Transatlantic Triple Break! 2006 UD Ovation

 The Transatlantic Triple Break is back. I opened two boxes, the First being 2006 Upper Deck Ovation. Each pack has 5 cards. The first pack I opened had the 4 base cards above and...

 One pretty cool insert of Andruw Jones. This one's heading to France! Kevin had the two East Divisions, I took the AL Central and AL West, while Matt will receive the NL Central and West.

 All of us did pretty well - Kevin got the insert of Andruw and a Blue Jay Relic (which he'll have to show you), Matt won the big Autograph (numbered to /25) and I got some great Twins!

 The Kubel rookie is numbered to /999, and you're probably looking at the Twins team set from the product.

Here's a smattering of the other gains for my collection, all from the AL Central. The second box will be shown tomorrow, and boy was it a fun one!!!

Target Acquired! Kirby Puckett 1984 Fleer Update Rookie!

Woohoo! I set some not so modest goals for collecting in 2016, hoping to find some gems in my price range.

Every card listed on this post from January became listed an eBay search, and I kept my eyes peeled at shows.

It wasn't until last week that I finally pounced on a card I've wanted for about 30 years:

 I've been wanting a copy of this card since I was a little kid - The first time I saw a copy in a card shop was probably in 1987 or 1988. I definitely didn't have the money to pony up for it then.

I almost didn't get this one either- but everything came together at just the right time. I would say this card is now my favorite in my collection, and I don't see a contender out there to knock off the throne.

Serial #Supertrader

Blog reader (and someday soon Blog Writer?) and #Supertrader Brett sent over a bubble mailer filled with the finest rare gems.

Almost every card was serial numbered, and two that weren't were Relic patches.

 Leading off is closer Joe Nathan - in the very cool UD Masterpieces set.

 all of these were numbered to 100 or Less. Joe Mauer was numbered to just 25!

 Another awesome trio. The back of the Benson card mentioned that the Twins have "big plans" for him after he was named minor league player of the year. Well, after bouncing around the league in the minors ever since, the Twins have re-signed him for one last chance this season, maybe those big plans can finally come true?

 More serial numbered greatness. Adam Johnson was a big disappointment for the Twins, he was a high draft pick that just didn't pan out.

 I really like the Jesse Crain black refractor. That's a sharp looking card.

 I kind of lost track of Studio after the first few years, but it looks like the quality stayed up well into the new millenium. The film strip background features a view of the Minneapolis skyline from the small pond in Loring Park, just south of downtown. Not a common sight on cardboard!

One more relic for the road. Good old Johan Santana. In his prime there was no one that could touch his change up.

Thanks so much Brett - this was an awesome package!

Saturday = Card Show Day

 I hit up the smaller card show this weekend and found some fun vintage

Still working on a 1959 Reds Team Set - the Cub Dale Long is a double (need to update my list!), so I will be sending that one out to someone. 

 A couple more from 1961, the Reds card has some wax on the front, I will try to safely remove it at some point.

A nice 1957! Snyder is on my Arbitrary 8 list, so I will update that soon as well. 

 These two are sporting Commemorative Patches - looks like a World's Fair patch on Gehrig and Mr. Cub is celebrating the state of Illinois - that patch doesn't come up often as it was worn during the time that Topps was recycling all their photos from the past on the 1969 set.

Whoa trippy 90S inserts!

For kicks I picked up a couple packs of Terminator 2 cards. They are stupid. I like them a lot.

Le Triple Break

Super Trading is a ton of fun, and I really had a blast putting together PWEs for everyone. Two Super Traders and I also have a monthly break - The Transatlantic Triple Break!

Kevin from The Card Papoy had the Honors this time around, and opened some 2014 Panini Classics.

 The base cards - I received Twins, the NL Central (minus Matthew's Pirates), and the AL West.

 The inserts.

A Hit! A Taijuan Walker sig/relic combo numbered to 299. I am probably hanging onto this one for a while.

Kevin, being the generous soul that he is, also included a variety of Twins and guys I collect:

 This Joe Mauer jersey / bat relic is numbered to 99! Diamond Kings would be unstoppable with a license. As it is, still really nice cards.

 What the heck is this?

 It's a poster! ALOU!

 ALOU TIMES TWO! I think Jesus was not featured in this poster set, so that's a complete Alou set!

This is a 1976 Laughlin Diamond Jubilee card of Mr. Harmon Killebrew. R.G. Laughlin also made sets of art cards for Fleer in the 60s and 70s. This card is oversized, so I am keeping it in its rigid holder for now.

Awesome Kevin! Thanks so much for these anda new Break is heading back your way (and to West Virginia) from Minnesota soon!

#Supertraders Leading off

Wes of Jaybarkerfan's Junk got the #supertrader ball rolling with a generous padded mailer chock full o Twins.

 Starting out we have some guys from a big gap in my collection - the early to mid 2000s are underrepresented in this house!

 "The Rat" and the Twins' current hitting coach Tom Brunansky at the height of their powers . . .

Randy Bush is not a household name by any means, but he had some very solid seasons in the 80s opposite Bruno and Kirby. He ended up platooning / coming off the bench more by the time the Twins won their first championship, but he was a regular contributor. I think Mark Lemongello my have my favorite name on that 77 Topps rookie card. A new to me Kirby is always nice, and the Killer is Serial numbered to 199!

 minis!

 The Big Mini! Miguel Sano is listed at 6'4" , 260 pounds. He was quoted recently as saying he worked hard in the offseason and dropped a whopping 5 pounds. He's still growing!

One more rat and the best free agent addition in Twins history (next to Josh Willingham, right Wes?).

Thanks so much for these and for getting the ball rolling for the Super Traders!

Big day

Great news!  Pitchers and catchers report today! Get to work, ya bums!

Coming soon, I have a supertrader package from Wes, and a Transatlantic Triple Break post from the Card Papoy.

Saturday was card show day

It literally took all weekend, but I was able to fill a PWE for every #SUPERTRADER - these will be going in the mail tomorrow!

I did make a stop on Saturday at the local card show, my first trip of 2016.

 Diamond Kings!!

 Don't get too excited...

 It's a reprint...

 Still cool, though.

 Dave is not a reprint.

 Dime box finds...

 The scan is no good, but there's my first Matty Alou certified auto.. Now I only have Jesus left to go!

 picked up the last three series one Topps Rookie All-Stars I needed . . .

Both of these are Target Field perspectives.... and hey, look - Kennys Vargas is at the plate!

And this is probably the only close up Kennys Vargas card we'll be seeing in the 2016 set... What an awesome picture, though! (I actually like most of the team cards I've seen so far. That's about all I can show you, as a great deal more cards are already packed in envelopes.

Super excited

Super traders! I am setting the ambitious goal this weekend of sending each of you a PWE by Monday.

Yahoo!

(putting it in writing makes it more likely to happen.)

I have some sorting to do...

Thanks go to Wes for the idea, the implementation, and taking the first plunge by breaking a box,  and to Play at the Plate's Brian for putting together a great resource for the super traders to find each other.

Blaster Master

OK.. so 2016 Topps has been out now for several days and people have had a chance to see a little bit of everything. Here's some of the contents of the blaster box I picked up:

The Perspectives subset reminds me of Stadium Club with a little less info on the front. It does a great job of focusing on the photography.

 Topps is bringing back "Wacky Packages"  -

 MLB Debut is just what it sounds like - nice to see Satchel Paige in the subset.

A few of the more interesting series one images. Ervin is more typical, it's one of the rainbow foil parallels.

And since this was a blaster, it came with a manufactured "relic" medallion:

 Remember when Cespedes was an A? Not that long ago...

 I am less enthusiastic about 2016 Topps - It remains to be seen how the other sets fare.