Mail x 5 and Writing On My Other Blog

I'm not really sure who knows, but before I started this blog, I wrote primarily on my other site, Bean's Ballcard Blog.  I'm going to be writing more hobby-related pieces (as opposed to writing here about personal collecting).   If you haven't already, please follow, subscribe, etc. to my other blog.

Today I wrote a piece discussing iconic cards.  Hopefully you'll take a look.

After a few days off over the weekend, Memorial Day and a couple days of job interviews, I posted a mailday post today on YouTube.  If you haven't, please give me a subscription and some likes on videos.  It does mean a lot and help keeps people going, no differently that bloggers with views and comments.

Today's post includes junk wax, buybacks and a 1990s autograph.




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Make sure if you're shopping online (including eBay) that you're using ebates.  Four times a year, the amount I get back is put into my Paypal account, and I have it for more cards.  Click on that link and once you've spent $25 (remember to go THROUGH ebates), you'll get $10 put into your account.  

My Sports Card Direct store - If you're only interested in a card or two, I can do PWE shipping and save you the money.  Just gotta let me know.  

Finally, please help me out by subscribing to my YouTube page and liking videos.  It does help out a lot.  You can also follow me on Twitter at @beansbcardblog.

2018 Trading Card Database Trade #25 - T206

This trade with Trading Card Database user T206 did not contain any T206 cards, unfortunately.


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Make sure if you're shopping online (including eBay) that you're using ebates.  Four times a year, the amount I get back is put into my Paypal account, and I have it for more cards.  Click on that link and once you've spent $25 (remember to go THROUGH ebates), you'll get $10 put into your account.  

My Sports Card Direct store - If you're only interested in a card or two, I can do PWE shipping and save you the money.  Just gotta let me know.  

Finally, please help me out by subscribing to my YouTube page and liking videos.  It does help out a lot.  You can also follow me on Twitter at @beansbcardblog.

2018 Trading Card Database Trade #21 - CardsThatTimeForgot -or- A Favorite Buyback

This is one of my favorite trades on TCDB so far, because of one card that I picked up. 

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Bronze #366 Mark McGwire

The combination of writing this blog post and the recent sale of some Mike Trout card for $400k has me thinking about "iconic" cards and I'll probably write something about iconic cards on my other blog (Bean's Ballcard Blog).  I'll stop short of calling this an iconic card, but it's probably among my personal top 10 cards of the time I've been collecting.  The opportunity to add it as a buyback was something that I couldn't pass on.  During my first year of card collecting (1987) this was one of the cards I was always hoping to find in a pack as McGwire hit more and more homers on his way to the rookie home run record. 

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Bronze #US-326 Miguel Cabrera

Meh.

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps Baseball #83-66 Daniel Murphy

I'm still not sure if I'm going to do this set. 

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I've decided to try selling on Sports Card Direct again.  Hopefully you'll take a look at my page and see if there's anything you're interested in.  I can always sell off the site and ship in a PWE if you're only looking for a card or two and don't want to pay $3 shipping.  I'm going to start listing more cards daily.  It's time to get out of a lot of my stuff.  

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!  Another $40 was depostied into my Paypal account last week.

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

2018 Trading Card Database Trade #20 - alanschwarz -or- And a Buyback In a Pear Tree...

Most of my recent trades through TCDB have involved buybacks.  My trading partner on this one only had one, but had some of those much maligned insert sets with the 1987 Topps design. 

There was one buyback.  All buybacks are loved. 

2014 Topps - 75th Anniversary Buybacks 1973 #427 Rick Auerbach

Thanks for the trade, Alan!

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I've decided to try selling on Sports Card Direct again.  Hopefully you'll take a look at my page and see if there's anything you're interested in.  I can always sell off the site and ship in a PWE if you're only looking for a card or two and don't want to pay $3 shipping.

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!  I have another $40+ going into my Paypal account in the next couple weeks.

