaks, I ask, What's wrong with you? What the heck are you waiting for? He always throws in extras in his breaks, as well as his trade packages. He just happens to be the source of the package, NOT the mistake. Hell, the only thing I hold against him in this whole scenario is the fact that he did not pressure me harder to pick up the damned Nationals in this break!!! Way to go Spankee!!!

OK, Rant over, back tomorrow with the contents of the recently held for 40 cents ransom break envelope.
Have a GReat day!!
Dawgbones

I saw my 1st rainbow!!

At 43 years of age, you are probably thinking, 'ole Dawg has finally lost his frickin mind!! But, come along for a little quiz... (Hey, if Dayf can post about ponies, I can post about rainbows, dammit!!)

First, I ask, how many people have seen a rainbow?

This year has brought a few firsts for me, a month or so ago, I saw my first morning rainbow:

appearing on my way to work, as the sun was coming up. Very cool site. some 12 hours later, I was bid adieu by an equally spectacular sunset on my way home from work:

 

The Great Dismal Swamp fire's smoke has produced a few brilliantly colored sunsets.

Now, I know you are thinking, that would have been his first rainbow, right?, at the very least, right?
Now let me ask my question again,

How many people have seen a complete rainbow?

Yes, I rephrased my questions slightly, and hence, the title post.
I saw my first complete rainbow, on Friday evening as my wife and I were leaving our local Walmart.
Now, only having my Ipod on me at the time, I could only take quick snapshots of these two events,
but the pictures should tell the story:

I've seen many rainbows in my 43 years on this earth, but I've never seen both ends, until now!!
Have a GReat week everybody!!
Dawgbones

Rummaging through my memories...

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Dawgbones started cleaning out the garage. Finishing with the lower portion, she turned her attention to the attic, where we had a bunch of stuff (way-too-much according to her) stored.
Pulling all of the household items, sorting them ,and several trips to Goodwill later, we (and by we, she means me) are left with the boxes that contain stuff that I'd accumulated over the years. Not wanting to leave anything out, she proceeds to inform me that it is time to whittle down the "junk".

Which leads me to today's post (and several others to come). Amongst the memories from my childhood reside a lot of things that I'd totally forgotten that I possessed. The first items I will share with you today.

Back in the early 2000's Fleer put out a set of build-it-yourself little plane models. These came as ~2"x4" pre-cut, printed on plastic air-craft, representing all the NFL teams. I'd picked up a pack of these, thinking to collect the ones for my team at the time. (little did I know at the time that a sports figure could do something so despicable to me that I would shun my team for hiring him!)

Now, they are the subject of today's post, and available for trading if anybody happens to be interested:

We have the Minnesota Vikings:

The Kansas City Chiefs:

The Carolina Panthers:

And the Cincinatti Bengals:

For grins and giggles, I punched out the Vikings and put it together, but the photos I took with my IPOD are too blurry to post.

Among the items for future posts include some Bobbleheads, die-cast cars, and frankly I've been a little to depressed trying to figure out which memories to discard :-( to go through the rest of the boxes yet to see what is in them.

If anybody is interested in these, let me know.
Have a GReat Sunday.
Dawgbones

a Recent Topps Blaster

Bought a blaster of 2011 Topps recently, adding a few more cards to the base set, plus 1 available for trade:

And the one for trade, a manu-patched Matt Kemp for the Brooklyn Dodgers:

Thanks for peeking,
Have a GReat weekend.
Dawgbones

The ever popular Diamond Giveaway...

So, about the topps Diamond Giveaway, I've current got a combined 107 offers for the 3 diamond die-cut cards in my currently "virtual" collection. I have every intention of having at least the three die-cuts plus 1 or 2 of the vintage cards shipped, but it is interesting to see some of the offers.

