2012 Gypsy Queen Box Break... and review

Aww yeah... what's up friends!?!

It's been a little bit since I last touched base with the blog and i've got a back log of things to talk about, but instead of just over whelming my tens of readers, i've decided to space it out and make each one it's own post... so with that being said be on the look out for more updates on Lineage, the Man Cave, and whatever else I feel like talking about.

It feels good to get back behind the keyboard here for something else besides work!  I thought of at least a half dozen ways to start this off...  my first thought was to go all gangster and just come out all like "LOOK WHO'S BACK IN THE MUTHA F**K'N HOUSE!!!", but that ain't me baby. 

Then I thought it would be great if I could some how have music start up when you opened the blog... like Stone Cold Steve Austins shattering glass music when he's about to enter the ring... and in my head the ring side commentators are all like... "Do you hear that??? That's Woogs Blog Music... what's he doing in the building... I thought he was dead!!!", but then I realized I was a bigger WCW fan and thats more of a WWF thing, plus the whole playing music when you opened the blog wouldn't work... and i'm positive not one of my dozen fans would get it.

So here I am with no flashy enterance... just a busted box of Gypsy Queen... but somehow I think you'll be more interested in that then my weird train of thought.

So if you're still reading then here goes...

WOOGIES 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Box Break

I missed the boat on this last year and from what I've heard it's lost a little something with a larger production run and less odd ball cards.  I paid $105 for the box and got lucky with what I consider a bonus hit.  The box garauntees 2 on card Autos and 2 relics.  I also got about 4 loose packs first in order to determine if I'd like to buy a whole box and in the 4 packs I pulled a hit, so I decided to go ahead and get a box as well... so you'll see that I have more hits then promised and this is why.

Out of the unopened box I only got 5 duplicates... which isn't bad when you're getting 10 cards per pack and 24 packs per box.  Good job Topps!  I've recently done some reading up on all the short prints that were announced and I'll have to update you all on that because I didn't look too hard to see if I got any.  Here are the main highlights of my box break (and 4 extra packs I picked up first).

I'll start with the Insert Sets.  They have 3 main sets that include Moon Shots based on Home Run hitters, Sliding Stars based on base stealers, and lastly Glove Stories based on memorable catches.  Here is what I got from those sub sets.

Moon Shots.  Total Cards 10.

I got some great Stars in this set including Babe Ruth and Pujols. From Top to Bottom and left to right. McCovey, Ruth, Howard, Longoria, Fielder, Pujols, Stanton, Kiner, Thomas, and Belle.

Sliding Stars. Total Cards 9

(sorry the pic didn't come out great... some I know and some I can't tell but here's who I got)

Reyes, N.Morgan, Castro, Pedroia, Gordon, Kinsler, Kemp, Braun, and J.Weeks

Glove Stories. 4 Total Cards.

These include E.Chaves, B.Revere, J.Francoeur, and J.Hamilton (my fav in the group)

Lastly as far as sub sets go I got a Gypsy King Card. These are tough pulls and come 1 per every 2 Boxes.  Check out mine...

These cards amuse me to say the least...

Here are the mini cards I hit.  You get a 7 card mini box as the box topper with every box you purchase and one per pack.  Here are the highlights of the minis.

10 total cards with either the Gypsy Queen or Straight Cut backs

Below are the cards I pulled from the box topper mini box.

The black parallels in the bottom come 1 per every 12 packs and the green is 1 per box.  Mine happens to be a Koufax... very nice!  You also get a mini version of a sub set card and I pulled a Griffey Glove Stories that I love as well as a Frank Robinson Moon Shot that I also like a lot.  The card in the top left is a rookie card numbered to 99.

I don't know much about him, but his last name is Parker and he plays for the A's.

Maybe he'll be a stud and this will be the best card of the box.

Speaking of numbered cards I also pulled a pair of Blue Framed cards numbered to 599.

Chipper Jones on the left and Mike Napoli on the right.

and now finally... the hits!

