Griffeys from the Griffey-man (oh, and a contest result)

First of all, thanks to all of those who took the time to (try and win free cards) participate and to those who pimped the contest. As expected (and hoped, of course), I got 3 times more readers than usual and 4 all new followers. I'm probably the most popular French baseball cards collector in the world. That's something. It's also from lack of competition, but STILL.

I'll give the results right away so that those who aren't really interested in the rest can go smell daffodils or chase butterflies instead of just scrolling to the bottom of the page. The correct answer to the number of Griffeys that The Junior Junkie sent me was....94 !

Two contestants were very close to the correct number : John Miller (101) and Jupiterhill (88). So congrats to Jupiterhill, you win a free entry to Matt's and my trans-Atlantic mutual box breaks ! Simply send me an email with your address and the team of your choice and I'll hook you up. Fyi, the bottom card was Bowman.

Of course, this contest wouldn't have been possible without the participation of one of my favorite bloggers out there : TJ. I'm always overwhelmed by his generosity, as he once again delivered and handpicked most of the cards I was missing for my Griffey base card collection, even though he collects as many Griffeys as is humanly possible to accumulate. And naturally, he didn't stop there.

Those are cards from his Randomactofcardness project. An awesome idea (he leaves random cards in public places, with the # on the cards, all numbered to...Well, to infinity. And that's a lot. People will then tweet using the given # and start collecting junk wax era cards just like that. Not sure how well I'll do in France, considering how Twitter isn't a huge thing here but hey, I got hooked thanks to a card I found on the ground, so why not !)

Those are some bad ass New Orleans beads. I could claim back the throne of France with those, but I like my head just where it is.

A Bautista variation SP I claimed a few weeks ago (yeah, I'm very greedy) with a custom top loader. Awww.

Anyway, back to the bulk of the package : Griffeys !!

A&G !

I'm not a big Bowman fan, but those 94 & 95s look really nice.

Let the boredom begin. They really all look the same to me, even though 12 years separate the first from the last.

I absolutely love that 1990 Leaf.

Great job on the 2014 SC.

That leaping one is really cool, I just might try to grab more from that set (and stay away from that grey bordered one).

Maybe they thought the 2009 would be his sunset card ?

And finally, my favorites : UD !

There were also 20-something other non-base cards that I needed for my collection. As it turns out, TJ has sent me about 140 Griffeys in just two packages. And I've accumulated 220 in a year. So that show how important he is to my own Griffey collection. I am now only missing 23 different Griffey base cards (from main brands, of course, I'm not counting the 36 000 different sets from the 2000s). I'll probably just pick some up from time to time on Comc or justcommons.

Thanks a million times, TJ. Let me know what you'd like me to send you in return !

#randomactofrandomness

Since I want people to like (love) me, I need to send out well rounded trade packages, without ever forgetting to add a Bieber card, because I know it's a real plus. I don't buy a lot of high end boxes (matter of fact, I focus on cheap boxes only), which means that if I want some trading fuel, I need to shop around. And it's was time for me to get back on Ebay to accumulate trade bait. Not that I'm trying to lure anybody, as those are cards that I specifically buy for certain bloggers. Some of the cards I'm about to show, I got for me (I want people to like me, but I like to treat myself from time to time to some nice cards for my collection. I wouldn't want to pout because of me). Others are just fillers, ie cards I get just to lower relative shipping charges or not to pay a $2 Comc fee just for the one card I'm actually chasing. And sometimes...well, sometimes the seller doesn't carry that many other cards, so I'll just bet on whatever's cheap and looks nice to me.

My collection's a big mess.
But it does have its moments.

This one I chased on purpose. It's just a set that I like, and it was cheap enough.No need to over analyze it !

There's just something about Black Gold...it's as ugly as it is beautiful, which might be why I live it so much. So of course, I needed the Griffey, since I already have all Blue Jays from both years.

I decided some time ago to get a copy of each Nolan Ryan Topps base issue, since his career spanned so many years and decades. So now I have 75, 82, 83, 85, 91 and 93. This might take longer than expected.

I've wanted that one for a long time. Since the first time I saw it, actually. I paid a little more than I normally would for a 70s card ($8), but it's not easy to find a cheap copy, so I figured I might as well buy it on Comc directly. What a great shot (too bad the feet are cut) of one of my PC.

I was just curious to see how 95 Slideshow looked, considering how much I love the ones from 94. I was a bit disappointed to see it was just clear acetate, but hey, it still looks pretty cool. Just not as cool as the original.

the 90s.

Now that card, I really, really wanted, but never thought I'd win the bidding war. I like what Panini did with Immaculate, and the lack of logo doesn't bother me the least. Plus it's an on-card auto of Joe Carter. Not just any Carter. Not Jimmy. Not June. Joe. THE Joe Carter. My first (and probably last) auto of his. And I won the bid for $4. That's an awesome deal.