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

2018 Trading Card Database Trade #19 - vrooomed -or- SO MANY BUYBACKSSSSSS!!!

I don't know how many Phillies fans there are on Trading Card Database, but I know that two major trades have wiped out most of what I have.  They've also been two of my biggest and best trades for my collection.  In exchange for some Phillies and some mini cards from random sets, I was able to get all of these!

2014 Topps - 75th Anniversary Buybacks 1974 #199 Mike Kekich 

2014 Topps - 75th Anniversary Buybacks 1979 #462 Otto Velez

2014 Topps - 75th Anniversary Buybacks 1980 #31 Jay Johnstone

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1973 #36 Steve Barber

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1973 #56 Merv Rettenmund

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1973 #210 1972 World Series

I'm not sure what other #210 cards I have, but I have to think that this one will be tough to beat.

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1974 #16 Baltimore Orioles

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1974 #592 Ed Bane

In the last few days either on a blog or Twitter, someone was commenting on players wearing sunglasses on their cards.  How about these specs?

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1974 #639 Joe Lovitto

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1975 #32 Reggie Cleveland

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1976 #224 Jim York

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1976 #283 Merv Rettenmund

Anyone out there good enough at math to figure out the odds that I'd get two Merv Rettenmund cards in one trade package?

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1976 #371 Ellie Hendricks

 2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1977 #171 Ken Sanders

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1978 #97 Stan Bahnsen

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1979 #68 Joe Niekro

2015 Topps - Topps Originals Buybacks 1979 #129 Marty Pattin

 2016 Topps - Buybacks Blue Stamp #518 Tommy Boggs

2016 Topps - Buybacks Blue Stamp #628 Del Unser

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Bronze #27 Rick Leach

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Bronze #348 Ed Hearn

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Gold #251 Mark Lemke

I had to check.  Yes, this Mark Lemke is a glowback card.

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Gold #251 Mark Lemke

So, there you have (most of) it.  The package contained 23 buyback cards.  In addition were a few of the 2018 Topps 1983 design inserts.  I'm not sure how much I want to complete this set with my recent decision to get rid of most of my modern, but I'm leaving them on my want list because of how many other cards are currently in my traders.

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps Baseball #83-10 Eric Thames

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps Baseball #83-11 Matt Carpenter

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps Baseball #83-20 Alex Wood

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps Baseball #83-29 Harrison Bader

I follow baseball so little that I've never heard of Harrison Bader.

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps Baseball #83-76 Ryan McMahon

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps Baseball #83-93 Chris Sale

If you read this, thank you so much for the trade, Dan!  Hopefully we'll get the chance to work out another one down the road.

I've decided to try selling on Sports Card Direct again.  Hopefully you'll take a look at my page and see if there's anything you're interested in.  I can always sell off the site and ship in a PWE if you're only looking for a card or two and don't want to pay $3 shipping.

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!  I have another $40+ going into my Paypal account in the next couple weeks.

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

COMC Show & Tell - Player Collection Buybacks

Most of my baseball player collections are guys whose cards are nothing but "commons," and the guys didn't have long careers.  One of the benefits is that it's not necessarily difficult attempting to put together a complete run of their cards.  One of the cons is that since they weren't stars, they aren't showing up in any current sets.

Enter the Topps buybacks.

Some guys, like Steve Kline, I haven't seen buybacks for.  However, I've seen a few for Chris Enochs, Russ Davis and Darrell Whitmore.  Many people dislike the buybacks, and particularly last year's "Rediscover Topps," but for guys like me, it's a rare opportunity to add something new to old player collections.

One problem is that there was no checklist released by Topps, that I know of.  Davis was in Topps sets for the better part of a decade and there may be buybacks for some seasons and not others.  That's not even taking into account the different stamp colors.  UGH!

I recently discovered that Trading Card Database has the sets in the system, and as users report cards, they are added.  It will never be a complete checklist, but it's better than nothing.  It's also nice since that's where I'm cataloging my collection and I'll be able to get these in.

Thanks to COMC, I was able to add three on my last shipment.