My box yielded a Marlon Byrd auto and a Trevor Cahill auto, a Brian McCann Jersey Relic, and a David Freese mini relic.  In the 4 packs I picked up before the box I pulled the Longoria Jersey card as well.  My bonus hit is the middle card on the bottom row which happens to be a Jeff Niemann mini Printing Plate stamped 1/1!  Of all the relics my favorite has to be the David Freese card... its just plain filthy... litterally! Check it...

The photo doesn't do it justice, but there is dirt all over this swatch!  Just makes you feel that much closer to the game! 

In the end I really enjoyed my box of Gypsy Queen, and while I didn't pull any "Monster" hits I was very happy with my results.  All cards are up for trade if you saw something you have to have.  Hit me up!

Till next time...

Trades, Calling Cards, and more Lineage!

Well I've been averaging 10 posts a month and with today being the last day of April I am getting post 10 in under the wire to keep my average nice and clean looking.  To be honest I'm kinda phoning it in really.  This is a bogus record.  Fact of the matter is that I recently had some trades and I owe it to those guys to give a shout out and flash what I got.  However, if it weren't for that I'd prolly be laying low for a little bit.  Personal matters recently make collecting cards seem kind of foolish at the moment.  I know its not true... but presently non of it seems to matter.  I'll snap out of it soonish I'm sure, but you just may not hear from me for a few is all.

That being said... Let's make this one count!

When I got back from vacation I had wrapped up the final touches on two trades I had in the works.  One helped me with my Lineage collection and another helped someone else with a collection of their own.  Both trades had something strange in common and turned out to be the highlight of each.  It's a two part puzzle... one part from each trade.  So check it out...

First trade came from Fuji over at sanjosefuji.blogspot.com

He recently started following me and being that I have such a low follow number (20 as of today... a new milestone!) I checked him out and saw that he started a neat collection about Japanese players in order to get in touch with his roots.  I really dug that and am big in to history and looking for all those small connections that help make us all become who we are.  The fabric of life so to speak.  Anywho, I had a few cards that I thought he might appreciate more then what I currently did and offered them up in a trade based off of a card I saw on his trade bait page that intrigued me.

I initially offered him my Iwamura auto and a Sasaki jersey card I had, but he already had another version of the Iwamura, but liked the Sasaki.  So instead I threw in the Koji auto I acquired via trade as I already have a different one that I liked better.

In return I got a 2008 Captured on Canvas Ivan Rodriguez Jersey Card.  I Rod was my role model growing up and all I wanted to every be was a catcher just like him.  This was an easy trade for me and am stoked to add another Irod card to the collection while helping another in his collection as well.

Thats not the best part of this trade.  Attached to the back of this card was this little gem.  Those who know Fuji and have traded with him before are most likely aware of this, but for those not in the know get a taste.

Dude has his own baseball card for his blog.  Too sweet man, Too sweet!  All I can say is that it better be a real auto and that this is getting locked in the card catalog... welcome to the collection Fuji.

My second trade came from my newest blogger buddy Nachos Grande @ fanofreds.blogspot.com and was strictly a lineage trade.  He has some Lineage needs of his own but was able to help me out with some of my needs and I hooked him up with some Gypsy Queen and Chicle that he was looking for.  A great trade for both involved and I'll be looking to hit him up again soon.  However, he too had an excellent throw in that too was the highlight for me. 

Thanks for the trade and even more for the sticker!  It'll hang in the cave for many years to come!

This all got me to thinking... am I missing the boat on a calling card here?  Do alot of Blogs do this sort of thing?  As i've said in the past, i'm still really new to all of this and am just now coming to realize that it might be nice to throw in a little note when I send people their cards in trades... I don't do it, but everyone else has, so I look like a dick.  Not anymore peeps.

Should I do a baseball card myself or perhaps my own stickers?  What would they look like?  I did once pose for a baseball card idea I had called "Business baseball cards".  The idea was to make baseball cards of yourself and put your business contact and personal stats on the back as a way to stand out in the pimping game of personal promotion.  Here is that shot...

I'm not trying to rip Fuji off... its a starting point I guess. (PS: Topps, if you find this photo be in violation of some sort of law or statue, let me know and I'll take it down... and burn it or something... just don't sue me)

Maybe when I get back in to the swing of things I'll have something ready to go... 

