Wright On

2012 Topps Finest Refractor David Wright #38

School has started for me a few days ago and let me tell you it's been a mind rush right from the start. I am currently enrolled in Penn State's online program to earn my bachelor's degree in Information Sciences & Technology. I'm loving every second of it so far and it's keeping me even busier than I already am.

I wanted to do a short post tonight to reflect that I may not have as much time for the blog while school is in play, but I didn't want to go on and on about it because I got an idea that came to me for times that I don't have much time.

This post is that idea.

You may know that I am a big David Wright collector. He is my favorite baseball player, past and present. I will most certainly be a lifetime collector of his no matter if he stays with the Mets for his whole career or if he winds up with another team for his final years as a pro.

I have actually accumulated over 40 unique pieces since my return to the card hobby. I am quite proud of that and if you are laughing at me thinking that it's quite a small number, it's also a number that you may have been at, sometime in your collecting career.

I figured since I plan on maintaining this blog for years down the road, I would start talking about my Wright collection, piece by piece.

Or, if I don't have much to say about the particular card, I can always ramble on about some of the various other adventures that bounce around in my life.

The refractor that I have posted here was an impulse selection on ebay. I keep a pretty hefty watch list of cards I'm seeking on ebay, however this one wasn't on it. It was a 2 dollar shot in the dark. I had to have it at that very second and I'm glad that I did.

Wright On, David! Wright on.

The Great Order Of The Cardboard - Mets Edition

In the grand scheme of my collection I have a nice Ultra Pro binder almost full of Mets related cardboard. Yep, only one and it houses all my Mets guys with the exception of a few that are in top loaders.

Before this week, it would have been safe to say that the contents of the binder was a complete mess. The beginning part of the binder has my Mets player collections, such as David Wright, Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza and the rest of the pages were organized according to what position the player plays.

I knew there had to be a better way and I've spent a good amount of time trying to re-organize it after taking a few tips from a certain hierarchy by Night Owl. I didn't copy this method word for word exactly but it's pretty close now.

For the first ten minutes after I got finished organizing the binder by brand and year, instead of by player position, I felt it was just too plain and orderly. When you organize it by position, it's a free-for-all, wild, anything goes brawl. It's chaotic and unruly and defied any kind of rules that any collector made up, ever.

Now that I've had some time to look it over (and over and over and over and over and over), I must say that this "hierarchy" method is the way to go. I wouldn't use it for all my binders as it wouldn't make much sense for some of them, but for the Mets one, it's absolutely golden!

How could I ever turn back now? I'm not going to. I have an even greater appreciation for my cards after this reorganize. Everything is starting to make sense. I can now start putting together lists of cards I need without increasing my risk of stroke.

Here is a little preview of the first three pages:

Glorious, isn't it? I know that I am going to run into problems in the future as I acquire more from the same sets but the truth is that I'm all out of pages at the moment so this is going to have to do for now.

As far as my other binders go, I mostly take cues from the way Dime Boxes does his upkeep as they sometimes share similarities with his methods.

Don't worry though, copycat as I may be I still put my own raven like twist on things. Whatever that means, remains to be seen though. : )

Ta Ta!!

The Crazy 90's Issue #3: Greg Maddux

I'm pretty sure the 90's wouldn't have been quite as crazy, if it weren't for Greg Maddux. The ace played for both the Cubs and Braves of that decade with 6 All-Star appearances, 4 NL Cy Young Awards and a World Series Championship.

That is a huge amount of accolades for only a 10 year span. Like I said...Crazy!

I certainly remember him mostly for his time with the Atlanta Braves which is mostly what my small player collection of his looks like. While only having two other Cubs issues from Topps, one is not a 90's issue so it won't be appearing on this post.

1992 Topps Greg Maddux #580

Although Maddux was established as an ace in 1989, he would win his first Cy Young the same year this Topps base card was issued.

Maddux would then go on to sign a 5 year deal with the Atlanta Braves worth 28 million.

1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice "Award Winner" Greg Maddux #709

The crazier part is that he would go on to win three more consecutive Cy Young awards. He was the best pitcher in the National League for 4 straight years! I can think of only one other pitcher that can say the same and I covered him in the last issue.

1996 Upper Deck "Strike Force" Greg Maddux #65

I think some considered him an "artist on the mound." His fastball didn't have much velocity so he found other ways to get creative and would often finding him painting the corners with marksman accuracy.

How many batters of his struck out with a pitch on that outside corner? I imagine it froze a good number of hitters.

1993 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Greg Madux #183

This UDCC issue was a very memorable one for me growing up. I always wondered if there was a ball in the glove of the cut off arm. I suppose there is no way of knowing for sure, but it sure makes for an iconic card.

1995 Fleer "League Leaders" Greg Maddux Ken Hill 9 of 10

Definitely one of my first experiences with baseball insert cards,besides the gold foil parallels, was this league leader card. I remember thinking that I had a card that was worth a good number of dollars. The lettering on the card is bumpy, making it unique for a boy that was only used to your basic flat cards. It's nothing special in today's standards but it remained a top card of mine for quite sometime.

