NBA D-League Question

Was the NBA Development League created just so they could use up all the failed "new" balls that got shot down in the NBA a couple of years ago?

When Barney Eats a Cheerleader

The Raptors mascot is getting kind of popular with his craziness.

Click here to see him eat a cheerleader.

My First Crazy eBayer Post

I tend to shy away from most of the crazy eBayer blog posts. Simply because I find them irritating and the first thing that comes to mind is, "who cares!". If they're asking too much or whatnot, then they'll be out the listing fee. If they make the sale then props to them! Also, if there's an insane asking price plus an "or best offer", than obviously they just want to hear some offers and are probably not expecting to sell the card for 10 grand. I present to you this heinousness:

(100) 2006 Score Vince Young RC #340 PSA 10 Gem Mint

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a rip on this seller in any way. In fact, this seller is one of my favorites. I've gotten some really great stuff from their store. But, really.. how does this happen?! There are people out there that bust that much 2006 Score and then spend $500+ to slab them?

Pack Break: 2010 Topps Baseball Series 1 Hobby *HIT*

This is 1 of 3 hobby packs I picked up Friday hoping for a hit. Really I was hoping for a code card though.. which have been avoiding me over my last 7 packs.

And here's my hit. Nice card, but from a player I hardly follow. These are only running $1-2 on eBay right now. I plan on buying hobby as often as I can until I pull my first Hat Logo, Silk, or 1/1. Looking forward to a hobby box.

Future pack breaks:

• 1993 Upper Deck Fun Pack Baseball
• 2008 Upper Deck SP Baseball x3

Pack Break: 1988 Topps Leaders Baseball

I was rummaging through the bargain packs at Hoopla's in SW Portland a couple days ago for my 8 year old nephew and I to rip, and I picked up a couple of these and a couple of '93 UD Fun Pack. He thinks minis are so cool. So do I.. hehe. The cards measure about 2 1/8" by 3".

I recently watched Charlie Hough's start for the Marlins Inaugural Opening Day at Dolphin Stadium vs. the Dodgers with Orel Hershiser and Darryl Strawberry from iTunes for $1.99. Good Times. Except for Chris Berman. If Hough was still pitching, and I think he is somewhere in Japan, he would now be pitching at age 62!

There was no code to be found on the back of the sweepstakes card.

I really, really like the backs of these! How often did you see such bright colors and even a photo on the backs of cards in the 80's?

Future pack breaks:

• 1993 Upper Deck Fun Pack Baseball
• 2008 Upper Deck SP Baseball x3
• 2010 Topps Baseball Hobby

Feel free to suggest which one I do next.

Pack Break: 2009 Topps Platinum Football

When I walked into my local Fred Meyer store looking for something new, which doesn't show up nearly enough there, I was surprised to see a half empty box of Platinum sitting there. I had never even heard of these before but I have to try every product at least once. With only 4 cards per pack, I'm sure someone easily bought up any packs with any auto patch cards in them, if there were any to begin with. Odds for those start at 1:350 for group A, more for groups B and C. Any other hits would be a refractor or auto.

The rookie in this pack is different from the other cards as both the front AND back have a glossy finish.

These cards are tough to scan, but if I could describe them, they look like they were printed on the shiny side of some aluminum foil, but I guess they didn't want to name the set aluminum though.

Future pack breaks:

• 1988 Topps Leaders Baseball
• 1993 Upper Deck Fun Pack Baseball
• 2008 Upper Deck SP Baseball x3
• 2010 Topps Baseball Hobby

Feel free to suggest which one I do next.

Barter: Care of Night Owl

First of all, if you traded with me recently, and I didn't share it on here, I'm sorry. Just as of last month, I didn't have internet or a scanner that worked more than 10% of the time, so cards were not posted and cards were assimilated into my collection and they were all very much appreciated. Now that I have these luxuries, posting a trade post doesn't take me 3 1/2 hours to put together.

This latest one is from Night Owl. He contacted me about some Dodgers he spotted from my '93 Action Packed box break, and he had several great Darryl Strawberry cards that I didn't own yet. He also took a stab at my needs list and knocked a few off of there!