Always fun to add game used pitchers' bats.

Andrew is PC and Manny will go to Mark Hoyle, at some point.

Another Andrew Jones auto (I think it's my third). A simple, elegant design. I like that card a lot.

I collect Maddux cards, but I'm very far from a super collector. I have binder space for him, but I don't try to add his cards at all cost. But I was very curious to see what, exactly, a game used bench was. And I got my answer. There were some serious All Star butts that sat on that piece of wood (hmmm maybe I should rephrase that). The photo really helps the imagination. That card is hilarious, I officially love it.

Those 4 cards are as random as it gets. I have no idea what I'll do with them. Those sweet spot autos are really great. I didn't really check to see who amounted to what in the majors (besides Hafner), but I do have kind of a hunch...

More SP, more simple design, more nice auto card, more randomness.

Yeah. I don't know. Ah well.

Trade Post : Angels in order

I hardly got any trading done in May, as I only received a couple of packages (lazy me). And here we are, June 6th, and three packages have already made their way across the Ocean. Thursday, I received The Junior Junkie's incredible Griffey Bonanza. Speaking of which, I'll let the contest run until Monday, when I'll announce the winner and we can have a big party with half-naked French chicks around my plastic swimming pool. On Friday, I got a bunch of Blue Jays from the Italian Completist and today, I received a blind trade package from Tom over at Angels in order. He reached out to me asking if I was up for a trade (always am) and tadah, cards in my mailbox. Way easier than a pyramid scheme.

So that's two new trading partners in just three days. Not bad at all. Let's first have a look at Tom's cards.

I wasn't familiar with that set, so I had to do a little research of my own. So apparently, Pinnacle thought it would be a good idea to mix coins with cards. In 96-99, Pinnacle was desperately trying to find great ideas. I'm really not sure they succeeded much (Pinnacle Inside, anyone ?). You're supposed to find the matching coin to go with the die cut card. Alongside those, you'll find some bronze, silver and gold coin parallels (but without the coins. You follow ?). Ok.

 Box sets !

A little of everything from the 90s : very low end, parallels, high end and...well, and Circa

Plenty of Shawn Greens !

Those are the first Leaf from those years that I've laid my hands on. Strange times. And a Fleer Jersey Edition without any jersey in it.

Modern day parallels, including a SN Arencibia !

And finally, some oddballish fun stuff, including a decal I just might wear to work.

Thanks a lot Tom, your cards are ready to be sent your way !

A rapid tour of the Museum

I wouldn't say I actively chase high end cards of Blue Jays players. Let's say that if I browse Ebay and see one, I'll bet on it and if I win, then more power to me. But I don't look very closely at checklists or make ebay alerts of them. I should, though. It would make a lot of sense. But where's the fun in a hobby that makes sense ?

It's also safe to say I'll never bust open a box of such high end products. I'm not interested in playing high end roulette.

Anyway, I did a simple search for 2015 Topps Museum, and that seller had a couple of Jose Reyes relics I was interested in. I've said it many times before : I find relics absolutely silly (why on earth would I want a laundry tag ?), but they do make great looking cards. And I really like those Museum designs.

As usual, I bet on other cards from that same seller so that shipping costs wouldn't be 80% of the value of the cards. My eye is really well trained now to immediately see teams for my trade partners. Saves me a lot of time. Good ol' eyes. I won 7 cards in all (I'll show only 6, as the 7th is a Pirate card that shall remain unscanned on this part of the Ocean), ranging from $1.5 to $4.5.

So there you go :

The initial card I was after. a plain patch without any color, but I still like it. The grey only explains why the price stayed low.

Such a nice smile.

I have no idea who those players are. But they have a Red Sox uniform on. And I'm pretty sure I know some Red Sox collectors (hey Mark !)

Ok, him I know

Solid young player who we won't see much of for the reminder of the season...plus, I don't trade with anyone who collects Cardinals cards. I have no idea why I took it. Probably because it was cheap enough. I really need to set more defined collecting goals !

I'll probably try and get some Bautistas from that set. I can either pick them up for 5-$10, or buy a box for $190 and hope for the best. Let me think about it.

Oh, and while I'm at it, don't forget the contest that's going on right here just below !

Oh boy, it's an ANNIVERSARY CONTEST !!

There it is : June.

It's a special month because it's been exactly one year that I decided to get back into this hobby. It first started as a whim, to see how it would feel to bust open some packs of 94 products, as a birthday present to myself (I was born on June 26, don't hesitate to send me flowers and candy).

Well, I won't lie, it felt great.
And I was hooked. Again.

