The Character Assassination of Francisco Rodriguez

1.) It is disheartening and a sore spot when I hear Angels' fans bash one of the franchise's best closers - I don't claim to know K-Rod and maybe I tend to fall into the side where I plead ignorance to his basic intentions as far as enjoying personal success and helping his team win but the disrespect is galling for a guy who should be beloved as an elite closer.

2.) Despite the fact Angels' owner Arte Moreno seems to reward players with long-term contracts, where he has to overpay if he has to, fans suddenly want to lowball K-Rod - it is a self-fulfilling prophecy for a core of Angels' fans to see K-Rod fail, blow out his arm or just leave. Suddenly it is the Angels' goal to watch out and not cave in. They preach the sentiment that K-Rod is some sort of mercenary and will leave for greener pastures just because he can.

3.) A core of Angels' fans can't seem to tolerate or dismiss K-Rod's 'antics' as typical closer bravado - which closer in Major League Baseball doesn't have an edge to feed off from? A jerk of the neck, a twist, a symbolic gesture to state 'the game is over?' Why are Angels' fans dissatisfied with K-Rod? Maybe it is Tego Calderon's fault. Maybe if K-Rod had an entrance music fans can relate and chant to [like Guns and Rose's "Welcome to the Jungle," Metallica's "Enter Sandman" or "Hells Bells" from AC/DC], he'd be held in higher respect.

4.) Fans want Scot Shields to close in the worst way [to put it politely and in P.C. terms, wanting to see the 'fan favorite' to succeed [for whatever reason besides just pure performance] where they feel the guy they don't want is somehow not doing the job to their satisfaction syndrome] - Shields is the guy whose arm went dead and got a little nutty during a prolonged period of time in 2007. Love the guy's contributions, but he had a 7.36 ERA in the second half last year, including a 9.00 ERA in August. I know for a fact, there is a core of fans, who still want to annoint him the closer, while burying K-Rod's accomplisments. It isn't everyone else in the Angels' bullpen making up for K-Rod's supposed faults, it is the other way around.

5.) Wouldn't it be ironic if he did leave and saved 50 games for some contender like the Detroit Tigers - and help lead them to a World Series championship? Angels' fans just don't know how good they have it.

Featured Pick-Ups
2002 Diamond Collection Jim Edmonds Franchise Connections bat card serial #'d 083/100 and 2003 Topps Finest Moments George Foster autograph - I paid $7 for the bat card with the St. Louis Cardinals' logo engraved on the game used bat swatch. I think I overpaid for the Edmonds' card, but I collect his cards on the side and I thought it was somewhat unique.

I paid other $7 for the Foster certified autograph - maybe several years ago, I wouldn't have cared for the card, but I needed to fill a hole in my award winners collection. I had to pick up the hard signed certified autograph card of the 1977 National League MVP.

2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition set [$9.00 BIN plus $7.95 s/h on Ebay] - hand collated sets maybe a low-risk, low-reward purchase if you want to see what a particular product's base cards look like. Some releases, particularly 'late in the year' feature base sets with a handful of first-year player cards and/or true rookie cards.

Throw away the coach's cards - apparently former Utah basketball head coach Rick Majerus' card comes in handy. Ignore the other sports' cards - keep the Jennie Finch and Amanda Beard cards handy though.

Gawk at the Summer Sanders card - wondering why Donruss didn't use a The Sports List [remember that show] era image [or even an NBA Inside Stuff] of Sanders. Her autograph would be going for more than $10-$15 on EBay, if a more attractive image was used.

Flip through the baseball draft picks cards - see there are a few non first-year minor leaguers included, though you can hardly tell from the other baseball draft picks wearing their amateur threads. Wonder why

Wonder why Donruss had to included two Cobi Jones base cards in the set - only to smirk and realize the other card is of women's soccer player Michelle Akers.

Cheap wax hell

On Ebay, I picked up the following pack lots - I've always been burned picking up a bunch of packs, with the idea I'm going to pull something of note or at least something better the discount price is not telling me.

I do think the mid 1990s were the peak as far as nice, modern baseball cards being printed - you can argue there are better types of cards today as far as being autographed, being a parallel or having game-used swatches, but nothing compares with the 1990s as far as aesthetics and actual graphics are concerned.