2017 Bowman - Bowman Buybacks Bronze #204 Chris Enochs 

2017 Bowman - Bowman Buybacks Bronze #204 Chris Enochs (back) 

 I found two copies of this card and happily picked up both of them for a combined $1.85.

2017 Bowman - Bowman Buybacks Silver #342 Russ Davis   

2017 Bowman - Bowman Buybacks Silver #342 Russ Davis (back)

It took $2.25 to get this one, but compared to prices on eBay it seemed like a steal, considering shipping.

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Blue #193 Russ Davis 

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps Stamped Buybacks Blue #193 Russ Davis (back)

This is my favorite card of the bunch.  I don't recall thinking that much about the 1997 Topps design in 1997.  Fast forward twenty-one years and I really like it.  Also, the blue foil stamping blends into the card well.  I really dig that.

This one set me back $1.99.  I wouldn't pay that much for any random buyback, but I think it was also a steal at that price to add to my Russ Davis collection.

Shane, of Shoebox Legends, is the one that turned me on to buybacks in general with his Frankenset posts.  I also realize that many collectors aren't fans of the buybacks.  What I'm curious to know is aimed at player collectors.  Do you look for these to add to your player collection(s) and what is your thought process on that?  Please comment below with your thoughts.  I'd love to read them!

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

COMC Show & Tell - 1948 Bowman

I believe that 85% of card-related blogs are baseball centric, so I'm sure that many will be disappointed in the blog title and post.  Why?  Because it's vintage football.

I paid a total of $2.90 for these cards.  I usually don't want to pay more than $1 for 1950-55 Bowman football commons, but the 1948s aren't as easy to come into, so I was willing to pay just a little more.

I love the images on the 1950 and 1951 Bowman cards much better than the photos that came afterward.  There's something about these photos that I enjoy.  I believe that it's the black and white photo.  That, or the helmets that the players are wearing.

1948 Bowman #31 Salvatore Rosato 

1948 Bowman #31 Salvatore Rosato (back)

1948 Bowman #67 Paul McKee

1948 Bowman #67 Paul McKee (back)

This is the only card listed for both players on Trading Card Database.  It's likely there are some oddball/regional issues not on the site, but they have to be the only mainstream cards.  I wonder what percentage of players from the early days of trading cards had just one card and if those men were interested enough to try and own a copy.

I only have four cards from this set so far, but I'm almost 4% of the way to set completion!  I have no plans to actually pursue completion, but I'll not pass up cheap cards that I come into.

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

COMC Show & Tell - Hey, (Josh) Judy

A few weeks ago, I had a shipment sent from COMC.  It wasn't just any shipment, it was the largest shipment I've ever received.  I can't speak for anyone else, but years ago when I joined COMC, I never imagined I'd have a 432 card mailday.  What's the most you've had sent on one shipment?

Over the next few weeks, I'll post some of the pickups as I scan, enter them into my Trading Card Database collection and the other many things I do that are completely ridiculous.  I never would have seen this as the future when I started collecting in 1987.

These four cards are ones that I needed for my Josh Judy collection.  Judy was born in my hometown and once I discovered that, it was a given that I'd collect his cards.  Per TCDB, there are 56 cards of him, but I think there are a few minor league cards missing.

Many like COMC.  I also see a lot of whiners and complainers about it.  I added all four of these cards to my collection for $1.57.  I'm happy with that.

2011 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects - Chrome Purple Refractors #51 Josh Judy 

I tried scanning this card two different ways.  It makes me happy that the scan reflects that the card is a refractor.  In both scans, the border comes out blue.  I promise, it's purple!

2011 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects - Chrome Refractors #51 Josh Judy 

2011 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects - Chrome #51 Josh Judy 

2011 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects - Gold #51 Josh Judy

Yes, my goal is to have one of every Josh Judy card.  I also realize that with 1/1s it won't happen.  It won't stop me from trying.

At this point, my Judy collection is just over halfway complete.  I don't think it would take anything more than a quick search of Ebay, COMC and Sportlots to get that up to 75%.  In time...

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!