First, the cards being most sought after:

I declined all the offers that did not involve one of my die-cuts leaving offers 1-49 for my Hamels card, offers 50-76 for the Montero card, and offers 77-107 for the Zimmerman die-cut. I found it interesting that apparently kporter20 is either desperate for any die-cut card, or he is desperate to off-load the other cards in his virtual collection, he has offered the following single cards in a 1 for 1 trade for the Zimmerman: Denny Hoyle 1974, Gerry Moses 1970, Paul Lindblad 1979, Bill Madlock 1977, Randy Hundley 1972, Fred Talbot 1965, Boots Day 1973, Gerry Moses 1970. The following single cards in a 1 for 1 trade for the Montero: Gerry Moses 1970, Randy Hundley 1972, Brent Strom 1974, Texas Rangers Team Card 1981, Bill Madlock 1977, Oakland Athletics 1974, Denny Doyle 1974, Gerry Moses 1970. And he has offered the following single cards in a 1 for 1 trade for my Hamels: Duffy Dyer 1972, Sonny Siebert 1967, Denny Doyle 1974, Fritz Peterson 1973, Gordon Richardson 1966, Oakland Athletics 1974, Gerry Moses 1970, Steve Carlton 1984, Bill Madlock 1977, Randy Hundley 1972, and the apparently never-popular Gerry Moses 1970. Yes he has offered the Gerry Moses more than once, for each die-cut! He must be a Yankees fan!!

Now, I'm not above attempting to trade the cards in my collection for another die-cut, but I'm also not going to offer 1 single card from any post-seventies era year for a die-cut. I'll offer multiples, yes, but never a single 1984 topps for a die-cut, even if it is a Phillie. Oh, and I'm not trading the Hamels, period. If I can change the Montero into a Phillie die-cut, I will, if not, I'll keep him for my D-Backs PC.

On another interesting side-note; I've also received the following offers for my Hamels from #1philfan6. Now, firstly, of there were 5 other #1philfan's on the giveaway site, I would not be satisfied with being #6, choose a different username. Not, not-with-standing my earlier comment about the not-being-traded Hamels, #1philfan6 has offered me die-cuts of Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz and Jimmy Rollins for my Hamels, I can only assume that he has multiple copies of these two Phililes or else he is NOT a true Phillies fan. I would never trade a Phillies die-cut for another die-cut, even if it was a different Phillie. I am attempting to trade to get a few more of the Phillies (including the Nolan Ryan I traded to get the afore-mentioned Cole Hamels) but I would not dream of trading any of the Phillies players away unless I had multiple copies.


Which leaves me with the following cards that I am attempting to turn into Phillies (die-cut or otherwise):
1983 Frank Viola, Pitcher, Minnesota Twins, Card #586
1991 Larry Walker, Outfield, Montreal Expos, Card #339
1981 Richie Hebner, First Base, Detroit Tigers, Card #1981
1973 Wayne Simpson, Pitcher, Kansas City Royals, Card #428
1978 Ivan DeJesus, Shortstop, Chicago Cubs, Card #152
2005  Kings of Swing Lance Berkman, Outfield, Houston Astros, Miguel Tejada, Shortstop, Baltimore Orioles, Card #694
1984 AL Batting Leaders Card George Brett, Third Base, Kansas City Royals, Rod Carew, First Base, California Angels Cecil Cooper, First Base, Milwaukee Brewers, Card #710
1978 Angels Checklist Card, Checklist, California Angels, Card #214
1989 Jose Canseco, Outfield, Oakland Athletics, Card #500
1983 Tug McGraw, Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies, Card #510 (already have this one in my PC from last year's transmogrifier)
1992 Ken Caminiti, Third Base, Houston Astros, Card #470
1991 Ken Griffey, Jr., Outfield, Seattle Mariners, Card #790
2001 Armando Rios, Outfield, San Francisco Giants, Card #46
1978 Mike Lum, Outfield, Cincinnati Reds, Card #326
1990 Bill Swift, Pitcher, Seattle Mariners, Card #574
1995 Mike Kelly, Outfield, Atlanta Braves, Card #61
1992 Jose Rijo, Pitcher, Cincinnati Reds, Card #220
2007 Jason Marquis, Pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals, Card #178
If you are interested in any of the above, let me know.
I've also got:
1966 Aubrey Gatewood, Pitcher, California Angels#42
1959 Jerry Lynch, Outfield, Cincinnati Redlegs, Card #97
which I will more than likely be having shipped with my Die-cuts if I am not successful with the trades.

Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat weekend!
Dawgbones

Fun Packs, the finale...

Pack 23:

Ah, poor Lenny, how far some have fallen...

Pack 24:

I ended up with three of the trade Upper Deck cards, wondering if it would be worth writing a letter and wasting a stamp?? All in all, this was indeed a Fun box, though I fell far short of the complete set, I did manage to put together two complete Mascot sets, and will be adding a lot of cards to my players collections. If you happen to see anything that you'd like, let me know, and we can work out a trade..

Thanks for tagging along,
Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

21-22

Pack 21:

Pack 22:

Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

Packs 19-20

Pack 19:

Pack 20:

Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

Next ...

Packs 17:

Another Youppi, and a Mitch Williams for my Phils, How bout dem Phils - 5 years N.L. East Champs!!

Pack 18:

 

Looks like I got Bip'd again!!

Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat week!
Dawgbones

15 & 16

Pack 15

 

BJ Birdy, for the Jays!!

Pack 16

Thanks for rednig,
Have a GReat day
Dawgbones

13 & 14

Pack 13

 

Youppi and a Kruk, too cool. I just got two Kruk relics in the Dimwit's latest group break!!

Pack 14

 

Another Strawberry fold-out.

thanks for reading,
Have a Great Day!
Dawgbones

11 & 12

Pack 11

Pack 12

Apparently, the scratch-off cards are some type of game, and Fredbird joins the party. On a side note, I actually have a Build-a-Bear Fredbird from the St. Louis Zoo. Awesome place if you ever get near there, though it was raining and close to closing time on the day before Thanksgiving when we stopped.

thanks for reading,
Have a Great Day!
Dawgbones

Packs 9 and 10

Pack 9:

 

I think this may actually be the 1st Bip Roberts card I've ever pulled!!

Pack 10:

 

wonder if Upper Deck still wants to Trade?

Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

MFP

2 more Fun Packs:
Pack 7:

Pack 8:

Nice Ripken fold out.

Thanks for reading,
Have a Great Day!
Dawgbones

2POD

Picked up 2 packs of 2011 Opening Day, still hunting for some of the inserts, I'd really like to finish the Presidential insert set an the Mascots:

nothing new on the inserts side of things (I have both of those in the scan), but there is a nice blue border parallel of Ervin Santana. Oh well, we'll keep trying here and there...

here are the inserts I still need, though I'm not to worried about finishing the Topps Town or Celebrations:

Under the Lights
UL-2 Troy Tulowitzki, UL-9 Felix Hernandez

Opening Day Stars
ODS-4 Josh Hamilton, ODS-6 CC Sabathia, ODS-7 Joe Mauer, ODS-8 Joey Votto, ODS-9 David Price

Presidential 1st Pitches
PFP-1 Barack Obama, PFP-5 Richard Nixon, PFP-6 Woodrow Wilson, PFP-9 John F. Kennedy
PFP-10 Barack Obama

Spot the Error
SE-3 Jose Bautista, SE-9 Buster Posey

Superstar Celebrations
SC2 Buster Posey, SC3 David Ortiz, SC12 Matt Garza, SC15 Alex Rodriguez, SC18 Derek Jeter, SC22 Cliff Lee, SC23 Ryan Braun, SC24 Troy Tulowitzki, SC25 Matt Kemp

Mascots
M5 Chicago White Sox®, M8 Dinger, M9 Paws, M11 Junction Jack, M13 Milwaukee Brewers™,
M14 T.C., M19 Swinging Friar, M20 Mariner Moose, M21 Fredbird, M25 Washington Nationals®

