Want List

I thought I would make a post with my want lists for various sets. Actually the only set I'm actively collecting is 2009 OPC Baseball, although that will change soon. If you have anything I need, or want anything I have, contact me.

2009 O-Pee-Chee Baseball

1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 63, 65, 66, 67, 68, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 108, 109, 113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 141, 143, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 162, 163, 165, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 205, 206, 208, 211, 214, 217, 218, 219, 220, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 233, 235, 236, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 264, 265, 266, 269, 270, 274, 275, 276, 278, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 286, 288, 289, 290, 295, 296, 297, 298, 300, 301, 306, 307, 309, 311, 312, 313, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 331, 332, 333, 334, 336, 339, 341, 342, 344, 345, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 356, 360, 361, 363, 365, 366, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 374, 375, 376, 379, 381, 383, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 402, 405, 406, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 442, 443, 445, 447, 448, 449, 450, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 468, 469, 471, 472, 473, 476, 480, 481, 482, 485, 486, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 500, 501, 502, 504, 507, 508, 510, 511, 512, 514, 515, 518, 519, 521, 522, 524, 525, 526, 528, 529, 532, 533, 535, 536, 538, 539, 540, 542, 543, 546, 547, 549, 550, 553, 556, 557, 559, 560, 561, 563, 566, 568, 569, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 581, 582, 584, 586, 587, 588, 590, 595, 596, 597, 599.

Highlights & Milestones HM1, HM4-HM15

Walk-Off Winners WK1-WK10

All-Rookie Team AR1, AR3-AR10

Midsummer Memories MM1, MM4-MM15

Face of the Franchise FF1-FF3, FF7-FF30

The Award Show AW1-AW2, AW4-AW20

Black Bordered Parallels 1-11, 13, 15-28, 30-46, 48-55, 58, 61-65, 67-88, 90-93, 95-157, 159-166, 168-177, 179-189, 191, 192, 193, 195-200, 202-205, 207-220, 222-244, 246-262, 264-268, 270-282, 284-292, 294-307, 309-313, 315-321, 323, 325-381, 383-389, 391-401, 403-421, 423-430, 432-437, 439-440, 442-449, 451-503, 505-531, 533-552, 554, 556-560, 562-567, 569-583, 585-600.

FOR TRADE

Doubles 25, 27, 69, 115, 175, 186, 221, 237, 346, 367, 418, 503, 506, 513, 527, 552, 565, 585.

Black Bordered Parallel Doubles 158, 194

Insert Doubles HM2, AR2

UD 20th Anniversary 1002, 1007, 1012, 1017, 1022, 1027, 1142

Mini Black Parallel 517 (NY Mets Team Checklist)

Blank Back Black Parallel Brendan Harris

New York, New York NY14 (Pettitte)

O-Pee-Chee Retro 1979-80

RM-3 (Johan Santana), RM-18 (Carey Price)

OPC #47

#221 Skip Schumaker

#294 Tom Gorzelanny

#158 Steve Pearce Black Parallel

NY-14 Andy Pettitte

#554 Moments Joe Mauer

The New York, New York card of Pettitte is a thick card. I hate thick cards because that means I have to buy the specially sized top loaders for them when I sell them off on Ebay because I don't want them.

Also, did anyone watch the All-Star Game last night? I don't own a television so I listened to the first few innings on the radio. St Louis really likes Roy Halladay. I suppose it's because they're waiting to see if they can get him on a trade.

OPC #46

I'm going to rename this the Baseball Card Blog. Don't tell the guy that used to write the actual Baseball Card Blog.

#42 Willy Aybar. Pictured below. He looks like he's trying to figure out the batting instructions Mr Burns is giving him from the baseline.

#19 Jose Lopez.

#390 CC Sabathia Black Parallel.

#527 Yankees Checklist.

#25 Chien-Ming Wang. Lots of Yankees cards in this pack.

#216 Mark Teahen.

