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).



Sunday, April 30, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 21

Day 21...A card of a rookie you thought you were "investing" in.  Jesus Montero was a huge catching prospect for the Yankees, then was traded in the huge trade between the Yankees and Mariners for equally huge prospect Michael Pineda.  Neither have been "huge," but the Yankees ended up the winners of that trade.  I got this card in a hobby box of 2010 Topps Pro Debut that I received as a birthday gift.  I thought owning this card was going to be profitable, and it wasn't.






Saturday, April 29, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 20

Day 20...Your favorite parallel based on the parallel, not the player.  My favorite parallel cards I hang on to, no matter who the player is, is the blue and green cards.  Those are fairly easy to come by when buying your cards at places like Walmart and Target, but the cards I also like that are hard to come by are the camo parallels.  I have a handful from hobby boxes I have bought.  This card was in a commons box at my LCS.  I wanted to pick it up because it was a camo card and it had one of my favorite teams on it.


Friday, April 28, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 19

Day 19...A favorite card from a country other than the United States.  During this challenge, I wanted to pick cards from my collection as much as I could, and I only have a handful of card from another country, Canada.  The O-Pee-Chee cards were always hard to come by when I was collecting, and this card I got through a trade.  In the past, O-Pee-Chee had the same design as Topps, but I chose this card because it was different.  This is a 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier Jeff Conine.


Thursday, April 27, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 18

Day 18...A card of a player who became manager of your favorite team.  I could have picked a lot of guys for this one.  Tony Pena and Ned Yost come to mind for the Royals.  Dusty Baker and Lou Pinella for the Cubs.  However, I chose Don Zimmer because who didn't love the 1989 Cubs "The Boys of Zimmer?"  This card is from 2014 Topps Archives.


Wednesday, April 26, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 17

Day 17...A card from the first set you put together hand collated.  This is the first set I actually completed.  When I first got back into collecting, I loved the cards that didn't have the gloss, like Heritage and Allen & Ginter.  I put this set together by buying blaster boxes, eBay, LCS and trades.



Tuesday, April 25, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 16

Day 16...A card of a player whom your appreciate but don't like.  I think Robinson Cano is a great second basemen.  I drafted him on my fantasy team this year, however, I've never liked him.  I'm not sure why I don't like him, maybe because he played with the Yankees.  This card I got from a blaster box I picked up at Toys-R-Us.  I need to shop there more often.  They usually have great deals on old blaster boxes.


Monday, April 24, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 15

Halfway to the finish on this challenge.  Day 15...One of your favorite cards from the 2010's.  I have always enjoyed the Topps Archives release every year, and have attempted to put a couple of the sets together.  This card stood out because it was a throwback to the 1986 Topps cards.  I liked the 1986 design, and it especially stands out with a team like the Orioles and their colors.



Sunday, April 23, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 14

Day 14...One of your favorite cards from the 2000's.  I was not collecting during the 2000's, so any cards in my collection from this time are repacks or trades.  When Alex Gordon's rookie cards came out, people went nuts spending a lot of cash on them.  I'm glad I waited to put this card in my collection!


Saturday, April 22, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 13

Day 13...One of your favorite cards from the 1990's.  I stopped collecting in the 1990's, and I really only collected up until 1993 or so.  Anything in my collection beyond 1993 has been recently traded for through Zistle or my blog.  I chose this card because it's not everyday your favorite college baseball team has a 1st round draft pick card!  Tim Costo was a Indians first round pick out of the University of Iowa.  He also played for the Reds, and was in the minor league systems of the Cardinals and Blue Jays.



Friday, April 21, 2017

A.J. Achter

Got the second half of this shared card completed.  This is my first completed multiple signature card!  Mr. Achter is currently pitching with the Tigers AA minor league team, Erie.

A.J. Achter
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Erie Seawolves
11 days

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 12

Day 12...One of your favorite cards from the 1980's.  This one was tough.  To this day, this card is one of my most memorable in my collection.  I have always held a special place for the catcher position because that is the position I started playing in little league.  This card has a great design, it's a catcher card, one of my favorite players, and one of my favorite teams.



Thursday, April 20, 2017

Marty Cordova

I really never had any of these Classic Best cards; I only bought one pack, because if I remember right, they were pricey.  I like the look of the card and I had read that Mr. Cordova was a great signer.

Marty Cordova
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Home address
13 days


30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 11

Day 11...One of your favorite cards from the 1970's.  Again, I only have a handful of cards from the 1970's in my collection.  I could have chosen a George Brett card, but I wanted to showcase a card of one of my favorite Cubs announcers.  This card made its way into my collection through Topps' 2011 Diamond Giveaway.


Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Matt Den Dekker

Matt Den Dekker was a free agent who signed with Miami and was a spring training invite.  He currently is playing for the Marlins AAA team, New Orleans.

Matt Den Dekker
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Miami ST
48 days

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 10

Double digits...Day 10.  One of your favorite card from the 1960's.  I have just a handful of cards from the 1960's in my collection, but this is the one I chose for today.  A 1969 Topps deckle edge Don Kessinger.  I got this in a trade off of Zistle.  He's a former Cub and Ole Miss Rebel.  This card currently resides in my Ole Miss Alumni collection.


Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Amed Rosario

Wow!  What a fast return!  Amed Rosario is the number 1 prospect in the Mets system.  This was a fast return from Las Vegas.

Amed Rosario
Signed 1/2
Sent c/o Las Vegas 51s
9 days

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 9

Day 9...One of your favorite cards from the 1950's.  I don't have any cards in my collection from the 1950's, so I did a little research on what cards were available back then.  I decided on this card; 1950 Bowman Doyle Lade.  I chose this card for several reasons, design, Cubs, and the Wrigley brick in the background.


