Infield Fly Rule Hits One Out of the Park

This first round of trades has been going almost too well - I can't keep up with all the amazing stuff coming in.

Adam from Infield Fly Rule has hooked me up with two boxes crammed with cards.

One is all Twins:

And my favorite Twin (or Clone, even though we don't like to talk about those issues), Spider-Man:

The other attacks my general 1995-2005 gap and some more specific wantlist needs:

I mean, check out these awesome 90's inserts:

I Nied-ed that Diamond king (sorry not sorry)

Wow! Very generous, I owe Adam another return package for this bonanza! 

Quite a Hoyle

Many of you know Mark Hoyle, Red Sox fan, frequent reader and commenter, and great trade partner.

I sent Mark a short stack of Red Sox and the return was a big blast of vintage:

Great action on the Crowley shot (Terry was the Twins' Hitting Coach for many years of my youth), Charlie Fox is too cool for school, Willie McCovey is stylin'. Just a great attack on the old want list.

These Pucketts were all new to me

 These Jumbo Size cards are pretty cool!

Ah, The Metrodome - so dumpy, so dingy - so many great memories. My ears are still ringing.

Here's the whole stack in action, it was quite a haul - Very Cool Mark, these were great!

What's A Pirate's Favorite Hobby?

Answer: Trading baseball cARRRRds, of course.

Matthew from Bob Walk The Plank contacted me when I was just starting out (oh those many weeks ago) and we chatted for a bit about the hobby. I sent him a few things, and here's the return package.

Nothing but HITS!

Shiver me timbers!

Ahoy, me Hearties!

Thar she blows!

I am glad that Liriano was a Twin, he was amazing when he was good, and excruciating when he was off his game. Seems like he's figured it out in Pittsburgh, best of luck to him!

Hey - this should only be numbered to 39! Torii doesn't turn 40 for a few months! 34 is Kirby's number though... eBay 1/1!!

Yo ho ho and an excellent trade indeed.

I've been Zapped

Zippy Zappy zapped me good.

He was interested in some Target Red Parallels, and so he contacted me and sent along this package in trade:

 This is my first Joe Mauer card in a foreign language! Zippy Zappy says that the back mentions the legend that Mauer never struck out in High School - close - he only struck out once

It's a pretty cool card regardless of any fanciful tales of derring-do.

Ooh, Shiny and Sign-y:

The best thing the Twins have going for them these days is their farm system, and Zippy hooked me up with the very best:

Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Berrios (who started the Futures Game in 2014), Mitch Garver and Oswaldo Arcia, who's been up with the Twins for awhile. These guys are all fantastic prospects, it has a lot of Twins fans excited for 2016.

There was a little taste of some vintage as well

I just got Zapped and it was pretty fantastic.

I've packed up and shipped out a return with those red parallels and maybe a little something extra?

Thanks Very Much!

Speaking of Group Breaks . . .

I'm setting up this Group Trade because it seems like Group Breaks are a lot of fun to participate in.

If you haven't seen it yet, Nachos Grande is putting one together for 2015 Heritage and has added some other great products to sweeten the pot.

It's the first big buy-in break I've joined, and spots need to fill up for it to go through!

There are still several great teams left (some are even grouped together- which means even more cards for you!), you can read all about it HERE

Be amazed like Delmon Young!

Group "Trade" - it's Happening!

Hello everyone - Happy Wednesday!

There was a positive response to the idea of trading some freshly busted wax, so I am going to be moving forward with doing a group break of some older boxes (1995-2005).

Today's post is for two things:
First, to sign up for slots (if you haven't already)

Second, to help decide which boxes to break.


Part One, assigning the teams:

•Arizona Diamondbacks :
•Atlanta Braves - John  (Johnny's Trading Spot)
•Baltimore Orioles/Saint Louis Browns
•Boston Red Sox - Shane (Shoebox Legends)
•Chicago White Sox - Jeff (2X3 Heroes)
•Chicago Cubs - Tom (Waiting 'Til Next Year)
•Cinncinnati Reds - Nachos Grande
•Cleveland Indians
•Colorado Rockies - Adam (Infield Fly Rule)
•Detroit Tigers
•Florida Marlins
•Houston Astros
•Kansas City Royals
•Los Angeles Angels
•Los Angeles Dodgers - GCRL
•Milwaukee Brewers/Seattle Pilots - Tony (Off Hiatus)
•Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators - Brian (that's me)
•New York Mets - Dan (Daily Autograph, Keys to the Batters Box)
•New York Yankees - Tim B. (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning)
•Oakland Athletics
•Philadelphia Phillies
•Pittsburgh Pirates - Matthew Scott (Bob Walk The Plank)
•San Diego Padres
•San Francisco Giants
•Seattle Mariners - Kevin (The Card Papoy)
•St. Louis Cardinals
Tampa Bay Rays
•Texas Rangers
•Toronto Blue Jays - Al Kawamoto
•Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos

okay, so lots of options left, leave a comment below and I will edit the post.

Part two: The boxes!

I think a small break of three boxes would be good to test this out.

Maybe vote for something in each of the categories below? I'll buy boxes no earlier than Friday, so there's some time for discussion and recommendations and nominations for boxes.

One Box of Topps Gallery (Which year?)

One Box of Stadium Club or similar (suggestions?)

