Featured autograph - Mark McGwire

Autograph request through the mail received: Austin Meadows

I was able to get the cards sent signed in about 10 days c/o home address - he is senior in high school who maybe a first round draft pick according to this ESPN story from 2012.

Featured autograph - Aaron Hicks

A highly regarded high school prospect, Hicks has made the slow and steady journey through the Minnesota Twins' farm system - despite showing some skills in his five seasons in the minors, Hicks has never been that uber prospect the Twins have been anticipating.

Still, he put together a pretty good season last year and after slugging the cover off the ball this spring - Hicks will be the Twins' Opening Day centerfielder and will look to try and stick around the major leagues this upcoming season.

Featured autographs - Vernon Wells

Even though I have my doubts as to whether he is going to get his career going again - I was anticipating finally being able to work on trying to get my stash of Wells cards [including this oddball] signed when the Angels sort of come back home towards the end of the week.

If Wells' pending trade to the New York Yankees goes through [as expected], I'll end up having to wait until the middle of June to see him and it's no guarantee I'll end up running into him as a visiting player - not happy that he stunk and/or was hurt as a Halo and regardless of his failures, guy will still be paid about $40 million for the next couple of years.

Still, I'm wishing him the best and maybe irrationally, hope he enjoys a career resurgence in pinstripes - he's generally been a 'good pro' and it would be kind of sad if the last couple of years were the best we are going to see from Wells from here on out.

Featured autograph - Charlie Dees

I picked this certified autograph card for my all-time Angels autograph collection since I never bothered tried sending a TTM request to Dees - using a original 1964 Topps unsigned card I picked up in a trade with a cardboard blogging icon.

Featured autograph - Mike Cisco

I got Cisco's autograph once or twice when he played in the 2009 Arizona Fall League - when I sort through my unsigned Philadelphia Phillies cards to prep for possible in-person autograph opportunites, I kind of wonder what happened to Cisco when I get him confused with Michael Schwimer and Michael Stutes.

While Schwimer and Stutes reached the major leagues with the Phillies, it looks like the Angels got the 26-year old Cisco for free - Cisco looks like he has found some success in the minors as a reliever, though one thing I've learned from listening to a prospect podcast or two is minor league relievers tend to wash out if they don't have anything close to resembling closer type stuff.

If Cisco gets to the major leagues at some point with the Angels - maybe I can add this signed card to my all-time Halo autograph collection.

Maybe Cisco turns into something useful - hopefully known more than just a guy the Angels got for nothing.

Featured autograph - Christian Yelich

Despite enjoying a big spring in 2013 for the Miami Marlins, Yelich probably doesn't make the big league team at this point in his professional career - but looking like a carbon copy of a young, gangly Shawn Green, the 21-year old is poised to impress in the minors this upcoming season.

Tsk, tsk packsearcher

I went on a retail run hoping to check out some trading cards at Target, but I see the pack molester is standing in the middle of the trading card section, rifling through the packs - I shop around the store and maybe 20 minutes later, I come back and see the guy bending a 2013 Topps Heritage jumbo pack backwards.

At this stage of my collecting life, I don't particularly care since I aim not to buy loose packs - I just find amusing and annoying at the same time, a guy would get his jollies stroking packs for cheap hits.

2013 Topps Heritage blaster recap #3

After having tried two Walmart blasters, I decided to impulsively get a Target one - just to see what a red bordered parallel would look like [as if there is a difference when these Heritage parallels are basically the same cards].

Pack one
#7 Buster Posey / Andrew McCutchen / Ryan Braun / Yadier Molina - 2012 Topps NL Batting Leaders
#190 Derek Jeter
#157 Charlie Manuel
#200 Clayton Kershaw
#76 Ron Washington
#181 Jose Valverde

#499 Jesus Montero - SP
#221 J.J. Hardy
#264 Vernon Wells

Pack two
#284 Yasmani Grandal
#215 Francisco Liriano
#289 Lonnie Chisenhall
#270 Trevor Plouffe
#278 Shaun Marcum
#271 Matt Dominguez
#350 Matt Cain - Target red border variation
#59 Adam Wainwright
#369 Greg Holland

Pack three
#61 Kirk Nieuwenhuis
#357 Ryan Hanigan
#225 Jason Kubel
#236 Jim Johnson
#67 Davey Johnson
#240 Allen Craig