Each lot had a different s/h cost and I thought I'd be only paying the highest cost [$6.95], but the combined shipping on the invoice is $13 - I'm sure you can ship everything in one box [actually the seller shipped it in two boxes] and I think if you buy multiple items from one seller, they should be able to only charge you one s/h fee. I e-mailed the seller after the auction had ended the response was it is $6.95 [highest] for the first auction and $3 each for next two.

The total ended up being 45 packs [about 492 cards] for $37 - you got punked already since these are not the latest and greatest, but you like the pain of confusion [lack of clarity] leading to impulsiveness. Where are my priorities? What can I really do empower myself in this endeavor called collecting?

10 other things you can pick up [at the very least] -
A.) 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson PSA graded rookie card
B.) 1982 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. PSA graded rookie card
C.) 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn PSA graded rookie card
D.) 1984 Topps John Elway PSA graded rookie card
E.) 1984 Topps Dan Marino PSA graded rookie card

1995 Pinnacle, 1997 Pinnacle, 1997 New Pinnacle & 1997 Leaf packs [20 packs/8-12 cards in each pack; $7.99 plus $6.95 s/h] - one of the things I'm cautiously aware of is always being burned picking up a bunch of 'close out' packs, with the idea I'm going to pull something of note or at least something better the discount price is not telling me.

When I got these in the mailbox, I just started ripping and ripping - it looks like these packs were recovered firebombed hobby shop. I listed the notable cards I got out of each pack [though the order I might have opened them might not be in order] as far as semistars/all-star types as well as random common cards I collect for whatever reason or the other [that may not be fully explained in this paragraph].

5 packs of 1995 Pinnacle [12 cards per pack] -

Series I Hobby
Pack one - Don Mattingly, Garret Anderson, Chuck Knoblauch [awesome action], Milt Thompson [awesome outfield action], Ricky Bones [pitchers hitting], Bryce Florie [beyond the glory], Rick Wilkins [tools of ignorance].
Pack two - Bernard Gilkey [hats off], Jim Edmonds [awesome outfield action], Greg Colbrunn [awesome action], Gary Sheffield, Paul Konerko, Mo Vaughn [awesome action], Pat Kelly [awesome action]
Pack three - Jim Thome [high toppers], Joe Carter, Ken Caminiti [awesome action], Leo Gomez [Puerto Rico], Fausto Cruz [foreign born - Dominican Republic], Doug Drabek [hats off], Tony Phillips [awesome action], Darren Daulton [hats off]
Pack four - Jay Bell [awesome action], Tom Pagnozzi [tools of ignorance], Danny Bautista [awesome outfield action], Chipper Jones, Brent Gates Upstarts US7 insert [retro uniforms], Kevin Stocker [awesome action], Todd Zeile [awesome action], Ozzie Guillen [high toppers].
Pack five - Joe Carter, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Ken Caminiti [awesome action]

Comments - nothing too exciting in here.

6 packs of 1997 Pinnacle [10 cards per pack]

Hobby
Pack one - Fernando Vina [awesome action], Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Juan Gonzalez [retro uniforms], Andruw Jones, Nomar Garciaparra, Ray Durham [awesome action]
Pack two - Joey Cora [awesome action], Darin Erstad [Museum Collection parallel], Bobby Abreu
Pack three - Chuck Knoblauch [Clout Nine subset]
Pack four - Mike Piazza, John Smoltz, Eddie Murray
Pack five - Fernando Vina [awesome action], Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Juan Gonzalez [retro uniforms],
Pack six - WORST PACK AS FAR AS THE CARDS INSIDE ARE CONCERNED; are any salvagable? Think of gum stains on old Topps cards, only with ink remnants from other cards in the pack.

Comments - cards have not aged well in 10 years of being banged around in unopened pack form. Most have stuck to each other and left imprints from one card to the next. IF I'd left these cards unopened for the next 10 years, they would have probably been virtually unrecognizable.