I stole the image of the Aybar card from a site called Zistle. It's a pretty cool checklist site that features pictures of a lot of cards, similar to Beckett, but easier to use. Plus I can only get on Beckett once in awhile for some reason because the site always seems to be down. The only problem with Zistle is that not enough cards are listed, since they don't seem to be part of the database until someone manually adds the card, unlike Beckett. I don't own a scanner, but even if I did I wouldn't contribute images because scanning cards is one of the most tedious things in the world. But Zistle seems pretty cool.

I need a hit

I need a hit. Sometimes a pack will do. Other times I need a box. If the box is old it might not even have a hit. Maybe it will have one hit. That will do at first. But eventually I'll need two or three hits. Then I'll need a hit in every pack. Then I'll need two or three hits in every pack. I need a hit.

I need a hit. You get a hit from your dealer. It's legal, unregulated and marketed to children. It provides a quick fix and buyer's remorse. You'll need another hit tomorrow, another hit when you grow up.

You can get a hit at the corner store. Every town has a dealer. Big towns have two or three. You can even get a hit at the drugstore if you're desperate, if they carry the kind of hits you need. Dealers have the best hits though. Or you can get a hit from off the internet. That's the cheapest place to get a hit.

I need a hit. Some hits are as low as $1. But we all know those really aren't hits at all. Some hits are $400 or $500. Those are the best hits. You get five or six hits. They come in a special tin, designed specifically to hold those hits.

What would everyone do if boxes didn't have hits anymore? Nevermind that the rush of the hit barely lasts ten seconds. Nevermind that you can get a hit cheap if you don't buy it in a box. People would freak out. They need their hits. They don't want them. They need them. As long as a box has a hit, or a pack has a chance for that hit, that's all that matters. Until the next hit. Hits hits hits.

Upper Deck should name their next premium brand Blue Magic.

OPC #45

I swear I'll start posting about hockey cards again soon.

Matt Kemp. Kemp is just kinda chilling out on a folding chair for this photo. Last year he was seventh in the NL in stolen bases. He looks far too chill to have that kind of speed.

Lyle Overbay. Always like getting Blue Jays. Speaking of Jays, I bought a small lot of Joe Carter cards off Ebay last night. I intend on starting a Carter collection. I've been trying to figure out a hockey player to collect. Gretzky was always my favourite, but he's so expensive. I'll probably end up collecting him anyway.

Zach Miner Black Parallel.

David Patton Rookie. I don't really have anything to see about the Miner or Patton cards since I have no idea who these guys are.

Adrian Beltre. Beltre had a kick ass 2004 when he hit 48 home runs for the Dodgers. He hasn't come close to that number before or after.

Adam Everett. Supposedly Everett is a really good shortstop.

Other Blogs I Like

Oftentimes I think about why I even collect sports cards. I probably think about this too much. The reason I think about it too much is that I've never really come up with a good answer. I think it has something to do with childhood nostalgia, but when it's pretty difficult to analyze your own psychology like that and remain objective. It would be more fun if it cost less money. It would be more fun if I could think of something to say about it.

There are other blogs that have lots to say about cards. I frequently try to emulate some of these blogs in apprecation for the way they write. I thought I would share a short list of blogs I enjoy reading. There are many more blogs out there that are good that I've forgotton about or never read, but these are ones I generally check out whenever they post. These people all have more interesting things to say than me, in general (although sometimes I'm so interesting I surprise even myself).

I find that most articles about sports cards fall into a few categories, such as: tips for beginners, how to store your collection, new products reviews, old product reviews, how to make money with rookie cards (as if), product previews, etc.. Is there anything more boring than reading about all the different kinds of plastic protectors for sports cards? I like sports cards and I don't think there is.