1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice "Fantasy Team" Greg Maddux #268

And back to the Collector's Choice issues because those sets were much cheaper in the mid-90's and was easy for a kid like me to get my hands on. Plus, some of them are pretty crazy...popping out of stars, arms cut off and well...pink and green!

I don't really need to tell you about Maddux and his cardboard. All that needs to be said from me was that he was one CRAZY GOOD pitcher!

And I'm sure you would agree : )

My One And Only TTM

So, when I was approximately eleven years old, I got a hold of a few mailing lists for a few baseball superstars of the 90's. I wrote small letters, placed the cards in a PWE without a top loader, and away I sent them.

I received only one back.

Tony Gwynn!!!

And it even came back with a top loader.

He forever made me a fan and collector, just by this small gesture. Happy belated birthday Mr. Gwynn!!!

Mailbox Legends 3: Metsageddon

Sometimes you get an epic package in the mail. That sometimes happened again for me yesterday, when I received over 100 Mets cards, all of which I needed, except one.

You see, me and Shane over at Shoebox Legends have been going trading rounds for quite sometime. It's been a mutually beneficial partnership and it's quite simple... He sends me Mets cards and I send him Red Sox cards. There isn't much more to it than that, other than we sometimes try to 1up each other. ( I don't think I've ever actually won a battle though)

I'm a big fan of his blog and I wish I was around in 2008, when it all started. Everything is very interesting and very well written and the design is smooth, clean and professional. I can only hope to achieve his greatness someday. Sometimes it's so good that I'm actually considering picking up some hockey cards and seeing if I can run with those for a while.

I would send over some Whaler cards but they are in a large box somewhere with my other 90's stuff from when I was a kid. I really need to find that box!

I really can't get over the fact that I needed almost every single card. Is my collection that dry and void? I mean I don't even have one full 3-ring binder full of Mets yet.

Even with these two David Wrights, I still don't have 40 unique pieces of him. I'm pretty glad to have been sent these. In fact, I'm still smiling about them right now : )

I really wonder what the buzz was around the carding world in 2007. Then again I wonder what it was like from 1999-2009. Yea, I missed all that, plus all the years that I wasn't born yet. I will never leave you again wonderful hobby!

1994 Score is much more familiar to me. It's not exactly a memorable set, but it's quite decent in my view. These 3 frames are a good example of the set's elegance.

And then we get to sheer brilliance. I have said before, that 1993 Fleer Ultra is a set that would be acceptable, even in today's standards. I'm pretty sure I was sent the entire Met's team set. I couldn't be happier about that because this is one of my all-time favorite sets. They fare the nostalgia well, and they look pretty too.

2009 Finest. I agree. They are pretty fine cards. They have that funky chrome smell too. Perfect!

I think I've seen that Reyes somewhere else before! Now, pardon my ignorance but were these Turkey Reds part of a base set or were they inserted into flagship like they were in 2010? You're right, I should just look it up.

The Shawn Green and Jose are absolute masterpieces in my view. Very awesome.

That leads me to my next question...How many Joe Smiths are there in the world. No, I suppose I cannot look that one up. It must be cool to be on a card with a 1952 Topps design. If my name were Joe Smith, I would claim that this was me!

As you can see, the variety is just phenomenal. I mean, I couldn't pick out a better grouping of cards myself. The Niese marks my first 2013 Heritage and the Glavine marks the first I own of his in a Mets uniform.

Oh hi Rey! How are you? I think I need to tally up and see how many baseball cards I have with the word "Skybox" on the front. It can't be that many really.

And then there was vintage. Man, I love the 78's. You really get a sense of what the time was like. I think. However, I can't really say because I wasn't alive then. But if I was, then I'd know. But, I wasn't. So, I can only assume.

And a couple more Wright's for good measure! The latter of which is pretty intriguing. It's actually a 2009 Upper Deck O Pee Chee and I can honestly say I've never heard of that. Anyways, I am very happy to add this piece as I don't think I would have came across it otherwise. That's the beauty of trading, you just never know.

So, to wrap it up... That wasn't even half of what I was sent. I can assure you that I do not have as good of an arsenal to fire back with. After this next package gets sent out, I'm officially drained of Red Sox related cardboard. That's ok, because I plan to stick around for a while and by the looks of it, Shoebox Legends doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon either.

Thanks again and as always... Ta ta for now!

And A Little Bit Of Flagshizzle

With summer finally coming into play, I have even less time for the blog.  It's strange because I've actually been posting a lot more than usual. I'm in the flow of things. Writing is feeling good again instead of that grinding feeling that was present on previous entries.

I've been pursuing my other hobbies more often too. I've been practicing my guitar everyday and I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere, like I'm coming out of that "beginner phase" that seems to have ridden me for a long time.

My son recently underwent another surgery, this time for his eyes. Some of you might remember me talking about my first born, as he is a cancer and stroke survivor. He is also developmentally delayed as the cancer and stroke set him back.  You really wouldn't know it now, though. He has came so far and has learned so much through the therapy teachers he has come into the house daily. I spend most of my time caring for and playing with him, all while trying to keep up with my other two year old.

