Basic Woogenomics and The Year (and a half) Long Break

That's Right

Look, I know I said some bullshizzz about wanting to explore collecting other stuff but I was all like that's super dumb bro.

Baseball Cards is where it's at.... and that my friends is....

BASIC WOOGENOMICS

Look, I know I just said Baseball Cards is where it's at... and it is.... but in the year and a half since I've been gone, I've gotten in to a little more than baseball cards.

I became the proud owner of some really nice sports memorabilia.  Stuff I would consider Hall of Fame display worthy for sure!  On top of that I've had some epic runs in the last year and a half and have pulled some freaking monsters!

Want a little taste?  Here I am busting a box of 2018 Triple Threads

https://youtu.be/JJWWkbDood8

Now I know what everyone is thinking...

How you gonna just cannon ball back in to our lives and not explain what the heck's been going on the last 18 months or so!?

And I will!  It's called content people....  Stay tuned if you want to know...

Where's Woogie Been?

What new dope shiz did he pull and or acquire?

Sup with his babies and babies mama?  Are they still incredible?!?

What crazzziiieee tales does he have in store??

All in due time my babies... All in due time.

Now for one last update before I sign off...  I alluded earlier that I went on some crazy streaks.  I'll go in to great detail about my most recent one and truth be told I could still be in the middle of it for all I know.  Proof of my point being this friggin sweet ass nasty patch having card right here that I just won in a 100 spot line straight fill.  At $2 a spot I put down a $40 and got spots 7 through 26.  Normally I never drop that much on a line ever but I've wanted this card or a variation of it from other products for a loooooong time.  I can't believe I pulled it out.

Welcome to the collection boys!!!

2003 Upper Deck SPX Combos Lou Gehrig Cal Ripken Jr. Dual Jersey Patch /90

(This is a stock photo, the image of my card is on my phone and i'm being lazy.  I'll post the real deal later when I have it in hand.)

Feels good to get a new post in.  I'll be back again later.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Woogie

Hey Fwiends... Shit got real

If you're reading this

THANK YOU

I had a great run writing on this blog and through it traded with people all over the country and was read by people all over the world.  In my little corner of the globe, I think that's pretty cool.

I had a son in the past year (he's almost 4 months now) and completed my work on framing and displaying my 3 sets.

2011 Topps Lineage set

2010 Topps 206 Mine Book relic set

and 2010 Topps National Chicle relic set

2010 Topps 206 Complete Set

2011 Topps Lineage 1975 Mini Relic Set (all 99 cards, but only 96 on display. The other 3 are in a envelope on the back of the frame)

2010 Topps National Chicle Relic set

I know this would have never been possible with out the support I gained through this blog.  They look great and I have to say my baseball card thirst is quenched.  I'm not particularly interested in going after any new sets and at this point I've seen the values fall so sharply on this stuff that I can afford to wait and come back in a few years to chase something else and save a few bucks that way.

I am however not entirely done with this blog.  I can't say goodbye. (unless blogger shuts me down... would they do that if I wasn't active for a few years?)

You can still visit me and my new quest.

G.I. Joe action figures.

Always a kid at heart and a nerd in real life... with a super hot wife and dope ass life.

Check me out at my new blog.

Imnotyourjoebro.blogspot.com

As always thanks for reading!

Feel free to drop me a message and best of luck to you all in what ever you are chasing!

Woogie and The 1 Week Haul

Happy Sunday Fwiends!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer of 2016 so far.  My Orioles are in first place and are looking good offensively! (Pitching continues to be another topic)

Speaking of pitching I got to watch a show down between two of my nephews in their last Little League game of the season.  My nephew Brodrick pitched for his team the Royals while my nephew Andy played utility fielder for his team the Orioles.  The first time Andy faced Brody he popped out right to Brody on a first pitch swing.  Brody 1 Andy 0

However in the 3rd inning and Andy's second time facing Brody he ripped a hard grounder past the short stop for an RBI single.  Brody 1 Andy 1

It was great to see both of them succeed on the field and each have their own little highlight.

Here is a stellar shot of Brody on the mound.

Aside from watching Little League and listening to the Orioles on The Fan I've been busy tooling with my collection.

I come to you from a place of joy and sorrow and of loss and gain...

I recently decided to part with a couple of big time cards in my collection in return for a rather large haul of cards that I've been looking to collect for some time now.

It's never easy to give up a card that you rather enjoyed owning but sometimes it is a necessity in order to achieve a certain outcome.  When this happens to me I usually fall back on a good tune to help me memorialize my dearly departed...

I usually go to the Boyz II Men well on occasions like this but today I decided to say goodbye a little differently.