Anyway, here's a bunch of blogs that break the mold:

The Sports Card File. This blog pisses me off because the guy that wrote it isn't around anymore. Beyond that, he deleted all of his posts and I can't find it when I search archive.org. This was an awesome blog. The guy that wrote it worked for both Topps and Upper Deck and gave a ton of insider's information. I learned a ton. I was going to interview him for this site, but that fell through when I periodically lost interest. I guess a dead link isn't the best way to start things off, but this was the best blog I've read.

Cardboard Gods. This guy is the only blogger that elevates writing about sports cards (baseball specifically) with his literary style. He's a great writer. Most of his posts are about his life in relation to cards and he doesn't actually seem to know anything about cards in general, but who cares? The guy is a brilliant writer and I write about half as good as he does.

Puck Junk. Sal writes very professionally edited articles on hockey cards. He doesn't seem to ramble off topic, which is actually what I do most of the time. If you actually want to read about hockey cards and not about a guy complaining about hockey cards (and who makes inconsistent attempts at professionalism), this is your blog.

Shoebox Legends. I just started reading this. It's pretty good. The guy has a similar ironic tone as the stuff I write. He seems pretty into it, though.

Cardboard Junkie. Most of the time I have no idea what this guy is talking about because I don't watch any other sports but hockey. But if you're bored, he updates like ten times a day, so there's a pretty good chance he's updated since the last time you sat at your computer.

I guess that's it. You can check the links to the right hand of my blog for all the other blogs that I think are okay. I actually think the Beckett and DA Card World blogs are lame, but they're there if you want to read them.

There's a few other blogs that I don't have the links to that are good. There's one guy doing like the 1988 Topps or Donruss or Fleer or something baseball set where he posts one card at a time and talks a bit about the card and the player. I always thought that was a cool idea for a blog. There's a link to the right of a guy putting together the 58-59 Topps set, but he doesn't update much. I always thought it would be cool to write a blog on one specific set. That way your blog has some sort of purpose, rather than aimless posts that have something to do with hockey in an unspecific sort of way. I dunno what set I would choose. 1991-92 Pro Set has a special place in my childhood heart. Something old, like 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee or any other random '70s O-Pee-Chee set would be cool, too.

All of these blogs are linked to the right, by the way (except for the ones that aren't, haha). I don't feel like editing this post for links when the link is already somewhere on the page.

OPC #44

I'm already on the 44th pack of O-Pee-Chee Baseball. Where the hell did I get the money to buy 44 packs of O-Pee-Chee Baseball? I don't even watch baseball. And this is a hockey blog. But O-Pee-Chee is like hockey: distinctively Canadian, even if most NHL teams are located south of the border and O-Pee-Chee is manufactured by an American company in Las Vegas.

But I like the idea that Americans are buying O-Pee-Chee baseball. It's rare for Canadian culture to be exported south of the border. Even if it's low pop culture, like baseball cards. But I guess when we traded O-Pee-Chee to America we should have asked for something in return. Like getting Wayne Gretzky back.

Luke Scott. Awesome picture of Scott trying to catch a flyball. The back describes Scott as "emerging as an everyday player in his third season with Houston". Being an everyday player is something you emerge to? I would think it's something you emerge from. In 2008 twenty-three balls emerged from Luke Scott's back to become home runs, tied for second in Baltimore. I love Baltimore because they are always worse than Toronto.

Vicente Padilla. From Nicaragua. There's a lovely country. This guy has an awesome Hispanic first name. I almost spelled it Vincent.

Joey Votto All-Rookie Team. I think I have this one already. I've been pulling a lot of insert doubles. Maybe the collation isn't very good with this set. Makes it feel like even more of a throwback brand.

Adam Jones Black Parallel. I think I may actually have this one, too, but it could just be the regular base. "The Orioles feel like they have a future star in Jones," says the card's back. For once I'd like a card to read, "The Orioles feel like they wasted a draft pick with Jones" or something like that, just because that's often the truth, but you never see it on a card because these card writers all try to be chipper in a false sort of way.

