Canadian Pride

2006 UD Sweet Spot Update Jason Bay Quad Patch

Relic week continues!

I lost a little of my cardboard momentum this week since my daughter got sick. Just like her to big time me like that. Damn preschool is a germ cesspool. My wife also works in a hospital so even if you take every precautionary measure it is impossible to keep a four year old from getting sick.  She owes me an eBay gift card. Doesn't she know I have cards to sort. 

For those who don't follow this sort of thing, WBC relics tend to be pretty popular on the secondary market. Being that Bay is one of my all time favorites I tend to grab these Team Canada inspired versions whenever they come up. While not overly expensive these tend to sell for $ than what a normal Bay Pirates patch would sell for. Canadian pride is strong! 2006 was the first year of the WBC as well so that might play a little into the pricing as well.

UD went all in that first year with the WBC.  I recall flagship UD, SPX and Sweet Spot all having some sort of WBC cards in them.  Probably the funnest thing about the WBC is watching teams like Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela play.  A lot of pride on those teams and most of the stars get rostered.  

Thanks for reading! 

Whale Hunting via Wes via Peter

So it begins.... For months Wes has been tormenting me on Twitter that he was going to devote all of 2018 destroying my poor mail carriers back. Little did I know that he also used this time to create cardboard alliances.  Peter from Baseball Every Night decided to join the dark side.

For the last couple of years I've kept a white whale list.  These are all cards I've tried to win on eBay, but have failed to secure on numerous occasions. This current list of 10 has been extra difficult, at least until Peter joined in the hunt. 

 I love this card.  More Pirate cards should have angry logos lurking over the players shoulders.  The silver spectrum parallels from 2006 UD are /99 and kind of a pain in the ass to find at reasonable prices because shipping costs dwarf actual card costs.  Thanks to Peter the hunt is over!

 Not an easy card to scan. As many of you know I love collecting Jason Bay cards.  No player is more represented in my collection that the former Bucco outfielder.  The main holes in my Bay collection are hard to find auto parallels.  I'm not sure where Peter found this 2006 UD Epic Endorsements auto, but I'm happy he did.  Always super exciting to add a new Bay card.

 This card has kind of pissed me off over the course of a year.  Bowman Chrome autos are always on auction on eBay, but yet I could not secure this one.  It was getting comical how many times I got sniped at the last second.  Peter to the rescue!  I'm a sucker for Will Craig cards since he played in Morgantown for the WV Black Bears.

Holy cow Peter, thanks so much for sending me these.  I'm sorry you are now associated with Wes, but I'm willing to let it slide.  Now I plot my revenge.....

The Wes portion of the trade will be posted soon.  In typical Wes fashion it was eclectic and hit based.  Don't think for a second I've been just sitting around not preparing for you....

Diamond King Challenge

One of the fun aspects about our hobby is finding out about cards you had no idea existed. A few weeks back I made such a discovery and really cashed in on some unique cardboard. 

A set that I hold near and dear to my heart is the mid 2000's versions of Diamond Kings.  I'm a fan of canvas cards so that got me interested right away, but what set DK apart was that the checklist was Pirate heavy.  As many of these cards I purchased over the years, one parallel set flew under the radar until my recent eBay discovery.

Have you heard of the DK Challenge Factory Set? Apparently the first 450 collectors to send in the complete base set of 450 cards received a special DK Challenge factory set. Each set would also come with 4 printing plates and two random one of one inserts.  That was news to me. 

When browsing eBay I often look for DK cards and came across a seller liquidating a huge collection of the 1/1's from the challenge set.  I'm not sure if he had them all, but it was close.  I put all the Pirates on my watch list. 

If I recall correctly 11 Pirate 1/1's were listed and I managed to secure 9 of them. The Jason Kendall and Aramis Ramirez were the only ones I lost. High end Kendall cards sell well for whatever reason.   While it may look like I broke the bank, only 2 sold for more than $5 (Jack Wilson and Dave Parker).  Obviously some of the big names went for some huge coin, but overall some good deals were for the taking. I'm guessing the obscurity of the set scared some people off. 

The cards themselves mirror the normal DK cards minus the word "challenge" embossed on the bottom right.  You can't really tell from the scan, but you can notice what looks like some squiggly lines.  That's the work challenge. 

Here they are!

I'm most excited for the two Jason Bay cards.  I'm to the point where it is hard for me to find new ones and I was able to add two from the same seller. For appearance purposes the Cobra would be my first pick.  The guy just has a ton of good cardboard.

Did you know this set existed?

PS: If you want to join Secret Santa 2017 click here.

