The A&G Boxes Have Arrived!

Two of ’em! I am pretty sure I won’t be getting the case hit rip card, as I saw the Brad Penny pulled in the shop when I was picking mine up. Oh well, I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for that Cat Osterman auto and hopes I can put the lion’s share of the set together. I only paid $48 for the two boxes, thanks to a whole bunch of junk hits going in trade to the shop.

I haven’t opened the boxes yet, because I got to go to the Yankees/Twins game last night, and will be headed back tonight. I had the opportunity to get Joba Chamberlain’s autograph last night, and was completely blown away by his friendliness towards everybody he signed for. He was really good with the kids, and even took the time to talk with 30-year-old me. After my encounter with him last night, he has shot up to #2 on my “collecting” list, only behind Pettitte, and I will now be going after all things Chamberlain. I just left with a really good feeling about the guy, and I liked him quite a bit already.

Anyway, I’ll be opening the boxes tomorrow or Friday night, and I’ll be sorting out the minis to be mailed out after that. There are still some players/teams available – if you want in, just let me know!

2006

Yeah, this post is going to be substantially longer than the others – I need a lot of 2006 and the market was a little more Pettitte-friendly than the past two years.   Posting 2005 might kill me, and that would be a stupid way to die.  As per usual, I am not including refractors, parallels, etc, although chances are I definitely need them.

Bazooka 4-On-1 stickers #5

Flair Showcase #143

Fleer Tradition 1934 Goudey Greats #GG12

Topps Allen & Ginter – all minis

Topps Co-signers – All

Topps Triple Threads – All

Ultimate Collection #237

Upper Deck Team Pride #PE

I guess that wasn’t quite so bad… if work continues to lag, I’ll continue to post the 2000s I need.  Either that or go in and list every damn Finest/Turkey Red/Co-Signers/Bowman parallel.  Just to kill time.

Wanna Swap?

In paying tribute to my baseball card-whorish ways,  I am mentioning trading in my third consecutive post.  However, I’m not using this particular entry as a call for Pettitte cards, but more to explain how I trade, and what I’ll trade for.  I do mostly blind trading with other bloggers – the only two exceptions to this rule are Chris’ wantlist at Stale Gum and the first trade I did with Steve at White Sox Cards.  Otherwise, I pretty much round up everything I have of a team, put ’em in a box, and send them on their ways.  Unfortunately, by doing this I tend to include duplicates, and even triplicates from time to time.  I don’t really like doing it, but it’s done in hope that these collectors have networked with other collectors of their team, and they can trade off what I send to get stuff they need.  So when you’re pulling that fourth Torii Hunter card out of your box, please know my heart is in the right place.

So if you’re still with me after reading that, and are still intrigued, here’s a list of what I look for in trade, in order of priority (so business-like):

1. Andy Pettitte.  Both Yankees and Astros cards.  Beckett says there are 3300+ Pettittes out there, and my collection will be at 10% of that when my mail comes next week.  Needless to say, I have a long way yet to go.  I’m looking for whatever you have: base, relic, parallel – if it’s Andy, email me, and I’ll take a look.

1A. Chad Greenway.  Being from Iowa and living in Minnesota, Greenway is a fan of these two teams’ dream come true.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a dream collection of him: six cards.  One would think living in Minneapolis would lend itself well to finding Greenway cards, but he sells out incredibly quickly around here.

2. Derek Jeter.  Getting back into the hobby, I initially planned on focusing on Jeter.  While I still pick his stuff up at shops, and love getting them in trades, zeroing in on collecting his stuff would have bankrupted me many times over.  By all means, though, if you have Jeters you don’t want, lemme know (again, with the whoring.  I’m shameless).

3. Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada.  These round out the players I really concentrate on, and by concentrate, I mean request in trade, search out at card shops/online.   I rank Rivera just slightly over Posada, but gladly accept cards of either.

4. Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill, Joba Chamberlain, Bernie Williams, Roger Clemens.  More favorite Yankees, who I love getting in trades.  However, at this point it turns into collecting too many players, so I’ll pick them up in the common bins (not so much with Joba and Clemens) and tell traders I am looking for them.

5.  Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.  Hey, I live in the Twin Cities, I have to have someone local to cheer for during the season when I can’t watch Yankee games.  My collections of both are modest, although I have finally started receiving a few trades as well.  Twins cards go for above-Beckett value around here, so the best I can hope for is pulling from packs or getting them in the mail.

6. Other Yankees.  Traders probably are much better off sending their A-Rods, Mantles, etc to other Yankee collectors and getting more bang for their buck.  However, I will not refuse them and can find homes for them as well.

I do believe that’s everything.  Wait, Shane Battier too.  I’m too lazy to re-write/re-rank every player, so if you bust basketball and pull a Battier, chances are I’m interested.  And on that note, I am being summoned to do actual work.  *sigh*

And so it begins…

I figure I’ve bothered enough baseball card bloggers via email that it’s time I get my own blog and hopefully start getting solicited by other collectors out there.  After months of taking my quest to get new cards of Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Chad Greenway to other bloggers, I now hope that readers will find me with hopes to unload the cards they don’t want.

I started collecting baseball cards again this past May after a 14-year hiatus from the hobby, and returned to a world I hardly recognized.  I was aware that Upper Deck had started putting jersey pieces in cards, but had no idea that such things as printing plates, 1 of 1’s, and twenty different parallel versions of a base card existed.  It quickly dawned on me that my original intention – to collect all Yankees cards was bordering between unreasonable and impossible (thank you very much Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy).  It was with this I narrowed down my focus.

Initially I was collecting Derek Jeter, and still do.  However, the premium price his cards command helped me realize that if I wanted to become a true player collector and have a shot at getting most (sadly, not at all) of his cards, I would need to find someone who is a little less in the collecting public’s eye.  Enter: Andy Pettitte.  I had his 1994 Bowman as a remind of my past collecting days, and since he was such an integral part of the Yankees’ 90s dynasty, I ran with him.  Starting with that one card, my collection has grown over several months to the current total of 241.

So there it is: I am here in hopes I will gain some sort of following and do some trading with collectors.  My collection is online at Beckett under “EPSlette” if you’re curious.  If you have something that I don’t – look a brother up.  In the meantime, I’ll be posting stuff I get in the mail via trade, and if I get super desperate, stuff I buy from Checkoutmycards.com.  Oh, and I’m also looking for those who collect the Blue Jays, Pirates and Diamondbacks.  In the effort to streamline my collection (another story for another post) I am getting rid of all my cards that aren’t a select few players.  If you collect these teams, let me know – ask other bloggers and they can let you  know that it’ll be worth your while.