Topps Town Codes
TTOD3 Trevor Cahill, TTOD5 Jon Lester, TTOD6 Matt Holliday, TTOD8 Justin Upton, TTOD10 Tim Lincecum, TTOD11 Logan Morrison, TTOD12 Ike Davis, TTOD13 Ian Desmond, TTOD14 Brian Matusz, TTOD19 Martin Prado, TTOD21 Austin Jackson, TTOD22 Carlos Ruiz, TTOD23 Gordon Beckham, TTOD24 Jay Bruce

What is the general consensus? Which is better for inserts, single packs or rack packs?

thanks for reading, back with more Fun Packs tomorrow,
Have a GReat day!
Dawgbones

More Fun...

More Fun Packs, Pack 5:

another Mascot joins the Party

Pack 6:

thanks for looking,
Have a GReat weekend!
Dawgbones

Wow, Ten years later...

Taking a moment to reflect on that Tuesday, tens years gone:

My career, being  in the ship-building industry, and living in this GReat Navy town, has found me on various Naval vessels all around the country.
That Tuesday was no different. I'd been working for the previous week, leading up to that fateful Tuesday, on the Norfolk Naval base, on board one of the LHA ships, I believe the USS Pelleliu, LHA5:

I had been shut up in one of the workshops on board for the past couple of days, sketching up some piping for my job, and really had no clue what had been going on that morning. some time around mid-morning, one of the sailors happened to poke his head in the space I was working in, and mentioned to me that I may have wanted to get my gear and head off the ship as they were making emergency preparations to get under way, telling me that a plane had hit the WTC.

My immediate thought, wonder what a plane was flying so low over Norfolk? as we have a World Trade Center building in downtown. It did not occur to me until I caught my first glimpse of news coverage in one of the ready rooms that my country, where I never thought to NOT feel safe, EVER, was now under attack!

Thinking back now, this is what those brave men and women must have felt like at Pearl Harbor.

Any how, I will also never forget the transformation of the world that day. The Naval Base changed in a matter of minutes, people that had been going about their normal workday, were now on high alert, and every direction brought views of an armed force ready to defend all that I hold near and dear.

That day rang true in the fact of a volunteer force, ready to defend freedom, against all threats, foreign and domestic. And is half the reason that I thank service personal whenever I see them. The other half of that equation being the fact that they deserve honor and respect for the sacrifice that they may have to pay on any given day, just for doing their job.

Even on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday, ten years gone.

To all service members, past, present, and future.

Thank you for your service and sacrifices,

I cherish my life and the freedoms that I have through your hard work and sacrifice!

Today is a day of remembrance, for all that was lost. But it should also be a day of some celebration, for all that we gained, as a country, coming together to save those that could be saved, mourn those that could not be saved, and for the resolve that though on any given day, we may be beaten down, but we will never be defeated. I give no small thanks that I was not personally affected by the loss of life, but do share equally in the remorse of a country, changed forever.

God bless every body!
Dawgbones

The rest of the story...

A couple weeks ago, I struck up a trade with Thorzul, over at Thorzul will Rule. He had a card that I wanted to add to somebody else's collection. You can read all about it here.

In addition to adding this relic to Spankee's Upton collection, Throzul help me out greatly with some cards for my 2007 Topps set:

That, my friends, is one honkin' pile 'o cards. GReatly reducing my want list for that set.

Thanks for the trade, and the shipping help!

thanks for reading,

Have a GReat day!

Dawgbones

Two more Fun Packs

What will we find today:

Pack #3

The Kid Stars cards are kinda cool, so far this is a very interesting box.

Pack #4

John Kruk from my Phillies joins the party, along with an oversized Strawberry insert.

Let's take a look at the backs of some of these:

Thanks for reading.
Have a GReat Day!
Dawgbones