Trade with Angels in Order

This is long overdue Thank you post to Tom from The Angels, in Order. When trade packages went out last month, he was he first to send cards back my way. A great stack of Red Sox that included the two game used relics shown.

Despite the revelations that 'authentic game used' relics could be anything but, some speculation about table cloths, tea towels and handkerchiefs, in the back of my mind there is hope that The Big Papi did in fact hit a homer with this tiny shard of bat.

Please keep the David Ortiz wood comments to yourself,

On a different note. There was a programme on ITV, a UK television channel, the other night about Liverpool Football Club. A section of the show was about a visit they made to Fenway Park to meet the Boston Red Sox earlier in the season. Apparently they made the trek all the way to the US to find inspiration from the Red Sox. Big Papi, Adrian Gonzalez, Cody Ross, Pedro Ciriaco and Bobby Valentine featured. Bobby Valentine and Brendan Rodgers exchanged shirts. Adrian Gonzalez spoke to a some shocked Liverpool players about the numbers of games baseball players have in a week and how few breaks they have during the season. Believe it or not his conversation was subtitled in the programme.

2012-2013 Match Attax Football

 For those of you who are interested 2012-2013 Match Attax Football go on sale on Thursday 27th September. These cards are from a preview pack available with Match of the Day magazine.

There are over 500 cards to collect including new Stadium cards, Super Skills, Star Signings, plus Legends, 100 club and Man of the Match cards.
There will also be some Limited Edition cards available in magazines and various accessories but are yet to be revealed.

What can you do with Eight Cliff Johnson's?

In a recent ebayUK purchase I was the lucky winner of some 1976 and 1973 Topps cards. The comment did say there was 'some' duplication. The seller was kind enough to include a neat little stack of unexpected 1979 Topps as well.
But seriously what do you do with 8 Cliff Johnson's beside make up your own 12 days of Christmas rhyme?

2012 Panini Triple Play

When this set first appeared on Panini's web-site, I have reluctantly got to say it was love at first sight. Sad but I had to get my hands not just a few packs but a box of the stuff.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been in contact with PaniniUK and Panini Europe about obtaining Triple Play. Their professional suggestion was to get in contact with 'someone' in the US, who might deliver to the UK.
Grudgingly I purchased a box of 24 packs of Panini Triple Play from Dave and Allen's Card World.
Price of Box $24.00
Price of Delivery $24.00. Like hell it costs $24.00 but I'm not going to quibble just yet.
Import and Customs £6.91 ($11.00).

You see Dave and Allen say the value of the item includes the postage cost, so Customs and bloody Excise don't just charge you for the item, they add the postage costs as well. I can feel myself getting a little hot under the collar but it's not entirely Custom and Excise fault,its my own fault, although some of the blame has to rest with dacards because instead of using the USPostal system and Royal Mail, they plump for UPS.
UPS a private company then charges me £11.00 to deliver my goods that have already been paid for once.
UPS Brokerage Surcharge £11.00  ($17.60)

Bringing the grand total of a $24.00 box of cards to $76.60 about $3.00 a pack.

Let me just say I am going to eke these cards for a little while. Please be patient.

1969 Topps Deckle Edge inserts

Placed within the 1969 Topps sets was an insert called Deckle Edge.
The 1969 Deckle Edge inserts include 33 black-and-white cards and features scalloped borders. The cards measure 2 ¼” by 3 ¼”.

The card fronts have a black and white photograph with each player’s facsimile autograph. The reverse includes the card number and player name in a small blue rectangular box.
There were two variation of the same numbered card;
Number 11 which can be either Hoyt Wilhelm or Jim Wynn, and
Number 22 with either Rusty Staub or Joe Foy.
There are 33 cards in the set;

1 - Brooks Robinson
2 - Boog Powell
3 - Ken Harrelson
4 - Carl Yastrzemski
5 - Jim Fregosi
6 - Luis Aparicio
7 - Luis Tiant
8 - Denny McLain
9 - Willie Horton
10 - Bill Freehan
11a - Hoyt Wilhelm
11b - Jim Wynn
12 - Rod Carew
13 - Mel Stottlemyre
14 - Rick Monday
15 - Tommy Davis
16 - Frank Howard
17 - Felipe Alou
18 - Don Kessinger
19 - Ron Santo
20 - Tommy Helms
21 - Pete Rose
22a - Rusty Staub
22b - Joe Foy
23 - Tom Haller
24 - Maury Wills
25 - Jerry Koosman
26 - Richie Allen
27 - Roberto Clemente
28 - Curt Flood
29 - Bob Gibson
30 - Al Ferrara
31 - Willie McCovey
32 - Juan Marichal
33 - Willie Mays

Trying to collect them all.

