Showing posts with label trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trade. Show all posts

Friday, June 5, 2020

Mailday: Bump and Run

In April I posted about joining TCDB and how I've been having a lot of fun with it early on. I've been a member for about two months now and I've already completed eight trades. All of the trades were PWE swaps and almost all of them consist of me sending a set-builder some set needs, and them sending me Pirates rookies in return. In a nutshell, TCDB has become a way for me to hoard Pirates rookie cards via trade and I'm totally cool with that.

After seeing my April post, Trevor at Bump and Run Cards shot me a note about trading for some of my 2020 Opening Day cards. He came across me on TCDB and we worked out the trade through there, which saves us a ton of back-and-forth emailing. He helped me continue my journey in hoarding Pirates rookies but moreso helped me add to my Steelers PC.


(L) Le'Veon Bell - 2016 Score
(C) Le'Veon Bell - 2017 Panini Prestige Phenomenal Athletes Insert
(R) Le'Veon Bell - 2013 Panini Prizm RC

Lots of great to stuff to unpack from the cards above. I'm still a Le'Veon Bell fan and I still collect him. I'll admit that I was annoyed by his contract shenanigans two years ago... then Antonio Brown happened and it made Le'Veon look like saint. How quickly we forget. I was shocked to see that his Prizm rookie card was from 2013 - I can't believe that he'll be going into his seventh year in the league this year. That flew by. I think he still has some juice left in the tank but he plays for Jets, where careers go to die.


(L) T.J. Watt - 2018 Panini Rookies and Stars RC
(C) Terrel Edmunds - 2018 Donruss Elite Terrell Edmunds RC #/699
(R) Bud Dupree - 2015 Donruss RC

I picked off another three rookies from Trevor's For Trade list. While Watt and Dupree are the stars, my favorite card here is the Edmunds card. It's short printed to 699 and has a really nice foil finish to it. I'm still high on Edmunds, although after two years of mediocre-at-best performance, he's entering potential bust territory.


Trevor is the opposite of most of us: A football collector with a side collection of baseball. It seems that it's usually the other way around. Judging by these two cards, he still rips some modern baseball products and I'm happy to be on the receiving end of another pair of Pirates rookies.

Thanks for the trade, Trevor!

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Holding Oneself Accountable

When I returned to blogging four months ago, I wrote a "back from hiatus post" and laid out several collecting goals. At the time I felt like this would be an important way to hold myself accountable. Like any hobby, collecting cards has to be meaningful and it has to have a purpose. That’s something that we can never lose sight of. We’re all guilty of chasing hits and hoping to rip a pack and pull the card that’s going to net us $1,000 on eBay, but we need to remember the score reasons about why we collect and cling to those principles.

Coming back to the hobby in July was kind of a “reset” for me, and I put my goals down in writing. Let’s revisit those goals and see how I’ve done:

Goal 1: Continue to grow the Pirates PC, specifically certified autographs:

I’ve done pretty well here. I’ve put a focus on collecting the team I cheer for and my Pirates PC has continued to grow. Some highlights are adding two Kevin Newman autos, my first Oneil Cruz SP /50, a Kevin Kramer Gold Wave /50, a Kramer Auto, and Nick Burdi Auto. I’ve also picked up lots of base cards and parallels through trades.






I’d be remiss to not mention the monster trade with Brian over at Collecting Cutch, who sent me a massive haul of Pirates autos and memorabilia cards (small sample below).





Goal 2: Get a Twitter up and running:

Done! Authored my first tweet on 9/11. Follow me @BucsHere.



Goal 3: Post at least once monthly:

Two posts in July, six in August, five in September, and this is my third in October. Maybe I should have shot higher.



Goal 4: Build a set of 2017 Topps Chrome Purple Parallels #/299:


I happened to casually slip in this goal of collecting 200 short printed parallels. Since I wrote that in July, I’ve altered that goal quite a bit. Rather than shooting for the entire set of 200 cards, I decided to pivot and collect only the Rookies which total 44 cards. I’m excited to say that I’m just ONE (very elusive) card away from completing the Rookie set. Hopefully I can run that final card down soon and have post up showcasing my newest completed set. This is one that I’m really excited for. A lot of chasing involved with this set and there are some awesome names in here.

Goal 5: Send some trade packages out:

"I Got My Eleanor" - Trade with Collecting Cutch
"Trade with The Bucs Stop Here" - Trade with Topps Cards That Never Were
"Delivery Time! The Bucs Stop Here!" - Trade with Nachos Grande
The Snake Stops Here - Trade with Sport Card Collectors

Goal 6: Connect with some new collectors:

We’re getting there for sure. The trades with Sport Card Collectors, Topps That Never Were, and Collecting Cutch were all firsts. I imagine my venture into the Twitterverse will open some new doors, although building a following has been slow going so far. I’m hoping to continue to slowly build a following and drop a contest at a certain point. Maybe 100 followers or a similar milestone.