Monday, April 17, 2017

Zistle trade with SWATty67

I'm still currently in the process of transferring my collection to The Trading Card Database.  In the meantime, SWAYty67 hit me up for a small trade.

Iowa Hawkeyes baseball Alumni



Royals mega collection


Starlin Castro - even though he's with the Yankees now, I am still trying to get his Cubs cards, and will add Yankee cards as I can.


30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 8

Day 8...a card that reminds you of a family member.  This is a memory from when I was a kid.  My very first box of baseball cards was a Christmas gift from my grandmother.  I was so excited because I loved 1990 Upper Deck and I never thought I would ever have a actual box of cards of open.  I can't remember what cards I got in that box, but this is a pretty famous card from that set.


Sunday, April 16, 2017

Trade with Collating Cards

Steve from Collating Cards got in touch with me and wanted to do a quick blog trade.  He saw my post on my goodies from my 2017 Topps Opening Day blaster box.  He's a Mariners collector and wanted the Mariner Moose card.   He hooked me up with this Mark Grace for my Wrigley Field collection.


30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 7

Day 7.  A card you bought in person and the story behind it.  This is a card I love and I finally caved and bought it, but there is not much of a story behind it.  I have a ton of cards in my player collections from when I was a kid that I had bought, but I don't remember much about the actual purchase, so I went with something newer.  I had been eying this card at my LCS for a while, and I finally decided to buy it because I didn't have a Ryne Sandberg relic in my collection.  One day, I would like to have a relic and an autographed card of my favorite players.


Saturday, April 15, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 6

Day 6 is all about the money...A card you spent more than $10 to get.  The card I chose for today not only was purchased for $10 exactly, but it is one of my favorite cards of one of my favorite players.  I bought this card on eBay, and it was $10 for the card and shipping.



Friday, April 14, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 5

Day 5...A certified autograph of one of your favorite players.  This is a special card for me, as I won it off of It's like having my own Card Shop's blog contest back in January 2014.  Thanks again Daniel!



Thursday, April 13, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 4

Day 4, a rookie card of one of your favorite players.  This was tough, because I have many favorite players.  I decided to choose a card of a player who didn't fit one of the other challenge day criteria.  I didn't want a 30 day challenge of mostly Eric Hosmer cards!  This was a card I desperately wanted when I was a kid.  I still collect McGwire cards, especially the years where I wasn't collecting.


Wednesday, April 12, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 3

Day 3...a card from the first set you tried to complete.  For me, this is a set I'm still trying to complete!  I still need Desmond Jennings, and then a whole bunch of SPs.  I had just gotten back into collecting in 2010-2011, and I liked the design of 2011 Heritage.  It reminded me of 1987 Topps.  As an adult, I have a lot more cash flow than I did when I was a kid, so I decided to try to put a set together.


Tuesday, April 11, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 2

Day 2 of the challenge is a card with more than one player on it.  You could choose many things here; a Topps or Heritage team card, a Heritage duo/trio card, a SP card that usually has more than one player on it, a Topps Update ASG player card, or a Heritage rookie card.  However, I chose the card that was 108 years in the making...HOLY COW!!!



Monday, April 10, 2017

30 Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 1

I saw this on a fellow collector's blog, and I thought what an awesome idea!  What I discovered while putting this challenge together, is that I learned a lot about cards I don't have, especially older cards, and remembering why I decided to put certain collections together.  As you may have already suspected, my challenge will be Cubs and Royals heavy.

The day one challenge is a card from the current year with a photo you like.  These days I have settled for purchasing a blaster box of the each of new stuff for 2017.  I like the Heritage design and I like the "feel" of the Gyspy Queen cards, but it came down to a throwback uniform for me; this reminds me of the 1987 Mets.


Thursday, April 6, 2017

2017 Gypsy Queen

I bought a blaster box of the new Gypsy Queen product this weekend.  Gypsy Queen usually goes pretty quick around Kansas City.  I don't know that I'm crazy about the design, but I love the way the card feels.  I think Gypsy Queen might be the only set I haven't attempted to put together yet, but I'm not sure this is the year, either.

First Card - Yes!  A player for my player collection!  This rarely happens!


Other collection needs - Royals, Cubs and player collection


Rookie studs


Token catcher card


Short Print


Inserts

Hand Drawn Art
Missing blackplate
No name plate.  It's nice to see Chris Davis on a card not batting.

Purple
Gary Sanchez

I know there are variation cards that are "throw back" cards, and I got this Brandon Phillips card, however, it is not on any checklist I can find as a throw back card.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Billy Ashley

It seems like I've had a run of TTM requests that I have long written off, but now, they are coming back to me.  This was another long one at 1195 days.  The only bummer about this response is that both cards came back bent in the middle.

Billy Ashley
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
1195 days


Sunday, April 2, 2017

2017 Sage HIT

This was a "wish I wouldn't have done this" purchase.  I like to purchase a few packs of football cards every year, especially college cards.  Like Donruss, HIT doesn't use logos.

Probably the biggest "hit" of the pack

Ole Miss Alumni


I'm not sure that Paxton Lynch was an "instant impact" on his team in 2016.


Silver inserts


Saturday, April 1, 2017

2017 Donruss

I was also able to pick up a pack of 2017 Donruss.  I really like this design, compared to the last couple of years.  I sure wish that Donruss was able to use the MLB logos.  I didn't really get anything for any of my collections, so I might buy another pack or two.

At this angle, you really don't miss the logos.





Pete Rose is one of the few "old dudes" in the main set

Not bad, but again, it would be a nice looking card with the hat logo and maybe a team logo on the card



Numbered 196/199