6 packs of 1997 New Pinnacle [10 cards per pack]

Pack one [red pack, listed as a hobby] - Hideo Nomo, Rico Brogna [awesome action], Mike Piazza [tools of ignorance], Jason Dickson [foreign born], Marc Newfield [Orange County ties], Mark Wohlers [beyond the glory], Bernard Gilkey [awesome outfield action]
Pack two - Vladimir Guerrero, Pedro, Andruw Jones [pack coverboy], Barry Larkin, Darin Erstad, Gary Sheffield, Randy Johnson, Nomar Garciaparra
Pack three - John Smoltz, Joe Carter, Roger Clemens [push ups on reverse], Brant Brown [awesome action], Mike Mussina, Scott Rolen [checklist], David Justice, David Cone, Mark McGwire [infamous, with Jason Giambi]
Pack four - Gary Sheffield [East Meets West subset], Alex Rodriguez [East Meets West subset], Mark McGwire [Aura subset], Jason Dickson [foreign born - Canada], Bernard Gilkey [awesome outfield action], Marc Newfield [Orange County ties

Pack five - Pedro [dinged], Larry Walker [broken bat shot], Jason Giambi, Juan Gonzalez [Aura subset], Robb Nen [Orange County], Mike Piazza [Aura subset], Marty Cordova [Orange County ties]
Pack six - Mark Grace, Paul O'Neill, Moises Alou, Billy Wagner, Jose Canseco [hats off picture on reverse], Eric Davis [broken bat shot], Ken Griffey Jr.

Comments - nice to see some old, but newly discovered collecting topics cards

3 packs of 1997 Leaf [cards per pack]

Pack one - Carlos Delgado, Eddie Murray, Randy Johnson, Tim Salmon
Pack two - Greg Maddux, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Rich Becker [hats off], Vladimir Guerrero
Pack three - Chipper Jones [Legacy subset], Barry Bonds, Lance Johnson [awesome action]

Comments - there are actually 10 cards to a pack

1995 Upper Deck Minor League packs [14 packs/12 cards in each pack; $7.99 plus $5.95 s/h] - the design mimics the 1995 Major League set, but features minor leaguers. Even though it is worthless, I should be able to pull a number nice looking cards, featuring 'Major League stars' pictured as minor leaguers.

Pack one - Michael Jordan
Pack two - Paul Konerko [checklist]
Pack three - Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter [Road to the Show subset]
Pack four - Nothing of note
Pack five - Paul Konerko [Draft Class subset]
Pack six - Brian Giles, Kimera Bartee x2

Pack seven - Craig Griffey, Derek Jeter, Ben Grieve
Pack eight - Johnny Damon [Road to the Show subset], Trot Nixon, Paul Konerko
Pack nine - Chris Carpenter
Pack 10 - Nothing of note

Pack 11 - Edgardo Alfonso, Jermaine Dye
Pack 12 - Dante Powell - went to Cal State Fullerton
Pack 13 - Ruben Rivera
Pack 14 - Derek Jeter

Comments - this was probably the best packs I busted out of the 45 packs I got since they were the cleanest. While hardly valuable, I got some nice looking minor league era cards of Major League veterans and stars.

1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 Upper Deck baseball packs [11 packs/10-12 cards in each pack; $7.99 plus $4.95 s/h] - I'm not exactly focused on the quality of the pulls, just the desire to rip packs. Hopefully the packs I receive will be clean, so the cards I pull won't be damaged.

4 packs of 1995 Upper Deck Baseball [12 cards per pack]

Retail Series II
Pack one - Jimmy Hurst [high toppers], Hideo Nomo [dinged], David Justice, Shawn Green
Pack two - Kirby Puckett, Pat Kelly [awesome action], Royce Clayton [awesome action], Carlos Perez [infamous]
Pack three - nothing of note
Pack four - Cecil Fielder, Carlos Baerga [broken bat shot on the reverse image], Ed Sprague [broken bat shot], Ivan Rodriguez [tools of ignorance], Paul Molitor [signing autographs]

Comments - not a lot of stars at all, even guys who starred in the mid 1990s and would be considered 'has beens' today.

