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!!

Winner, Winner!!

Last night I was looking over Twitter and saw that Topps was giving away 3 boxes of Series 1 cards. I retweeted it thinking there was no way I would win with over 1200 people taking a shot at it. Lo and behold, this morning I get tweet saying my self and 2 Yankee fans did indeed win. I guess I'll be able to get my Mariners and hopefully some other nice cards. Big thanks to Topps and Twitter for the chance to win!

Storm Warning

I know my people in the ATL might not like this, but I'm here to tell you it's coming. GO HAWKS!!

Here's a head scratcher...

Have you ever gone through your boxes of cards and said what is this?? I was going through some of my boxes of junk cards looking for some cards to send out soon and came across a couple that made wonder about. Our first specimen is this fine 1998 Topps offering of Jeff Montgomery.

I'm not totally sure where Topps was going with this except that Jeff is a closer so as a "fireman" he needs an extinguisher? I thought those guys had trucks and big hoses, not that little thing.

The next one was also a Kansas City Royal. The funny thing is, that I never remember Gibby being with the Royals. I present to you Kirk Gibson in all his 1992 Donruss glory as a Royal.

This lead me to look up his career to see how long I missed him being in KC. Turns out it was only 1991, but did you know that he also played for a short time in 1992 with the Pirates? Here's the proof:



courtesy of bing images

 I'm sure I'll find more later on, but I thought somebody might get a chuckle out of these.

I feel like Elvis

I feel like the King but in a good way. You see there was a definite theme to the few gifts I got for Christmas this year. I had a very BLUE Christmas but it all was to my liking. I just might be ready for the game on New Year's Day.

GO BLUE!!!!

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!!!


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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?:

Perfect Season Denied!!

I will be at work today because of not working on the holiday and won't get to watch the game live. I think this is a true statement of what this game will mean this year and moving forward:

I think with Coach Hoke and that guy in the red coat will become like the legend of Bo and Woody from back in the day. My prediction for the game:

GO BLUE!!!

Dawgs don't like Cats

Today we settle the bragging rights in the state for another year. We all know that Dawgs are better than cats(Cougars) in every way shape and form!

GO DAWGS!!

Hit the road, Jack!!

I have been waiting for this day since the middle of the 2010 season! The three letters that have escaped the Mariners for so long finally came yesterday: DFA!!

Say it with me, Chone Figgins you are out of here!! The Donkey days are no more. While it wasn't a Bill Bavasi signing, it was as bad as some of his. I think we've learned our lesson about picking through the Angels scrap heap with Scott Spiezio, Jarrod Washburn, Jeff Weaver, and Chone Figgins. 10 days to trade(ha,ha), release, or outright him to the minors. Goodbye Donkey!!

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!!