Thanks for reading!

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Trade with Topps Cards that Never Were

In mid-September, Jeremy from Topps Cards that Never Were shot me an email about sending over some spare Pirates cards. This is the first time Jeremy and I have traded, and I’m really excited about this partnership. Jeremy sent me some great cards, but the best part about the partnership is that Jeremy collects the Rays. I’m excited to have a home for my unwanted Rays cards in the future.


First up is two pink parallels of formers Pirates, both of whom are participating in the Postseason (of course). One could/should win the Cy Young. You’ve probably heard of him by now.


Jose Guillen is one of very very few notable Pirates from the 90’s, so he shows up often in late 90s cardboard. This insert is awesome. He was 21 when he broke into the majors, hence the “Baby Boomers.”

As for Liriano, he’s one of my favorite recent Pirates. And while he was good for the Pirates, he was really nasty on the Twins. Really cool orange chrome parallel from 2010 Topps Chrome.


My favorite card of the lot. 2008 Topps Heritage High Number #/559. I don’t collect much Heritage, but maybe I should. Heritage refractors are so sweet. Maholm was pretty bad, maybe average at best over his 10 year career. He was a serviceable back-of-the-rotation starting pitcher who probably could of benefitted from some run support. Sadly, “run support” was not in the Pirates vocabulary in the mid 2000s.

And yet, this is still a great card. There’s just something different about the shine on Heritage refractors, which I tried my best to capture in the image above.

Thanks for the trade, Jeremy! Cheers to many more.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Tabata Time!

Gavin of the well regarded Baseball Card Breakdown has a been a consistent trade partner of mine.  I've probably gone back and forth with Gavin more than any other collector. I was trying to figure out why that is today, and I think it's simply because... Gavin has about 50 different player collections (ranked by high, medium, and low priority). That sure makes for an easy trading partner!

Before I get to the cards I'll present a quick aside:

I NEVER enter web addresses until the URL bar. I google EVERYTHING. So today, when I wanted to get to Gavin's blog, I just googled "baseball card breakdown." Some images popped up, and I got curious. This is what you'll see in google images:


I thought this was pretty cool for any blog. He and Adam do a lot of trading, Matt too. Just another way to navigate some old posts and see some different material, but using images rather than text... nice for us visual people.


Gavin was kind enough to throw in some extra cards, seen above some good-old-fashioned (and very 90's) household Bucco names: Kendall, Garcia, Hermansen, Guillen, and fan favorite Andy Van Slyke.


Gavin also threw in three Auto's. Far left is a nice base auto from prospect Wyatt Mathisen, who I believe resides in Bradenton Florida with the Pirates Single A affiliate. From I've read he shows some promise, but is at an early stage in terms of development.

Next is Brad Lincoln, who is *actually* back with the Pirates down on the farm. He was with the Bucs from 2010-2012 before he was dealt straight up from Travis Snider, who has made an appearance on this blog before.

Lastly, to the far right, a very nice looking card of the Pirates pinch-hitter-of-choice:

 Jose Tabata. That name sound familiar? Can't figure out why? 


Tabby was getting quite a lot of press this weekend after he may or may not have ruined Max Sherzer's perfect game. With two outs and two strikes in the ninth, a breaking ball got away from Maxxy and ran inside. The rest is history. 

Funny timing, but I received the Rookie auto from Gavin just a few days prior. It's a beauty.



Lastly, a COMC purchase- treating myself with some extra store credit. I've been hunting A.J.'s autographed products for a while, and they're hard to come by. He shows up often in base sets but I don't believe he's signed any Topps products in a Pirates Jersey. Could be wrong.

Happy to add my first A.J. Auto.


Thanks for reading!




Sunday, June 7, 2015

Autograph Trade Bait Randomness

Browsing my collection on a lazy Sunday and hoping to find some takers on some trade bait that's cluttering my collection. These have been acquired mostly through box breaks. Never been in a accident, one owner (check the carfax).

If you folks see anything that tickles your fancy, please drop a comment or reach me by email and nsbell440 at gmail dot com. Descriptions below (L to R, top to bottom).

