Friday, April 25, 2014

Well, folks - I am overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all of you who have helped me on my flip quest. For all the deals I have made so far, half of you have given me freebies! I certainly do appreciate it.

Many times whenever I do a deal with someone, I try to slip in a free unopened pack of cards ... why?Because everyone loves to open cards, right?

 It reminds me of a guy came over a while ago to look at some cards I was selling, and we agreed with each other - ain't nuthin' like sitting down to open a box of baseball cards! He took it a step further. I love opening packs with my family, but he apparently doesn't.

He told me his wife sat down to open some with him and he responded sharply with a "What do you think you are doing, woman?!?! If you open some of these, then that means less for me!" I LOL'ed quite hard at that, and apparently, this "argument" went on for a while until she finally gave up and walked off.

 So, onto the goods! Here is the latest update - this is about 4 deals, 3 of which came in the mail today. LOVE when that happens! DEAL #1: If you don't know already, I'm a big sucker for these multi patch shiny cards like Triple Threads, Museum, etc. Here is a deal I got from someone yesterday:
 





Deal #2 Well, this is actually the first deal I made for my flip quest, but it came in! AWESOME!!! Thanks @natespringfield !

 

Deal #3 Love these cards. These came from @scurvey90 Tribute Willie Mays



and ... WHAMMO
 

JoFer power! @scurvey90 didn't just stop there. He also sent me these beauties for FREE:
 

Thank you once again - you rock! Deal #4 to report for today, and this one is crazy. Brought to you by @DbackskcabD I traded for these 2 items: 2007 Masterpieces set
 

... which, by the way ... absolutely STUNNING set. I have a feeling that Upper Deck produced it with the intention of it being a one-off or something. It looks like they didn't leave any in the tank for other years after this. The photography, feel, player selection, etc. is just amazing. I think this set had to have won some sort of awards. The Babe, Gehrig, Ripken, Griffey, Pujols, Jeter, etc. are all in there, and in many cases in iconic action shots / poses, and multiples of many of these players!

 And .... 2011 Topps Blue Sparkle Hope Clayton Kershaw #/60 :)! It is the last one too making this what? An ebay 1 of 1! (wah wah wahhhhhhh) Now, here is where it got crazy. DbackskcabD sent this note:

 

Well, mission accomplished! Bonus points awarded for the Star Wars sticky note! He sent: A bunch of A's stars, rookies, inserts



54 minis and 2 original Roberto Clemente newspaper clippings from 1971



 Various short prints, inserts and serial #'ed cards



A 1/1 sketch card (DbackskcabD - did you do this? This is really great work! I wished its beauty could be shown in the picture better, but man ... great job!)
 

and finally, this beauty - 8x swatch UD Ballpark card of Adam Jones Curtis Granderson Nyjer Morgan Juan Rivera Chris Young David Murphy Jeff Francoeur and Nick Markakis
 

I guess I can safely say my flip quest is in full swing - thanks everyone. If you want to deal for the 89 ud puig, (or someone other than puig) or of course, any of the cards in the deal list on my flip quest post hit me up - this has been a blast!

 Before I wrap this posting up, I wanted to show off one of my latest creations. It is a 2011 Topps Update Yoenis Cespedes Lime-Canary Rookie Refractor: Pity his rookie was in 2012 ... 2011 is a much better design.

 This project required the use of some latex medical grade gloves, for reasons I'd rather not say.
 



I hope to take my family to the A's / Astros game tomorrow and get his autograph. If it doesn't happen, I'll probably attempt to ttm it, as I hear he signs that way. Wish me luck! Oh, and the money shot of my custom and 2 of the Cespedeseseses I have received during this flip quest:

 

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Mailday - You aren't gonna BELIEVE this one!

As many of you know, I started my Flip Quest for my 89 UD Puig.

The first offer I had was from a dealer friend of mine. I turned down the deal, but went ahead and sent him a Puig anyway, just for the heck of it. Well, yesterday, he went ahead and sent me a little "mystery" package to deal for the Puig.

I looooooove mystery packages.

 To make things better, he sent me a pic of this package just before he sent it out, like I did to him.   

  

Do you see how many stamps are on this puppy??? This ought to be good! 

As I was humming along at my work desk today, I hear the postal worker's vehicle start and stop its way closer and closer. 

Could it be? Is it possible? A minute passed from the time I heard him to the time I went out to the mail box to see. 

YES!!!! Wait, ... NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

   

The side had been slit, and the cards had been taken.  

And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

 At least, the thief left the note that he sent along. 

 I sadly reported this to my dealer friend, and while grimacing asked: "What was in the package?" 

"A fleer Griffey, Donruss Gwynn, and one other I think) and about 5 older (but nice cards) like Brett, reggie jackson, Johnny bench, a 2nd year Ripken (i think) and a hank aaron (4th year--but a dinged corner)--along with the 89 UD Nolan Ryan." 

So, to whatever postal worker turd did this ... SHAME ON YOU. 

As Topps has their commemorative patch cards, I figured it is high time to create a commemorative card myself. 

Behold: The invisifractor -

 

 

A true beauty, and quite possibly every one of you reading this can relate, and deserve one of these in your collection. Not just those of us who have been ripped off by postal workers, but those of us who have been scammed by other collectors, and those who have gotten the raw end of the stick with redemptions, missing/damaged box hits, etc. 

So you see, this puppy is up for trade as well, if anyone would like it. This will definitely go toward my Flip Quest if anyone has any interest. Plus, you know you and your collection deserve one!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Flip Quest for Puig

I went out to the mail box this afternoon, and pulled out two packages.  First:

I traded a regular Puig for this:
2013 Topps Chrome Cespedes SP



This deal was with @jumbogorilla - he also sent these along for free.  THANKS!



Deal #2 was for a reverse negative version of the Puig.  I got these:

A gorgeous Gattis auto and a SICK patch/jsy/auto of Medlen:




Let's keep the deals comin'!