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).



Friday, February 21, 2014

State of my collection

A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about my blog and collection and how I felt like I was collecting too much stuff and felt like I was all over the place.  I made some goals specific for this blog, and now, I'm taking a look at my collection as a whole.  I like it when other bloggers post pictures of their collections at home and how they store them.  I currently have 7 binders:

TTM autos
Cubs player collections
Royals player collections
Cubs & Royals 1986-current
Non-Royals/Non-Cubs player collections
2011 Heritage
2012 Bowman Platinum/2012 Topps Update ASG and HRD

My problem is, I feel like I'm running out of room.  I would really like to display the whole 2013 Topps set in a binder, as well as start a binder for my catcher collection.  My TTM binder is almost exploding, so I need to get a second one for those cards.  Plus, I would like to get one more for my NCAA specific baseball and football cards.  That puts me up to 11 if I do all of that.

Also, I have a lot of common cards, as well as stars and rookies that are taking up room.  I have also cut back on player specific collections.  Goodbye Paul Goldschmidt, Mark Trumbo, and Yoenis Cespedes.  I am going to try to make trades of these for cards for ones I really want.  I would rather have cards that I want taking up room, than cards I don't want.  One way to remedy this is by having a contest or two on this blog.  I know there are several bloggers out there, like myself, that have favorite teams and want to collect cards of that team.

Decisions, decisions.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

David Segui

I was excited to get this back last week; mail from David Segui.  He currently lives in Kansas City, KS, right across the river!  I wanted to add some more Orioles to my TTM collection, and he helped me out!

David Segui
Signed 3/3
Sent c/o Home address
57 days

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Trip to my LCS, part 2

As part of my trips to my local LCS, I always try to buy a few packs of cards that my local stores don't carry.  I decided to pick up a few hobby packs of 2013 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects.  I did quite well in picking packs!

A few for my player collections


Token Cubbie, Jorge Soler


Xander Bogaerts Refractor (available for trade)


Finally, *dun dun dun*
I pulled an auto!  Woo-hoo!!!  The scan is not very good and makes it hard to see, but it is Yankees prospect Eric Jagielo.  This card is available for trade, too.


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Another trip to my LCS

It was time to visit my local LCS again; I haven't been in quite a while, and I was looking for some help to complete some sets.  I have been having some thoughts about my collection as a whole, and I feel like I am all over the place, so I'm trimming things down and going to really work to complete some of the sets that I've been working on for quite a while.

First off, I asked for the 2013 Topps Update box.  I did well here, picked up most of the cards I needed to complete my set, as well as some Cubs and Royals to put in my team collection.  Now, I'm down to five more to complete my set.  They are listed in my set needs tab.  I'm hoping to do one or two trades to help out with my last five.
 

Next, I asked for the 2012 Bowman Platinum box.  They actually had platinum sets from 2010-2013 in the box, so I first scoped out what I needed for 2012.  As far as the main set, I got everything I needed but one card!  So close!  My last card I need is Yoenis Cespedes.  I will get this card soon!  Then, I looked at the prospects, and gathered up quite a few of those, as well.  I will continue to work on the prospects set; I still have a ways to go there.


After scoping out the 2012's, I just glanced at the rest of the Bowman in the box, and picked up quite a few for my player collections.  I will say that Bowman has done a better job of improving card design over the years.  The 2010's are not much to look at when comported to 2012.  I also found some Bowman Sterling, and picked up some of those for my player collections, too.





Monday, February 17, 2014

My first NBA TTM

I got my first NBA return last week.  This is not my first attempt; Mark Price still hasn't sent my mail back.  Jon Koncak was born in Iowa, and attended high school in Kansas City.  He won Olympic Gold in 1984.  It's a nice add to my TTM collection!

Jon Koncak
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Home address
50 days

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

TTM from Spring Training 2013!?!?

Mike Napoli sent this back to me last week.  I had forgotten about it, but I am excited to have it back.  He must have been signing his mail; I saw several other people had gotten him back recently.  I picked this particular card because it was from the All Star Game that was here in Kansas City in 2012.  Great memories for me.

Mike Napoli
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Red Sox ST
365 days

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Cody Risien

Cody Risien played his whole career with the Cleveland Browns.  He made two Pro Bowls back in the late 1980's.

Cody Risien
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Home address
12 days


Monday, February 3, 2014

Another Zistle trade with bdlehman18

I completed another trade with bdlehman18 last week.  We have made several trades together.  Here's what I got:

Cubbies!  The Milton Bradley is one I needed for my Cubs collection, thus helping me by one card towards my Cubs goal of 2014!  One card at a time, right?  The other cards are for my player collections.


Royals!  All for my collections.   Too bad the Royals got rid of David Lough; they traded him to Baltimore in December for Danny Valencia.  I wish David Lough all the best!  He is a very scrappy player and fun to watch.