Welcome to my blog!!!

I have collected baseball cards and autographs over the years. I still have boxes full of cards (as well as newer cards) that are just sitting there. So, I have decided to see how many of them I can get autographed. I use through the mail as my preferred route for this adventure. I also have an account on Zistle and The Trading Card Database for trading purposes (stevienicks77).



Thursday, February 28, 2013

Zistle trade with pittpanther88

I have been doing a lot of trading on Zistle lately.  I will admit it is a bit overwhelming to get stuff in the mail quickly while working 12 hour shifts.  Anyway, I got a Starlin Castro, Geovany Soto, and Billy Butler for my player collections, and a Reed Johnson Cubs card for my Cubs collection.



Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Trade via my blog

Justin over at Justin's World wanted to do another trade.  He wanted my 2013 Tom Milone from my Topps Hobby box that I bought, and he sent me a Starlin Castro for my player collection.  I am excited to add this to my player collection!


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

First 2013 Spring Training TTM back

WOW!  I am excited to get my first signed card back from spring training.  And, to top it off, it's the probably the most popular player I sent to!  The Texas Rangers have always been good about signing cards, and I have to thank Mr. Beltre for making my snowy day today!

Adrian Beltre
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Rangers Spring Training
6 days

Another Zistle trade

I got a few goodies in the mail over the weekend from Rosenort over at Condition Sensitive

Iowa Hawkeye baseball alumni Tim Costo:


A few of the 1987 Donruss and Topps cards I got:


Several for my George Brett player collection:


Iowa Hawkeye football alumni Brad Banks and Nick Bell:


A few random cards for my player collections:


Finally, a couple of cards to help me plug away at my Heritage and Bowman set completions:


Monday, February 25, 2013

Greg Brock

I got these cards back today, right before we are due to get another huge snow storm here in Kansas City.  Four signed cards by Greg Brock should help tide me over for the next day or two until we start getting mail again.  I love the way he signs his name with the big "G."

Greg Brock
Signed 4/4
Sent c/o Home address
6 days

Another trip to the LCS, part 2

When I bought my box of 2013 Topps, I got a redemption card for a pack of Spring Fever cards, so that means I HAVE to go the the LCS!  Of course, I took a look around, too, and here is what I came home with.

2004 Royals Team Set:

I bought this for $2.00.  It came with 22 cards, and 16 of them I needed for my Royals project.  The 2004 Topps design is horrible, and the Royals uni's are equally as bad.


Some other cards that were in this team set:


Remember when these guys were Royals?  Me neither.


Here are some cards I bought to help me along in the sets I need to complete:


Some cards for my player collections:


I got home, only to realize I already had the McGwire.  Oh well, I'll put it up for trade on Zistle.  You may also be thinking, she got a Rizzo with her 2013 Topps box.  I finally decided to get the 20 or so cards I need to complete the set, and I got this Rizzo to put in my player collection.

Here are some cards I got for my Cubs and Royals collections:

Here are a few of the 10 or so 1987 Donruss I picked up for my set completion (which is going slow).


Here are some of the 75+ 1987 Topps I picked up for my set completion.  Remember those Twins' uni's?  And the A's?  Terry Francona as a Cub?  Oh yeah, 1987.


Finally, I picked up some of those old packs of cards for $0.50 each.  I picked up a 1991 and 1992 Leaf.  I did not fare as well this time, as I did a month ago.

1991 Leaf:  The only notable cards I got were this Gary Carter and Jeff Bagwell Gold Leaf Rookie.  All the cards I got are available for trade.  The rest are on my Zistle page.


The 1992 Leaf pack I fared I little better.  I got the black George Brett, which was cool. 


I picked this all up at the LCS for $10.81

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Another trip to LCS

When I bought my box of 2013 Topps, I got a redemption card for a pack of Spring Fever cards, and you only have a week to do it.  Of course, the week this is going on, Kansas City has a storm that drops a foot of snow in 6 hours.  Nice.  I worked my way down there after work to redeem my card.  Of course, I took a look around, too.  I will post what else I bought tomorrow.


I guess I'm happy with what I got.  I got two players from my favorite teams, Vitters and Perez.  However, Carlos Pena...ugh.  All are for trade except Vitters and Perez.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Chili Davis

I was really excited to get back cards from Chili Davis!  I had read he doesn't sign much, so I was surprised to see this back! 

Chili Davis
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Oakland A's
??? days (I sent this out when my Excel spreadsheet crashed)

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Another Zistle trade

I have been doing quite a bit of trading on Zistle lately, and this one comes from Cards from the Quarry.

I am slowly chipping away at completing the 2012 Bowman Platinum set.  I got the Troy Tulowitzki.


I also got several cards for my player collections!


The TTMs are coming again!!

I went through a lull, again, of no TTM returns.  However, I have started to receive them again, and it makes me feel all warm inside!

First up, Chris Bando.  I wanted to get him because he's a former catcher.