Featured within the 2012 Topps Archives were throwbacks to the 1969 Deckle Edge inserts
There were 15 cards within the series;

1 Roy Halladay
2 Evan Longoria
3 Jose Bautista
4 Mike Napoli
5 David Freese
6 Ichiro
7 Joe Mauer
8 Bob Gibson
9 Juan Marichal
10 Orlando Cepeda
11 Carl Yastrzemski
12 Roberto Clemente
13 Willie Mays
14 Harmon Killebrew
15 Joe Morgan

Hey why not try and collect all of these too.

Trade with Martyn from Abitrary Crap

There is a small band of UK baseball card collectors out in the blogosphere. Limited by the availability of baseball product and it being readily accessible. It is easier now, through e-bay and COMC, than it has been in the past, however the US Postal Service, Royal Mail and UK customs are trying their hardest to thwart out collecting efforts.
In a effort to get my hands on some recent baseball releases I contacted Panini. Panini America will not deliver to the UK. International postage is limited to Canada only. So I contacted Panini directly. Firstly in Tunbridge Wells England, that's Royal Tunbridge Wells, a very posh place. Spoke to a nice lady and explained that I was hoping to get hold of a recent baseball  release called 'Triple Play'.
She advised that I should contact Panini Europe, in Modena Italy, which I did.
My local newsagents in Westgate-on-Sea is up to its armpits in Panini stickers and has even had Panini basketball cards for goodness sake.
So what did Panini Europe advise, after I had explained my dilemma?
I'm afraid their only advise, if I really wanted to get hold of these cards, is to look online and see if there are any collectors that could sell them to me.
In other words look on e-bay or somewhere like DAcardworld who will charge $24.00 for a $24.00 box of cards. That doesn't include being hit by the friendly people at UK customs and excise.
Which leads nicely to the importance that trading has for UK collectors.
One of the small band of UK collectors is Martyn from Abitrary Crap. He is holding a contest at the moment, so take a look. (I'm sure the stadium picture is in the UK, definitely not Fenway!)

Martyn sent a whole host of cards including the mother lode of Jacoby Ellsbury relic cards, which is great - I very rarely pull him from a pack. The red All-Star game worn is intriguing because it is not the usual white.

A John Lackey game used.

A Big Papi, when he was a littler Papi, game used bat.

And the worlds thickest base cards from the ridiculously expensive 2007  Upper Deck Exquisite. Which, if I remember correctly was selling for about $300 for a 6 card pack. Although each pack contained at least 5 autographs, one of them being a 1of 1 card. The 100 card base set was limited to 99 of each card, imagine trying to collect the base set?

These two cards are part of the parallel set numbered to 75.

Thanks Martyn.

Trade packages ahoy

It is so good to be on holidays for a while. Its the only time I get to really sort out my card collection. There have been stacks of cards, unopened packs and Red Sox screaming out for organisation. In between watching the Olympics, seeing Australia get crushed in the swimming pool and rowing, I have posted a number of packages  to the usual suspects
Kevin -Orioles
Steve -White Sox
Tribescards-Indians
Matt- Royals
Tim- D-backs
Capewood- Astros (some Phillies too)
Tony - Giants
Simon - Bay Rays
Brian - Rangers
Tom -Angels
Ted - Blue Jays
James - Braves
Travis - Padres
Steve -Yankees
Greg - Dodgers
Paul - Cubs
 a couple of Red Sox packages to Martyn, Matt and Anthony

still to go are
Kerry - Cardinals
Michael- Pirates
Big B - football
Dayf - packs

AND (hopefully)
Jason - Reds
Ed - Brewers

The only ones missing are
Athletics
Marlins
Tigers
Rockies
Mariners
Nationals who are all still looking for homes.