The stroke made the muscles in his eyes weak, so they both turned either in or out. The surgery seems to have been a success, and although his eyes look a little scary (white parts became bloody after surgery), he can see just fine and is almost back to his normal self.

I am truly blessed with my two wonderful kids and my beautiful wife. Things are never easy, but my philosophy is: "If it ain't hard, it ain't worth doing."

And if it was easy, then everyone would have taken my path...

And my path was much different than the "cookie cutter" American way. No, I had to be stubborn and do things my way. I felt the need to explore every area of life, be it good or bad. I got in some trouble for a while and got caught up in substance abuse and all that life deteriorating stuff.

I did have some mind blowing times though. I've seen the world through many different altered states. Reality isn't always what it seems. And bending reality couldn't be more simple. I used to live by this quote from the hard rock band, Avenged Sevenfold:

"He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man"

I used to carry around much pain, but no longer. Sobriety has helped heal the wounds. And so has this blog!

I have failed more times than anyone I know personally. But I take comfort in knowing that Michael Jordan has failed many more times than I.

Yep, it's ok to fail and you will do it often, but never give up.

Anyways, were we talking about cards today? These came from a rack pack from Walmart that I got last week sometime. I keep going back to this years flagship as I still want to acquire as much of it as I can. Maybe I will try and slow it down for next year, but I just can't seem to get enough of Topp's main entry for 2013.

That's alright, there is a series two and even an update series that I won't be able to catch up on either. I never get as much series 2 as I do series 1. That seems to be the norm around these parts anyways.

I was very delighted to land another die-cut. Josh Hamilton. Yep, he's a binder guy of mine, and these die-cuts are simply stunning.

Hope everyone's having a great start to the summer as I am. I hope to keep up with the blog and stay in my flow and continue along this cardboard journey.

Ta Ta For Now : )

Gypsy Qwizzle

At first glances of 2013 Gypsy Queen, I was simply not impressed. As a base card guy, I was thinking that I didn't want to see another shade of gray. It might be the same shade as the 2012 version but still slightly depressing.

Queen has always given me a strange feeling. It's not quite out of the ordinary, yet it's not very ordinary either. It's peculiar for sure.

Obtaining a blaster box of this years entry into the GQ category has altered my initial thoughts and feelings about the product.

Let's be clear... I love 2011 GQ and I sort-of-like 2012 GQ. Let's see what feelings 2013 GQ actually brings forth....

They seem to be nothing special until you are holding a bunch of them in your hands. At first,  I thought the "Gypsy Queen" logo was a bit cartoonish, taking away that old antique feeling. I now feel that everything seems to work here and that I needed to let it grow on me more.

Most sets that I initially deem unlikable, have some other great characteristics about them, making for unique and standout-ish sets.

Matt Cain is always a nice pull and pitchers in my non-Mets binders are in fact a focal point. I don't think pitchers ever get enough credit but I am glad to see they get lots of recognition in the modern day.

Do you know who was there when I first came back to this hobby? Yep, it was Mr. Strasburg. All eyes were on him and to an extent, still are. I was excited by all of Stephen's hype and I couldn't help but wonder who he was and why all the hooplah. To this day, he remains a major factor into coaxing me back into this wonderful hobby.

Like him or not, he is good for the hobby.

I haven't seen too many Paul O'Neil cards in recent years and I was surprised to see this one. I was an O'Neil guy, back in the day.

And a healthy helping of legends, I must say!!! I think it's these guys that make sets like GQ stand out, although I wouldn't mind a throwback set of only current players. Wait, we already have that in Heritage : )

An "almost perfect" Nolan Ryan. And I mean that in the sense of the card itself. The only thing I dislike about the card is the "No-Hitters" text. Other than that, I would call it an A card.

Same goes for this Feller! HA!

Now that's more like it! I wish the base cards were more like the "Sliding Stars" inserts!

And check out the Fielder! I didn't expect to see him sliding on cardboard. Makes for an interesting piece, whether you like him or not.

An excellent shot but I feel the border is more like a football and not a glove. Werth needs to be a binder guy, he really does. I think it's only laziness on my part for not including his pretty sweet pieces. Especially his  flagship card for 2013 Topps. Now that one could spawn a thousand words.

Dealing Aces. What a great concept for a card. It's like two cards in one. A playing card and yet an official Topps card. I love everything about the "Dealing Aces" inserts. They would look so awesome in a complete set on some pages somewhere.

And what could be better?

Bam!!!! I was truly dealt an ace!!! It's awe-striking really. You have to see it in person for yourself. Sorry, I'm gloating now, but can you see why?

How can I top that one? Well I don't think I really can, but what I have next to show is probably my favorite card of the year so far. Let's see...

I sat there and stared at this Buster Posey for a good 5 minutes. I mean I don't really know of the words that can describe this card. It gives me that feeling though. That feeling that I search for in every single piece of cardboard.

That feeling of mystique, intrigue, elegance and valor. An honorable card to stand the test of time. I'm very big on Buster Posey currently and this card says it all. I haven't actually seen other "Collisions At The Plate" inserts, but I'm not sure I want to. This is the only one I need.