There were trials and errors, especially with Ebay and/or shipping charges and the big turning point was when I discovered the blogging community. My first post was on August 13th, I had no idea if anyone would read it, but I kept writing anyway (if you write it, they will come). I haven't looked back since.

I hardly ever have much to say besides 'oooh, looky, cards !', and it can be frustrating not to write in your mother tongue (though technically, this is my mother's language, incidentally), but all in all, I'm having fun, and I actually feel like I'm fitting right in, even though I do realize I live all over there and it's not always simple to send out envelopes to me (ok, it IS really simple, but there are additional costs, and not everybody can afford them on a regular basis).

I'm not the most active when it comes to trading, but I do have great, steady partners who seem to share the same frame of mind as me and who understand that it's precisely about sharing (and caring. Yeah, I'm a real Hallmark card today). According to my spreadsheet, I've sent out about 50 packages, amounting to 1 300 cards. And I've received about 40, with a total of...2600 cards. Which can only mean one thing : you guys are crazy generous (Junior Junkie alone has sent 800 cards). I'll never be able to stress out enough how much it means to me when I receive a well rounded trade package with so much thought put into it. I hope you guys can tell that I always try to reciprocate best I can (not always easy when shopping around takes so much time and there are no dime boxes within a couple thousand miles).

But here I am, getting sentimental.

ANYWAY.

Some of you are mainly here because (or thanks to) of the title.
Because yes, I'dl like to thank the entire community by holding my very first contest (yay !).
Here's how it works :

not long ago, I posted a list of Griffey base cards I needed. The Junior Junkie was kind enough to send me a package with some of those needs (hint : it's not 100% of the list). Anyone who's able to guess how many he sent, will be the winner. I haven't received the package yet, so even I don't know what the answer is, so don't try to bribe me.
In case there's a tie, here's the tie breaker : which card will be at the bottom of the stack he sends ? If you get the correct brand, you'll win. Or if nobody finds the brand, I'll go with the year.

Naturally, TJ has a clear advantage, even though he himself hasn't counted the cards and I doubt he remembers which card is last. But here's a special question just for him, in case he wants to participate : How many different Griffeys do I have in my collection ? (you get a 10% error window).

Here's what you win : as you know, we've been holding box breaks with Matt. Well, the winner gets a slot with the team of his/her choice for the break hosted in the US AND in France (teams can't be Pirates or Blue Jays though) along with other cards that fit your collection.

Simply follow my blog (might as well) and write a comment. And if you feel like promoting the contest on your blog, it's even better !

I'll let it run for a week or so and get back to you.

BIEBS 4 PRESIDENT

Books are also made of paper

I've mentioned it before : I like to read. As a matter of fact, I turned a hobby into a full time job, which I suppose makes me one of the lucky ones (except you never make a lot of money that way but hey, who cares ? ). I'll read about 100 to 150 novels per year and I'm curious and open enough that I won't focus on just one type of literature. Plenty to discover out there, and it's really one of my great joys in life. Maybe one day I'll give you my top 10 books of all time, you can never get enough lists.

But enough bragging.

When I was younger, ie a long, long time ago, I'd mainly read Stephen King books and the occasional sports book. There wasn't the Internet back then to let me know what existed, but I did have a great American bookstore in Paris that I'd go to to buy cards first and foremost, and to have a look at their sports section (and to get the Calvin & Hobbes and Far Side collections every year).

Here are the baseball ones I've read so far :

This was written right after the first Championship in 92. I'm actually reading it again 20 years later. It's far from flawless (not very well written to say the least), but it's entertaining and it's always great to learn about the history of your favorite team. Even when it's Canadian. Today, the cover would read 'an insider's look at 38 years of BLue Jay baseball'. How time flies...

The typical biography, I suppose, of a very impressive player .

I remember really loving that book back then. Helped me learn a lot about the Yankees and their Dynasty. A behind the scenes look at the 61 season, where you find yourself really rooting for Maris.

I have no recollection at all of that book. Probably as well too.

I probably didn't have the necessary knowledge of baseball at the time to fully appreciate that one. I'll have to read it again today ! I also have the sequel. (and I really need to get myself some Jim Bouton cards)

 A truly great read, and I remember spending long nights reading it and immersing in pre-war baseball.

I was a little disappointed at the time because I didn't know most of the pitchers he wrote about (they weren't in the 93 UD set !). But there are a lot of fun stories in there.

Roger Angell seems to be one of the best sportswriters out there, and I can understand his reputation by reading this book.

This one's a little different since it's fiction, but I encourage you all to have a look, as it's one of the most hilarious books I've ever read.

And I still have a book about Joe DiMaggio and The Boys of summer on my book pile.

I'm always on the lookout for great reads about the history of baseball, so if you have some to share, I'd love to add them to my list !