Purchase fails made correct by a seller

When I pick up some cheap-o cards from an online card outlet, I usually let the incoming PWE sit loose after I open it up and briefly scan through the contents - I think it's pretty neat that I can pick up certain cards impulsively, though maybe it gets tricky getting exactly the odd cards I want, in a presentable condition.

On a whim, I took a closer look at the cards shipped to me from an order and go figure two of the cards I threw in to maximize the shipping rate were damaged - the 1991 Classic card of Will Clark I picked up for about a quarter has some residue and staining along the right side while the 1991 Classic card of Tim Salmon for a quarter was creased.

The seller even put a 1991 Classic Wes Chamberlain card as a dummy protector card on top - but both cards may have been in garbage condition even before they were shipped out.

The 2010 Topps Update Tales of the Game Joel Youngblood and 2017 Topps Update Johnny Damon that might have been the centerpiece purchases [yeah at another quarter or so each] were jammed in another semi-rigid holder [which is often the case more than not] - maybe they were subject to some of the conditions as well, but being ‘newer’ cards, they otherwise still look okay.

Assuming there were no problems with the cards in the first place, I already left feedback - I figured I basically ended up paying more for the two cards I really wanted, but ended up contacting the seller, where credit for the two damaged cards was added to my account.

Now I wonder if I'm going to use the credit to try and pick up similar copies of the Clark and Salmon cards - or will my $0.50 credit go into something else entirely.

2015 Topps Opening Day blaster recap

Even though there are a handful of fun inserts I should be eating up - for me, Opening Day is kind of just exist as sort of filler.

Many of the cards came fresh out of the packs with the corners smashed - I guess I get what I pay for, but it's a waste of a cheap and fun break if I have to send more than half of the cards back to Topps.

While I'm not a stickler for condition, particular with base cards - I want 'clean' cards as opposed to ones with visible imperfections.

Pack one
#137 Dellin Betances
#154 Tanner Roark
#181 Jose Fernandez
#M-02 Atlanta Braves Mascot - Mascot insert
#90 Daniel Murphy
#38 Johnny Cueto
#40 Clayton Kershaw

Pack two
#94 Sonny Gray
#51 Aramis Ramirez
#197 Brian McCann
#SC-24 Adrian Beltre - Superstar Celebrations insert
#171 Andrelton Simmons
#83 Corey Kluber
#53 Jean Segura

Pack three
#69 James Shields
#87 Josh Hamilton
#162 Chris Davis
#110 Dalton Pompey - Blue parallel
#FF-15 Danny Santana - Franchise Flashback insert
#183 Dustin Pedroia
#113 Matt Barnes

Pack four
#71 J.D. Martinez
#36 Clay Buchholz
#166 Masahiro Tanaka
#STA-TC Nationals Park photo by Tom Cicotello - Stadium Scenes insert
#77 Mike Trout
#109 Brandon Finnegan
#96 Madison Bumgarner

Pack five
#122 Justin Verlander
#67 Josh Harrison
#163 Rafael Montero
#FF-08 Julio Teheran - Franchise Flashback insert
#169 Matt Adams
#104 Anthony Ranaudo
#136 Drew Smiley

Pack six
#9 Yu Darvish
#144 Robinson Cano
#4 Lonnie Chisenhall - Blue parallel
#STA-LD Safeco Field photo by Lica Djelosevic - Stadium Scenes insert
#177 Billy Hamilton
#138 Gregor Blanco
#151 Rusney Castillo

Pack seven
#180 Doug Fister
#146 Ben Zobrist
#105 Jose Abreu
#HTD-13 Elvis Andrus - Hit the Dirt insert
#17 David Ortiz
#98 Adam Wainwright
#128 Chase Headley

Pack eight
#20 Miguel Cabrera
#178 Carlos Santana
#168 Kennys Vargas
#HTD-02 Lorenzo Cain - Hit the Dirt insert
#74 Derek Norris
#182 Adrian Beltre
#130 Matt Holliday

Pack nine
#85 Zack Greinke
#188 Mookie Betts
#31 David Wright
#M-25 Theodore Roosevelt - Mascots insert
#102 Gio Gonzalez
#132 Peter Bourjos
#170 Marcus Stroman

Pack 10
#41 Carlos Gonzalez
#190 Cliff Lee
#126 Oswaldo Arcia
#SC-18 Mike Napoli - Superstar Celebrations insert
#52 Roenis Elias
#107 Erick Aybar
#140 Hanley Ramirez

Pack 11
#56 Elvis Andrus
#10 Pat Neshek
#175 Manny Machado - Blue parallel
#FF-12 Nick Castellanos - Franchise Flashback insert
#89 Brian Dozier
#120 Jay Bruce
#57 Salvador Perez

Card shop pick ups from the quarter bins

I picked up 10 common cards [of not so common players] for a quarter each plus tax - none of the cards make or break any collection, but nice to pick the particular cards up cheaply.

2009 Topps Heritage Erick Aybar #90 - finished eighth in the AL batting race this past season, should be Chone Figgins' replacement at the top of the Angels' lineup if he continues to refine his plate discipline.
2009 Topps Unique Red Chipper Jones #15 - serial #'d 0207/1199
2009 Topps Unique Zack Greinke #90
2009 Topps Unique Albert Pujols #100
2009 Topps Unique Red Kurt Suzuki #101 - serial #'d 0057/1199
2009 Topps Unique Ichiro #125
2009 Topps Unique Evan Longoria #145
2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic Evan Longoria #3
2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic Adrian Gonzalez #74 - perennially underrated.
2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic Everth Cabrera #146 - emerged as a star rookie shortstop for the San Diego Padres this past season.

