Big Fun Spoils

Wes brought out the big guns for the Big Fun Game. That is probably the least surprising statement in the history of mankind.  For those that know Wes, know for a fact that he is a madman.

I got a late number slot in the Big Fun Game which is good and bad.  The good thing is that it doesn't give much time for my card to get stolen, but the negative side of things is that the heavy hitters are likely not eligible to be stolen as they would have been passed around several times.

Well, things happened to work out for me....

 My prize was this cool printing plate of Casey Stengel.  A pretty cool card for just randomly picking a number!

Of course Wes threw in a couple of extras.

 An extra for Wes is a Pops relic.... Sweet Spot Classic was a cool set.  Great shot of the Pirate legend.

Cole Tucker was a first round pick for the Buccos a few years back, but was injury plagued from day one.  He seems healthy now and has really come out of the gate strong.  The Pirates need as many good middle infield prospects as they can get.

Thanks for the Big Fun Game Wes. You really outdid yourself.  Look forward to whatever else you got in mind.

Custom Contest Winnings

Recently Gavin of Baseball Card  Breakdown held an 800th post contest extravaganza.  Contests are always fun, but Gavin sweetened the pot more than usual by offering to throw in complete sets of his custom cards. Count me in! 

Well since I'm writing this post you can probably guess things worked out in my favor.  

Gavin and I have good contest chemistry.  He has won a few of mine over the last couple of years and now I'm winning his.  

 Custom Clemente mini!!!!!  Very cool.

Sweet Spot was a great set, but the base set autos are having trouble standing the test of time.  If you didn't protect your card from the elements the autos have likely faded away from the sweet spot of the ball.  With that being said the parallels which featured autos on bats and gloves look fantastic.  This is one of the better autos I've seen.  The card really pops.

 Leaf Certified is one of the hardest sets to remember if you have cards from. I think Bowman must have gotten inspiration from this set.  I personally loved this set as it featured many Buccos that didn't get love from the card companies like Jose Castillo.

 BWTP favorite Jason Bay! This is /50.

 Steve Pearce's tenure with the Buccos was riddled with injuries. He was given multiple chances to take the first base job, but just couldn't stay on the field.  Thankfully he stuck with it and is finding success in his early 30's.  Always cool to see things workout for guys like this.

 A nice  Bowman Chrome auto to add to the collection.

 Bowman sterling was kind of an odd set with the small player pictures. The auto is definitely front and center in this set.

Gavin must have hit Bowman Bucco jackpot at some point.  Check this out....

 Lot's of nice rookie parallels. I really like the Connor Joe green parallel.

 Gavin's Bowman generosity didn't stop with regular cards.....How about minis!

 He even found a current Bucco.

Thanks for all the great cards Gavin.  Now it is time for the main event.  Customs!!!!!!

 Most of you have probably seen these, or even received them over the course of the past year. The Robin Yount is so cool.

On the back of each card it gives a bio of the player and mentions which bloggers collect that particular player.

 The Kid is looking ripped in this photo.

 Of course I wanted to make special note of this one.

 The set Gavin gave me was a special 1/1 contest winning set.  Complete with engraved star.

That was only the first round.....

 Some young stars of our game. I feel bad for Mike Trout. The Angels are sooooo bad and he soooo incredibly good.  Once again he'll likely be the most deserving of the MVP award, but lose to someone who plays on a good team.

 Like Gavin, I'm a huge fan of Giancarlo Stanton.  Did you see the homer he hit Colorado the other night.  500+ feet!

Have to end with a bang.  I love this card! 

Thanks so much Gavin.  I'm jealous of your custom talent. Thanks so much for sharing all these great cards. Needless to say I was very pumped when I won this contest.  

Thanks for reading! 

Gavin Hits a Homerun

The scanner is alive! It just needed a ton of updates that I had been ignoring so it decided to not scan until said updates were completed. Lets take a close look at the greatness that Gavin sent my way.

Gavin's note that accompanied the cards warned me that he pretty much unloaded every Pirate card at his disposal. Music to my ears! I consider it my job to provide safe haven to all Pirates cards no matter the year or condition.

This package had it all. No matter what your collecting habits are, you will find something that fits your style.