#HC14 Martin Prado - Chrome parallel serial #'d 970/999
#208 Juan Pierre
#140 Carlos Pena

Pack four
#112 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
#224 Jamey Carroll
#375 Austin Kearns
#342 Homer Bailey
#377 John Axford
#113 Johan Santana
#NF-MLK Martin Luther King Jr. - News Flashback insert
#353 Chris Heisey
#394 Brandon Inge

Pack five
#301 Ernesto Frieri
#217 Alex Gordon
#122 Hisashi Iwakuma
#302 Neil Walker
#48 Peter Bourjos
#304 Paul Goldschmidt

#491 Wei-Yin Chen - SP
#219 Stephen Strasburg / Gio Gonzalez - Young Aces subset
#417 Juan Francisco

Pack six
#143 Clint Hurdle
#189 Freddie Freeman
#283 Wily Peralta
#338 Tommy Hunter
#125 Yu Darvish
#17 Nick Markakis
#NAP-SC Starlin Castro - New Age Performers insert
#196 Chris Carter
#82 Pablo Sandoval

Pack seven
#286 Tom Wilhelmsen
#259 Miguel Montero
#390 Brandon Belt
#328 Patrick Corbin
#104 Jonathan Papelbon
#385 Glen Perkins

#490 Buster Posey - SP
#410 John Lackey
#114 Cody Ross

Pack eight
#54 Ron Gardenhire
#178 Everth Cabrera
#43 Brandon Morrow
#248 Jim Leyland
#169 Elvis Andrus
#50 Curtis Granderson

#BF-FR Frank Robinson - Baseball Flashback insert
#241 Geovany Soto
#354 Sean Marshall

Building card 'depth' through the quarter box

2013 Topps Brandon Inge #76
2013 Topps Adam Eaton #79
2013 Topps Tony Cingrani #142
2013 Topps Carter Capps #157 x2
2013 Topps A.J. Ramos #175
2013 Topps Tyler Cloyd #197
2013 Topps Melky Mesa #231
2013 Topps Lucas Luetge #244
2013 Topps Adam Greenberg #253
2013 Topps Trevor Rosenthal #261 x2
2013 Topps David Lough #268
2013 Topps Craig Breslow #32 - gold parallel serial #'d 1291/2013
2013 Topps Matt Carpenter #193 - gold parallel serial #'d 0637/2013
2013 Topps Ryan Theriot #205 - gold parallel serial #'d 0210/2013
2013 Topps Addison Reed #285 - gold parallel serial #'d 1936/2013
2013 Topps Allen Craig #321 - gold parallel serial #'d 0307/2013
2013 Topps Cameron Maybin #324 - gold parallel serial #'d 1188/2013
2013 Topps Joey Votto #TM-16 - Topps 1972 mini parallel

2013 Topps Heritage hobby pack recaps

I grabbed three random packs [$3 each] from the open box displayed on the counter of the card shop I go to - even though I'd already went on a retail run for 2013 Heritage, I wanted to try some Heritage 'H.'

Pack one
#56 Ross Detwiler
#210 Jacoby Ellsbury
#421 Wellington Castillo
#373 Ted Lilly

#HC 3 Evan Longoria - Chrome refractor serial #'d 547/564

#CCR-PK Paul Konerko - Clubhouse Collection relic
#36 Ben Zobrist
#325 Rafael Betancourt

Pack two
#393 Pat Neshek
#193 Garrett Jones
#268 Justin Ruggiano
#10 Miguel Cabrera / Curtis Granderson / Josh Hamilton - 2012 American League Home Run Leaders
#116 Chris Herrmann / Nick Maronde - 2013 Rookie Stars
#320 Coco Crisp

#124 Ryan Cook - Venezuelan parallel
#323 Danny Espinosa
#212 Edinson Volquez

Pack three
#314 Shane Victorino

#22 Andrelton Simmons
#239 Joel Hanrahan
#254 Nathan Eovaldi
#80 Jay Bruce
#232 Bob Melvin

#496 Clay Buchholz - SP
#11 Chase Headley / Ryan Braun / Alfonso Soriano - 2012 National League RBI Leaders
#146 Thomas Neal / Jay Chapman - 2013 Rookie Stars

