Trade with Heartbreaking Cards of a Staggering Genius

Now know as My Year Without Cardboard. Matt is spending the next 12 months in the Ukraine. This must have been one of the last trades he sent before he went on his tour. Follow his Ukrainian adventures on Use my Camera blogspot.
Now back to the cards he sent. What an incredible diverse selection or Red Sox Matt sent.

 

Firstly shown above;

1964 Topps Coin #30 Dick Radatz 

This set contained a 164 metal coins and were inserted into the Topps wax packs.

 

1953 Bowman Colour #35 Maury McDermott

A much loved , cut and lovely card from an early Bowman series.

 

1974 Kellogg's 3D Super Stars #24 Orlando Cepeda

These small 3D cards were only available from Kellogg's. I have done a little research and I cannot determine whether you found them inside the boxes of cereal or by collecting box-topps.

 



1970 Topps Scratch Off #24 Carl Yastrzemski

The Scratch-offs were inserted into 1970 Topps baseball cards, one per wax pack. Unfolded, they formed a game board which is played by scratching off each one of the 44 boxes covered with black ink. There must have been versions of this in all different kinds of sports. I remember playing a football variation at about the same time.

 

1976 Hostess #138 Fergie Jenkins

I love the fact that these were cut from the bottom a box of snacks. How many must have been ravaged by an over zealous 10 year old. This particular card is very nice, so they had the sense to ask an adult to cut it out. This set is also unique as 1976 was 'the bicentennial' year and everything apparently was swathed in Red, White and Blue.

1970 Kellogg's #49 Jim Lonborg

The first of Kellogg's 3D sets to be released with the relatively new 3D technology. This set has a really lovely design and simple with the baseball logo in the top right corner.

 

Thanks Matt, these great baseball cards (and coin) are a welcome addition to the collection.

Trade with Heartbreaking Cards of a Staggering Genius

A surprise package from Matt, containing some absolute gems. Two really nice relic cards, a 2004 Flair Diamond Cuts Pedro Martinez jersey , limited to 250 (this one is #149)and  a2005 Topps Pristine piece of Edgar Renteria lumber, limited to 425 (this one is #200).
The other cards include I have seen before and thought they would make a nice addition to the collection, Topps Lazer. Matt was kind enough to include two of these cards.
Thanks Matt, a great surprise and some really lovely cards.

The Royal Wedding Sticker Album

I thought that with any luck, being in Australia, I may have missed all the pomp and circumstance of not just 'A' Royal wedding, but 'THE' Royal wedding. However the Australian media was more obsessed with the Royal Family than the Brits. The daytime television shows were awash with stories, reports and interviews with anyone; sandwich makers, pizza delivery guys, people who happened to pass either of the lovely couple in the street.

I didn't see this sticker collection before I left, but those lovely people at Panini produced a commemorative souvenir sticker collection to compliment the forthcoming nuptials of Prince William of Wales and the commoner Catherine Middleton. 50 pages of gold embossed photographs of Royals past and present, 248 to be exact. All manner of pictures, unfortunately the one picture that is missing is of the lovely Miss Middleton in a white bikini on a yacht somewhere in the Caribbean. That would have been worth the price of the complete collection alone.

Alas it was not to be, although why that didn't stop me purchasing the album and some sticker packets is anyones guess.

Instead we are graced with pictures of the young couple looking longingly into each others eyes, of happy family groups and extended Royal hangers-on. The wedding has now come and gone, the papers are filled with more worthy items of news and the world continues to slowly turn.

Surely there must be someone out there who would appreciate this fine album and stickers. (six packets). I will even throw in some extra bits of Royal Wedding 'stuff'. Go on make me an offer...