That's right fwiends... it's time to break out this classic and knock the dust off you're CD player.

From the 1985 Film and Soundtrack The Breakfast Club comes Don't You (forget about me) by Simple Minds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqoNKCCt7A

First I'd like to say good bye to a big timer from my collection and a card that was fundamental to the start of this blog.  

Goodbye Sweetspot dual relic Ripken/Murray

your patches were the sickest and I sold you away for less than I should have... but it gave me insta paypal that I used to start a new relic collection and for that I'm grateful and will never forget the place you held in my collection.

Goodbye old friend

With you leaving my collection I was able to purchase 7 2010 Topps National Chicle Relics to get me on my way to completing the 38 card relic set.

I actively bought packs of this product when it first came out and loved the painted design and the checklist being a good mix of stars, hall of famers, and star rookies at the time like Buster Posey.  I had a couple of the relics that I pulled but ended up trading a while back but I had always had the notion to complete the set in the back of my mind.  So when I saw the 7 available at an excellent price I had to move something of value and after completing the 75 mini relics and 206 booklets my collection is thin on high value cards.  So I made the tough choice and ended up with these!

So with 7 out of 38 I set out to see what others I could acquire when I saw on ebay one of the 3 toughest cards in the set to acquire in the form of this beauty.

A great seller on ebay had this card up and I reached out to him to see if he would be up for a trade.  A majority of the time when I ask this on a card of this caliber the general response is "No" and I get it.  You sell on ebay to get cash, but sometimes you find a collector and things turn out differently and that was the case this go round.

We agreed in principle that he would hook me up with Gehrig in exchange for another big fish from my collection and a fellow "Iron Man".

Yes, that's right... I gave up my 2015 Panini National Treasures Game Ball Cal Ripken Jr. auto /10, but for my first Gehrig relic it was a no brainer to me.

So long Cal

Now he also had a couple others online and I asked about an additional trade to see what else I could get towards the set and he told me he'd check to see all that he had.  When he got back to me it turned out that he had all of them I needed with the exception of Ruth and Mantle, the other two toughest pulls in the set.

So with that we hammered out the details of the deal and I sent him the following...

In exchange for...

Aside from my first Gehrig relic I also got my first Rizzuto relic, Munson relic (with absolutely sick swatch including pin stripe), Hank Greenberg relic, and Pee Wee Reese relic.  Not to mention a Jim Palmer game used bat card! Many of these cards I had no clue what I'd be getting and the number of relics I got with a pin stripe was amazing!  In fact every Yankee jersey card is a pin stripe with the exception of Robinson Cano and Joba Chamberlain.  Joba appears to only have the gray swatch, but Cano has a pin stripe and I'll be looking to upgrade my swatch.

Additionally Pujols and Ortiz both have yellow swatches that I'd like to upgrade to add more pop to the set.  Overall, I can't believe how fortunate I was to build this set with in a weeks time and now get to look forward to chasing down my final two.  LOL, It always comes down to Ruth and Mantle.

If you're reading this and have one or both of these available for trade, hit me up!

Thanks for reading and I'll catch up again soon!

Woogies Wasteland

Been a long time girl...

Shouldn't left you...

With out a dope beat to step to

OR

Some dope baseball cards.  

Last time I dropped in it was last October and my birds finished at 81-81 and have been picked to finish last in the AL East and close to last in the American League.

Guess no one told the Orioles that.

6-0 haters!  Last time my boys opened the season at 5-0 they won the World Series.  Obviously that is a stretch, but sure beats going 0-6 to start a season and my bums have started out worse than that!

So i'll take my 6-0 start and pray it goes to 7-0 tonight against those bastards in Boston.

I've had a good run lately with pullskies too and it wouldn't be fair to rob all of my adoring fans the chance to share in my pack ripping glory!

I'll hit the rewind button to the day that the Orioles signed Crush Davis to his long term deal.  I just knew luck would be on my side so I was able to navigate my way in to a random box break for the Orioles on a few different products, the highlight being a couple boxes of Panini National Treasures.

I actually had to purchase them from another guy who already had claimed them and about 20 other teams.  I offered him some cards just for the spot and he told me it was all good and that he'd let me have them.  Real cool move on his part too... Super cool dude.  He goes by Plugs, but that nether here no there...

In that team break I hit... and I hit big!

NT Game Ball Signatures 4/10

That was just the start of a nice little run I had.  When 2016 Series 1 came out I bought a Hobby Fat Pack and pulled an auto... (always nice to grab 1 of the 3 possible hits with out buying the whole damn box)

Henry Who Cares RC Auto from the Boston Bastards

Not too long after that I decided to grab a Retail rack pack on a whim at Target and of course pulled this beauty.  I'll never understand Hobby v. Retail pulls sometimes... It really can go both ways....

