Chris Davis Cards From Blaine

My friend, Blaine, decided to sell off his collection recently, and hit me up with a great deal that saw me land a good portion of his Orioles stuff.  The box finally arrived last week and I was amazed at everything that was inside.  There was so much stuff in there, I will have to break it up in order to do it any justice here on this blog.

Blaine sold me on the collection when he showed me what Chris Davis cards would be included.  The above patch from 2014 Panini National Treasures was the first card I saw, and it really is what helped me decide to do the deal.  This card is numbered 5/11 (kind of an odd numbering) and shows a three-color piece of jersey/patch.  Not bad at all.

Here is another three-color piece, this one is from 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection.  This is numbered 2/25.  I love the Panini Stuff from around this time.  I'm sure it wasn't tier intention for these nice pieces to be so affordable, but they are, and I have definitely taken advantage.

Here is another 2014 Panini Immaculate, this time it is just a swatch of jersey and is numbered 80/99.

This booklet from 2014 National Treasures is numbered 53/99.  I already had a couple of these, but was happy to add a few more.

Finally, this booklet is numbered 80/99.  The relics are kind of hard to see from the scan, but spell out CRUSH.  Looks really cool, I think.

I'll hopefully have some time to show more of what Blaine sent me in the next few days, especially since there is no playoff baseball on IV until Tuesday.

A Surprise Birthday Gift

I got a DM on Instagram a few days ago from a guy who I have followed for a long time, and he has followed me.  I don't recall that we have done any deals, and if we have it may have been only one.  However, he messaged me out of the blue asking me for my address.  I gave it to him, and thanked him.  His response?  "Why are you thanking me?  I haven't done anything."

So, when the unsolicited package came in, I took a picture of the card and sent him a DM asking if this was his doing.  His response?  "I don't know what you're talking about.  Btw, Happy Birthday!"

That was a really cool gesture, which will not be forgotten.  The guy's name is Dylan and he sent me this amazing Chris Davis 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection auto numbered 5/10.  A really awesome card that I was not expecting.

Thanks so much for the gift, Dylan.

Instagram Trade With Gavin - 2014 Panini Immaculate Chris Davis Patch

I completed a trade with a kid named Gavin on Instagram that sent a Chris Archer auto and a Dominic Smith Sterling Auto his way.  In return, I landed this awesome Chris Davis patch from 2014 Panini Immaculate.  The card is numbered 20/25 and looks really cool in person.

I really appreciated the deal, and was happy to add another Davis patch to my collection.  The more and more stuff I pick up from Panini, the more I enjoy them.  I will always be a Topps fan, but Panini really has some strong offerings that have come recently.

My Davis PC really has blossomed over the last year.  I like all of the patch cards that have come in and I feel like I can get a few more.

Thanks for the deal, Gavin!

Mailday From Bruce - Continuing To Rake In Awesome Autos and Relics

In what has been an increasing trend around here, I completed another huge deal that landed me quite a few nice cards.  I honestly don't remember what I sent Bruce, but I know a couple of the cards I sent him were a Gypsy Queen auto of Neil Walker and a Topps Chrome auto of Andrew Lambo.  This Dave Parker auto from 2014 Topps Five Star was the key to our deal.

This card is amazing (and really darn thick!).  I feel like I got a steal from Bruce, to be honest.  I like Parker and think he really should be in the Hall of Fame, especially since Jim Rice is in now.

Bruce had this 2014 Panini Immaculate Chris Davis relic posted on his Instagram for quite a while and had told several people that if it ever was for sale or trade, it would only be to me.  Well, I finally was able to pick it up.  The card is numbered 85/99.  I think that Panini did a fantastic job in 2014 with their products.  I know a lot of people don't like that they don't have logos on their stuff, but I, myself, don't feel like it takes too much away from the product.  My only issue is that a lot of their stuff, if it is a two-team market like New York or Chicago, they don't make it very clear which team the player plays on.

Bruce also included some items as throw ins that I could use as trade bait.  One such card was this 2011 Topps Marquee Hanley Ramirez jumbo relic.  There is a little damage on the back of the card, but I have a feeling that the Hanley fans that I know wont have an issue with it.  We'll see.

Uggh, Dustin Pedroia on my blog, where's the Lysol?  Bruce included several Spring Fever cards in the package.  Since the owner of my LCS gave me a complete set of these yesterday, I can trade the loose ones that I have.  I know some Red Sox fans who could be interested in this one as well.

There were a bunch of rookie and draft pick cards in the package as well.  Some of them I might be willing to trade, while others would probably be placed into my RC box and put up for a while.  I always enjoy going through the RC box and seeing who's cards I have that I didn't realize would be stars at the time (this helped me find 3 Mike Trout RCs that I forgot about - even though I still think he is overrated... :p).

Finally, I close with this 2014 Topps Hi Tek Sonny Gray.  Again, I really enjoy Hi Tek.  There is something about acetate cards that really appeals to me.  I have his auto coming in from this product, it should be here any day.  This will help with my fledgling Gray PC, which has grown quite a bit over the last few weeks.

The cool thing about all of these trades (with the exception of my deal with Michael) is that I have landed all of these awesome cards, yet I haven't spent a whole lot of money.  Now that my wife is back to work after her surgery, money isn't as tight, but during that time, I had been relatively quiet on Ebay.  Now that things are settling down, I can pick up a few more set needs on the 'Bay and continue to work out trades for other PC stuff.  The period of the last few months has been a lot of fun, the wheeling and dealing aspect of it.  I plan on working hard to keep up with my trade bait, and even trading for more.  I learned that I don't always have to trade for PC stuff.  Sometimes, trading for trade bait is even more fun.

Thanks for the deal, Bruce!  I really appreciate it, and you know I love the cards!

Ebay Pickup - 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection Chris Davis Patch

I remember saying last year that I wished I had more "sick" patches in my collection.  A year later, I now have a ton.  While I really don't like the term "sick" patch anyway (I mean, the patch didn't barf Ebola all over the card, now, did it?), I do enjoy the patch relic and have decided in my mind that I enjoy them probably more than I do an auto.

I saw this Chris Davis 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection patch on Ebay for $39.99 and jumped all over it.  The card, as you can tell, is numbered 3/5 and looks awesome.  It is hard to tell on the scan, but the jersey has a few faint dirt spots on it as well.  Pretty cool.

Between what I have seen from Immaculate, it looks like a really nice product (that I probably can't afford to buy), much like Museum Collection from Topps.  I know how some folks like to bash card companies who put out this high priced stuff and how they are keeping the little man down, but hey, I'm ok with the loaded folks opening the product and offloading it to Ebay.  I can search what I'm looking for and buy the card I want for a reasonable price instead of shelling out a couple hundred bucks on a box, only to get a Mark Prior relic.