A big pile of baseball cards

I have mentioned on a number of occasions that I keep my ears open for people travelling to the USA. A polite enquiry as to whether they would mind obtaining some baseball cards is never turned down. When my friend, who happens to be the head of the school I work in, ventured another holiday to Florida I didn't even need to ask. 'Would you like me to get some baseball cards?' she questioned.

Let me think...

Yes please.

Unfortunately mid-way through the two week holiday, an Icelandic volcano erupted. What followed was airport closures and no air traffic in or out of Europe. Major disruption all over, with no foreseeable end. My friend and her family were 'stranded' by the turmoil, somewhere in Florida. The family's two week holiday grew to four. She returned to school today after landing late last night.

I'm pretty sure I know what I would be doing if I found myself on an extended holiday, far from home. My friend, however finding she had more time on her hands than normal, was called daily by the fiendish siren, that is Walmart. Her weakness was to my benefit. On every trip some baseball cards were purchased. My haul, and I do not use that term loosely, was ;

4 Jumbo packs of 2010 'Unauthorised' Upper Deck series 1,

9 Jumbo packs of 2010 Topps Heritage,

1 Topps Match Attax starter set,

9 packs of 2010 Topps Attax.

She is meant to return in June for a short break. Anyone know the chances of Volcanic eruptions around June 20th?

Panini Adrenalyn XL World Cup trading cards

The Football World Cup moves ever closer and its time to look at the second set of cards available. Panini have two sets celebrating the World Cup, the first offering from Panini is Adrenalyn XL World Cup edition. This is in direct competition to Match Attax however Panini have also produced two European football editions called 'Foot 2010-Adrenalyn XL', 'Calciatori -Adrenalyn XL' and there is a basketball version of Adrenalyn XL too. As it is with all the trading card sets produced of late, you can purchase as a starter set ; a book to hold your cards, a playing mat, instructions, 3 packs and a limited edition card. I bought 7 packs (because that was all the money I had in my pocket at the time) plus I was given a free pack as part of a promotion. There are 6 cards per pack and these are a 'special UK Edition'.

There are 350 cards to collect;

250 in the base set.

25 Star Players - 1in 4 packs

25 Goal Stoppers -1 in 4 packs

25 Fan favourites -1in 8 packs

25 Champions - 1 in 25 packs

Although I haven't seen any, there are meant to be special material cards. The odds of finding one of these relics is not stated.

The free pack:

Mario Gomez Germany

Diego Forlan Uruguay

Vincent Enyeama Nigeria Goal Stopper

Bosingwa Portugal

Arjen Robben Netherlands

Gilberto Silva Brazil

Pack 1:

Yaya Toure Ivory Coast Star Player

Didier Zokora Ivory Coast

Julio Cesar Brazil

Christian Poulsen Denmark

Andrea Pirlo Italy

Michael Essien GhanaPack 2:
Harry Kewell Australia
Sergio Romero Argentina
Milos Krasic Serbia
Aleksandar Kolarov Serbia
Arjen Robben Netherlands
Lukas Podolski Germany

Pack 3:

John Obi Mikel Nigeria Fan Favourite

Hugo Lloris France

Jermain Defoe England

Dennis Rommedahl Denmark

Joseph Yobo Nigeria

Carlos Bocanegra USA

Pack 4:

David Beckham England

Fabio Cannavaro Italy

Steve Cherundolo USA

Angel Di Maria Argentina

Diego Lugano Uruguay

Julio Cesar Brazil Goal Stopper

Pack 5:

Tim Howard USA Goal Stopper

Michael Ballack Germany

Daniel Jensen Denmark

Frank Lampard England

Peter Pekarik Slovakia

Lucio Brazil

Pack 6:
Didier Drogba Ivory Coast

Simon Kjaer Denmark

Lucas Neill Australia

Jozy Altidore USA

Salvator Cabanas Paraguay Star Player

Raul Albiol Spain

Pack 7:
Clint Dempsey USA
Florent Malouda France
Javier Zanetti Argentina
Andre Ooijer Netherlands
Nicklas Bendtner Denmark
Milivoje Novakovic Serbia

I like these. A varied selection of international (and premiership) players. Quite a few unknowns and they couldn't have found a worse picture of David Beckham if they tried.

2005 Topps Draft Pick #UH317

So a little birthday money came my way and what better way to spend it than on baseball cards. While packs of baseball cards would have been nice, I have neglected my player collection Pursuit of Jacoby, to conclude some of the various other sets in my repertoire. So I decided to use this unforseen windfall on some earlier Jacoby's that have escaped me. This 2005 Topps Update #UH317 is the first card to arrive.
I am surprised that it arrived from the USA so soon. If you haven't heard an Icelandic Volcano called Eyjafjallajökull, (my son commented 'It looks like someone just typed random letters on the keyboard) erupted bringing all European air travel to a halt. No outbound or inbound air traffic for 6 days now. The Easter school holidays were just finishing, so millions of people (by estimate) trying to get home were left stranded all over the world, and until today I presumed there would be no airmail.

The idea of an unexpected holiday extension sounds brilliant but I think the reality of sleeping on the floor of an airport departure lounge is harrowing. As fresh eruptions continue spewing a towering wall of ash, dust and steam high into the air it is thought that chaos it has caused will continue for many months.

