2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Baseball Set COMPLETE!!!!

After months of opening packs, going to card shows and scouring the pages of eBay for those sort print cards I finally put together the last baseball masterpieces set produced by UD. After completing the set and looking at each one of the cards I came up with a decision, I Really hate SP’s in sets. They make finish set difficult and frustrating which sometimes that takes away from the fun of it. For the past month I have had 119 out of the 120 cards to complete the set. The card took me almost an extra month to find was card number 106 Donny Baseball. I could not believe how hard it was for me to find that card, especially because Dave from Fielder choice opened two boxes and received doubles of the Don Mattingly card and I can’t even find one!!! The search came to a happy ending a few days ago when I finally won the action on eBay, now that the search for the elusive Mattingly card is now over I can enjoy my hard work. Next up is finding the stupid short prints for the football version of the set. I hope I don’t lose my mind trying to find them.

A Long Overdue Post

I haven’t posted anything in quite a long time and I really wish I had. Work and life have been very busy and didn’t want that to affect my posts; I didn’t want to throw a quick post just for the sake of posting something.
There has been a lot going on in the hobby since my last post but since it so old I am only going to say one thing, look out for Panini. After their purchase of Donruss, I think they are going to surprise collectors with their future releases.
The main reason I need to take a break from work and create a new post is to thank Greg from Night Owl Cards. I received a package from him yesterday full of Dodgers both past and present; he also included a few cards I needed for some sets. It’s always nice to see a little package in your mail box you don’t expect.

Vacation!!!

Well the daily grind of New York has finally got to me and I need to take a quick trip to Florida. Actually that’s a lie I am just lucky to have a father who hates the winter in New York and wanted to go to Florida so I am tagging along. I will be gone for a few days so I won’t be able to update the blog as much as I would like since my blog is still pretty new but who can pass up a trip to Florida! I am hoping to get a chance to go to some spring training games; of course the year I go to Florida for some spring baseball the Dodgers no longer have spring training there, after training in Florida for about 50 years. That pretty much gives you a great summery on the type of luck I have.

I Will Not Collect Razor

I won’t say never, because never is a long time, but I defiantly will not be collecting any Razor products in the near future. It’s not because I don’t like their product, I thought the Signature Series was a good release for a companies first product; I won’t collect razors because of Brain Gray (head of Razor).

Every time I hear him on The Card Podcast over at Superfractor.com I dislike him even more. I know he is a business man and is proud of his product but he make is sound like everything Razor does is the greatest thing in world and that he is revolutionizing collecting. Through out his interviews he talks about how his company will never use sticker auto and if his company can do it, then all companies can do it. Well now it turns out that Razor will have to use stickers for one of its products and you know why they are going to use stickers????? It’s because Razor is going to included signature of 8th graders in one of its new products. Razor has decided to enter into the football market with a deal with the US Army All American High School Football Game (I do believe that is a good business decision). The product will be released in a factory set with the current players and some alumni who include, Tim Tebow, Beanie Well, Terrell Prior and Mark Sanchez.

At first I thought this was going to be a good idea until I found out how Razor was going to drive sale of this product. What they decided to do was introduce autograph football card of 8th GRADERS!!! Does Brain Gray really think that people will buy a product because they are going to be guaranteed an auto of an 8th grade football player? What are the chances these kids will even make into the NFL? The reason why he wants to makes these cards is so he can say Razor has the first card of this player. I was shocked on how thrilled and happy he was about this idea.

Maybe I am wrong and maybe there are a lot more prospectors out there then I think but personally I think this is a horrible idea and to steal a line from someone during the podcast “When is Razor going to introduce autos from the Little League World Series players?” Since I’m not in the hobby from prospecting is probably one reason why I am turned off by Razor products but I still feel this is a bad idea even for prospectors. How do you feel about this product, is this something you would purchase or is it just another crazy idea in the collecting world?