Some examples of my base card needs he sent:

2009 Allen & Ginter #213 Stephanie Brown Trafton. She brought home US gold from Beijing for discus.

2009 Topps #259 National League Strikeout Leaders Tim Lincecum (265k), Johan Santana (206k) and Dan Haren (206k). Edinson Volquez also had 206k but I guess he lost the popularity contest.

2008 Stadium Club #98 Roberto Clemente. These Stadium Club cards #91-100 are among my all time favorite cards. Incredibly high quality vintage images with a glossy finish. Nothing better.

Here are all the Darryl Strawberrys I traded for. 1993 Upper Deck #477 Team Stars w/ Eric Davis.

1994 Pinnacle #309 Hometown Heroes.

1992 Studio #50.

1992 Leaf #29.

1991 Fleer Update #U-96.

1991 Donruss #696. This might have been my most heavily collected set as a kid so eventually I'll have to put this one together.

1991 Classic Blue #T68.

Once again, thanks for the great trade Night Owl!

Contest Winner is Drew!!

Drew from drewscards won! Drew, send me a line at danielchairet@gmail.com with your address so I can ship you your loot! Also, don't forget to pick out 22 cards from here as part of the prize.

The correct answers were Harmon Killebrew, Nolan Ryan, Dwight Gooden, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and Hank Aaron. Out 14 entrants, 10 qualified for the drawing. With 5 entries for guessing all six sigs correctly, 3 more for being a follower and another 3 for blogging about the contest, it totaled to 86 entries for the drawing! Thanks all for entering!

Randomize!

Once...

Twice...

and three for the win!

I really want to thank you all for participating. And with your links to my blog, readership has skyrocketed since this contest began.

Thanks again!

eBay Lot: Strawberry, Sergio and a Star Spangled Banner

Here's a few quick pickups that came in the mail today from eBay. I've become addicted to serial numbered cards and I'm not sure why.

Sergio was really exciting to watch for the Trail Blazers, and just as I started focusing on sports again and was becoming more familiar with the team members, he was dealt to Sacramento.


This red parallel is numbered to 150 and I have the base card on its way from Sportlots.com.


I think I might start a collection of cards featuring flags. I've always been fascinated with them since I was a kid. This one is tied with a Darryl Strawberry card for the smallest serial numbered card that I own. The smallest I've actually pulled from a pack is an Andy Pettitte numbered to 65.

Also, one last reminder to enter my contest! Entries must be recieved by 12:01 AM PST tonight!

Card of the Day: 1999-00 Omni CBA Basketball #32 Yao Ming

I was strolling through eBay the other day when I spotted this Yao Ming Shanghai Sharks card and couldn't pass it up for only 99 cents and free shipping! I love international cards and this one's got a good story to it too.

This is Yao's 1999-00 Omni CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) card. This was his third year with the Shanghai Sharks which he joined at the age of 17. He had been playing for their junior team since he was 13. 1999 was the first of three years the Sharks made it to the CBA finals with Yao. They lost to the Bayi Rockets in their first 2 tries. That gave the Rockets 6 championships in a row, but for the 2001 season, the Sharks finally deafeated the Rockets for their first championship.

I now own baseball cards from Japan and Australia, and a basketball card from and China.

Darryl Strawberry Collection

Updated 4/5/10

It's time to take this list off of my want list and give it its own home. This is a list of all the Darryl Strawberry cards in my collection. If you have anything not on this list, I'd be willing to trade for it! Also, a good number of cards on this list have a link to a scan if you're curious what they look like.

As of 3/5/10, my collection is 9.167103195390256678889470927187% complete according to Beckett.com.

Blue means pending.