1 pack of 1996 Upper Deck Baseball [10 cards per pack]

Retail
Pack one - Roger Clemens [Best of a Generation subset], Greg Maddux [Strange but True subset], Mark McGwire [x2], Trevor Hoffman, Sandy Alomar [tools of ignorance]

Comments - two McGwires in the same pack

1 pack of 1997 Upper Deck Baseball [12 cards per pack]

Retail
Pack one - Darryl Strawberry [high toppers], Garret Anderson, Greg Maddux, Ken Griffey Jr. [Hot Commodities insert]

Comments - nice to pull a Junior insert, though it is worth about two quarters.

3 packs of 1998 Upper Deck Baseball [10 cards per pack]

Retail Series II
Pack one - Chipper Jones, Edgar Renteria [awesome action, 1997 postseason subset card], Delino DeShields [signing autographs on the reverse image], Paco Martin [awesome action]
Pack two - Juan Encarnacion [Rookie Preview insert], Nomar Garciaparra [Echelon logo], Juan Gonzalez [Prime Nine insert], Mike Piazza, Mark Loretta [bonus baby], Brian Jordan [signing autographs]
Pack three - Frank Thomas, Kenny Lofton, Julian Tavarez [pitchers hitting]

Comments - nothing too exciting; seems to be the theme in these breaks.

2 packs of 1999 Upper Deck Baseball [10 cards per pack]

Retail Series I
Pack one - Scott Rolen [hats off]
Pack two - Brad Fullmer [hats off], Rickey Henderson, Sammy Sosa [Foreign Focus subset], Darryl Strawberry [bonus baby; Derek Jeter makes a cameo in the background, even though the image zooms in on Strawberry signing an autograph in the dugout], Will Clark, Jose Canseco.

Comments - nothing too exciting

Featured Pack Breaks

I picked three packs of 2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition [$6 each at a show] - the packs are nice and thick [duh, because of the tick white stock filler Donruss uses], with No. 1 overall pick David Price as the coverboy on the pack.

Pack one - Norm Stewart #1339/1500 School Colors insert; he is a college basketball coach and that is all I have to say about that. Pulling cards of frumpy old guys out of a brand revolving around 'youth' is a little deceiving.

Pack two - Sam Runion #35/494 Turn of the Century autograph insert; not bad.

Pack three - Darwin Barney base card; he seemed to be in the middle of Oregon State's baseball back to back College World Series championships in 2006-2007.

Comments - I got my first sniff of this product and out of my three packs and I was able to pull an autograph.

Featured Box Break

I picked up a box of 2007 Bowman Draft [$55 at a show] - this product may have jumped the shark already because people seem to equate Bowman Chrome as some sort of holy grail of first-year cards and it seems serious collectors/speculators buy this product by the case, perhaps ruining the charm [whatever that means] for the casual baseball card collector who chooses to only pick up one or two boxes.

You should still get one coveted on-card draft pick Chrome autograph per box [most of the time] that should hold its value [whether or not it is classified as a true rookie card] - as long as the player is on the fast track to Major League stardom and not projected to be a career reliever in AAA.

There are lots of cards [of first-year players] to flip through for the collector in you [even though the casual collector might wonder who all these guys are] - including Chromes of 2007 first-year players and MLB rookies for what seems to be a low-end price [I'd rather pick this up than some random Upper Deck product].

Compared to Donruss Elite Extra Edition, Topps isn't forced to make this product a multisport product - the first-year professional baseball players are pictured in Major League uniforms [whether or not Topps had to pull some strings and possibly had to Photoshop MLB uniforms into an image of No. 1 overall pick a David Price] and at the very least cards of first-year players are licensed by Major League Baseball.

Autograph
Jonathan Gilmore BDPP 127

X-Fractors [1:39]
Jay Bruce BDP 103 serial #'d 255/299; refractor line across upper part of the card

Blue bordered base parallel [1:29]
Drew Bowman BDPP 38 serial #'d 255/399

Refractors [1:11]
Franklin Morales BDPP 74
Joey Votto BDPP 98
Matt Tolbert BDPP 104

Notable Chrome - two per pack
Justin Upton BDP 3; off-center
Tim Lincecum BDP 11
Alex Gordon BDP 15; off-center
Mike Moustakas BDPP 53; print mark on right hand side of the card
David Price BDPP 55
Wendell Fairley BDPP 59

Notable base -
Justin Upton BDP 3
Joba Chamberlain BDP 18
Mark Reynolds BDP 54
Jarrod Parker BDPP 58
Wendell Fairley BDPP 59
Deolis Guerra BDPP 72

Comments - I was disappointed I didn't pull any first-year Chromes of 2007 draft stars like Matt LaPorta and Jason Heyward among others. Among the 'okay pulls' from the box, there are some imperfections. My autograph is of a position player, who may not be a future stud, but is now in the collection I guess.