Thanks for reading.

Frankenstein Card

2006 Bowman Originals Jason Bay Auto/Relic 1/1

This card made me laugh so I put in a small bid and sure enough I won it.  The fact it was a reissue of a relic from 2002 then signed and hand numbered in 2006 seems kind of weird. Who knows, this card might actually be fake.  The Bowman Originals set was riddled with counterfeits on the secondary market.  I remember at one point seeing a handful of fake McCutchen autographs on eBay. I even contacted a seller directly to tell him he may want to take a card down. 

The issue is that most of the autos were stickers so people could manipulate the card and numbering. If you ever think about spending any significant cash on a card from this set make sure you do some research.  It is amazing what people will manipulate in order to make a few bucks.  

Thanks for reading! 

Top 10 Favorite Cards: Jason Bay

I'm not a player collector.  Wandering aimlessly from card to card as a team collector is more my speed. With that being said, I'm not without my preferences. If you read my drivel on a regular basis I tend to wax poetic on Jason Bay more than any other player.

Fellow Pirate blog Collecting Cutch decided to hold a contest where you feature your ten favorite cards of your favorite player.  While this is a little out of my comfort zone (waiting on obscure 90's Pirate inserts contest!), I can definitely hold my own with my favorite Canadian Pirate. The bad thing with Bay is that his peak was right dead smack in hit/relic craze.  He doesn't have many cool base cards and inserts.  I actually have quite a few 1/1's of Bay, but most are on the boring side.  The cards featured were mainly hard to get ones and have a story to go along with them.


10.  I love cards that give me excuses to add autos of other players.  This is a nice triple auto featuring three guys that put up big numbers in the mid to late 2000's. No hall of famers here, but just three guys that had nice long careers.

9.  I'd venture to say not many lists will include Tom Gorzelanny in them. This card made my list as it was the main card in a big purchase around 3 years back.  I actually had no idea this card existed so their was some extra excitement with the purchase.

8. This card cracks me up.  It has 5 signatures of Pirates, but only three in Pirate uniforms. The Pirates were selling off players at a fast pace when this card was made.  So weird and funny it had to be on the list.

7.  Like a college football team that takes a bad loss, this Bay will probably be off the list next year because the red ink will likely fade.  I've done all the precautions to slow it down, but it is likely inevitable. You had a nice run red ink Bay. 

6.   Freaking Ballpark Collections had a knack of showing a player in one uniform and a different team featured in print. It is my only Bay logo card so it was enough to make the list. 

5.  For whatever reason Jason Bay was featured with a lot of Marlins players in a short span. He has cards with Miggy, Josh Willingham and Jeremy Hermida. It also cracks me up that Travis Hafner got thrown in there.  

4. Of all the Bay cards out there, the ones from Exquisite probably took me the longest to get. Lots of low numbered parallels.  This one is on here more for the hunt than the actual look.  

3.    Erase Hafner add David Wright.  While it may look pricey, having Miggy in his Marlins uniform cuts the price down significantly. 

2. Bay doesn't have much with Clemente so this one had to make the list. 

1. It's a tie! I always laugh at Jeter's signature.  He and my 3 year old have similar autos. 

I had three other Bay cards I really wanted to put on the list, but they are buried deep in a closet. So I'll give honorable mention to a couple Bay cards featuring a cool Canadian WBC patch.  

Thanks for reading. 

A New Bay

My daughter decided to be a complete crazy person tonight so I'm getting a late start.

2008 UD Premier Jason Bay Auto /25

This card is a not so subtle reminder that Bay won Rookie of the Year in 2004....

It has been a long time since I've added two Bay autos in the same week. This one comes from 2008 UD Premiere. It has been a long time since I've seen one of these pop up. It is also 9000 times nicer than the quad auto featuring Bay that I dubbed the ugliest card I own on Saturday.

This cost me a shade over $10 which is high for a Bay auto. Makes me think that a few other Bay collectors might have been taking a look at this one. Further proof that these are hard to find. All five of us must have been looking at the same card :)

Hopefully the luck continues with finding Bay's in the coming weeks.

This May be the Ugliest Card I Own

2012 SP Signature Edition Bay/Francouer/Mauer/Willis Auto /20

I found this card on eBay not long after it listed and put it on my watch list. I pretty much hate everything about this card and yet here we are. Please make fun of me in the comments as I deserve every insult for owning this card. The allure of adding a new Jason Bay to my collection was just too much for me to handle.

While I'm not a super collector, Bay holds a special place in my collecting heart. I just enjoy adding cards of his no matter how crappy the design.  You put Polanco or Cutch on this card and I easily pass on it. 