1. 1984 Drake's #29
2. 1984 Fleer #599
3. 1984 Topps #182
4. 1985 Donruss #312
5. 1985 Drake's #30
6. 1985 Fleer #93
7. 1985 Fleer Limited Edition #38
8. 1985 Topps #278 1980 #1 DP
9. 1985 Topps Glossy All-Stars #5
10. 1986 Donruss Highlights #24
11. 1986 Quaker Granola #16
12. 1986 Topps #80
13. 1986 Topps Glossy Send-Ins #11
14. 1987 Burger King All-Pro #19
15. 1987 Classic Yellow #122
16. 1987 Donruss #4 Diamond Kings
17. 1987 Donruss #118
18. 1987 Donruss Highlights #42
19. 1987 Fleer #23
20. 1987 Fleer Exciting Stars #41
21. 1987 Fleer League Leaders #41
22. 1987 Fleer Star Stickers #114
23. 1987 Kmart #32
24. 1987 Topps #331 "Mets Leaders"
25. 1987 Topps #460
26. 1987 Topps #601 AS
27. 1987 Topps Glossy Send-ins #32
28. 1987 Topps Mini #26
29. 1987 Woolworth's #29
30. 1988 Bazooka #21
31. 1988 Donruss #439
32. 1988 Donruss MVP #BC-20
33. 1988 Donruss Pop-ups #19
34. 1988 Drake's #3
35. 1988 Fleer #151
36. 1988 Fleer #637 Crunch Time w/ Eric Davis
37. 1988 Fleer Headliners #4
38. 1988 Fleer Mini #63
39. 1988 K-Mart Memorable Moments #29
40. 1988 KayBee Superstars of Baseball #29
41. 1988 Panini Stickers #347
42. 1988 Score #360
43. 1988 Topps #710
44. 1988 Topps Glossy All-Stars #19
45. 1988 Topps Glossy Send-ins #22
46. 1988 Topps Mini #63
47. 1989 Bazooka #20
48. 1989 Bowman #387
49. 1989 Captain Crunch #7
50. 1989 Classic Light Blue #8
51. 1989 Classic Travel Orange #108
52. 1989 Classic Travel Orange #150 w/ Will Clark
53. 1989 Donruss #147
54. 1989 Donruss MVP #BC-6
55. 1989 Fleer #49
56. 1989 Fleer #632 w/ Will Clark
57. 1989 Fleer All Star Team #10
58. 1989 Fleer Baseball's Exciting Stars #40
59. 1989 Fleer Wax Box Cards #C-25
60. 1989 Score #10
61. 1989 Score Hottest 100 Stars #50
62. 1989 Topps #300
63. 1989 Topps #390 AS
64. 1989 Topps Ames 20/20 Club #28
65. 1989 Topps Glossy All-Stars #19
66. 1989 Topps Hills Team MVP'S #28
67. 1989 Upper Deck #260
68. 1989 Upper Deck #681 CL
69. 1990 Bowman #141
70. 1990 Bowman Tiffany #141
71. 1990 Classic Blue #33
72. 1990 Donruss #235
73. 1990 Donruss Best NL #80
74. 1990 Fleer #217
75. 1990 Fleer League Standouts #3
76. 1990 Leaf #250
77. 1990 Post #10
78. 1990 Score #200
79. 1990 Score Superstar #15
80. 1990 Starline #21
81. 1990 Topps #600
82. 1990 Topps Glossy Send-ins #7
83. 1990 Upper Deck #182
84. 1990 Wonder Stars #10
85. 1991 Bowman #382 Silver Slugger
86. 1991 Bowman #609
87. 1991 Classic Blue #T68
88. 1991 Donruss #408 MVP
89. 1991 Donruss #696
90. 1991 Fleer #161
91. 1991 Fleer Pro-Visions #12
92. 1991 Fleer Ultra #171
93. 1991 Fleer Update #96
94. 1991 Leaf #377
95. 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier #117
96. 1991 Score #640
97. 1991 Score #691 Master Blaster
98. 1991 Score #864 The Franchise
99. 1991 Stadium Club #301