HAVE/WANT

Want Any:
James Loney
Russell Martin
Clayton Kershaw
Steve Young

2007 UD Masterpieces Baseball
Have: 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 39, 42, 561, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 86, 88, 90

2007 Ultra Baseball
Want: 24, 113, 116, 120, 124,125, 202, 204, 205, 207, 208, 209, 210. 211, 213, 216, 217, 218, 220, 222, 223, 226, 228, 229, 223, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 240, 241, 242, 244, 246, 250

2008 Topps Chrome
Have: 1, 7, 11, 12, 17, 20, 21, 29, 43, 51, 52, 55, 57, 69, 73, 79, 83, 91, 93, 102, 110, 112, 114, 127, 132, 135, 136, 137, 143, 144, 145, 150, 155, 156, 158, 159, 165, 166, 167, 168, 175, 177, 187, 188, 191, 192, 194, 197, 198, 201, 206, 207, 208, 216, 217

2008 UD Masterpieces Baseball
Want: 106
Have: 6, 10, 12, 20, 24, 27, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 55, 60, 61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 73, 75, 76, 82, 83, 87, 88, 89, 90, 98

2008 UD Timeline
Want: 378

2008 UD Sweet Spot
Want: 133 – Kershaw Auto

2008 Ultimate Collection
Want: 48

2008 Bowman Sterling
Want: BS-CK

2008 SP Authentic
Want: RE-CW, MM-37

2008 Topps Stadium Club
Want: 5 First Day, 91 First Day, 82 First Day, 107B First Day, 127B

2008 Upper Deck Documentary
Want: Any Dodgers game

2008 Upper Deck Football
Want: 253, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 309, 310, 312, 314, 316, 317, 319, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325

2008 UD Masterpieces Football
Want: 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 103, 105, 106, 107, 110
Have: 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 76, 77, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90

2008 Upper Deck Basketball
Want: 8, 9, 10, 12, 13

2009 Topps
Want: 5, 19, 28, 36, 37, 42, 56, 67, 91, 103, 113, 123, 129, 134, 136, 154, 168, 173, 185, 187, 193, 197, 203, 208, 211, 212, 2196, 217, 231, 233, 247, 248, 251, 253, 267, 268, 269, 283, 300, 310, 320, 324
Have: 88, 93, 102, 135, 143, 142, 150, 201, 206, 221, 274, 284, 293, 321, 327
Turkey Red: Josh Johnson, Shane Victorino, Conor Jackson, Brain McCann, George Sisler, Jimmie Foxx, Fukudome, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Joe Mauer
Ring Of Honor: Clemens, Pettitte, Pujols, Gary Carter, Luis Gonzo, Jim Leyland

2009 Upper Deck
Want: 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 201, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 457, 465, 484, SQ-21, OPC-38, OPC-41, R9, R13, R14
Have: 10, 35, 76, 77, 87, 98, 107, 120, 127, 135, 149, 155, 170, 190, 203, 226, 243, 271, 276, 288, 293, 306, 320, 323, 330, 337, 340, 371, 392, 405, 423, 429, 444, 451, 488, 490

If you have something I have listed but you don’t see anything you need let me know who are what you collect and I will see what I can find for you.

Sticker Vs On-Card Auto's

One of the biggest debated in the hobby today is the sticker or on card autographs. Personally I do enjoy on card auto’s more then the stickers but I don’t mind a clear sticker auto. From a business stand point, I understand why companies use stickers. It is much more convenient to have an athletes sign twenty stickers in a row rather then sign card after card. As a collector I would rather have sticker auto then a redemption card because who knows what you might end up with
Having said that, there are some things about sticker autos that do bother me. First, when a sticker auto is used and you can clearly tell the players autograph is cut off because they can’t fit it on the sticker. (Can you tell what one is one card and what one is a sticker??)

If a player can’t fit there auto onto the stick give them a bigger sticker. The Second thing that really bothers me about sticker autos is when the company uses silver stickers. Whenever I look at a card in my collection that has a silver sticker it is the only thing I can see, it just stares right at me. They stick out on the card like a sore thumb. If a company knows they are going to need to use a sticker for a product why don’t they use the clear stickers? I bet collectors wouldn’t mind sticker autos if they just used clear ones, it seems like a simple solution but Topps still hasn’t figured it. They still use silver stickers in their 09 set! As a collector do you consider all stickers horrible or do you only hate silver stickers?

Trading

One of my favorite things about blogging is TRADING!!! Blogging brings people from all over together and allows them to trade cards with fellow collectors. Trading is a great way to grow your collection without the hassle and cost of eBay or a card show. I truly enjoy helping another collectors build a set or sending them a card they didn’t have of the player they collect. In my short time in the blogosphere, I have complete trades with Treasures Never Buried, Box Busters, Player to be Named Later, Fields Choice and Night Owl Cards all of who I would highly recommend. Trading is one of my favorite things about collecting.