2013 Topps Heritage blaster recap #2

Pack one
#166 Dustin Ackley
#102 Kirk Gibson
#328 Patrick Corbin
#104 Jonathan Papelbon
#385 Glen Perkins
#222 J.P. Arencibia

#475 Edwin Encarnacion - SP
#54 Ron Gardenhire
#308 J.J. Putz

Pack two
#5 R.A. Dickey / Clayton Kershaw / Cole Hamels - 2012 National League Strikeout Leaders
#180 Carl Crawford
#169 Elvis Andrus
#50 Curtis Granderson
#386 Jared Burton
#182 Felix Doubront
#NF-J Jeopardy - News Flashback insert
#387 Bobby Parnell
#120 Josh Beckett

Pack three
#275 Kevin Youkilis
#72 Chase Utley
#118 Robin Ventura
#6 Justin Verlander / Max Scherzer / Felix Hernandez - 2012 American League Strikeout Leaders
#363 Neftali Feliz
#381 Fernando Martinez
#TN-FH Whitey Ford / Felix Hernandez - Then and Now insert
#309 Michael Cuddyer
#227 Jason Motte

Pack four
#384 Ryan Doumit
#167 Christian Garcia / Eury Perez - 2013 Rookie Stars
#313 Stephen Drew
#192 Brandon McCarthy
#324 Terry Collins
#388 Ali Solis / Casey Kelly - 2013 Rookie Stars
#NAP-BB Billy Butler - New Age Performers insert
#31 Asdrubal Cabrera
#333 Mike Minor

Pack five
#238 Joe Nathan
#359 Wilton Lopez
#401 Alex Presley
#28 Anthony Gose
#117 Colby Rasmus
#424 Logan Forsythe

#464 R.A. Dickey - SP
#124 Ryan Cook
#20 James McDonald

Pack six
#423 Matt Cain / Buster Posey - Tops in NL
#223 James Loney
#170 Jon Lester
#51 Kenley Jansen
#134 Daniel Descalso
#366 Jason Castro
#BF-CY Carl Yastrzemski - Baseball Flashback insert
#389 Frank Francisco
#175 Alfonso Soriano

Pack seven
#106 Mike Leake
#79 Chris Johnson
#14 Josh Wall / Paco Rodriguez - 2013 Rookie Stars
#420 Bronson Arroyo
#235 Jhonny Peralta
#109 Zack Cozart

#454 Gio Gonzalez - SP
#80 Jay Bruce
#130 Philip Humber

Pack eight
#364 Russell Martin
#276 Nick Swisher
#344 Andrew Bailey
#267 Marco Estrada
#315 Rajai Davis
#171 Derek Holland

#250 Prince Fielder - Walmart blue border variation
#232 Bob Melvin
#10 Miguel Cabrera / Curtis Granderson / Josh Hamilton - 2012 American League Home Run Leaders

2013 Topps Heritage blaster recap

I picked up a couple of blaster boxes [$19.98 each] and a jumbo rack [$5.97, already recapped] from a Walmart - I don't like the idea of the one-per-box blue border variation card because it's not unique; just another parallel created that doesn't add any value to these boxes...unless of course we fast forward to the future and realize only then that these cards were harder to find than others and some crazy collectors are willing to pay premium prices for singles from this parallel insert set...I don't think that is going to happen...

Pack one
#52 Jayson Werth
#153 David Murphy
#300 Jason Heyward
#392 Mike Baxter
#298 Buck Showalter
#71 Carlos Gomez

#428 Ryan Howard - SP
#216 Jason Kipnis
#202 Luke Hochevar

Pack two
#191 Anthony Rizzo
#119 Dan Uggla
#418 Bryan Morris / Justin Wilson - 2013 Rookie Stars
#127 Edwin Jackson
#244 Jon Jay
#100 Robinson Cano
#BF-BG Bob Gibson - Baseball Flashback insert
#95 B.J. Upton
#258 Michael Young

Pack three
#253 Sergio Romo
#348 Miguel Gonzalez
#63 Jason Grilli
#163 Gaby Sanchez
#201 Manny Machado / Dylan Bundy - 2013 Rookie Stars
#330 Johnny Cueto