100. 1991 Topps #200
101. 1991 Topps #402 AS
102. 1991 Topps Traded #114
103. 1991 Upper Deck #245
104. 1992 Donruss #559
105. 1992 Donruss McDonald's MVP #7
106. 1992 Fleer #471
107. 1992 Fleer The Performer Collection #12
108. 1992 Fleer Ultra #219
109. 1992 Leaf #29
110. 1992 Pinnacle #80
111. 1992 Pinnacle #308 "Shades"
112. 1992 Score #9
113. 1992 Score '90s Impact Player #59
114. 1992 Stadium Club #560
115. 1992 Studio #50
116. 1992 Topps #550
117. 1992 Triple Play #187
118. 1992 Upper Deck #174
119. 1993 Donruss 1992 Long Ball Leaders #LL-11
120. 1993 Duracell Power Players Series II #21
121. 1993 Hostess #7
122. 1993 Leaf #210
123. 1993 Score #42
124. 1993 Score Select #21
125. 1993 Studio #122
126. 1993 Topps #450
127. 1993 Topps Marlins #450
128. 1993 Upper Deck #477 Team Stars W/ Eric Davis
129. 1993 Upper Deck #575
130. 1993 Upper Deck #820 CL
131. 1993 Upper Deck On Deck #23
132. 1994 Finest #87
133. 1994 Flair #444
134. 1994 Fleer #525
135. 1994 Pacific #322
136. 1994 Pinnacle #294
137. 1994 Pinnacle #309 Hometown Heroes
138. 1994 Score #428
139. 1994 Sportflics Rookie/Traded #149
140. 1994 Stadium Club #335
141. 1994 Topps #640
142. 1995 Collector's Choice SE #113
143. 1995 Fleer Ultra #244
144. 1995 Topps #629
145. 1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond #89
146. 1996 Donruss #215
147. 1996 Fleer Ultra #107
148. 1996 Score #353
149. 1997 Circa #221
150. 1997 Donruss #261
151. 1997 Donruss Elite Edition #110
152. 1997 Metal Universe #123
153. 1997 Score #79
154. 1997 Stadium Club #82
155. 1997 Studio #145
156. 1998 Bowman Chrome #256
157. 1999 Pacific Paramount #166
158. 1999 Stadium Club #7
159. 2002 Topps Archives #159
160. 2003 Fleer Fall Classics #46
161. 2003 Fleer Fall Classics Legendary Collection Memorabilia #DSY *Bat*
162. 2004 Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Signature Blue Spectrum #38 33/50
163. 2004 Donruss World Series #111
164. 2004 SP Legendary Cuts #20
165. 2004 Upper Deck Etchings Etched in Time Autograph #DS 038/150 Auto
166. 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #255
167. 2004 Upper Deck Yankee Classics #21
168. 2005 Donruss Champions #54
169. 2005 Donruss Greats Signature Gold Holofoil #13 *Autograph*
170. 2005 Donruss Leather & Lumber Big Bang Jersey #BB-7 007/250 *Jersey*
171. 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Black #TT-39 053/100
172. 2005 Playoff Prestige #191
173. 2005 Playoff Prestige Red #191 83/150
174. 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #9
175. 2005 Topps Rookie Cup #51
176. 2005 Upper Deck Classics Classic Counterparts #CC-SG w/ D. Gooden 1807/1999
177. 2008 Topps Update Ring of Honor 1986 New York Mets #DS
178. 2009 Topps Tribute #42
179. 2009 Topps Tribute Black #42 72/99

