Walk and Papoy Collaboration #8 (Stadium Club)

After I made a clean sweep the last break I hosted, the split was much more diplomatic for Kevin's choice of 2015 Stadium Club. While it would be nice to make a major pull, TSC's appeal will always be in the base set and the die cut inserts. We didn't strike it rich with a Mike Trout 1/1, but it was still a fun break even if Kevin has to pay $3000 in custom fees to open a box.  In case you missed it here was Kevin's haul.

In the interest of being repetitive I'm only showing the inserts and auto.

I think it is impossible not to like Mike Trout. The guy is a baseball cyborg. He really has no holes in his game. The True Colors inserts are kind of middle of the road for a set with high standards like TSC, but it is still nice to add a Trout.

The thought crossed my mind after the 2014 release to chase the Luminous, Luminescent and Illuminator cards. I've always liked them and for the most part they are affordable. The Illuminators are case hits, but since they are not numbered they have been known to fall through the cracks on eBay.

My auto would have been a better hit a couple years back as Gausman along with Dylan Bundy were supposed to be fixtures in the rotation for Orioles. That still may be as both are still very young, but injuries to Bundy and inconsistent play from Gausman have hurt their prospect value.

As with all our breaks, Kevin and I use this as our trade platform too. Kevin always gives me top notch Pirates.

This was the first card I noticed! I haven't had much luck finding Maz cards lately. Back when the Pirates were terrible in the early to mid 2000's it seemed that he was in every set. He still shows up, but the cards seem to be more limited and he is not signing near as much. This is from the Panini Cooperstown set and is numbered to /10! I know Kevin likes Maz too so I really appreciate this one being sent my way.

Most Pirate writers think Pedro has played his last game as a Pirate. His defense has gotten so bad that he pretty much has to play in the AL to have any chance to continue his career. The power is still top notch so I'm sure someone will want him once the Pirates non tender.

In terms of cardboard Pedro never signed much at all. He was in a few UD USA sets and has a couple Panini sticker autos. Seemed kind of odd for the #2 overall pick in 2008. So with no autos in play I'm left chasing relics and parallels like this Heritage card that is numbered to /999.

Craig Wilson would have been much more appreciated in today's game. He was a high obp guy that could play the corners of the outfield, first base and even catcher. He was featured prominently in the Leaf Certified Cuts which had about 7 million parallels. This is numbered to /75 and I'm pumped that Kevin sent it my way.

I have way more Brian Bixler cards then I like to admit. The big league team sucked so bad so fans could only hold their hats on prospects. I chose poorly. Now when I get these autos they are fun reminders. Man, the Pirates have come a long way.

The catching situation in Pittsburgh was a revolving door in between the Ryan Doumit and Russell Martin eras. Jaramillo saw time in three seasons with the Pirates.

Things have really slowed down on the Kendall card front for me as well. Kendall played at the beginning of the relic/auto boom so his stuff is a little more limited. Always nice to get his stuff via trade.

A new Polanco! Kevin knows I'm powerless to any Polanco card and often hooks me up with new ones.

And a new Marte! I think this may be my first Allen and Ginter relic from this years set.

As always thanks Kevin for the awesome cards.

Trade: Wish They Still Came With Bubblegum

This weeks envelope barrage continues with frequent trade partner Jeff from Wish They Still Came With Bubblegum. It was the PWE variety this time around, but still packed a big punch.

Reese McGuire was drafted by the Pirates in 2013 in the first round and is heralded as an advanced defensive catcher for his age. Still only 20 years old he has already played every level of A ball in the Pirates system. It will be interesting to see how aggressive the promotions will be next year as the bat still hasn't come around.

Bowman Inception made for a nice alternative for auto chasers not worried about getting every single Chrome parallel. Very nice auto!

Kevin White cards haven't made the tumble like I thought they were going to. When it comes to my WVU collection I rarely chase new releases, but figured since he was out for the year the market might relax some. That hasn't been the case yet

Thankfully the blogosphere has helped me accumulate some releases and I believe this is the second time Jeff has hooked me up.

Nick Kingham would have replaced Jeff Locke in the rotation at some point this year had he not blown out his arm. Maybe he can help the big league club at some point late next year.

Is this a Target parallel? I get confused sometimes. Still a pretty cool Marte.

I've received a few Alford cards recently from my blog friends. Nice to see he is getting some cardboard love.

Man, what a wild Monday Night game last night. Le'veon Bell scored a walkoff touchdown from the wildcat formation.

The throwback Big Ben is a cool card even if he looks like a bumble bee.

This card made me laugh, but its powers did not work. At least the Cubs just beat the Cardinals. Now they can go on and lose in soul crushing fashion like they are destined to.

Thanks for all the great cards Jeff. Sorry about the delay in posting about them. Look forward to hitting you back soon.

Thanks for reading.

Strippers, Booze and Cobras

Today is my birthday! It was full of crazy amounts of alcohol and strippers........33 is such a monumental birthday.

In actuality I was hoping to get some quality card time, but a prolonged visit from my parents and the fact that my daughter is under the weather put a hold on those plans. Maybe tomorrow for some quality time with the cardboard.

2005 Absolute Memorabilia Dave Parker Dual Patch/Bat /25

I'm such a sucker for patch cards from older Pirates. I really should allocate my card money to autos or set needs, but I'm a kid in the candy store when these type of cards pop up. GOTTA HAVE IT!!! I only paid $9.50 for this so it wasn't too expensive. Must be the old Pirate jerseys. That gold is mesmerizing. 

Back to strippers and alcohol.