Rookie cards

I don't know if it makes this blog less readable - but I've decided to skip the festivities of the holidays, Christmas and New Year's and plow through.

There is nothing like a true rookie card in your hand picturing a Major League rookie - especially if you pull one out of a pack, featuring a rookie star or a player projected to be pretty good.

After reading a baseball card message board post about picking up 2007 parallels of Alex Gordon, Cameron Maybin and Justin Upton for cheap - I got curious as to whether their original 2007 cards [not the parallels] would be considered true rookie cards.

I was at a Walmart and they had a Beckett magazine to leaf through. When I saw listings for some of Gordon's 2007 cards, there was a just an RC designation, but no parenthesis - I didn't quite understand how Gordon's 2007 cards can be considered rookie cards, because there seemed to be a glut of Gordon cards [Bowman, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Draft, Bowman Heritage, Bowman Originals - only from Topps of course since they can sign minor leaguers to make cards of them before they reach the Major Leagues] from last year [aside from the 2006 Topps cutout that wasn't supposed to be, supposedly], while Maybin and Upton had their share of cards [nearly the same Topps products Gordon is in, plus cards from an AFLAC set produced in 2005].

I couldn't see Beckett price guides labeling the 2007 cards of Gordon, Maybin and Upton as anything but rookie cards (RC) with a parenthesis - when I looked at another Beckett, I saw Gordon, Maybin and Upton's 2006 cards listed with no designation.

Why aren't 2007 cards of Hunter Pence, Phil Hughes, Dustin Pedroia and Ryan Braun considered non-parenthesis rookie cards - the answer is probably because Pence, Hughes and Pedroia had rookie cards in 2004 products [produced by Topps, Fleer Top Prospects, Donruss Elite Extra Edition and/or a combination of all] while Braun had true rookie cards produced by Topps in 2005.

The MLBPA rookie card rules were not enforced until 2006 - if first-year cards of Pedroia and Braun were made last year, they'd still have cards considered as true rookie cards in the price guides. So any first-year player card Topps produced in 2006 through the present [why aren't they tagged as XRCs?]

The rookie card rules changed the way first year cards produced by Topps were classified [company had to differentiate the numbering] - so in some respects, how could the 2006 cards of Gordon, Maybin and Upton be considered true rookie cards? They basically are not recognized as having any status with regards to being a first-year card or rookie card.

Certain first-year cards [parallels and autographs] - will still command the most value as opposed to just your basic run of rookie cards. The fact you can find true rookie cards of Gordon, Maybin and Upton however adds some name value to certain 2007 products featuring the three players in addition to other rookies like Tim Lincecum and Joba Chamberlain. Its kind of disappointing however because even though there have always been a 'better card,' the true rookie cards you'll pull out of packs these days are likely worth $3 compared to cards [likely autographed and certified] worth $75-$150.

It isn't worth bragging about to pull cards only worth a few bucks - when it comes to rookie/rookie-year/first-year/xrc cards, there is some vanity involved in having one of the best ones, even for the stereotypical collector types who would think nothing of their own appearance.

Featured Mail Day

Torii Hunter display [$29.99 plus $10.00 s/h on Ebay] - I was looking around for Hunter item after he signed with the Angels and I found this unique item. It is a framed piece with an 8x10 photo and a certified Upper Deck Sweet Spot signature card. It is interesting not to get an actual signed item of a current athlete and instead use a 'cut autograph' to frame an unsigned item around. In the end, it is pretty sweet framed item to add to my personal collection.

2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Scouting Report

I think collectors who are more of the prospecting variety are not stuck on being traditionalists - I think the chase for a player's best card makes this product popular as long as it features first-year autographs and subsequent parallels of players expected to make an impact in the Major Leagues through the next three to five years.