Managers autos are awesome! I've made it a point over the years to add many of the available autos on the market. The Topps Retired of Jim Leyland is among my all time favorites, because it may be one of the nicest auto sets of all time. I'm sure Gavin agrees. As far as I know the only other Pirates manager to have a certified auto that I'm missing is Gene Lamont from 2001 Topps. While not stated the supposed print run on that that card is crazy low.

Gavin went to the Topps Vault! I've ordered a few things over the years from Topps Vault. They always have interesting items like photo negatives and contracts. This is my first blank back. Melancon has been dominant during his tenure as a Pirate. He doesn't have a ton of high end cardboard so this makes an awesome addition to my collection.

The Pirates traded Rajai Davis in the horrible Matt Morris deal. At the time Davis wasn't getting much playing time, but Matt Morris was way past his prime and fizzled out immediately. Davis would go to be a fairly productive outfielder known for his speed. While he doesn't get as much playing time this day his services are still sought after. This Bowman uncirculated card is sweet!

I've been trying to round out my Aramis Ramirez collection. I had a accumulated a decent amount over the years, but it seems like something I haven't seen pops up every few weeks. Gotta love early 2000's card craziness.

/Cue tons more pictures

 Newer cards of older guys. I'm always a sucker for the Tribute cards like the Maz on the bottom left.

 Two nice gold parallels of the last two Pirate closers in Grilli and Melancon.

The Fleer Traynor is fantastic. One of my favorites from the entire package. 

This is actually a certified auto. Guillen was a super prospect for the Buccos, but they rushed him the majors and he was exposed. After he left Pittsburgh he would carve out a pretty decent career, but never come close to the initial hype. 

WVU!!!! Inception is a cool set. Too bad Geno's most famous for getting punched in the face this offseason. 

 The Grilli auto is pretty cool. His penmanship is always kind of all over the place. This is actually one of the better ones.

Fleer Hardball was definitely unique. This card is extra special because it the parallel numbered to /50!

 Some IP autos with the Jay Bell  and Pokey Reese being my favorite. Two favorites of mine!!!

 Some cool cards of a young Tim Wakefield.

 Heritage Buccos.

 Ugh...Bryan Bullington. This card was probably worth a fortune back when was a rookie. He fizzled out very quick. Gavin really helped the Pokey Reese collection!!!

 Some of the famous pre war Buccos lead by Honus and Big Poison.

 Sixto Lezcano has to be in the Pirates name Hall of Fame with Arquimedes Caminero.

 I'm assuming these are from Gavin's Bowman box breaks. Cool to get the base and parallel of Rajai Davis.

 Nice collection of vintage. My favorite is the Dick Cole who looks like one of the least intimidating athletes of all time.

 Gavin even threw in some Steelers.

Another custom to close things out.  How cool is this! Going through these cards really made my day Gavin. I was so pumped when I found out I won your contest. We are getting good at winning each others giveaways!

Thanks for reading

Gavin Delivers Some Walks

I'm on a contest winning streak! I won a factory set from Julie last month and more recently the randomizer and Mets/Royals were kind enough to deliver me a win in Gavin's contest. The exciting aspect of this contest was that Gavin offered up his custom card expertise to the winner. Of course I picked Bob Walk.

The extra bonus of winning a contest from Gavin was that he had been hoarding Buccos for quite some time in anticipation of our next trade. Because of the contest win he decided to unleash a ton of great cards.  I'll be showing those off tomorrow night.

First I figured it would be cool to show the grand prizes.

The first custom Walk is based off of this years Topps design. It's fitting because the picture is actually from this years Wild Card game against the Cubs. Walk threw out the ceremonial first pitch. In hindsight the Pirates should have just let Walk pitch. I'm sure the stuff is as crisp as ever. Just look at him, he looks great! 

Of course any action shot is money in the bank, so utilizing a Stadium Club mold is a great choice. What makes this card stand out is the write up on the back. Nothing sums of Walk more than by saying he oozed class and masculinity. If I had to guess this blurb on the back will be placed on his tombstone someday.

The last custom is a great shot showcasing Walk in the playoffs. How cool is that backdrop! I feel sorry for the batter getting ready to face 115mph heat. 

These really put a smile on my face Gavin. I may have to do a little blog maintenance and put these in the rotation for cover cards on the blog homepage. Thanks again! 

Check in tomorrow to see all the great cards Gavin sent my way. The package included 1/1's, vintage and autos! 

Thanks for reading.