#451 Jake Peavy - SP
#183 Fernando Rodney
#73 Steve Lombardozzi

Pack four
#280 Ryan Vogelsong
#399 Dale Sveum
#281 Adam Warren / Melky Mesa - 2013 Rookie Stars
#15 Drew Storen
#3 Gio Gonzalez / R.A. Dickey / Johnny Cueto / Lance Lynn - 2012 National League Pitching Leaders
#273 Matt Moore
#NAP-CG Curtis Granderson - New Age Performer insert
#226 Steven Lerud / Luis Antonio Jimenez - 2013 Rookie Stars
#7 Buster Posey / Andrew McCutchen / Ryan Braun / Yadier Molina - 2012 National League Batting Leaders

Pack five
#139 Sergio Romo / Buster Posey - Break Out of the Broom / 2012 World Series Game #4
#310 Mark Ellis
#251 Juan Nicasio
#42 Tommy Milone
#343 Daniel Nava
#214 Jean Segura
#TN-MD Eddie Mathews / Adam Dunn - Then and Now insert
#284 Yasmani Grandal
#142 Daniel Murphy

Pack six
#307 Dan Straily
#99 Tim Lincecum
#119 Corey Hart
#334 Kurt Suzuki
#93 Christian Friedrich
#206 Huston Street

#MM-DJ Derek Jeter - Memorable Moments insert
#61 Kirk Nieuwenhuis
#357 Ryan Hanigan

Pack seven
#349 Ian Stewart
#230 Mark Reynolds
#179 Justin Maxwell
#326 Geraldo Parra
#272 Matt Joyce
#160 David Freese
#458 David Price
#225 Jason Kubel
#49 Brett Jackson

Pack eight
#131 Dan Haren
#260 Drew Stubbs
#90 Joe Mauer
#87 Bruce Bochy
#176 Ervin Santana
#254 Nathan Eovaldi
#447 Felix Hernandez - Walmart blue border variation
#112 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
#224 Jamey Carroll

2013 Topps Heritage retail jumbo pack recap

Maybe the card stock is a little thinner and the cards don't have the same texture and feel as Heritage cards from other years - the cards seem a little cleaner in-hand and the images are a little sharper than in previous years [where Topps would doctor the images for a 'faux' retro look].

Top section

#267 Marco Estrada
#159 Desmond Jennings
#233 Jeremy Hellickson
#389 Frank Francisco
#175 Alfonso Soriano
#80 Jay Bruce

#BF-SS Shea Stadium - Baseball Flashbacks insert
#106 Mike Leake
#364 Russell Martin

#26 Angel Pagan - not quite a star but after bouncing around early in his MLB career, he helped the San Francisco Giants win the 2012 World Series and has established himself as a borderline All-Star talent.

Bottom Section

#14 Josh Wall / Paco Rodriguez - 2013 Rookie Stars
#420 Bronson Arroyo
#344 Andrew Bailey
#133 Chris Perez
#53 Tyler Pastornicky
#333 Mike Minor
#124 Ryan Cook
#401 Alex Presley

#423 Matt Cain / Buster Posey - Tops in NL subset
#223 James Loney

Card packaging clutter

I wonder what is the best, most creative way to deal with card packaging once something has been busted and cards have been sorted appropriately - when I collected 15-20 years ago, I saved a ton of packs just to have them around as a keepsake of certain packs I ended up having a chance to bust.

While most trading card packaging will not have the nostalgia / value factor of boxes from cards printed in the 1970's or before - I'm sort of loathe just to throw empty boxes from recent years because part of the reason I gravitate towards baseball cards at my Target or Walmart is because of the packaging.

It's a small consideration besides wanting the cards themselves, but would I want to pick something up that looks like something generic [?] - but after I go through whatever my card pulls will be, where does that empty blaster or hanger box go, particularly if they are intact and feature some nice graphics and maybe a star player? I find I have no use for the packaging but need some way to hang on to them for whatever reason.

Fairfield blister recap from Target

I was bored and thought what I needed was another shot of 100 assorted cards to flip through for $3.99 - even though I've opened enough of these big box store repacks to realize most of the cards will probably be redundant junk wax garbage and maybe a waste of time.

Blister window #1

2005 Donruss Studio Stars Vladimir Guerrero #S-4

1987 Topps Toby Harrah #152

1987 Topps Chuck Tanner #593

1987 Topps Steve Lyons #511

1987 Topps Bill Swift #67

1989 Topps Darryl Boston #633

1989 Topps Mark Thurmond #152

1989 Topps Rafael Santana #792

1989 Topps Julio Franco #398

1989 Topps Mark Davidson #451

1989 Topps Brian Horton #368

1987 Fleer Update Lance Parrish #U-96

1987 Fleer Update Tom Nieto #U-88

1988 Fleer Star Stickers Pete Incaviglia #65

1987 Fleer Update Randy Ready #U-100

1988 Fleer Star Stickers Von Hayes #108

1986 Topps Dave Smith #408

1987 Fleer Update Joe Niekro #U-87

1988 Fleer Star Stickers Tony Gwynn #123

1986 Topps Pete Rose #3

1987 Fleer Update Jim Sundberg #U-114

1987 Topps Max Venable #226

1986 Donruss Highlights Joe Cowley #44

1987 Topps Henry Cotto #174

1987 Topps Dave Parker #691

1989 Score Rookie and Traded Gary Wayne #91T

1990 Starline Long John Silver Darryl Strawberry #37 of 40

1983 Fleer Bob Welch #225

1991 Score Bob Welch #568

1989 Fleer Pete O' Brien #529 x2

1991 Fleer Ultra Pete O' Brien #342

1990 Starline Long John Silver Bobby Bonilla #5 of 40

1989 Topps Roger McDowell #735

1985 Topps Bob Welch #291

1990 Starline Long John Silver Glenn Davis #15 of 40

1990 Starline Long John Silver Bobby Bonilla #31 of 40

1988 Donruss Alex Trevino #376

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best Dwight Gooden #96

1990 Starline Long John Silver Bobby Bonilla #5 of 40

1990 Starline Long John Silver Glenn Davis #30 of 40

1988 Topps Glossy All-Stars Rickey Henderson #7 of 22 x2

1988 Topps Glossy All-Stars Terry Kennedy #9 of 22

1988 Topps Glossy All-Stars Gary Carter #20 of 22 x2

1990 Fleer Rickey Henderson #11 of 12 - 1989 World Series insert
1990 Fleer Ken Hill #251

1990 Fleer Curt Ford #557

1990 Fleer Johnny Ray #143

1990 Fleer Greg Cadaret #440

2011 Topps Chrome Jason Heyward #16 - orange refractor

Blister window #2

2003 Donruss Team Heroes Vladimir Guerrero #316

1991 Topps Glossy Rookies Kevin Appier #2 of 33

1990 Upper Deck Willie Randolph #704 x2

1991 Upper Deck Julio Franco #227

1991 Upper Deck Joe Carter #226

1991 Upper Deck Julio Franco #227

1991 Upper Deck Alan Mills #222

1990 Upper Deck Glenn Braggs #714

1992 Fleer Darren Lewis #639

1992 Topps Kevin Elster #251

1992 Topps Jeff Innis #139

1992 Topps Dennis Martinez #15

1990 Leaf Storm Davis #362

1992 Upper Deck Bryan Harvey #434

1990 Leaf John Moses #433

1990 Leaf Willie Wilson #336

1992 Upper Deck Kevin Appier #159

1990 Leaf Edgar Martinez #299

1990 Leaf Ted Higuera #506

1989 Score Rick Horton #145

1989 Score Eric Show #254

1989 Score Joaquin Andujar #472

1989 Score Lou Whitaker #230

1989 Score Tom Brookens #269

1993 Topps Tim Fortugno #320

2001 Topps Cal Eldred #475

1993 Topps Kurt Stillwell #84

1993 Topps Mark Wohlers #8

2005 Topps Dmitri Young #185

1992 Donruss Jose Tolentino #589

1991 Topps Carl Everett #113

1991 Upper Deck David Cone #366

1992 Donruss Manny Lee #499

1992 Bowman Greg Vaughn #496

1999 Skybox Premium Jeff Shaw #99

1987 Topps Joe Carter #220

1990 Upper Deck Jody Reed #321

1997 Leaf Ernie Young #67

1991 Topps Erik Hanson #655

1989 Topps Al Newman #503

1989 Topps Frank Viola #406

1989 Topps Calvin Schiraldi #337

1987 Topps Terry Forster #652

1988 Donruss Gene Larkin #564

1988 Donruss Rafael Ramirez #448

1988 Donruss Joel Skinner #474

1988 Donruss Curt Wilkerson #592

1988 Donruss Marty Barrett #276

2007 Upper Deck B.J.Upton #206