The 2004 version featured cards of the first-year players in minor league uniforms - but they were considered rookie cards, since they were included in a set with Major League veterans.

On the other hand, the 2007 version doesn't even feature official MLB team names - and the players are pictured in their high school or college uniforms. Traditionalists will argue these are strictly minor league issues because obviously there is nothing in this product saying it is either affiliated with Major League Baseball or the MLB Players Association.

The important fact however is this product is made by Donruss - which is a trading card company having some history and EEE will be considered mainstream brand, not a niche product like the USA Baseball sets from the past year. If this was a Just product [no offense to such trading card companies], Tristar or even a Press Pass [which seems like it produces high quality cards], then it would be considered minor-league cards.

The graphics are gaudy - but is a change of pace from the typical Bowman Draft products, which is refreshing, even if Topps can get first-year players in a Big League uniform and Donruss cannot.

This is a multisport product and one of Donruss' selling point for this product is the school ties - it seems ironic baseball players are driving this product, though baseball isn't traditionally the number one collegiate sport to follow, lagging behind football and basketball.

I want to pick up a box [only a box] - though the pulls might be spread thin between pulling autographs of the better baseball draft pick autographs, the none draft pick baseball autographs as well as other notables [Jennie Finch/Amanda Beard anyone?] from other sports.

2007 Upper Deck Black Scouting Report

I've seen the cards on Ebay and for the most part, cards seem pretty ugly - is there a single from this product, I'd like to have? Maybe not in baseball, but perhaps one of the new 'Kobe Bryant' full signature autograph cards [as seen on a Upper Deck private signing 'photo op' session on beckett.com] in what appears to be in the basketball release of this product is something I hope to pick up eventually.

AS for baseball, can anyone not affiliated with Upper Deck's marketing department justify picking up a box for over $200, featuring two one-card packs or even one pack - I don't like the sticker autographs, especially when it comes from supposed super premium product.

I'll 'spare' the rising stars like Cole Hamels, Billy Butler, Justin Verlander from my rant [wrath] - but 'F' the Homer Bailey, Dan Uggla, Adam/Andy LaRoche, Andre Ethier, Melvin Mora, Chad Cordero, Jason Bay, Kelly Johnson, Aaron Harang and the rest of the 'C-list, D-list' baseball stars littering this product's checklists.

The Game Day Box Score cards don't do anything for me since the athletes' image seems obscured by the vague graphics - the box score is supposed to showcase a performance highlight, just doesn't do it for me as the dominant graphic on a card.

~I like it how the particular athletes sign a silver sticker with what looks like a silver Sharpie.~

Any cards with just an autograph and/or with a combination of 'plain' swatch pieces are ugly - though they look better if the cards feature a patch piece or two.

The premium bat barrel autograph cards are pretty sharp - which I assume are made from stock, non game used bat.

The Pride of a Nation autograph cards are pretty sharp - with the manufactured flag logos.

Shipping rants when picking up cards from online sources like EBay.

Maybe combined shipping means something different - but I always thought it also meant not having to pay extra s/h charges on additional items bought from sellers.

Sometimes I like to pick up multiple items from one seller, particularly if there is only one item to pay shipping/handling for - the problem I see now is sellers tacking on a extra s/h charge on additional items and calling it 'combined shipping.'

I realize everyone has their expenses - but another problem I see is not being able to pick up singles and only having to pay one shipping and handling charge. It seems like sellers are trying to take advantage of s/h charges, at a time when they might not be able to move cards like they have done so in the past.

At the very least sellers might able to sell more cards - if they offered one s/h fee for combined orders within two or three days, capped the s/h and handling fee instead of taxing every item/card purchased and/or make the s/h charge reasonable for additional auction won [keep the charges at around a quarter and don't make it more than $0.50].

Plain white envelopes - no problem with it as long as it gets to me safely, but I do have a problem when I'm charged $2.50 or more and do not get my item in a bubble mailer.

2007 Bowman Draft scouting report

I am desensitized to this product because prospecting has gotten to be something entirely foreign - which players do you jump on and do you pick up their cards now?