One Box of Something Different (previous example was 1998 Pacific Omega - this is kind of a wild card)

So, there we go - sign up if you haven't already, suggest a box, tell your friends...

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime Box?

Nick from Dime Boxes reached out to me after seeing what came out of a pack I purchased of 1978 O-Pee-Chee.

I sent over a few things and here's what came back to me:

Minis and stickers!

Some Super Sweet Vintage to cross off my want list! Love that Tony O and Reggie is always a cool cat to have in the clubhouse.

Some guys for my player collections - I dig the pop up Dave.

There was lots more in the bubble mailer- and I will be learning a lot about packaging from this first round of returns (I'm getting blue tape today!) 

This whole package was very cool - thanks Nick!

We've already moved on to trade #2 (this is a tiny one), I hope I can keep up and send some more good stuff your way!

Who Needs A Card Show . . .

 . . . When you're trading with Johnny's Trading Spot?

John was one of the very first people to reach out to me to set up a trade. I've noticed that everyone insists on sending things first, which is great, and feels very Minnesotan to me. What I received in the mail from John was this behemoth (#WalletCard to show scale):

It looks like even more when I opened the box:

Here are some of the highlights:

Lots of new cards of Joe Mauer, a fantastic Pat Neshek Allen & Ginter, A mix of vintage and cards from the early 2000's where I was sorely lacking in cards.

Brad Radke is one of my favorite Twins of all time, but before this package arrived I had a grand total of 2 of his cards. Now I've got a mini PC going! Same deal with Koskie, Mientkiewicz, and Torii Hunter in a Twins uniform.

Thanks John! These are awesome.

Overproduction Era Group "Trade" - who's with me?

So, here's an idea.

After looking at several want lists, it seems like a lot of bloggers had a little hiatus in collecting in the mid to late 1990s.

One thing that a lot of people are doing with new releases now are Group Breaks, which seem to reduce the risk of getting cards you don't want and saving everybody some money in the process.

How about a Group Break of some older boxes? The years I would be looking at would be 1995 - 2005.

But here's the catch - I don't really want people's money... I want cards! So, instead of a group break in the traditional sense, you can join by just making a comment or sending me an e-mail. Once the break happens, I will sort the cards by team (including any awesome amazing 90s inserts). I'll send you the cards, and then "payment" would just be a regular trade of cards from you that are either on my wantlists or from other sets in the 1995-2005 era. So in essence, this would be a Group "Trade."

I've mentioned a couple times that I have pretty much nothing in that span of time, so I figure this is a way for me to beef up that inventory.

If there is some interest in the comments below (feel free to recommend specific brands/years/sets), I'll move on to the next step of listing which boxes I will be putting up for a group break trade.

Also, being 100% honest, I've never done a Break before, so advice on how to run that would be great, too!

Oh, edited to add: I will be taking the Twins for sure on these breaks, and any unclaimed teams too.

Trade bait: Vintage!

Vintage . . .

Here's the deal - I'm putting up scans of some of the items that are available for trade from me. The Vintage cards I am trading are almost always cards that I have upgraded in my own collection, so condition is generally not so good.

If you're looking for minty fresh vintage cards, I am probably not the guy to trade with right now.

That being said, on to the scans:

UPDATE: Well, the 1960 Ryne Duren and the 1961 Elmer Valo are still available, but the rest have been claimed for trading, that was fast!

Interested in anything scanned above? Interested in trading in General? Send me a message using the handy contact form on the right of my blog, or a comment with a way to contact you below. I'll update this post as things are claimed. I'll make new posts when I add new items.

No Show This Weekend

Bummer.

No Card Show this weekend, I will have to do my dimebox digging online.

Do you have a preferred site for buying cards online?

Do you comparison shop before buying something (find it on eBay, then search Sportlots or COMC or Just Commons?) ?

Do you prefer the buy it now options or the auctions?

Trade Bait: Junk Wax!

Ok, Most of you have had your fill of junk wax already, but maybe not?

I am breaking up the following Full Sets (Already started breaking, so they are not full sets any more):
1988 Donruss - Diamond Kings are gone, some others as well

1994 Topps - about 20 cards have been sent out already

I have nearly complete (plus lots of doubles) Series 1 only sets of:

1992 Donruss

1992 Fleer Ultra Claimed by John

1993 Leaf claimed by John

I have some Topps Vending boxes:

1986 (x2) Claimed by John
1988
1989

Several hundred of each that I'm more than willing to re-distribute to the farthest corners of the Earth.

Some oddball sets I'm willing to break up:

1984 Drake's Big Hitters full set claimed by John

1989 Fleer Baseball's Best (all position players in this set)

1990 Topps Ames All-Stars

Unopened Packs:
I have a handful of sealed junk wax packs available, 1988-1993, Donruss, Fleer, Score, Topps, etc.
No pictures scanned at the moment, but you all know what these things look like, yeah?


These are all mostly throw-in items for trade, if you're looking to complete a set or have some gaps in player or team collections, let me know. I'm guessing we're almost all in the same boat with junk wax commons. I'm not one of those guys that thinks my 1988 Topps cards are worth $5,000.

Interested in anything mentioned above? Interested in trading in General? Send me a message using the handy contact form on the right of my blog, or a comment with a way to contact you below. I'll update this post as things are claimed. I'll make new posts when I have specific items to trade.