Brad Nelson Rookie. Nelson is a pretty fat guy, at 6'2" and 255 pounds. Baseball has a nice history of fat guys, from Babe Ruth to Cecil Fielder, so Nelson is in good company.

Zach Miner. Miner won his 2008 season against Toronto on April 8th. Fuck this guy.

I Collect TV Guide

I was just watching that episode of Seinfeld where everyone finds out that Frank Costanza collects TV Guide and declared how that was ridiculous. But it didn't strike me as being that ridiculous of a pastime. I got to thinking that maybe there could be a whole industry based around collecting TV Guide.

Afterwards, I got to thinking that maybe I could start that industry. I would start it by forming a TV Guide grading and authentication service. I would call it TVGSA. I would give a grade of one through ten (with ten being highest and one being lowest) for each of your TV Guides. TV Guides that grade 10 would be especially rare and would see a severe spike in value. Especially that September 21st, 1975 special fall preview issue because all of those came shipped with damaged covers, so a TVGSA-10 would be especially rare.

And when TV Guide enthusiasts complain that my service really did nothing but artificially inflate the value of TV Guides and that they can't even tell the difference between a TVGSA-9 and a TVGSA-10 anyway, I'll tell them that the super special plastic cases that I place your TV Guide in are worth the cost of the service because the cases do such an awesome job of protecting your TV Guide. You know, because the super special cases are SONICALLY SEALED by a super special sonic sealing TV Guide machine, so no one can ever spill gyro juice on your TV Guide with the picture of Al Roker on the cover.

But I thought that was stupid. So I decided instead to start the TV Guide hobby industry (because, you know, it's a HOBBY, not a pastime, activity, business, children's game, diversion, obsession, or leisure pursuit, even though I would never describe anything of what I do at all in life as a hobby because the word hobby makes me think of building children's model airplanes with crazy glue or making wooden birdfeeders or knitting or doing some other equally dull activity that only people who live a Leave It To Beaver 1950s lifestyle enjoy anyway) by making just these super special plastic cases. I would call the company Ultra TV Guide Pro. I wouldn't just make cases. I would make plastic sleeves, plastic pages, plastic binders and plastic people. I would sell them at Wal-Mart with plastic packaging that screams ACID FREE and STORES YU-GI-OH because I know every TV Guide hobby enthusiast is tremendously concerned about their TV Guides being devoured by the parastic plastic acid that seeps through the plastic pages made by the other TV Guide plastic storage companies. And I'm not even quite sure what Yu-Gi-Oh is, either.

That's pretty stupid, too. So I thought instead I would publish a magazine. Call it TV Guide Collector's Guide. In the Guide for guides I would feature a list of every TV Guide from this year (and in the bi-monthly issues I would list every TV Guide ever made) and the price that they are worth. And for the sake of accuracy I would include both a HI and LO column, just to make sure I cover all my bases. I wouldn't explain to anyone how I got these prices except to say that I received sales information from an unnamed amount of anonymous TV Guide Collectors Stores from throughout whatever region. The people in these stores would sell their TV Guides based on the prices in my magazine, even though that doesn't make a whole lot of sense because they're the ones submitting their sales prices to me in the first place. I would declare myself to be the TV Guide Hobby's Most Trusted Source (TM) as if I'm so insecure about being shady that I have to scream to people, "TRUST ME because I have your best interests at heart". Plus I need to figure out any possible way to get people to pay $8.99 per issue for my magazine even though more accurate information is available online FOR FREE by looking up the sale prices of TV Guides on Ebay.

Nah, that's dumb. Instead I'm going to open up a TV Guide Collector's Store because I don't think there are any. I'll sell new and vintage TV Guides and TV Guide storage supplies. I'll sell all of these at a 30% markup over the price you'd pay online for no other apparent reason than the self-importance of running a TV Guide Collector's Store. Everytime I see a kid playing a video game instead of reading a TV Guide, I'll lament that kids just aren't into TV Guide anymore. But when a kid comes into my store asking for that TV Guide 1998 parallel with The Rock on the cover, I'll tell him that issue of TV Guide is junk and isn't worth any money according to the TV Guide Collector's Guide. The kid will look at me as if I'm mentally handicapped, which I probably am.