Good lord this card is ugly......but it is mine. 

Thanks for reading.

YAY!!!!

I think I have about 9000 variations of this card, but I still get excited when I find a new one.  For obvious reasons this one is extra special.

2006 Donruss Diamond Kings Jason Bay Dual Relic 1/1

The fun thing about collecting a lot of players that lack big time appeal on the secondary market is that you can chase cards like this and not worry about the price. Most Bay 1/1's these days will cost you in the $10-$20 range.  I would happily sacrifice a blaster for a card like this. 

Bay at one time had a lot of hobby interest when he broke out as a Pirate and was traded to the Red Sox. Unfortunately his big free deal to the Mets was dominated by injury and his career faded fast. For me he will always be a top target for my collection as he continues to be number one on my eBay search list. 

Long live Jason Bay! 

Looking forward to the Pens/Flyers outdoor game tonight.  Go Pens! 

Thanks for reading. 

A Few Drops Still Remain in the Well

2007 UD Black Jason Bay Bat Barrel Auto /10

Well, I had no idea this card existed. I'm probably tuned in to Jason Bay cards more than any other player in my Pirates collection, but this one still slipped through the cracks.  Obviously the low print run is the reason why, but I'm still surprised that I've never seen this card pop up.  I even searched UD Black a lot over the years because Tom Gorzelanny and Adam Laroche had some nice cards within the set.

Finding new Bay autos these days us pretty tough so when I first saw this I put a good sized opening bid in.  Bay cards don't sell for much these days, but I figured this one would at least approach the $15-20 range because of the high end set and rarity.  For whatever reason the card sold for under $7 and even with shipping stayed under the $10 mark.   That was a pleasant surprise. 

Bay is the only player in my collection that I have a completest attitude towards. I must subconsciously credit him for keeping my Pirate fandom alive even when the team was hard to watch. Thanks Jason Bay! You will live forever in my saved eBay searches.  

Thanks for reading. 

Reflections

The mid 2000's was the Wild West for me in terms of collecting. I was pretty much collecting everything under the sun. I was single and had my first "real job" which allowed me the opportunity to test all kinds of sets.

One set that really struck a cord with me was Upper Deck Reflections. This set had just about everything I looked for in cards at the time.  Plenty of Pirate options, cool patches and big name autos! This was the set I scored my first dual auto and one of my biggest scores in a box ever (Derek Jeter auto).

Fast forward to present day.  I'm much more focused with my collecting. No longer do I open every product under the sun and hoard every big name card that I can. While I've narrowed my focus I still tend to go back to sets that I liked from my box busting days.

2005 Upper Deck Reflections Jason Bay/Bobby Crosby Dual Patch/99

Remember Bobby Crosby! Finding new Bay's is pretty hard these days. I'm to the point where I'm only adding a handful a year.  Needless to say when this beauty popped up I was all in. Fortunately buying Bay cards these days is very easy on the wallet.  High end releases still regularly go for under $10.  Such was the case with this dual patch.  A nice addition from one of my favorite mid 2000's sets. 

Thanks for reading! 

An Exquisite Bay

2007 Exquisite Jason Bay Auto /20

Pride of Canada Jason Bay will forever hold a special place in my collecting heart. He kept me interested in the Pirates during the latter years of the losing streak. I've mentioned a few times that my Bay collection is by far the most complete of any player I've collected over the years. Being able to find new Bay's is a big deal as most of my needs are obscure parallels. 

Like the Teke card I showed yesterday, I was the only bidder. The starting bid was only $4 but I guess the $3 shipping scared people away. I will happily pay $7 to add this to my collection. Let's hope a few more Bay's hit the market for cheap prices! 

As you are reading this I should be on a plane heading home from Boston. I'll share some pictures in the next couple days. 

Thanks for reading! 

2006 All Star Game

The 2006 All Star game was played in Pittsburgh and to this day is still in my top 5 sporting events that I've ever attended.  My brother and I went all out and purchased tickets for the entire weekend. That year the Pirates had two representatives.

At the time Bay was well established and deserved to make the team.  The big surprise was Freddy Sanchez who wasn't even on the ballot. With a strong write in campaign by the Pirates, Sanchez would be voted in as one of the more unlikely players to ever make the team. Sanchez's dream season would continue all the way until the last day of the season season when he secured the NL batting crown.

The above cards feature pieces of warm up jerseys from the All Star game in Pittsburgh. I purchased these in the same lot at the multi-sport cards I featured yesterday. Always fun when you a card triggers a cool memory.

