The Masterpiece is COMPLETE!!!

We all know that Michelangelo had the Sistine Chapel as his masterpiece.

Everyone has seen the most famous woman ever in Da Vinci's crowning achievement in the Mona Lisa.

I went to my mailbox yesterday, and found the finishing touches on my coup de grace! Tom had come through again. The last two cards I needed for the Mariners Super Set came a week before the All Star Game. There was a 1994 Fleer Update RC of Alex Rodriguez and a 2001 Fleer Tradition RC of Ichiro. Two cards that are neither cheap or easy to come by. From the note inside I gather that there was some finagling to be able to secure these cards.

I feel so honored that these two beauties are now in their proper spot with the other nearly 3500 Mariners cards I own. Since my wife and son and I took a trip last weekend to Safeco Field and watched them lose to the Cubs in extra innings of a beautiful turn back the clock game, I picked up a Topps Mariners team set in the team store.

That is 17 more cards to add to the collection. As we all know, Topps has made the collecting world go crazy for Series 2 in the last few weeks. My team being the less than stellar team with very few stars only gets 8 cards in Series 2. Those 8 cards are now in their rightful place in the binder with the other 1250+ Topps cards made and I'm at 100% COMPLETE!!

I do believe that my next goal will be to work on the collections of some of my favorite players. I have the checklists made out, I just need to sit down and organize and double check them. I want to say thank you to all the people out there that I have traded with so far that have helped me get to the place of completeness. Without the help of everyone, I wouldn't have gotten this done!! If you could help with the new ones great.

Thank you again to all the collectors that have helped me so far to get all these great cards!!

Time to Double Down!!

I love to come home and check the mail and find random envelopes with cards in them. Today bought another surprise from Tom with a few more Mariners to push the Super Set to near completion!! He was able to find the last two cards I needed from Donruss in a Rafael Soriano and an Ichiro! He also sent me six more from Fleer to bring their total down to 2 cards left!! The last two might prove to be difficult unless someone just has these cards laying around. I would give just about anything to get these last two cards into mt possession and be able to complete this lifelong dream. Here are a Mariners fan's most wanted card for his collection:

courtesy of eBay

 Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the first of my needs in the form of a 1994 Fleer Update rookie card of an over payed, soon to be confirmed cheater that is in New York now but started his time here in Seattle.

courtesy of eBay

Lastly, the second card to complete the dream is 2001 Fleer Tradition rookie card of Ichiro. I have watched him the last two nights as the Yankees have been in town to play the Mariners, and he is definitely starting to show his age and decline. It doesn't surprise me that the last two would be the higher priced RC's. If you have either one and would be willing to part with it, let me know and we will see what kind of deal can be made. I can't believe that I might get this done before the All Star break this year!!

I'm looking for a 10...

Where has I been? Unfortunately work has taken most of my time, and having a 14 year old son in two baseball leagues takes the rest of the free time. Not too long ago, Tom who has been like my personal savior with cards lately came through again. 

Within his last two packages, I was able to come up with the final cards I needed for my Angels in the Desert project. I now have all the 222 cards that I know of from the stadium of my childhood. The thing that is making most happy is that I am so close to finally completing my major project that had been almost 30 years in the making. I am the proud owner of 3439 of the 3449 base cards that have been since the Mariners inception in 1977. I am currently in need if these 10 cards to finish the dream. Can you help find these to help me out??

2001 Donruss

194 Rafael Soriano

2004 Donruss

381 Ichiro Suzuki Team Card

1994 Fleer Update

86 Alex Rodriguez 

1998 Fleer Tradition

587 Randy Johnson

2001 Fleer Tradition 

452 Ichiro

2002 Fleer Tradition 

88 Ichiro

345 Kazuhiro Sasaki

491 Bret Boone

2003 Fleer Tradition 

51 Ichiro

179 Dan Wilson 

More Angels Scoring in the Upper Deck

Sometimes when I get as package like this in the mail I feel like I'm cheating on my team. I'm sure that everyone knows that I am the lone Mariners fan out here in the blog world. I take great pride in rooting for my team that has been down for quite a few years. Yesterday's package came to me and there was only 2 Mariners cards and the rest were all California Angels cards. Yes, as you all know I grew up in the part time spring training home of the Angels until the 1193 season, even though I left after school in 1989.