My Million Card Giveaway Loot

Well it took Topps a little while but they pulled through and it seems traffic to the site is manageable and major kinks are worked out. I only had 2 codes but it took me several tries to unlock them during their heavy traffic phase.

My first one was a huge letdown. A 1990 Doug Rader MGR card. The worst of the worst. My second was decent though, and if I end up shipping cards to myself, I'd pay the 50 cents per extra card for this one. A 1987 Ryne Sandberg. I've already offered it up for trade through the respective hoops for any Darryl Strawberry or Ichiro that I don't own yet.

I'm looking forward to unlocking more in the future. It seems the odds are a tad better for cards from the 70's and even the 60's than I had expected.

Oh, and a reminder, don't forget to enter my contest! Entries are due at 1 minute after midnight on Thursday morning Pacific Standard Time.

-------------------------------------------

UPDATE!!

Not more than a couple of hours after I posted some trade offers for the Sandberg, a new Strawberry was waiting for me when I logged in again. The 1993 was probably my last choice for a Strawberry, but I still needed it. Now, hopefully someone will want the Doug Rader, right?

Contest!! Name the Autographs to Win!

Yes, yes, yes! With all the other great contests that are going on, I've been inspired to create my own. The only difference between this one and the others is that mine has no theme whatsoever! I will test your knowledge of autographed baseballs and reward you with prizes from 3 different sports. You will be playing for 1 and only 1 grand prize which consists of:

3 sealed packs of the uber-rare (not really) 1993-94 Star Pro Basketball set! And...

3 sealed packs of from the 1997 Playbook By the Numbers set released by Scoreboard. You might be saying "Who-whatzit?", but I secretly broke a box of these last week and it was a lot of fun.

And part 3 of the prize will consist of a 50 count hinged snap-case full of your pick of 1993 Action Packed All Star Gallery Baseball cards from this list! I don't know how many that is yet but I'll get back to you on that.

How to Enter:

Now that your down here, you're probably wondering how to enter. First, you must name all the autographs shown in the picture below in the comments for this post. 1 answer per person. You cannot change your answer once you send it in. All comments will be moderated so no one will be able to see anyone's answers until the drawing is over. If you correctly name all six, you will gain 5 entries into the random drawing which I will hold right after Friday the 19th at 12:01 AM PST. That's your deadline. Of course, there should be a few people who answer correctly, so extra entries can be earned, but only earned if your answers are correct. If you are or become a follower of my blog, let me know and you will get 3 more entries. Also, if you blog about this contest on your own blog, you will earn 3 more entries, 1 blog per person.

All entries will be loaded into random.org in alphabetical order. After they have been randomized 3 times, the player with his or her name at the top wins! I'll post the winner as soon as I get the results and the winner will be notified. Good luck!

So here are the autographs you need to identify. These particular autographs have NOT previously been mentioned anywhere on my blogs before, just so you know. Be sure to click on the picture to get a better look:

Card of the Day: 1975-76 Topps Portland Trail Blazers Team Checklist

This is now, by far, the oldest Trail Blazers card I own. The back states who 8 of the players are and I think I figured out the rest.

#10 is Phil Lumpkin who spent his rookie year with the Blazers after being drafted in the second round out of Miami University. He was traded to Phoenix Suns for the 1975-76 season and was waived the year after. He did have a card in this set as a Phoenix Sun.

#19 is Lenny Wilkens. He retired after the 1974-75 season and did not have a card in this set.

#27 is John Johnson who only played 9 games in 1975 for Portland before he was traded to the Cavs for Steve Hawes.

#4 is Greg Smith near the end of his career. He was waived on 11/7/75 after just one game played that season, his final NBA game.

I believe the coach was Jack McCloskey. Which one of the two pictured was him, I don't know.

By the way, Big Contest Tomorrow!!

Box Break: 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History Baseball Hobby

Yes, I picked Piece of History for my first modern box break since my return to this hobby. I'm really drawn to this set and I guess I'm one of few. I absolutely love the card design, the numbered parallels and the numbered inserts. The Historical Moments subset could have been done better but it has it's moments (historical moments).

The 16 pack box gave me 88 of the 200 card base set if I remember correctly. I pulled 1 Hollywood relic, an auto, a jersey and a ton of serial numbered beauties.

Up above are a few of my favorite base cards. The first half of the set from #1 to #100 are star cards.

Here's a few of the rookies I pulled. There are 50 rookies in the base from #101 to #150.

#'s 151 to 200 finish the set with the Historical Moments subset. These are some of the good ones...

...and some of the bad ones. I now own a turkey dinner trading card.

Here's the dreaded 20th Anniversary cards. I really made out extremely well with this box. 7 of 8 were sports related and the 8th wasn't a sheep or a virus!

Blue and green #'d parallels, and the Timeless Moments set. Check out the Lowell.. #'d 01 of 75!

Some more #'d inserts.

The auto..
The jersey..

And the Mike Meyers Goldmember costume card. I'm happy with this one.. my wife got a kick out of it. Im just glad it wasn't a redemption..

Once again, my set needs have been posted, and since I had purchased 2 packs of this stuff before the box, I have like 2 doubles up on my for trade list!