Thanks for reading.

The Main Event of the Bay Collection

Sometimes you just have to spoil yourself.

2006 Ultimate Collection Griffey JR/Jeter/Bay Triple Auto /50

Back when I got my first "real job" it was pretty common for me to buy cards like this. I was single and was card crazy.  Nowadays these type of  premium cards are a once or twice a year event that usually centers around birthday or Christmas time. 

I purchased this card back in the early fall as a birthday present to myself. Over the years I've had a few of these slip through my fingers including a failed in person trade at a card shop. It probably was a blessing is disguise as Bay's star would fade due to injury. This probably helped in making the card more affordable. 

Thanks to blogging I really don't have that crazy drive to add cards like this anymore. I think it helped me realize that I can have a collection I like without having the buy the latest and greatest. Don't get me wrong I love getting these premium cards (and I especially love this Bay card), but I get the same enjoyment from finding a cool 90's insert or a $7 Starling Marte auto. 

Thanks for reading! 

Gonzo for Gorzo

I haven't really decided if it is a good habit or a bad one, but I often utilize seller's combine shipping. Sometimes I feel I trick myself into thinking I'm getting a good deal, but in reality I'm probably just spending extra money on a card I really don't need. Other times I'm happy I did the search as it can be a treasure trove of cards I needed. Such was the case recently......

Recently a seller had a Tom Gorzelanny auto that I wanted. It just happened he had quite a few Gorzo autos after exploring his eBay store.

 2007 Exquisite Jason Bay/Tom Gorzelanny Auto /10

 2007 UD Black Tom Gorzelanny/Adam LaRoche Auto /15

 2007 Exquisite Tom Gorzelanny Auto /20

2008 UD Baseball Heroes Auto Jersey /75

What made this deal so great was that it also included a low numbered refractor of Marc Bulger. The whole lot was just a shade under $12 shipped. 

The card that originally got my attention was the Exquisite featuring only Gorzelanny. I hadn't seen that card for a long time and knew this would be a good opportunity to pounce.  The big bonus was being able to get the Bay/Gorzo auto for cheap. That card would have carried a good price tag back when that product was released. 

Gorzo is still hanging around as a reliever, but really hasn't had much success sticking around long term. A typical season will see him get a decent amount of innings, but also shipped to AAA a few times. I'm hoping his career trajectory will be that of Zach Duke and that he can get a job solidified in the bullpen.  

On a side note Gorzo was part of the trade to the Cubs that netted Josh Harrison. At the time Harrison seemed more of a throw in as Kevin Hart was the main piece. 

Hope those on the east coast is surviving the storm.  We are expecting about 18 inches here.  Yuck! 

Ensembles

2006 Ultimate Ensembles Casey/Perez/Bay/Paulino/Mclouth Auto

I have a few variations of this card, but this combo is the newest to my collection. Boy does this card have a lot going on. Each guy has an interesting story. 

Sean Casey is from the Pittsburgh area, but he didn't stay long as he was traded to Detroit during the 2006 season. His Pirate career was pretty uneventful, but his trade was unpopular do to his hometown status. It didn't really bother me that much as his best years were behind him. That auto is pretty wild too. 

Perez came on quick for the Pirates and flamed out just as quick. The Pirates released him and he was picked up by the Mets. He regained some of his early magic in 2007 with Mets and parlayed that into a long term contract. Unfortunately for the Mets his production fell right back off and the contract immediately turned bad. After the Mets Perez balanced around for a while, but has recently reinvented himself as a reliever. 

I talk about Jason Bay all the time. He is one of my all time favorites and my main reason for buying this card. 

Ronny Paulino looked like he was going to be a productive major league catcher after putting up better than average numbers in 2006. During the 2007 his defense began the suffer and the Pirates pretty much washed their hands of him. He balanced around several years but hasn't seen MLB action in almost three years. 

Nate Mclouth wasn't much of a prospect for the Pirates but he produced at every level of the minor leagues and forced his way onto the big league club. He was given a full time gig in 2008 and had a big year which included an All Star appearance and a gold glove. In 2009 the Pirates shocked their fan base by trading Mclouth to the Braves. Mclouth was signed to a team friendly deal and was coming off a huge season so the deal was very unpopular. It turned out to be a shrewd move by the Buccos as Mclouth's production dropped off the table for the Braves and both Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton are still active Pirates. Also, the trade opened the door for that McCutchen guy.

I like cards like this as they can tell a lot of stories. This card back in the day would have been pretty decent money as both Bay and Perez were popular. Today this card cost me less than $20. 

Thanks for reading!