I must say that I don't really know how we as collectors survived before the Internet and social networking. The mailer that came in yesterday is from a man that I've never met bet we have been on Facebook for quite a while. He continues to find cards I need for my collections, and keep humbly accepting them. I constantly ask how I can repay him, and he asks me to pay it forward and help out other collectors. As of today in the Mariners Super Set, I now have all the cards from both Score and Upper Deck. These were the last two pieces to those puzzles:

The 1994 Score of Bret Boone with a guest appearance by Willie McGee was the last of the 314 Score cards. The 1998 Upper Deck of Jay Buhner Making History was card #568 of the 568 from Upper Deck. It is so awesome to have three makers down and only two to go. I am down to about 14 cards from Donruss to blow them up, and the big challenge to finish off the 49 cards from Fleer and their run of Mariners. I seriously think and hope that I will make this baby happen by the All Star break!!


Tom also seems to have some kind of connection to someone that is secretly hiding all the cards I need for my projects and slowly releases them to me. Inside the mailer was a stack of VINTAGE TOPPS. Just look at the beauty of these 50 year old LA Angels before they were the California Angels. You know that even if this was your most hated rival of a team, you wouldn't just drool all over yourself to find cards that are 50 years old coming to you!!

Being an equal opportunity giver of all things I need to make collections, there just happen to be a nice stack of 17 cards that came from a five year run of Donruss from 1982 to 1987. There were some fairly big names that were later in their careers that were Halos that I saw around Palm Springs Stadium in my junior high and high school days. Here is a look at about half of those Donruss cards that are now going into the binder with the other Angels that are the ones I want to collect.

It seems that most mail I get from Tom is somehow always got cards that will finish off years or sets or has some kind of finishing touch. Earlier it was the finishing of Mariners sets. Here is the last six Halos that were necessary to finish Fleer and add them to Score as finished Angels. The mountain behind Ron Romanick reminds me so much of my young days in the desert since the mountain range was always behind you. I love the look of Tim Foli and his 80's aviator glasses, so classic!

Not to be outdone, Upper Deck did a few cards from the Coachella Valley before the Angels left for the greener pastures of Tempe, AZ. I only needed two last cards from UD to complete them. If you sense the theme here, Tom finished them too. I had never seen the Von Hayes up close, but that bat shattering is an awesome pic by the cameraman. The last one is a guy that I always thought had one of the coolest names in Chili Davis. Until I found it was a nickname, I wondered what kind of parent would name their boy after something to eat.

I am so proud that the numbers for my collections continues to get smaller and smaller. It is hard to believe that I am down to only trying to find 63 cards for the Mariners to get me to the over 3400 base cards out there. Even though it was only a side project, i find myself down to needing 21 more Halos cards to put what was once just a thought of a collection to completion. Big thanks again to the Internet and social media for helping us collectors connect with each other to help fulfill our dreams, and collections!!

I'm a Fan-attic and Facebook comes through again!!

Yesterday was a productive day around my house. I was able to do a ton of yard work like mowing, and getting moss killer on the grass. My wife was cleaning the inside of the house, so I was gone to wash cars. Next comes the standard w need to go to the grocery store. Not really my favorite trip, but I do like to eat. As we come home, I stop for the mail and she starts tossing stuff at me saying "it's all for you." In all reality, only half was for me. The first thing is find is a nice little PWE from Jeff. If you don't know him, he is the new man behind the Fan-Attic Sports Card Blog. He sent me the last 1994 UD card I needed, only to find I guess I didn't need it because I can't find any Mariners on it, except on the back for stats. Don't you hate when you've needed a card for forever and then find out it wasn't one that fits your collection?

What was I thinking? I guess I need to quit trusting the internet when it tells me I need a card

 He also sent me a 94 Score of Bosio's no no to finish that year, and another 95 Score of Bobby Ayala to inch that one closer too. Thanks Jeff!!