Trade with Roy from Paper Chase

A little while ago I sent out a call for 2009 Goodwin Champions, as this was the set I had chosen to complete in 2009. I am fully aware that a little poetic licence has been taken to call this a baseball set, roughly a quarter of the base set of 150 cards are non-baseball. I think they did a damn fine job and the inserts are unique. A personal favourite is the Entomology series of 30 cards, who would think of putting butterflies and baseball together.
Roy from A Paper Chase answered the call and sent 21 cards from the wants list. As an extra bonus he also included the Big Papi jersey. Thank you Roy for the generous trade.

I need 91 to complete the base set;

1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 40, 41, 42, 44, 46, 47, 52, 53, 54, 56, 59, 60, 61, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 83, 87, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 113, 115, 116, 117, 120, 121, 124, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 143, 145, 147 ,148 ,150

Match Attax World Cup Edition

There are only 60 days until the start of the Football World Cup in South Africa. The World Cup fever that descends across England has already started; predictions of raising the FIFA trophy as winning finalists, concerns that England have some great players just not a great squad, player infidelity/injuries, will the girlfriends/wives be allowed to attend and so on. However all English football fans look towards the first game of Group C on the 12th June, that just happens to be England verses the USA.
At present there are 3 different 'World Cup' card/sticker sets available to collect. Topps foray into the football market continues with Match Attax World Cup Edition.
A unique feature for this set, which is not unusual to US collectors, but almost unheard of this side of the pond, is a supermarket special edition pack. The supermarket that has secured this exclusive is TESCO's, who appear to have their fingers in almost every single pie - mobile phones, Internet, insurance, clothing, food! and now collectable trading cards. No extra publicity however, these packs will be referred to as 'International Legend packs'.
I purchased 5 packs on a recent shopping trip. They weren't hard to miss, a massive display as you entered the store. Each of the International Legend packs has 7 cards, the regular packs contain 6 cards. What did the five 'Legend' packs reveal...

Pack 1:

Sir Geoff Hurst England International Legend

Rafael Van Der Vaart Holland

William Gallas France

Nikola Zigic Serbia

Vincente Del Bosque Spanish Manager

Carlos Pavon Honduras

Aaron Lennon England

Pack 2:

Marco Van Basten Holland Star Legend

Fabio Capello England manager

Theofanis Gekas Greece

Waldo Ponce Chile

Carlton Cole England

Wes Brown England

Wayne Rooney England MOM

Pack 3:

Marcel Desailly France International Legend

Jong Tae-Se Korea DPR

Karim Ziani Algeria

Mark Schwarzer Australia

Arthur Boka Ivory Coast

Marcus Tulio Tanaka Japan

Clint Dempsey USA Star Player

Pack 4:

Zico Brazil International Legend

Micheal Ballack Germany

Eduardo Portugal

Fabio Grosso Italy

Iker Casillas Spain

Bakary Sagna France

Park Si-Jung Korea Republic Star Player

Pack 5:

Franz Beckenbauer Germany International Master

Gilberto Silva Brazil

Jean Makoun II Cameroon

Dunga Brazilian Manager

Wayne Bridge England

MacBeth Sibaya South Africa

Stephen Appiah Ghana Star Player

I must admit to liking these special inserts, some brilliant names from the World of football past. I did purchase 1 additional (non-special insert) pack containing 6 cards.

Park Ji-Sung Korea Rebublic Star Player

Robert Koren Slovenia

Marek Hamsik Slovakia

Ramon Nunez Honduras

Serdar Tasci Germany

Arien Robben Holland

If I do decide to purchase any further packs, they will be the International Legend packs. For some reason, I'm sure it is psychological, the packs appear to be lacking without the legend insert. As always if your interested in any packs or packs just e-mail.

Trade with Ed from Roll out the Barrel

Arriving home from work a few weeks ago the postman had kindly left a package by the front door. He is well aware of the contents of these little packages arriving from the US and doesn't attempt to squeeze them through the letter box. I eagerly opened the said package from Harland Wisconsin while I awaited the arrival of a member of my family who had a key. I surveyed the contents with great satisfaction and had almost worked my way through the backs of the entire collection when up strolled my son, who didn't bat an eye at the fact that I was very early and let me in. That was the last that I saw of the package from Wisconsin until two days ago.
Where had it been? Somehow it had grown legs and walked its way into a pile of papers where it promptly buried itself hoping for peace and quiet. While filing important papers (in the rubbish bin) I stumbled across the missing package. A short heart felt reunion took place, a few tears, some reminiscing and now its time to thank Ed from Roll out the Barrel for the excellent selection of Red Sox, including superb Dice-K cards.
Sorry for the delay in posting (and thanking). Red Sox cards are always a welcome addition to this household.

Trade with Greg from Night Owl

This is what I love about trading cards. The package that Greg sent along included almost all the cards I needed to complete the 1984 Donruss Red Sox set. Cards from this era, in particular Donruss have been elusive. To receive these 12 cards in one throw is brilliant. Not to stop there Greg also included a mixture of cards from 1974 up to 2010.
Thanks Greg. As always its great to trade.

Trade with Big B from Waxaholic

Waxaholic does it again. He has blown me away with these three relic cards that arrived in the post last week. I do not have a quad swatch in my collection so this is a very welcome addition, nor did I have a 'red swatch'. Practice jersey perhaps?
Nice to see the Man Ram alongside his former team-mates, although listed as a Dodger.
Thanks Big B.

Brian also included some lovely Junk Wax, which is always welcome and busted at 'Pursuit of Red Sox,