Before I head out I wanted to give a quick update on the Lineage relics.  I've got 19 now and counting.  I've recently picked some up off ebay in lots of three for cheap.  At this point I'm just bargain hunting what I can and not over paying for anything since I'll always have a chance to trade for it anyway.  I'm not sure which ones everyone knew about so I'll just post a shot of all of them together.  Good looking group!  Just wait till I get all 100!

The Murray and R.Jackson cards are my favorite since they have the nice color variations.  If you have one I already have, but consider it an upgrade because it has a multi color or pin stripe let me know and lets make a deal!

Thats all I got for now.  Be sure to check out my trade bait page as well.  Its been completely updated and is loaded with goodies I have available for the right trades.

See you in a while...

Vacation Schwag!

So, I've been married for over 2 1/2 years and took my first vacation with my wife since our honeymoon.  We went down to Deep Creek, MD and stayed at my Aunt and Uncles cabin and had an excellent time. 

The main goal was to just relax, because frankly I was going to lose my shit at work if I didn't take some real time off.  Don't get me wrong, I've had days off from work, but when you spend your day off cutting grass or doing some other household project you aren't taking time off at all really.  So with that in mind we went to the middle of no where and unplugged the phones and just spent time together doing nothing.

And I mean nothing... I read a whole book.  I don't think I've ever read a whole book in just three days but I did.  It was a good read and if you're looking for something to pick up go check out The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan.  I'm not in to golf at all, but this was an excellent read and was the only thing they had on the shelf that caught my attention.

Anywho, while we were down there we went in to downtown Oakland and went to some antique shops.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but came across some items I couldn't pass up.  I didn't actually buy anything "Antique", but I did get one oldish item and a couple other items that weren't old at all, but looked the part.  Check out my vacation schwag!

Up first is a tin sign of a Topps Advertisement... looks old but is from 2006.  Check it...

next up is a repro of a Lou Gehrig Glove Ad by Ken-Wel... not sure when it was made but I'm guessing mid 90's.

and here is the oldish item I got... a 1969 Anniversary Bottle of Jim Beam commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Baseball... America's Past Time.  Make no mistake about it... Baseball is America's Past Time.  She just needs a revival of sorts is all.  Check it out.

Above is the front of the bottle complete with stopper.  Looks really cool and is something I couldn't pass up on.  Who knows... in 50+ years this could be the most valuable thing in my collection.  Here is a shot of the back of the bottle.

As soon as I got home I took my new treasures down to the Cave and put them up.  As you all may know... I plan to do a post when the Cave is complete, and it's almost there.  Here is a rough shot of the "Accent" wall where I placed the card catalog and hung up the new items I've picked up in the last couple of weeks.

Non of the placement is permanent and I still need to get the Wagner art matted properly.  Let me know what you think...

Till next time...

More Lineage

So I picked up a few packs of Lineage out of a loose box and hit another autograph.  Gotta LOVE getting the milk without buying the whole cow...

of course you get steak with your milk when you buy the whole cow... but I digress.

Check out what I landed...

3 Diamonds, 2 Platinums, and a 1975 mini

Posey Venezuelan, Minor Rookie, and Zimmerman 52 auto!

 Lastly I picked up the sweetest looking 75 Mini Relic I've added to my collection yet. Its of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson and is the only relic i've seen of his that had a multi color swatch.  I mean I've seen the gray, yellow and green and white, but this one had the green, white, and green again.  If I hadn't gotten this one I would've picked up an all yellow swatch.  Check it out...

I've gone ahead and updated my master list to reflect all the new additions.  Thanks for keeping up with me.

See ya'll next time...

Lineage Project Update - Box Topper Lot!

So I recently acquired some more cards in my quest for the complete set of Lineage including a relic card, an auto, and a box topper lot!

I went to my card shop a couple of weeks ago with $10 in my pocket so I decided to grab a few packs of lineage.  The shop I go to had just opened a new box to sell by the pack and I grabbed one of the two autos in the box with my three pack picks.  Its not a monster hit, but it covered the cost of the packs and I had also grabbed a couple other inserts I needed so it was a good deal.  Check it out.