Not to let it end there, I also got another fat package from a friend on Facebook. I have never met Thomas before, but he randomly sends me mailers that might have a couple cards, or yesterday's fat pack of want list goodness! There were all kinds of Mariners I needed for the Super Set. The best part of the big pile of goodness was the Angels in the desert he sent my way! There was a stack of 26 Angels that were all on the want list. I never really thought about this side project when I first started it, but it's getting closer too!

Just some of the Palm Springs goodness that came!!

Thanks to Jeff and Thomas, I am getting closer to finishing the Mariners. I think I can do it before the All Star break without having to buy them online with the help of so many great bloggers that I've traded with over the years who are always willing to help out! I'm down to needing 1card to finish off Score, Do you have this one to spare?:

I can't find a picture of it anywhere, but does anyone have a 1998 Upper Deck #3 of Jay Buhner?? That would be the last card I need to finish off Upper Deck too. I can't believe that those two cards would finish off two makers and leave me with Donruss and Fleer to go. I don't know why Fleer have been a thorn in my side and still needs almost 50 cards to finish them off.

Big thanks to both collectors for the help, and if you have any of the cards I need in the lists on the right side over there, let me know if you can help out!!

24 is the new 21 don't you know...

We all know that if you've ever played Blackjack you don't want to go over 21 or you bust. I'm quite glad that the trade that came to me this week has a guy who's favorite player wore #24. One of the newer blog sensations is TJ who is a Junior Junkie. I recently sent him a small box with a couple of extra Griffey's I had laying around (you get a few cards of Ken when you are a Mariners collector). He in turn sent me a small flat rate box packed with all kinds of M's cards. The most important cards were definitely these 4 babies!

The last 3 cards I needed to finish off the 1991 Upper Deck Update cards. I really thought those three might be the death of me since they seem to be ones I don't see around very often. I was not surprised to find a 98 UD Griffey I needed too. Who wouldn't think that a Junior collector wouldn't come through with some of his cards. Also in the mammoth box was some cards of my favorite current Mariner in Kyle Seager. I don't know why, but this kid is one I really like and think he might have the chance to do some good stuff.

Not to be outdone, there was a few cards that hearken back to when I first became a Mariners fan. I found the team in the summer of 1982, when I came to the Seattle area with my grandmother when she moved here. It was a nice vacation from living in the desert in the 110 degree summers. There was rarely too many games on TV back then, but I would listen to Dave Niehaus on the radio and became a Mariners fan, and some of these guys were the first ones I got to know.

Not to be outdone by putting cards to knock down the Super Set, TJ included a couple of cards from my favorite Mariner still to this day. There is a reason why he is still known as Mr. Mariner. While I have no disrespect for his favorite guy in Ken, I still believe the Mariners need to do the right thing as an organization and retire #21 for Alvin as the first number to be retired. Alvin came in to the team after Ken Phelps broke his hand in the third game of the season. All Alvin did was become an All Star and win ROY in 1984 with teammate Mark Langston finishing second. We would be with Seattle through 1991, only to be released at play a season closer to home in Riverside, CA with the Angels. I have a special place for these Alvin's.

In about the middle of all the Mariner goodness was this beauty. While I'm not a guy who goes after autos, relics or any of that stuff, It always cool to get one just to say I have in my collection. This a pretty nice one of a guy that had promise but injuries have derailed him. Adam Moore was going to be the catching savior that Jeff Clement couldn't be. We've only really ever had one good catcher in Dan Wilson. Adam showed promise in the appearances he made, but after continuing to tear parts of his knees it all went downhill. What good is a catcher if his knees are shot? Adam was let go last year, and caught on with the Royals, but is in their camp this spring as an NRI.

If you have any cards of Ken, whether they be Seattle, Cincinnati, or White Sox send them down to Louisiana way. I also know that if you have cards of players that were born in the Bayou State or the Saints he would be happy to see those too. I might have to put together some Who Dat's for him since I have a stockpile of stuff from when my cousin was a Saint for 5 seasons. Gigantic thanks again to TJ and go see him and see if you can hook him up too...