Maybe its in the middle of December, almost Christmas and baseball is just not where the focus is at - still, even if spring training is just a few months away, the reality is most of the players in this set will be scattered through the minor leagues this upcoming season and you may key in on a handful of guys 'you like,' but everyone wants the sure thing. Can you be patient about waiting for a player to develop in the minor leagues?

Bowman Draft isn't typically expensive and there are probably a handful of true future stars in this product - as long as the brand has key drafted players like David Price, Matt LaPorta, Mike Moustakas, Matt Dominguez, Jason Heyward and other 'names,' people will be chasing their guys, doesn't matter if the cards are slapped as official MLBPA logo rookie cards.

On the other hand picking up random packs, a random blaster and a random box only gets you so much - you need the young prospect cards but it just isn't about getting his first base Bowman card. The key lies in first-year autographed [if available] and base Chrome [particularly its subsequent parallels]. However are you really willing to spend so much on these particular cards?

Featured Card Show Buys

I picked up 45 commons for $3 - I figure for the price of one pack of cards, I'll go the 'Billy Beane' route and pick up quantity. Now, the hard part is spinning my enthusiasm and penning a card tale without going overboard, realizing these cards serve a function in my collection, but aren't exactly ones you'd need to spend hours talking about.

Randomness [six cards] - 2005 Topps Update Dana Eveland, 2006 Topps 1952 Debut Flashbacks inserts Carlos Beltran, 2006 Topps 1952 Debut Flashbacks Scott Rolen, 2006 Upper Deck Brad Aumus, 2006 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Grady Sizemore, 2007 Artifacts Grady Sizemore, 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts Miguel Cabrera and 2007 Topps Chrome Garret Anderson.

2007 Topps Update [nine cards] - Adam Jones [x2], Kameron Loe, Carlos Marmol, Jamie Burke, Boone Logan, Rick Ankiel, David Newhan and Edinson Volquez. These cards featuring 'rank and file' guys will probably used in random autograph in-person endeavors and a key was finally getting cards of Jones. These guys probably turn a long 'no-autograph' day into a one, two or three autograph day if you are chasing them at the stadium.

2007 Upper Deck [nine cards] - aesthetics means a lot to me as far as card collecting is concerned and somehow the silver borders depress me for whatever reason, but the images on the cards are always 'Upper Deck nice.' Miguel Tejada [cutting down Kendry Morales at second base as good buddy and former teammate Brian Roberts looks on during an Angels' game], Jay Payton managing to get his hand across home plate as he slides in, Scott Hatteberg [looks like he is the first to congratulate someone hitting a walk-off home run, with Edwin Encarnacion and some 'Kid' in the background], Jeremy Hermida [tracking down a fly ball into his glove on the run], Brian Schneider [looking like he's chasing after a wild pitch or pass ball], Tony Pena, Gabe Gross [signing autographs], Adam Melhuse [catcher waiting throw, ready to block home plate] and Nook Logan [we were reminded in some book report that came out last Thursday, his first name is actually Exavier]. Logan is a marginal player, a poor man's Juan Pierre - which would make him just about worthless [-1] in most sabermetric circles.

2007 Upper Deck SP Rookie Edition cards [19 cards] - Miguel Cabrera base, Joaquin Arias base, Kory Casto base, Matt Chico base, Gustavo Molina base, Miguel Montero base, Arias 1993 SP base parallel subset [?], Ryan Sweeney 1993 SP base parallel subset [?], Mike Rabelo 1993 SP base parallel subset [?], Micah Owings 1993 SP base parallel subset [?], Arias 1996 SP base parallel subset [?], Joseph Bisenius 1996 SP base parallel subset [?], Rocky Cherry 1996 SP base parallel subset [?], Chico 1996 SP base parallel subset [?], John Danks 1996 SP base parallel subset [?], Andy Gonzalez 1996 SP base parallel subset [?], Sweeney 1996 SP base parallel subset [?] and Chris Stewart 1996 SP base parallel subset.

The shelf life of this product wasn't very long [or at least the relative interest] but this is the first time I've had these cards in-hand and the cards featuring the retro mid 1990s SP graphics are sharp - imagine what Topps and Upper Deck can do if they actually printed cards that matter in a way that reflected their best releases in their history. While Topps has been churning out retro themed products like Heritage, those can be boring as much as they are 'old school cool.'