Ivan Delock 52 auto reprint.  Played his career mostly with the Redsox, but ended it with the Orioles playing 7 games in 1963.

Then not too long ago I won an auction on ebay for a lot of 7 Lineage Box Toppers and I had zero of them!  The price was right and I set my max at the listed price.  No one else bid and I won!  Total Book Value (BV) of the lot was $56.  I won the lot for $.99!  Very satisfied with that transaction.

Topps Lineage Box Toppers (Top to bottom, Left to Right)

A.Gonzalez, E.Longoria, T.Lincecum, T.Tulowitzki, C.Santana, V.Guerrero, M.Stanton

and lastly I had the chance to pick up this from my local shop as well

Evan Longoria Box Topper Relic 7/64

Still a long road ahead! Any help you guys can find me would be greatly appreciated!

Till next time...

Honus Wagner Art

Today was another Mail Day, but a different kind because while it's baseball related, it wasn't baseball cards... It was baseball Art!

Sometimes I just go on the electronic bay and surf around for interesting stuff and I found something a while ago that really caught my interest.  I should say I purchased it a while ago... over a month ago to be matter of fact.  However, I just got the item today.  Turns out that the seller was in a hospital and hadn't been able to ship it for a few weeks and when I got it today I actually found a little bonus... check it out.

This is an original print of the famous Honus Wagner T206 card as painted by artist Angelo Marino done in 1979.  For a bio of the artist check out his website: http://marinoart.com/biography.html

First here is a shot of the actual famed baseball card

Here is a shot of the painting I received

Pretty neat looking I think...  It was also signed and numbered out of /900

Angelo Marino

656/900

Oh yeah, that bonus item happened to be an extra copy also signed, but not numbered.  Both are the same in size and measure 30x17 and are printed on 120lbs Paper with a semi matte finish.  Being over 30 years old, both are in great condition.  I plan to hang the numbered one up above the card catalog in the Cave. 

The other is available for a trade if anyone is interested.  Let me know!

Until next time...



Opening Day!

If you live in Baltimore and listen to talk radio you can't escape it.  It's become the norm.  Everyone here thinks the Orioles are going to stink, and you're treated like a leper if you believe any differently.

I know my team isn't a contender this year, but do I need to feel bad for thinking they have a chance at all for a miraculous year?

You listen to the talking heads on the radio and their voices are filled with sarcasm any time they talk about the Orioles in a positive light.

Well for one day the Orioles made believers out of all of us. 

Nick Markakis hit an opposite field home run in the first inning to take the lead and the team never looked back.  Jake Arrieta threw an excellent 7 inning shut out with some real nasty pitches that baffled the Twins.  They didn't score until the top of the 9th and while it would be easy to ridicule the Orioles for trying to squander the game at the last minute, they didn't and we won!

Last night I also had my opening night for the new softball league I've joined.  One of my co-workers who washes cars and picks up my customers plays and is the only person on the team I really know.  Boy did I knock the socks off the rest of the team when they saw me play.

I'm not the most modest guy I know so I'm not going to try and play this off at all...
I hit two homeruns (one a 3 run and the other a 2 run) and went 7 for 8 in the double header altogether.  I played left center field and played all around good ball, making several nice catches, but more importantly keeping everything in front of me and hitting my cut off everytime.

It felt great!  I haven't played on a team in a few years now and it feels great to be able to just step out on the diamond and produce.  We ended up losing both games (the second by only a run) but we had a blast and I feel like its going to be a fun season.

When I got home I saw I got a comment from a buddy of mine who basically got me in to the blogging community altogether.  You can check him out over at Eutawstreetcardboard.  He sent me a list of Lineage cards he would hook me up with and I basically needed everything he had to offer except for about 8 cards.  This is going to be a huge help to the project and he basically wants nothing in return.  Kirk is an amazing guy and I certainly won't forget his generosity.  I WILL be paying it forward to him when I get the chance.  Once I acquire said cards i'll update the Project page and stats. 

For all those who celebrate it... Happy Easter and have a great holiday!

Untill next time....