Not to end the fun there, I was the victim of the highly common PWE Bombs that are sweeping the nation. I think everyone knows the sneakiness of Wes who runs Jaybarkerfan's Junk. You open your mailbox and BOOM! there are random cards you weren't expecting. I got an envelope that contained the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I would classify Mark Lowe and Sean Green as the good. Jeff Harris was bad, he just wasn't all that great and somebody had to be the bad guy. Sorry Jeff. I won't hide my disdain for this guy and will always call him the ugly stain on the M's franchise. The Orioles gave us a worthless Erik Bedard, and got some damn good players in return. I don't even know what happen to Erik, nor do I care. I just want Adam Jones back so we could have a good center fielder. We haven't had one since this guy on his old school looking card. But Mike has to share company with an old card in Mark Langston and his spring training mesh back hat.

Big thanks to Wes for some random M's from all over the board. Keep an eye on your mailbox because you never know where he might strike next. It could be you, or any other of the great bloggers and traders out there who get free cards at any time without warning!!

Lucky 7!!

Since it has been a week since I sent them out, I hope everyone that wanted the 2013 Topps from the box break got their cards. I set aside the Pirates for Big Daddy Filth of Gravediggers, Mooses, and such fame. He was nice enough to send me back a few Mariners in return. In fact all 7 cards were of two guys that I needed for the Super Set. Victor sent these 3 beauties from Score to knock it down needing 11 cards from them. Look at Junior and Randy in all their Mariner glory:

Randy is looking at The Kid thinking why do we have to be on the same team, if he wasn't here I'd be the star of this city. We had so many good guys in the 90's that it's sad they couldn't bring it all together just once to make the Series.

Not to be out done, there was another 4 cards from Upper Deck that will be going into the binders to knock down the needed number even lower. It amazes how many cards Ken had during his heyday as the face of MLB that I have to collect as a Mariner. As you can see, Griffey won out on the numbers game against Randy again:

Thanks to Victor, that now brings me down to only needing 93 cards to bring this lifelong project to completion. I'm hoping that as the season comes, and progresses I can either trade or buy my way to making this dream a reality.

If you have anything laying around that is Pittsburgh related in any sport, go and see him and see if you can work a deal with him. I know that he will take care of you the way he helped me. Big thanks again to Big Daddy Filth, and for him I say raise the Jolly Roger for the Buccos!!



Inching closer

As you may or may not know there is so many ways to connect via social medias in this day and age. One man that has hooked up with me through Facebook continually finds cards and sends them to my mailbox. Yesterday brought another package from Tom and held another 30 cards I needed for the Super Set.

The amazing thing is he is working off a checklist from my blog that he printed last June!! With the cards that are now in my collection, I am so excited to know that I only need 101 Mariners cards to finish off this project that I have been working on since I started collecting Mariners cards more than 25 years ago. I hope that some of the great bloggers that are receiving cards from Series 1 from me will help knock that number to double digits! Could I actually complete the 3400+ card Super Set by the end if the season or maybe the All-Star break? I know if you guys have your way it will get done and that's why I love my fellow writers!!

Just to let everyone that asked for cards from the free box from Topps, they went out today and most all should be to you on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I hope everyone is ready for the regular season like I am!!

Brighter than the sun!!

First off I will admit I am more of a rock kind of guy. It doesn't make if it's rock from the 60's all the way to a lot of modern rock. I do like that song by Colbie Caillat, and she's easy on the eyes too. I know how does her and the song relate to cards?? Follow my lead and you will see...

Not too long ago, I hooked up with Ryan of Building a Better Collection about working a deal. I sent him some Braves and some other random football stuff for some Mariners he had laying around. The first thing of beauty was my first 2013 Topps card of flamethrower Carter Capps.

There were some colorful shiny cards of parallels from the last few years, but the blinding need that was in there starts with these cards that are now 25 years old!! That's right folks, 1988 Score Rookie&Traded is 25!!

Also not to be out done on the brightness scale was the last needs to a very cheery set in the 1991 Fleer updates. These four guys found their place to the Super Set, and I continue to chip away at whats left  of the less than 200 cards I need to finish it. Maybe you have some I need, or I might hit Sportlots one day.

A big thanks again goes out to Ryan, and hit him up if you have Braves, or Redskins laying around and want to hook up a trade!!