While UD only has a run from 1989 to present to go on, they can go back to showcase the crap out of this [past] year's Major League Baseball rookies through 1993 SP, 1995 SP and 1996 SP [no 1994?] designs - it is kind of retro for the guy who grew up through the mid 1990s instead of the 1950s.

My last card related purchase was picking up a 'bundle' of 2007 Allen and Ginter for $1 - about 29 cards with duplicates. I counted it out and I got 16 cards towards my 'makeshift' set and 13 doubles. I suppose the doubles can be used if something happens to the original cards.

Featured Pickup

1979 Topps Nolan Ryan PSA graded '8' [$10.00 at a card show] - how much is a PSA graded Ryan card from 1979 worth to my personal collection? Its not a spectacular pick up, but Ryan is an Angels' icon. While I would have preferred a Ryan card several years older, I think the fact this was graded made it appealing as well as finding it among other 'so-so' cards. The front looks good, though the back is a little off-center.

It is another piece for an Angels' graded card run I'm trying to complete featuring one PSA graded Topps card from 1961-1980 - I don't know if I'd seriously consider the card if I wasn't doing this Angels' run I made up. So far I've got a 1972 Topps Mickey Rivers PSA graded '7,' a 1974 Topps Frank Robinson PSA graded '8,' this latest card and a 1980 Topps Ryan PSA graded '8.'

Wally Word Breaks
2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces one-pack blister[$2.97] - Chris Chambliss, Cal Ripken Jr., Kei Igawa and Bobby Doerr. I think it is hard to argue against this product's aesthetics and you genuinely believe these are probably the nice looking baseball cards you can pick up at a retail outlet like Walmart or Target.

2007 Topps Update blaster box [$9.97] - I don't know how excited I was [now] because I'm desperate to bust something [even a fake, a psuedo box of cards, not full pack box, but still a box of cards] and the only one at Walmart priced at about $10 has this conquering hero plastered all over the box.

First pack was three card 'hot pack' featuring 120 years of baseball cards [current players, retro designs] - 1887 Gypsy Queen Dan Uggla, 1959 Topps Adam LaRoche and 1909 Ramley Jake Peavy.

Pack one - Mickey Mantle MHR #442

Pack two - Tim Lincecum [rookie card?], a gold parallel card serial #'d 1789/2007 of a Classic Combo subset [featuring Jonathan Papelbon and Jorge Posada] and Miguel Cabrera all-star subset.

Pack three - Angel Pagan [check out his card and a 1959 Topps card of Don Mossi], Scot Shields [Angels] and Barry Bonds home run card #742.

Pack four - Mark Reynolds [rookie card?]

Pack five - Scott Spiezio, Roger Clemens* and Mike Lowell all-star card.

Pack six - Brady Clark [pictured with the Dodgers, noted he actually signed with the Red Sox 'in July' but actually finished the season with the San Diego Padres], Jamie Vermilyea; I think its a pet peeve of mine when a collector feigns ignorance over recognizing a player pictured on a card, but I honestly don't have a clue who Vermilyea is? Does he play professional baseball? Its my lame stab at humor, but maybe he won some sort of contest so Topps can produce and insert his card in a Major League product.

Pack seven - Cliff Floyd; right now young collectors and knowledgeable prospectors are picking up key cards of a kid named Jason Heyward [Atlanta Braves draft pick]. Way back in the day, Floyd was probably the Heyward of his time. Too bad, probably half of Floyd's career has been short with injuries.

Pack eight - Cameron Maybin Terry Evans [Angels - rookie card?] and Troy Percival [things move so fast, he was retired at the end of last April and now the former Angels' closer signed a two-year contract to pitch for the 'new' Tampa Bay Rays.

Pack nine - Ryan Doumit, Matt Stairs, Generation Now Ian Kinsler insert and a Classic Combo subset card featuring Chase utley and Ichiro.

Pack 10 - Hideki Oka-jo-mama 2007 All-Star jersey card [old news cards with jersey swatches were labeled as 'patch cards'].