If I'm mentally handicaped, then maybe running a store is too much. Instead I'll setup a table at a TV Guide Collectors Show. I'll tell people I buy and sell even though I really just sell and when I buy I'll lowball an offer, hoping you're as mentally handicapped as me and that you'll accept the offer so I can sell your TV Guide for a big markup ten minutes later to someone even dumber. I'll have multiple copies of the February 23rd, 1988 issue of TV Guide with the cast of Family Ties on the cover where Alex P. Keaton is wearing a shirt that says "Fuck Face" available for $10 a pop, even though the guy just three tables down from me has the exact same issue for $6. If someone points this out, I'll tell them that the guy is a con artist and his issues aren't in as nice condition as mine and that you don't appreciate the TV Guide collectors hobby, anyway.

All of that sounds like too much work. I'll write a blog about collecting TV Guides, even though there is nothing to say about TV Guides anyway. But I like writing and I collect TV Guides and I honestly can't think of anything to do with my TV Guides anyway except write about them because, you know, TV Guides are really boring to read and once you've bought them they don't do anything except sit on your computer desk and collect dust. I'll spend lots of money on TV Guides and TV Guide collecting supplies and TV Guide magazines and TV Guide grading and I'll go to TV Guide stores and TV Guide shows, even though I don't really have any money to spend on TV Guide. But I like it because my name is George and my Dad collected TV Guides when I was a kid and it has wormed its way into my subconscious and I can't get rid of it. Maybe I'll convince people that TV Guide is a form of literature and should be taught in the pop culture section of the English department of small liberal arts colleges in New England.

I like TV Guide. It reminds me of TV. I just wish they weren't so damn expensive to collect and that all of the magazines, professional graders, authenticators, dealers, suppliers would dry up and go away. Or would at least lower their prices. But I guess low prices and con artistry don't go hand in hand. Us TV Guide collectors should be able to enjoy our Leave it to Beaver 1950s hobby without someone trying to steal our money because it still beats building children's model airplanes out of crazy glue. Unless you get to sniff the glue.

OPC Pack #43

I went and visited the other card store in Halifax today, Strictly Singles. Despite the name, the guy doesn't just strictly sell singles cards and has lots of packs. The other card store close to me is in Dartmouth, which is D&M, I believe. The guys that run each store are both nice. Strictly Singles feels like an old used bookstore. There are binders all over the store with tons of cards in them. It's really disorganized, but I like it because it makes it easier to go in there and pick out singles that I want if I'm building an old set.

Anyway, I bought some supplies and a couple of extra packs of OPC Baseball. I was actually looking for OPC Update hockey, but he was sold out.

So, including the box I opened, I'm up to the forty-third pack of OPC Baseball. And here it is.

#64 Chone Figgins. Awesome horizontal shot from behind of Figgins swinging at home plate. But what kind of name is Chone Figgins?

#221 Skip Schumaker. Speaking of strange names, it's this guy actually named Skip?

Brendan Harris Blank Back Black Parallel. Wow, cool. I flipped this card around to see what the number was and guess what. There was no number. One of those sold on Ebay for $1, so it's not a huge hit, but it was still a nice surprise.

UD 20th Anniversary #1142, Devil Rays debut at Tropicana Field. I hate these cards. I don't want them. Nobody wants them. Maybe UD will do another self-centered insert set for Richard McWilliams' birthday.

#552 Derek Jeter Moments. It's a double. Jeter feels young at heart because he wins the All-Star Game. What a stupid caption.

#127 Rocco Baldelli. Another pretty funny name.

Incredibly Rare Hockey Card

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