Doing some Donruss

Not long ago, I saw another blog list out by each different card maker their wantlists. I cleaned up the old checklists and everything in order again. Donruss was kind enough to make 504 base cards for the Mariners, and I currently own ALL 504 OF THEM!!!

Updated 6/7/13
Current 504/504(100%)


THIS RUN IS DONE!! ALL DONRUSS ARE ON BOARD!

Find me some Fleer

Here is the second installment in the I need these cards to make the big set be done. Fleer lasted as long as Donruss did. While they did many different variations, I'm only intersted in their flagship cards. There was 747 base cards from Fleer for the Mariners from 1981-2007. Now I own them all!!!


.









Updated 7/7/13
Current 747/747(100%)


I OWN THEM ALL!!

THIS RUN IS COMPLETE!!!

Settling a Score

While they didn't last as a card maker for very long, they had an impact in the 1990's. The first card company of the "junk wax" era was also it's first casualty. During their run from 1988-1998 Score made 313 base Mariner cards. I currently own ALL of these cards!!!!

Updated 4/12/13
Current 313/313(100%)

THIS RUN IS COMPLETE!!!!!

Unearthing some Upper Deck

The year was 1989. It was my year to graduate from high school and get into the world. A new card company had decided to join the overloaded baseball card market. They would change the industry. From the start in 1989 until their end in 2010 Upper deck made some cards. As far as the Mariners go, they made 575 cards for the team, including their first card which is still sought after. I currently own ALL the cards from Upper Deck, meaning I currently am finished with this one and am closer to finishing the project!!!

Updated 4/12/13
Current 575/575 (100%)

THIS RUN IS COMPLETE!!!!!

Completion, and coming soon...

First, I want to throw out a couple of thank yous to some guys for cards. The first goes out to Jeff of 2x3 Heroes. I put up the last post asking for someone to help me find a man in my life. Jeff stepped and brought me Kevin Millwood to complete me. OK, maybe he helped me complete the 2012 Topps I needed.

The next would go to what I hope is a new reader in Michael. I recently saw a post on Wrigley Wax about a big old box of cards he got from reader named Michael. Michael was kind enough to send me the one card out of the Heritage high # set of Hisashi Iwakuma. While it's not a set I collect, I'm always open to new M's cards.

My last thanks goes out to my main Michigan man Dennis of Too Many Verlanders. While I was at odds with him for a few days while I was rooting for the Giants in the World Series, we never disagree on our love for the Wolverines. Dennis was cleaning out some cards, and I claimed his Mariners. In that stack I found two 1998, and one 1999 Fleer card to help shave down the Mariners Super Set. GO BLUE!!

The final thing to chew on, is the coming soon. Coming soon will be a new and updated wants list of each maker for the Super Set. I know that I am down to needing less than 200 cards from all 5 of the big company's base and traded sets over the years. I'm really hoping that after the holidays, I can work on getting this thing done, hopefully during Spring Training and before the season starts so I can focus on the 2013 cards. I know it can be done, because all you wonderful guys and ladies out ther have helped me so well before.

Desperately Seeking Kevin...

If you are like me and are a child that grew up in the 80's you would definitely remember this movie:

you must admit, Madonna was hot back in the day...

I am kind of feeling the same way, but I'm seeking a MAN! Thanks to the wonder of social media, I received a package yesterday that contained 6 of the 7 cards I needed from 2012 Update. This is not the first time that I have received cards from friends on Facebook. The same guy had previously sent me all the remaining cards I needed to finish both 1969 and 1970 Pilots cards, and some Mariners that were needed too. I know that some one must have an extra one of these lying around that maybe they can spare?:

Back in the Saddle

I'm sure most of you have forgotten about me. I know that I have been a very poor blogger lately. I'm sure you all know the way life works. Working 10-12 hours daily, your son being in two to three sports at the same time, and a wife that doesn't really like, understand, or support my hobby. Not only does life take up most of my time, but I have only been able to look at the Internet for the last month on my phone. One morning my computer decided to revert back to it's factory settings. All my files were there, but getting back online and resetting everything is a pain.