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

Trade with Matt from Heartbreaking cards

Let's get back to trading. A short while ago this package arrived from Matt at Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius. This was in response to a pile of Mariners and Royals I sent his way. Matt and Travis at Punk Rock Paint have inspired me to attempt making my own cards. They are complete crap but the attempt has been made. Makes you realise the effort they put in. The beauty of this trade was the mixture of cards sent, late 1970's, some early 80's and a few lovely shiny cards, which I know we all appreciate.
These are some of the Red Sox cards Matt sent from Lawrence, Kansas;
1975 Topps#645 Danny Carter
1976 Topps #396 Bill Lee
1978 Topps #12 Don Aase
1978 Topps #524 Bernie Carbo
1978 Topps #597 Steve Dillard
1981 Fleer #218 Fred Lynn
1981 Topps #123 Gary Allenson
1981 Topps #184 Jim Dwyer
1981 Topps #349 Glenn Hoffman
1982 Topps #91 Carney Lansford
1982 Topps #619 Bill Campbell
1983 Fleer #391 Doug Bird
1983 Fleer #395 Mark Clear
2002 Upper Deck Holographix #LL10 Manny Ramirez
2004 Topps Finest #14 Bill Mueller
2007 Bowman Best #22 Manny Ramirez
2007 UD Masterpieces #27 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2007 UD Masterpieces #86 Red Sox 2007 World Series Champions
2008 Topps Finest #45 Manny Ramirez
2008 Upper Deck X #X2-MA Manny Ramirez
to name but a few of the 50plus cards he sent.
The Red Sox are always appreciated. Thanks Matt.

Meeting a Chicago White Sox Fan in Kent

It's holiday time again. The weather is nice and it is the perfect time for DIY. The project for this half term break is a deck in the back garden. I have had the space cleared for a while just not the money to do it. My wife and I took some extra classes after school to save the money for 'a project'. Usually my wife decides on the 'project' I undertake, bathroom, children's bedrooms, living room. Not this time, I decided and I went for a Deck!
This is roughly where the deck will be just outside my shed.

So today I went to to lumber yard with the sizes all written down. I sat down and was asked by the sales lady, Ruth, how she could help me? There was the unmissable American Twang. Before I had even ordered a nail, we were discussing baseball. Ruth was from Missouri.

I must stop here and thank all those who have sent baseball cards. My knowledge of where American states are and which team is in each state is pretty good. So I asked to her surprise if she was a Cardinals fan. She answered no, but said she could have also been a Royals fan. Damn I missed that one. In fact before coming to the UK with her English husband they lived in Maryland, so she informed me the Orioles could also be her team. However she didn't support any particular team but her husband was a Yankees fan. When you talk to English people about baseball, if they don't run away, most will say they like the Yankees.

We talked for a while about why she was here, while I ordered the wood I needed. In walks another guy who works in the yard and hears our conversation about baseball and pipes in that he really likes baseball and supports the Chicago White Sox. I shall call him Rupert because that is his name, is in fact not joking or taking the piss. He is in fact very knowledgeable.

I spend the next three quarters of an hour discussing Dice-K's gyroball, the recent doping scandal, Manny's suspension, the misconception of Abner Doubleday's invention of baseball, our favourite players, etc, etc. I left pretty happy, arrived home and realised I hadn't ordered the decking boards so I went back. This time armed with some White Sox and Yankees cards. I ordered the boards and discussed card collecting and the whole baseball card blog phenomenon. I told him to check out Steve's White Sox blog and a number of others, including my own. This may not be an unusual occurrence in the States but here in Kent its a first.

Who knows I may have a convert closer to home.

Trade with Todd

This is my second trade with Todd aka Darkstar from Bondurant, Iowa. Todd is a Soccer and Kansas City Royal fan and we linked up through A Pack a Day. Enclosed in the package, which turned out to be a Roger Clemens fest, was:

1981 Donruss #214 Carl Yastrzemski
1981 Fleer #224 Carlton Fisk
1987 Donruss #2 Roger Clemens Diamond King
1987 Fleer #634 Roger Clemens /Gary Carter
1987 Fleer #640 Roger Clemens/Dwight Gooden
1987 Topps #87 Roger Clemens
1988 Donruss #51 Roger Clemens
1989 Donruss #280 Roger Clemens
1989 Fleer #85 Roger Clemens
1989 Score #350 Roger Clemens
1990 Bowman #268 Roger Clemens
1990 Donruss #184 Roger Clemens
1990 Fleer #271 Roger Clemens
1990 Score #310 Roger Clemens
1991 Donruss #BC3 Roger Clemens
1993 Leaf #279 Roger Clemens
1993 Leaf Gold leaf Stars #20 Roger Clemens
1993 Pinnacle #25 Roger Clemens
1993 Upper Deck #135 Roger Clemens
1993 Upper Deck #D9 Roger Clemens
1993 Upper Deck #R7 Roger Clemens
1994 Fleer #26 Roger Clemens
1994 Score #25 Roger Clemens
1994 Triple Play #201 Roger Clemens
2003 Fleer #48 Manny Ramirez
2005 Donruss Champions #359 Carl Yastrzemski
2005 Throwback Threads #G17 Roger Clemens
2005 Topps #5 Johnny Damon
2007 Allen + Ginter #210 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2007 Artifacts #77 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2007 Topps '52 #50 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2008 Allen + Ginter Greatest Victories #5 Jon Lester
2008 Baseball Heroes #21 David Ortiz dark blue 19/50
2008 Baseball Heroes #28 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2008 Baseball Heroes #198 Papelbon/Ramirez/Varitek/Ortiz
2008 Spectrum #13 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2008 Topps #TCP19 Manny Ramirez
2008 Topps #360 David Ortiz
2008 UD Masterpieces #12 Wade Boggs
2008 UD Masterpieces #13 Curt Schilling
2008 UD Masterpieces #14 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2008 UD Masterpieces #15 David Ortiz
2008 UD Masterpieces #16 Jonathan Papelbon
2008 UD Masterpieces #17 Manny Ramirez
2008 UD Masterpieces #84 Jason Varitek

Thanks to Todd for the great selection of cards. I really like the Masterpieces' cards. There wasn't a great deal of difference between 2007 and 2008, but I like the look and feel of them. A surprise Baseball Heroes David Ortiz jersey swatch numbered to 50. Brilliant Todd

Trade with Darkstar

For my very first post on APAD, I wrote about the 2007/2008 Topps Match Attax Football cards. Darkstar (aka Todd) commented that he would like to get a hold of some 'soccer' cards and we organised a trade. Todd also mentioned he supported the Kansas City Royals. A package of Royals, Match Attax and assorted other football packs were on their way.

Yesterday a package full of Red Sox cards arrived from Iowa, which in itself is pretty cool.

Here is what he enclosed:

1999 SP Authentic #15 Nomar Garciaparra

2004 Donruss Leather and Lumber #28 Pedro Martinez

2005 Zenith #10 Manny Ramirez

2007 Topps '52 #TCRC60 Jacoby Ellsbury RC numbered 1780/1952

2007 Topps Allen+Ginter mini #126 Curt Schilling

2007 UD Elements #6 Manny Ramirez

2007 UD Elements #48 Manny Ramirez

2007 UD Masterpieces #5 Carlton Fisk

2007 UD Masterpieces #14 David Ortiz

2007 UD Masterpieces #16 Roger Clemens

2007 UD Masterpieces #22 Babe Ruth

2007 UD Masterpieces #27 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2007 UD Masterpieces #31 David Ortiz

2007 UD Masterpieces #59 Bobby Doerr

2007 UD Masterpieces #86 2004 World Champions

2008 Goudey #23 Manny Ramirez

2008 Goudey #24 Josh Beckett

2008 Goudey #25 Dustin Pedroia

2008 Goudey #28 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2008 Goudey #29 Jonathan Papelbon

2008 Goudey #30 Kevin Youkilis

2008 Topps #TS4 Josh Beckett

2008 Topps Allen+Ginter Mini #13 Mike Lowell

2008 Topps Allen+Ginter Black border Mini #10 Manny Ramirez

2008 Topps Co-Signers #54 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2008 Topps Co-Signers #100 Clay Buchholz

2008 Topps Finest #45 Manny Ramirez

2008 Topps Heritage #TN9 David Ortiz

2008 Topps Heritage #88 Clay Buchholz

2008 Topps Heritage #358 Hideki Okajima

2008 Spectrum #12 David Ortiz

2008 Spectrum #13 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2008 Spectrum #14 Manny Ramirez

2008 SP Legendary Cuts #26 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2008 SP Legendary Cuts #27 Curt Schilling

2008 SP Legendary Cuts #64 Josh Beckett

2008 SP Legendary Cuts #99 Jason Varitek

2008 Upper Deck Series 2 #744 Josh Beckett

Thanks again Todd -Superb cards.