Trade: Waiting 'Til Next Year

Of all the active Pirates Jung Ho Kang might be the hardest to accumulate cards of other than Andrew McCutchen. Being the first position player directly from the KBL and having a great season catapulted the value of his cards. By the time sets started producing cards some autos were going north of $100, and the base rookies were demanding premium prices.

Thanks to Tom I can put to bed one of the newer releases. Last week Tom busted some Heritage High Numbers and pulled this beauty.

It is always extra special when you get some help from the blogosphere. One of the cool things about our special group.

Tom wasn't done with just the Kang. He also included a nice note wishing the Pirates luck in the Wild Card game and hoping that whatever team wins that they would go on to beat the Cardinals and two SL cards....

It seems that some of the Starting Lineup cards are just as sought after as the figures themselves. These are two nice cards of the of the bigger names in Pirate history. Thanks for the extras Tom! Rest assured I'll be hitting you up soon. 

Thanks for reading. 

2 X PWE From 2 X 3 Heroes = Awesome

I've been a little backlogged getting through all my mail this week. When I was traveling I had everything held, so my mailbox exploded on Monday with about 12 envelopes!  Rest assured Tom, Jeff and Kevin your envelopes arrived safe and sound.

I'm a proud member of Club PWE ran by Jedi Jeff of 2x3 Heroes. A handful times a year I'll receive some unannounced Pirate goodness. It is a great way for Jeff to thin out his clutter and to keep trades going throughout the year.

Corey Hart tormented the Pirates as a member of the Brewers for years. After several serious injuries he has been balancing team to team trying to get his career back in line.  He was brought in by the Pirates to be the right handed platoon of first base, but once again the injury bug got the best of him. It looks that his career might be in jeopardy.

With all that being said Hart only has a few Pirate cards and this is one of the rarer ones out there. The black parallels are numbered to /64!

Early Studio sets are blogging gold. The posed photos make for some of the best pieces of cardboard in the last 30 years. This Bonilla looks like a Senior High School picture. Maybe that is a letterman jacket....

 A pretty sweet shot of Ralph Kiner!

 All three of these guys hold a soft spot in my heart. The mid 2000's Buccos were very entertaining even though they were perennial losers. When I use to go Spring Training I would often get to meet many of the younger players. Paul Maholm was one of these players and he was super cool.

 Some active Buccos including two BWTP favorites in Marte and Polanco.

The Van Slyke is a classic piece of cardboard. The picture of a player taking a picture is very unique.

Mike Spanky LaValliere had some great pieces of cardboard over the years as well. This shot looks to be post play at the plate. Pretty cool stuff.

Jeff rolled the dice by putting this beauty in a PWE. 1990 Donruss Bob Walk will put my little girl through college one day. A thing of beauty.

Thanks for the great cards Jeff. I already have a few nice cards to send your way. Hopefully I'll get to packing some stuff up this week.

Thanks for reading! Let's Go Mountaineers.

WAR Games (A New Game to Play With Baseball Cards)

I'm always trying to think of new ways to enjoy baseball cards and utilize my blog at the same time. My buddy Micah and I began throwing around ideas yesterday. While a huge Pirate fan like myself, his collecting habits are way more general. So our first goal was to come up with something not bound to a team or player.

The other important aspect was cost. We wanted our new game to be competitive, but on a limited budget. This works out great as I needed to control spending as my wife and I have a significant home improvement project on the horizon.

After a few emails back and forth Micah came up with foundation of a monthly competition game of accumulating cards.  I tweaked the rules.

Let me be the first to introduce WAR Games!

The game is kind of a pack war meets FanDuel mash up with baseball cards.  Here are the rules.

First you pick a year (Our trial run is 2005).  All cards have to be from the chosen year. 

Each person has $10 to spend (that includes shipping)

Roster = SP, RP, DH, C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF RF

Cards have to be new purchases. 

We will use baseball reference for WAR calculation. 

Each roster must include 1 certified auto, 2 relics, 3 numbered cards = to 250 or less. 

Each person must be able to officially account for the exact amount spent each round. 

You cannot check WAR rankings (relying on the honor system)

For each roster spot left unfilled at the deadline you lose 2 WAR from your collective score

+ 2 WAR for Completed Roster

+ 3 if auto is highest War Player

+1 if relic is highest War player. 

+1 for serial numbered cards /25 or lower

No dual relics or autos

Each card must be of just 1 player.

The team with the highest cumulative WAR total is the winner. 

We set the time limit at one month. The winner gets to choose 1 card from the opposing teams final roster. 

Micah and I started as of yesterday to give it a trial run.  We like the challenge of a limited budget of $10.  The main tweaking will probably be with the bonuses. If it works out well, I think this might be a fun game for the blogosphere to play.  

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading. 

Perspective

As a Pirates fan this one hurt way more than last year. This was by far the most complete team of the 3 year playoff run, but the Cardinals wizardry kept the Buccos in a win or go home scenario. For the most part I've tried to avoid reading/watching anything about the game. The Pirates won 98 games this year, so I don't need to read some hot take about what the team could have done differently.

You have to keep things in perspective when it comes to these games. The ins and outs of this game will be over analyzed, but when push comes to shove it is one game. By no means can you get a barometer of two teams in one game. The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that Jake Arrieta is very good and no team was going to beat him last night. Unfortunately this is a situation all too familiar to Pirate fans as Madison Bumgarner did the exact same thing last year.

This pretty much sums up the cruelness of a Wild Card game.

The good thing is that the Pirates like the Cubs are set up for long term success. So this probably is just the beginning of what will become a fun three way rivalry between the Cards, Cubs and Buccos. All three have a great chance of being playoff teams next year.

To take my mind off the game my buddy and I came up with a cool game centered around cards that I'll share sometime in the next few days.

Thanks for reading!