i staked my claim

i have completed several trades with wes - jaybarkerfan - and host of the most incredible group break ever.  his area 40 christmas break was mind boggling in the number of packs and boxes busted.  and, as you undoubtedly know, he gave by far the vast majority of the hits away to us fellow bloggers and collectors.

i, like everybody else who has witnessed wes's generosity, knew that this would be a very popular break.  and, even though i have a job and a family (and i certainly do not favor card blogs or collecting over them), i was able to sit down at the time appointed by wes to check his blog and put in a claim.  i took only one team - the dodgers.  i did not cherry pick teams hoping for big hits that i could flip.  it was only after wes advertised open spots in a new post a couple of days later, that i went back and added some other favorite teams of mine - the twins, the los angeles kings, and the vikings.

over the years, i've seen some comments or statements related to claims i've made in breaks that lead me to think that some feel entitled to getting their pick or that others should have first dibs on whether or not they want in. maybe i'm inferring something that isn't there, but it's happened enough times where i am fairly confident of the implication. i've been too late to claim my preferred teams or cards in breaks or trade bait posts before, and never have i felt slighted. disappointed sometimes? sure, but just in my own tardiness. never that the claiming happened too fast and was ridiculous or anything like that.  if it means that much to you, then beat everyone else to the punch.

i have also been denied a claim in breaks or trading groups a couple of times due to the host holding a spot for a certain person whom they hoped would be interested. that's fine by me, even though my money and/or return trade packages are as good as anyone else's.

regardless, i've never wished for a diluted return for any other blogger who made a claim before me.  that's weird.

anyway, i received my cards from this epic break, and here's what my claim earned me.

i'll start with the big gun - a 2004 topps clubhouse collection jackie robinson bat relic card

the inclusion of clubhouse collection in the break is what sealed the deal for me that i wanted to participate.  there is a very dodger friendly checklist in that release, and in addition to the jackie, i received a shawn green relic

and a paul loduca relic parallel, 

numbered on the back to 25.

the loduca is a "uniform" relic as opposed to the shawn green "jersey" relic, so it may be pants or socks or something else. i am assuming it comes from an all-star festivities uniform.

numbered cards were also considered hits in the break, so i wound up with a 2016 panini donruss joc pederson stat lines parallel

and a 2005 donruss classics orel hershiser stars of summer card

that was the extent of the dodger cards from the break, but it was definitely quality over quantity!

the other baseball team i selected, the minnesota twins, yielded just one card - a 2002 donruss rookie crusade adam johnson auto

there were high hopes for johnson in the twin cities, but he ran afoul of tom kelly in addition to not performing. that was not a recipe for success during those years.

hockey! i received two kings cards - neither were of luc robitaille

the 2001-02 pacific private stock aaron miller relic includes a colorado avalanche jersey piece.  i like that card particularly because miller is shown wearing the "am" memorial patch following the 9/11 terrorist attacks that took the lives of two king employees.  the frantisek kaberle is a holofoil parallel from 1999-00 pacific prism.

are you ready for some football? the vikes came through with this 1997 topps stadium club co-signers card

of orlando thomas and keith lyle of the rams.  i suppose that i earned the card due to thomas being on the front. i don't recall thomas, but i do remember corey chavous.  he was on the other football card i received along with phillip buchanon

the chavous relic is from his time with the arizona cardinals.

wes also included some other cards of familiar faces - a 1983 fleer davey lopes

and a 1986 donruss bill russell

no ron cey cards (i am assuming he saved them for a well known penguin fan), but there were two steve garvey cards to round out the package.  this is a 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer card

and this is a 2001 upper deck sp authentic cooperstown calling jersey card

when that card first came out, garvey was still on the ballot, and i was holding out hope that he would be elected.  most of the subjects included in the set have been inducted since then, but garvey is one of the few that have not.  i think he gets another shot from the veteran's committee that covers players from the 70's, but i am not certain.  however, with the election of harold baines, i am once again hopeful that garvey does get the call.

wes, thank you for all of the contests, trades, and giveaways. enjoy your post-blogging endeavors!

team set completion to close out the year

it's been a while since i've not had an open order on any of the regular card shopping sites - ebay, sportlots, or comc - but that's where i stand at the end of 2018.  i do still have a few open trades, however i do not expect to see many of them result in return packages sent my way at this point.

there have been a few recent mailers show up from fellow bloggers - fuji sent a couple of cards in return for some stuff i sent him, including this 2015 topps museum collection sandy koufax card

the koufax is now the only dodger i have from this set, so i am a few away from a complete team set.

thorzul's trade me anything netted me some dodger inserts from 2018 topps update, including these cards

that tied a bow on the dodger team sets for the salute and the storybook endings insert sets, respectively.

night owl sent me the card i won in his recent giveaway along with this 2016 topps stadium club clayton kershaw isometrics insert

which is in and of itself a complete team set.

my comc order which had been growing since the summer was ordered on black friday so as to take advantage of the free shipping.  i used this order to pick up a wide variety of cards for my many collections, but at the same time grabbed the last remaining card/cards needed to complete a number of team sets:

1992 upper deck team mvp holograms (darryl strawberry)
1997 donruss elite (brett butler)

1997 fleer (mike piazza checklist)

1998 fleer sports illustrated (raul mondesi, mike piazza, dennis reyes)
1998 fleer sports illustrated then and now (paul konerko)
1998 fleer ultra (todd worrell, paul konerko)
1998 fleer ultra artistic talents (mike piazza)
1998 fleer ultra double trouble (mike piazza/hideo nomo)
1998 fleer ultra rocket to stardom (paul konerko)
1998 leaf heading to the hall (mike piazza)

1999 topps chrome (gary sheffield)
2012 topps gypsy queen (dee gordon)

2013 topps allen & ginter mini framed relics (matt kemp)
2013 topps tribute (adrian gonzalez)

2016 topps allen & ginter (zach lee)

i do not consider the 'no number' julio urias to be part of the team set, although i have my eye on one of those cards at the moment.

same with sportlots, where i have been buying and selling cards for the past several years. i've used the sportlots box option a couple of times now, and have been able to complete a number of team sets.  the latest is 1996 fleer ultra, thanks to this tom candiotti card.

i ordered that card twice. the first time the seller sent the wrong card so i had to order it again.

i had sort of unofficially targeted 1990's fleer ultra sets this past year as a series that i wanted to close out, and i came fairly close with just a few cards still needed for the 1997 team set.

finally, ebay. ebay has done a lot for my collection since i first found out about it in 1999.  i recently picked up a 1970 kellogg's bill singer card

that technically didn't complete my team set because i already had one of singer's cards, but it is encased as a psa 8 specimen, and i didn't want to bust it free.  so this singer now sits with the other 1970 kellogg's dodger cards in the 1970-1974 binder where it belongs.  not sure what to do with the psa 8 singer now.

of course, i also included a couple of new-to-me steve garvey cards in my comc order - both from 2003 donruss signature series

my collecting plan for 2019 is to focus on my steve garvey collection.

i will also check out 2019 heritage as the 1970 topps set is near and dear to me (it was the first set issued before i began collecting that i went back and completed), but i will most likely not pursue a set. dodger cards and hopefully team sets will still be a major part of my collecting in 2019, and i'll probably try to finish up my dodger topps chrome team sets from 1996 on - starting with 2003.  i picked up an eric gagne from that set with my comc order

plus refractors of kaz ishii

and andy ashby.

blue borders can't be beat when it comes to refractory dodger cards!

happy new year!