Chris Bando
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
44 days













Next up, Phil Bradley.  I had read that he returns pretty quickly, which he did, however, it's signed in ball point pen.  I also wanted his cards because he's a former Oriole.

Phil Bradley
Signed 4/4
Sent c/o Home address
10 days






















Finally, Bill Kruger.  He played for several teams I like to collect TTMs of, including the A's and Twins.

Bill Kruger
Signed 3/3
Sent c/o Home address
66 days

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look what I got!  Two packs of 2012 Bowman Sterling!




















Carl Lee

A long return from Carl Lee, former Minnesota Viking!

Carl Lee
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
246 days

2013 Topps Hobby Box

Ok, so everyone does a post on the new cards that come out.  I guess you could say this is my post.  I decided this year to purchase a hobby box, instead of buying hanger boxes and rack packs from the local chain stores.  Overall, I'm happy with my box.  I am about 36 cards short of the whole set (including having dupes for my player sets).  I'm trying to decide if I want to have the whole set, or break it up between player sets, TTM cards, and trade bait.  I love the design Topps chose this year.  In my opinion, it's the best design since the 2009 & 2010 sets.  So, what did I get?  Here we go:

First up, Eric Hosmer player collection:


More for my player collection:

I love the green/emerald cards!  I have several of them from the 2012 Bowman Platinum set, and I love that Topps included them into their 2013 set!  I think it's funny that I got all green cards that were sideways.  I wish I would have gotten someone from my player collections, but I would have to say the Kirk Nieuwenhuis is my favorite out of the bunch.


Gold Cards.  Nothing too exciting here.

Chasing history:  Yeah Kerry Wood and George Brett!!

For those of you that love MINIS.  I personally liked the 1987 Topps Mini's from last year.

Cut to the Chase cards.  Again, nothing that really excites me here.  I like the design, but wished I would have gotten a player that I need/want.

The Greats.  I know several Zistle trade partners that will probably want that Musial!

Calling card.  Again, nothing too exciting here for me.  I don't really care for the design.  Bland.  Blah.

Chasing the dream.  I like this set.  The design is much better than last year's Golden Futures set.  Plus, I got a Rizzo!!!

Last, but not least, since it was a hobby box, I was going to get either a autographed card or a relic card.  I like what I got.  It's a relic card (which I think I like better than the autographed cards), and he's a catcher.  That works for me!


A late return from the AFL

I received my 2010 Topps Pro Debut back from Max Stassi this week.  I chose to send him mail last fall during the Arizona Fall League when he was playing for the Phoenix Desert Dogs.  I currently have only 1 TTM still out from my AFL mail last fall.  Max was recently traded from the A's to the Astros in the Jed Lowrie deal.  Good luck in Houston, Max!

Max Stassi
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Phoenix Desert Dogs
114 days


















Next up, mail back from Dave Schmidt, former Oriole. 

Dave Schmidt
Signed 4/4
Sent c/o Home address
137 days

Saturday, February 2, 2013

First trip to my LCS

Kansas City does not have many LCS.  In fact, it has one that I know of.  It is called The Baseball Card Store.  I had never been here before today, and I'm glad we stopped in.  I was hesitant to buy anything, and was more curious to walk around and check it out.  My past experiences with LCS is that things are overpriced and they try to rip you off.

Much to my surprise, I found a hand full of goodies, and got a great deal.  I will visit again when I am in the the area.  Great thing for my checkbook is that I live over 30 minutes away from it!

First, I got several cards for my player collections:

Ryne Sandberg:






      











The two older Sandberg's are from Topps' 2010 Cards Your Mom Threw Out, not the originals, unfortunately.

Starlin Castro:






David Wright:


  This is the second card I have of these two; one for each player     collection!







Ike Davis:






Billy Butler:


A couple of cards to help me get closer to completing my 2012 Bowman Platinum and 2011 Heritage collections:


The final thing I purchased, which I couldn't pass up for some reason, was old packs of cards at $0.50 each.  The bin consisted of mainly packs from the early 1990's, but I thought it was the safe way to get out of the LCS with buying something that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg.  I found this bin first before making the deal for the cards for my player and set collections.  Here is how I fared on my packs (the good stuff):

1992 Ultra:
 Craig Biggio
 Rey Sanchez (one for my Cubs players set)
John Olerud











1992 Leaf:
 Carlos Baerga
 Mike Macfarlane (one for my Royals player set)
 Don Mattingly
Doug Dascenzo (one for my Cubs players set)








1992 Studio:
 First appearance by Wade Boggs today
 Second appearance by Craig Biggio
 OMG!  A card I needed for my Ryne Sandberg player set!!!  YES!!!











1991 Leaf:
 Roberto Alomar
 Heath Slocumb (one for my Cubs players set)
 Danny Jackson (one for my Cubs players set)
Second appearance by Wade Boggs today












This trip to the LCS cost me $8.18 (tax included).  A pretty good day, in my book.