2016 Topps Series 1 Back to Back Bryant and Rizzo 12/25

I actually sold that little gem and cashed it on a couple of Star Wars Lego sets that my wife and I enjoy building together as well as this cool little vintage card from Fleer. ( I know... some people might think thats crazy, but i'm luke warm on any team outside of the Orioles and I'd rather sell high then hang on to it and get $50 down the road)

Right after I pulled that dual auto my boy Kirk over at Eutaw Street Card Board hit this bad bitch from the same LCS around the corner from my home. 

He still has it last I checked and is open to offers.  Hit him up on his blog and maybe he'll come out of retirement and write some stuff too!

I finished out my recent run with a few packs of the new Donruss and hit a couple of cards including this sweet prospect relic auto of Blake Snell the last great arm in the Tampa Bay organization.  I think i'll hold on to this one incase he makes a run at ROY later this season.

Also hit that Biggio relic and a Pujols Bat Kings Relic /25 from the previous year of Donruss.  

Believe me when I say that I am very much a part time collector these days, so when buying packs or breaks i'm batting like .600+ on pullskies.  Which only means a drought is coming for me so I think i'm just going to take a looonnggg break from packs.

that being stated...

WHO WANNA TRADE??

I recently shipped some Blue Jays cards to Canada for a few Orioles relics including this 2001 UD Vintage Timeless Teams Boog Powell Bat Card. 

There are 3 other cards in this set for the Orioles including Mark Bellanger and Frank and Brooks Robinson.  Then a quad relic card featuring all 4 players.

Id like to complete this small set and put it in a display all together.  If you have any of the others (or any other dope Orioles hits) let me know and let's work out a trade!

As always... Thanks for reading.

oh...

and one more thing....

GO O's!!!!

WOOGIE DID WHAT!?!

It was the one product that truly caught me eye in 2015.

Just the one.

You see there was a time when I would get so stoked about new products each year.  I would do homework... study the designs... who had autographs, who had relics... how many packs in a box, how man hits per box... what were the case hits...

on and on it would go until I was able to come to some type of decision about how I would spend my money and what would give me the biggest bang for my buck.

But things change.

The years have gone by and I find myself doing less research... less caring in a way.

I had (with the help of this blog and the encouragement from fellow blogger and now mysteriously vanished Kirk @ EutawStreetCardboard) given myself a direction.

No longer was I the guy who collected the bright beautiful treasure of any product or player I liked that caught my eye.

Instead I decided I'd collect a specific set.

It started with 2011 Topps Lineage and gradually was narrowed down to mainly the 1975 mini relic sub set.  Eventually through this blog I took on the 2010 Topps 206 mini book relics as well after a monster trade.

Now I've completed both of those sets. 

I still have one set I'm still working on, but it's 2/3 of the way complete and all I can do is wait for the final 5 cards to pop up somewhere.

So that being said my mojo on the baseball card front has slowed down substantially.  

There just isn't much new out that has me lusting after baseball cards the way I once had.

Except that one product in 2015...

I'm speaking of the Panini re-launch of Diamond Kings.

I couldn't wait to break this stuff open.  It had everything I liked for the most part.  Amazing checklists loaded with All Time Greats, Artistic styling, and reasonable price point.

However, the main attraction?

Mr. George Herman Ruth.

Yes, this product introduced new Babe Ruth relics to the market and the idea of a Babe Ruth pinstripe relic in my collection began to haunt my dreams.

So I bought a box plus a few packs and even purchased the Yankees in an online box break.

I pulled some nice hits including an Anthony Rizzo auto, a Francisco Lindor auto, Ichiro dual relic, and some other nice stuff.

But no Ruths.

However I knew a guy from a Facebook group I belong to that hit one in a team case break.  Let me tell you that guy must have fielded a hundred offers.  It was a Ruth Framed Mini Relic with pinstripe numbered out of 10.  I didn't even bother putting out an offer.  After all this card was selling online between $500-$700.

That will just never be a price range I can approach for a card, even if it's a Babe Ruth!

Well a few weeks ago I see the Ruth on Facebook again and saw the owner fielding offers.  Turns out he was a big Ripken collector.  Now those of you who follow the blog know that the best item in my collection is my 2131 commemorative ticket signed by Cal twice.

Obviously this was a pretty special part of my collection and one that I've owned and enjoyed for roughly the last 6 years.

However, for a chance at a Ruth jersey relic I suddenly seemed less attached to it.

I decided to message the owner of said Ruth and found myself dealing with a Ripken Super Collector who felt the same that I did about my own item.

I've been doing this long enough to tell the difference between a collector and a profiteer.  I wouldn't have wanted to swap my Cal if I knew it was only going to go and hit the open market. I guess I would have rather it been given a good home and enjoyed with out filling some middle mans pockets in between.  My guy was a collector and he knew I was the same.  He told me I was the first person to really want his card for sheer pleasure as opposed to potential profit.  

As nice as my Ripken item is, it's still not on par with a Babe Ruth jersey card.  Or this specific card I should say.  So I offered up this in total trade.

A couple of "Lost Cards" including my Fleer Tradition Update Mantle relic and my Triple Threads Eddie Murry relic /27.  Also a great jumbo bat booklet of Murray and Davis /5 from Museum Collection and a quad relic of Gausman, Machado, Davis, and Jones from the same brand.  Lastly I threw in an Art Donovan auto and some vintage cards I had and a few inserts.

I thought it was a long shot and didn't hold my breathe.

I mean I just never thought I'd actually get the chance to own one of those cards on my budget and with my collection for trade bait.  

Once again the baseball cards smiled on me and said... "For you Woogie, Sure".

I'm expecting this little guy in my mailbox this week!

I'll post another short blog once it has arrived in my mailbox.  

While Diamond Kings boasts other Ruth hits as well each has a short print run.  So to own just one of these bad boys feels like a dream.  There are 98 other total framed relics in the set but if I decide to expand upon the Ruth I may just go for all of the Yankees in this set which include other LEGENDS such as Gehrig, Dimaggio, Huggins, and Dickey to name a few.

For now I'll just enjoy the Ruth.

When it actually arrives...

Thanks for reading!

Till next time...

Shifting Gears

I feel a changing in the winds...

When I think about collecting baseball cards, I sometimes wonder what it is that keeps me in a hobby that at one time was aimed mainly at children.

I mean that's where it all started for me as an 8 year old boy...

But what is it about this hobby that draws me in with the same if not greater enthusiasm as a 30 year old man?

The answer is nostalgia.

I'm nostalgic for my youth I guess.

And as large as baseball cards were to my youth it wasn't the only thing.

Now I've made great strides in completing certain sets and i'm 2/3 of the way through another one, but the passion isn't there right now.

Another one has bloomed.

I'm talking about toys my friends.

I'm thinking about spawning a new collection.

It's been up in my head for a while now and I've dabbled in the past with an action figure or two, but I'm thinking about getting really serious with it.

I want to start collecting toys.

If I had to give my top 5 sets it would have to be

1. 1982 and up G.I. Joe Action Figures

2. 1984 Kenner Super Powers

3. Marvel Secret Wars

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

5. Ghostbusters

Number 1 and 2 are ones I'd consider going after. 

That being said... if anyone has old Joes or Superpowers and would be up for trading for baseball let me know.  I think i'm ready to move some stuff to bring in something fresh.

Let me know!

I'm Baaaaaaaccccckkkkkk

Yes!

It is true...

rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Okay, so maybe that's a little dramatic, but the point is the blog isn't dead.

I just took a break I guess blogging about my hobby and instead focused all my efforts and energies on actually expanding my collection.

And I did in a big way.

I have completed the 2011 Topps Lineage 1975 mini relic set.

Ya'll heard what I said right?

I SAID I COMPLETED THAT 75 RELIC SET SON!!!

check it oooouuuuttttt

This was when I was down to 3 needing Stan the Man, Mick, and Babe to complete it.

Stan came shortly after and I scored Mickey Mantle on a last second snipe on ebay!  After I got Mantle I posted it on Facebook and through comments traded my triple relic Ruth (tears were shed) for the final card in my set that I needed.  Mr. Babe Ruth

That's a total of 99 cards with at least 30 HOFers!

(With more to be inducted in the future!)

To be honest I've been kinda lost lately since I've completed the set.

I completed the 2010 Topps 206 mini book relic set and now the 75 mini relic set.

Both impressive sets to complete in my opinion and makes me a proud collector.

This leaves me one set i'm still chasing and that's the 2013 Topps Update 1971 mini relic set.

I've currently got 10 out of 15 of that set and it's a toughy since all cards are numbered to 25.

I still need Trout, Schmidt, Verlander, Ramirez, and Stargell.  If you have one of those guys please hit me up!

Check out the 10 I have!

Clemente, Musial, Bench, Ripken, Maddux, Jeter, Garciaparra, Upton, Granderson, and Longoria 

I guess I may as well chase the 72's as well from Series 1 & 2

If you've got any of those let me know as well.  That's a 30 card set.

Well fwiends...

It's getting late (10:30... i'm so lame... and tired)

Thanks for reading

Till next time or next year... whichever