I have decided that now that baseball season is over, I can really start to focus on what I want to do with my collections, and maybe try to thin out some of these extra cards. One thing I would really like to wrap up is 2012 Topps. I know that it's been out for a while and I still need 7 cards from Update to put this last season's Mariners to bed:

18 Tom Wilhelmsen
90 Michael Saunders
92 Chone Figgins
187 John Jaso
204 Jesus Montero
245 Erasmo Ramirez
303 Kevin Millwood

Besides those cards for 2012, I am down around 200 total cards needed to fill out the nearly 3400 base cards of the Mariners since starting in 1977. I'm thinking I might have to break down and hit up some sites and buy these cards if I can't find them soon. It is a personal goal to get the Super Set done so I can focus on player collections. In the next few weeks or months, I'm hoping to have definitive want lists for my three player collections, and any new players that my son decides he wants to collect. The players on those lists:

Willie Stargell
Dale Murphy
Alvin Davis

Tim Lincecum(Andrew's collection)

The other order of business probably starting in the next year is to really try to focus on my Angels in the Desert collection. I think I am about half way on getting that one done, but it will be my second priority after I can hopefully get the Mariners Super Set done. Let's hope my work schedule will start to slow down soon, and I can get back to more regular posts, and hopefully I can get some trading done to work on my projects!!

It's that time...

I'm sure you all have run out the stores and have found all kinds of Update cards to your heart's delight. Sometimes out here in the Northwest, things move at a different pace. Yes the LCS's have them, but good luck trying to find it anywhere else. Since the new series is out and I continue to not want hundreds more cards that I don't want or need cluttering up my life, I once again ask for your help. The Mariners have 9 cards featured n the Update set this year. I need these cards to add to the Mariners Super Set that is getting closer to completion.

US18 Tom Wilhelmsen
US84 Eric Thames
US90 Michael Saunders
US92 Chone Figgins
US187 John Jaso
US204 Jesus Montero
US236 Lucas Luetge
US245 Erasmo Ramirez
US303 Kevin Millwood

Good luck to the eight teams remaining in the playoffs, and thanks in advance for helping me get these cards in the binder. Also, if you have extra Mariners cards laying around, I do need about 200 cards still to fill out the Super Set. Just look them up by maker over on the right, and maybe we can work out a deal so I can finish off all the binders someday. Thanks again!!

Anybody seen my cards?

Not too long ago, I put out a request for help in collecting 2012 Topps Mariners. Unfortunately, I didn't have very good information on what cards were in Series 2 for my beloved losers. Here is the updated list of Mariners I still need for the Super Set:

#378 Brandon League
#397 Hector Noesi
#430a Felix Hernandez
#430b Felix-Larry Bernandez
#484 Hisashi Iwakuma
#526 Casper Wells
#537a Ichiro
#537b Ichiro- Sunglasses
#548 Charlie Furbush
#606 Mike Carp
#627 Justin Smoak
#645 Kyle Seager

If you have any extras of any of these cards I would appreciate them. This has worked well the last few years for me and has kept me from continuing to buy pack after pack hoping to get the few Mariners I need to keep me happy. Thanks in advance to all my fellow bloggers!!

Swing and miss...

Have you ever put so much work into one of your personal collections that you are proud of yourself? You know that you have done research, made spreadsheets, and always have your checklists and want lists in order. For some reason as you read all the great blogs out there, you see something that you don't remember. I just did that the other day, and my world was turned upside down. I was reading the great Night Owl as I always do, and in part two of his report to the card show I saw a card that struck me.

This my friends is 1977 Topps #478. I never knew that this card contained a "Mariner" aka Dave Johnson. I thought I had 1977 all done and wrapped up in the binder long ago. Now I guess it is time again to try and find time in an already busy life to sit and re-check my collection. I wonder and hope there aren't many more cards that I missed. I guess that one card won't make too much of a difference since I only need 277(?) Mariners cards to have all the base and traded series from all five makers for my favorite team.

Let's play Go Fish

You all played the game Go Fish when you were a kid right? Let's try it. Do you have any "Kings"? No, go fish. Okay I'm trying to "Fish" the blog world to see if anyone has an extra of this King:

The one card I need to finish off Series 1 contains King Felix. Anybody want to help the King make it back to his castle??