***If you're building a set of 2015 Topps Baseball, please let me know. I have lots of singles and will happily send them off compliments of Big 44 Cards.***



Jorge Polanco 2013 Bowman Chrome Auto
Cameron Gallagher 2013 Bowman Chrome Auto
Andre Rienzo 2013 Bowman Chrome Refractor Auto /500
L.J. Hoes 2013 Topps Chrome Auto


Rob Brantly 2013 Topps Chrome Refractor Auto /499
Onelki Garcia 2014 Topps Chrome Refractor Auto /499
Mike Leake 2010 Topps "Peak Performance" Auto


Scottie Pippen 2012-13 Panini Momentum Auto /25
Larry Johnson 2012-13 Panini Elite Auto /199
Dwayne Bowe 2011 Panini Certified Jersey /50
Kyrie Irving 2012-2013 Panini "Swirlorama" RC #161


***If you're building a set of 2015 Topps Baseball, please let me know. I have lots of singles and will happily send them off compliments of Big 44 Cards.***




Thanks for reading!

Sunday, June 15, 2014

An Exciting Return From My Hiatus - Polanco, PC's, Pimps, and More

I'm back! It's been a few weeks since I've posted, and for good reason. As many of you have probably learned, my line of work requires me to move around quite frequently. I am excited to announce that for the foreseeable future, I have settled back in Pittsburg... just in time for baseball season! This of course means I've got a new address. If you're planning on sending anything, please ask me for my new address before sending. I've put in forward requests at all of my old addresses, so it's not the end of the world if something goes there, but I'd love to avoid that step if possible.

I've been so busy with work that I hadn't been home long enough to set up an appointment with the cable company. I finally got my cable and internet installed yesterday, so I'm up and running for the first time in two weeks. 

I'll start with some very exciting news- not just for the city of Pittsburgh- but for the sport of baseball. As I'm sure you've heard, the great Gregory Polanco has arrived on the North Shore. Even better, I was lucky enough to be in attendance.


And what a special night it was. The young man has made quite the splash for the Bucs, and the entire team has responded well. I've often heard that with him, McCutchen, and Startling Marte, the Pirates outfield should be the best in baseball and I hope that proves to be true. After the game, I went home and scoured my collection for any Polanco cards, and here's what turned up:


Not a bad lot at all. I remember purchasing the auto, of course. I grabbed it back in the fall for less than the cost of blaster. It's value has since doubled, although I would never consider selling it.

Next order of business, the newest additions to my Jason Grilli PC:


My favorite card here is the Archives gold parallel, which arrived courtesy of Gavin at Baseball Card Breakdown. He's also holding SICK contest right now, so I highly suggest you head over there right now!

My Grilli PC has been shaping up nicely, mostly because he's not a big enough name to drive up autograph prices. Both of the autographs combined cost me less than a blaster, and the blue Tribute is numbered to 50. I also love his sig, sleek and sharp! 


Last PC addition is this 2012 Topps Jared Hughes Gold Sparkle. This is my first and only Jared Hughes card. Due to Jared's recent success, I had to jump on a nice rookie of his. He's a been a very consistent reliever for the Bucs this season.


I also splurged on a Topps S2 blaster, which I'm sort of regretting. What actually sold me was the $10 of coupons, which I figured would be nice for some future discounts. However, the coupons are relatively useless. My pulls very unspectacular, and I only one Pirate, a Jordy Mercer base card. 

I've posted all of the cards that I'm not looking to keep in a separate post, HERE! Shoot me an email if there's anything you'd like. Some PWE swaps might be fun!

Last order of business: Part 2 of "He Was a Pirate?" will up within the week. If you missed Part 1, please check it out HERE!

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Hot Corner Sends a Killer Cole

Way back in September, I formed a nice trading relationship with Pat from Hot Corner Cards. Pat's a huge Tigers fan, and is definitely my go-to guy with my extra Tigers cardboard. I sent him a nice Justin Verlander Relic a few months ago as well as some set needs, if my memory serves me correctly. 

Not only did Pat send me some awesome cards, he also packaged them in the most clever way I've never seen. Pat cut out one horizontal row of a binder page and loaded each of the three slots with three cards. He wrapped the plastic in one piece of blank paper and slipped it in a PWE. It was a perfect fit. 
This a secure way to send cards, and it's also affordable- two stamps will cover it. I'm definitely stealing this method! 

Now for the cardboard:


The Wilson brothers! Not literally brothers, but it seemed like they could have been as they were both fixtures in the Pirates line-up for a five year period. Neither achieved any overwhelming success, aside from Jack who had a career year in 2004. That year, he hit .308 and had over 200 hits, earning him All-Star recognition and a Silver Slugger award. Craig, a supposed power guy, was more a less a bust. He only broke the 20 HR mark once in his short 6 year career.


Here's a nice reminder that Aramis Ramirez was in fact a Pirate at one time. He held down the left side of the infield with Jack Wilson in the early 2000's, having one of the best years of his career in 2001. He and Jose Bautista form a short list of 3B's that the Buccos wish they could have held onto. Pedro Alvarez will likely join that list soon to a large contract with a larger market team.