Card show purchases #1

Spent $14 on an assorted number of common cards - it seems like I'm scraping at the bottom of the barrel, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet, digging around a dime box [and only spending $1 because 'you only like the cheap stuff'] to find some overlooked, scrap cards.

1994 Pinnacle
#165 Brady Anderson Museum Collection - it is a parallel of sweet common card featuring the athletic Anderson leaping to try and make the grab.

2005 Topps Update and Highlights - I don't care for these guys' cards, but if I see them, I'll approach them to sign.

UH 232 Humberto Sanchez
UH 242 Cody Haerther
UH 268 Ryan Feierabend
UH 285 Vinny Rottino
UH 303 Manny Parra

2007 Topps Allen and Ginter
#220 Ryan Zimmerman - hopefully I need this card.



2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces - I can't get enough of these cards, though I don't know how to start collecting them and/or really find a reason to besides liking the way they look.

#63 Stephen Drew - he has become an all-star performer in 2008, though his on-base percentage needs to go up.
#67 Ryan Zimmerman
#90 Curt Schilling - the card's image tells you everything.

Minor matters and picking up random cards

Sometimes you feel you are in your own world - I went to a sports card shop, looking for some minor league product.

You always have your usual Major League cards, but sometimes you are looking for something a little different - I was looking for the 'mass produced' cards by Tristar.

"It's not really [something that is] in demand," the man I spoke to said. "We only carry mainstream [product] like Topps and Upper Deck."

Well I guess I'd better stick with official MLB licensed and/or MLBPA licensed baseball cards - I usually try to get my rank-and-file cards autographed in-person and through the mail and perhaps if I'm looking to find a minor league card of a particular player [probably a young prospect], he probably has a first-year Bowman/Bowman Chrome card.

With the MLBPA rookie card rules - Topps and Upper Deck are probably printing cards of particular players as they make their MLB debuts.

Why bother with minor league cards?

At the shop, I found 20 random cards [$0.10 each] from the commons boxes - I'm not really enamored by cards right now, so they were not a priority.

I feel like more cards = more work I'm not willing to do when it comes to sorting - I don't care about my collecting topics as much at this point.

I did find several minor league cards- 2008 Just [unlicensed; meaning the cards can't display team logos, even of minor league teams] of Logan Morrison, Chris Davis, Bobby Parnell, Andrew McCutchen and Jordan Bachanov [Angels draft pick in 2007 who had Tommy John surgery].

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes - these cards are styled after the Baseball Heroes inserts of the 1990s. Upper Deck has rolled out the Baseball Heroes graphics more than a few times.

#46 Corey Hart - a rising semistar who I probably had a chance to get, but didn't have any cards for during spring training.



#79 Alex Gordon - he hasn't made the leap from highly touted elite prospect to all-star performer [or better].
#168 Luke Scott

2008 Topps Baseball Series I and II - you need Topps, but there is an expectation these cards are very basic and boring.

#132 Ramon Vazquez - a decent utility guy

#428 Jair Jurrjens - was he really the Atlanta Braves No. 1 pitcher in 2008?
#487 Corey Patterson - breaking his bat

#489 Joakim Soria - I try pick-up cards of such players because you are more inclined to do your homework on new faces.
#607 Ryan Spilborghs - Spilborghs is making a nice attempt to grab the ball.
#618 Pat Neshek - didn't really need this one, but he is a fan favorite.
#644 Reggie Willits - a fan favorite even though he barely played in 2008.

2008 Upper Deck II - I like these cards, but they are very boring. There isn't anything grabbing at you.

#534 Reggie Willits
#645 Yuniesky Betancourt
#647 Ramon Vazquez

2008 Upper Deck A piece of History

#43 Hunter Pence
#68 Phil Hughes

Featured carnage: A snapshot of some the crap I've collected

Do I really need more cards - when I'm stuck trying to figure out what to do with this?

Featured pick-ups
1.) I think the card companies left on the block gouge the consumer - you have these boxes for $75 or more and you know the only thing in them are token hits i.e. maybe common GU cards and common AU cards [featuring no-name rookies]. I'm not going to say what anyone wants to bust, but busting boxes to pull single-swatch jersey cards, maybe a couple of autographs and a patch card of a lousy player isn't my centerpiece 'activity' in my collecting life.

2.) At a card show I was at over the weekend, I dug through some commons bins in order to look for unique cards - it dawned on me that a lot of brands of really nice looking cards were conceived and printed through the late 1990s. I was enamored by the featured premium quality technology [glossy, foil stamping], graphics, full-bleed images that told the story.

3.) You probably would have never seen these cards if you weren't standing there at that moment, flipping through them - you end up realizing however, since these cards are so 'old' [i.e. from years like 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1997 Topps Stadium Club, 1998 Fleer Tradition, 1998 Fleer Ultra, 1998 Upper Deck, 1999 Fleer Tradition, 1999 Fleer Ultra, 2000 Fleer Ultra and 2001 Fleer Ultra] and years have gone by so fast already.

I'm sure someone busted them for something back in the day - but I got the sense these cards are about as worthless to collectors as those printed during what seemed to be the the golden years[1986-1991] of overproduction.


4.) I ended up picking up an initial 75 cards for $3 - was bored and eventually got around to picking up another 75 cards [maybe two extra] for $2 [looks like the guy at the table shaved off a buck from the total].


5.) For some collecting topics, the cards and/or players fitting the criteria don't always appear to be obvious - you have to scrutinize every card, because you don't want to miss one you can add. You have fun, you scan them, you put them in a database and there is your hobby. These days, we all want hits, but sometimes it is nice to be a little low-end, a little retro, get something good and plenty.