Next up are nice retail-only black parallels from this year's Heritage, which we're all familiar with at this point. I've written before about how much I love black Pirates parallels. These are no exception. And neither is this....


As the title alludes to, I personally feel that this Gerrit Cole card is killer. Not only do I love black borders, but I also love refractors. Mix in the fact that this card is short printed /65 and you've got the recipe for a perfect card. This is a (literal) shining example of what beautiful cardboard looks like!

Pat, thanks so much for the cards. They've found the perfect home!



Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Trade Bait Tuesday

I stole that flashy title from my good buddy Alex over at Chavez Ravining. Unlike Alex, however, there's no way in hell that I can consistently keep this up as a weekly tradition. Admittedly, it's also a total coincidence that I've happened to have the time to do this a Tuesday. Hopefully I can get on and post some trade bait more often.

Below are pictures of a bunch of random baseball parallels, inserts, and rookies that are up for trade!










Drop a comment if you're interested in anything. If you have any questions, let me know! 

Last thing, I have recently published similar trade bait posts that are worth checking out:

This page has all of my 2014 Gypsy Queen Trade Bait. Everything pictured is available, aside from the James Shields blue border and the Xander Bogaerts mini which have been traded away.

And this page has a ton of autos and relic cards that are for trade. There are few cards on that page that have also been traded away, so check with me before getting your hopes too high!

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, April 26, 2014

New Bucco's, What Else?

You know how this goes, just me showing off some more PC additions. Nothing too extravagant here, but I'm very happy with these purchases!


First up is Ike Davis. I'll admit, I wasn't initially excited about my Buccos signing Ike. As a New Yorker with tons of Mets fans for friends, I'm very familiar with his career. I remember when he first came up to the bigs, there was a real buzz surrounding his power. He's certainly showed some of that power, although his batting average has suffered. He's a lifetime .241 hitter, which is the last thing the Pirates need (think: Pedro Alvarez). Ike's struggles have mostly come against lefties, and the Pirates signed him with the intention of throwing in platoon situation with Gaby Sanchez facing the lefties. After Ike's grand slam last week, I'm a little more optimistic. If he stays above .250 and drives in consistent runs, I'll be satisfied.

With all of that said, I definitely wanted to acquire an auto from Ike. He's got plenty of autos out there, and the prices were very affordable. So affordable, in fact, that a rookie auto wasn't out of the question. I snagged this 2010 Topps Chrome for $8 shipped. The cost was little much for such mediocre player, but I decided to shell out a few extra bucks for that "RC" stamp.


Here's a nice auto from 2014 GQ from Jeff Locke. Locke, a 2013 All-Star, has completely disappeared. After having a fantastic first half last season, he completely collapsed and eventually landed on the DL. He's still battling injuries and trying to get himself straightened out in triple A. As of now, he's not an option for the Pirates rotation. Nonetheless, I'm excited to add another Locke auto to my collection. 

This came to me courtesy of a half case break conducted by the wonderful Judson over at My Cardboard Habit. I actually got two of these in the break, so I've got an extra if anyone's interested. Won't take much.


Lastly is a simple little Charlie Morton auto from 2011 Topps Lineage. I never dabbled with the set, but I really like this card. For a sticker, it's certainly not bad. This is the only certified autograph card that I've seen consistently on the market from Charlie. I was able to pick this up for $4 shipped.

Charlie's having a pretty rough year this year, as are most Pirates pitchers... and batters... and so on. They were able to pick up a nice 6-1 win over St. Louis this afternoon. Hopefully they can steal one from Adam Wainwright tomorrow and gain some momentum before heading to Baltimore to begin interleague play.

Thanks for reading!





Monday, April 21, 2014

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen TRADE BAIT!

Good evening friends. I've finally gotten around to sorting all of my GQ from this year, and I was able to amass a Pirates team set from Judson's group break. 

Speaking of that group break, it gave me a TON of dupes and extra trade bait. I had the Pirates and Red Sox, so you'll see a theme here. I also ripped a few hobby packs from my LCS. I've set aside all the cards I want. Here's what I don't:


The mini's. Mostly Sox. There's a nice Ted Williams variation in there.


Judson actually pulled two Jeff Locke auto's, and I only need one. That Shields card looks sick with the blue border, /499.


Some inserts above. And more...


And lastly, the numbered mini's...


Nothing too crazy here, although I imagine that the Bogaerts RC holds some nice value.

So, let me know if you see anything you like! I also have TONS of base cards from Red Sox and Pirates (probably a few full teams sets). You can reach me, as always, at nsbell440@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading!