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2014 Topps XFractor lot

I got this lot for the Napoli card.

But after seeing these 6 cards in this scan, a whole page of these would look pretty awesome.

Might be worth keeping the rest of them just for that reason.

1997 Score Pitcher Perfect #7

Apparently the photos on this series of cards were taken by Randy Johnson.

Randy really let his creative juices flow when he came up with the unprecedented idea of having Tim Salmon pose holding a...wait for it.....SALMON!

I'm not so sure that's even a salmon.

1963 Topps #231 (actually a photo of Ryne Duren)

Down to seven cards needed to complete this team set.

1972 Topps Hi #656

Classic Topps crooked photography.

Need only three more tough to get high-numbers to complete this one.

I love it when you can find high numbers on Listia.

Ebaers want an arm and a leg for theirs.

2013 Topps Archives Mini Tall Boy MT-AB

Not really a mini, more of a narrowey.

At first I thought this was taller like a 1989 Bowman.

It's not.

It's just narrower than a regular type card.

2013 Topps Archives 1969 4 IN 1 sticker 69S-THBK

Get rid of Braun and this card is pretty cool.

2014 Donruss #256 CJ Cron Rated Rookie

I've seen some of these advertised as SP, not sure about that.

2013 Opening Day ODS-11

Do not adjust your television, blurryness is intended.

2013 Topps Chasing History Autographs CHA-CC

Snagged this Cowgill auto because I need him for the All-Time Angels collection.

Hopefully at some point I can replace this with a certified autograph on an Angels card.

1985 Fleer Team Action Football

I think these are all of the Patriots in the 88-card set.

I especially like the top card.  Great action shot.

That's Tony Eason passing to the TE Derrick Ramsey.

Completed Angels Team Set - 2003 Upper Deck MVP

11-card Angels team set features most of the prominent players from the 2002 World Series Championship team.

The only change I'd make is swap out Rich Fischer for Troy Percival.

Fisher did not play in the World Series, or on the big club for that matter.

Interesting they picked Fischer because in 2002 he only went 1-3, 4.23 ERA with AA Arkansas.

Dusty Bergman (who?) went better than that, a perfect 5-0.

And you know how many baseball cards Bergman appeared on in 2003?

None.

So Percival it should have been.

Won Three Platinum Value Packs - Value Pack Three

The take so far over 3 Value Packs is six unexciting prospect purple refractors, one blue saffire, one gold parallel, and two Cutting Edge Stars.  Still no Angels.

Last Value Pack.

The name Andrew Susac intrigues me.  Why.

Backup to Buster Posey, fared pretty well over 95 plate appearances this year.

Might not be a bad prospect.

PACK 1

Dupes for Correa and Lee.

My seventh pack of 4 cards each and I already have two dupes.

Gold parallel CC Sabathia.

PACK 2

Are you kidding me!!

Two MORE dupes in Cole and Rodriguez.

See, that's exactly why I don't spend much money on  this crap anymore.

So out of 32 cards so far 4 are dupes.

I don't even want to know the ratio.

PACK 3

A little better with a XFractor and a Top Prospects insert.

Not a single freaking Angel.

I don't regret using credits on these, it was worth it just for the excitement of getting some hits.

Not big hits, but still some hits.

Most of these are available for trade.

I obviously need the Angels.

Won Three Platinum Value Packs - Value Pack Two

So in the last Value Pack I got the three purple prospects refractors (as I should have), one blue sapphire parallel, and a Cutting Edge Stars. No Angels.

Let's see how we do in this Value Pack.

Again, guys I haven't heard of.

PACK 1

Nothing bitchen in this pack.

PACK 2

My second Cutting Edge Stars.

I should get a nice little chunk of credits for this on Listia.

PACK 3

Chris Davis Gold Parallel.

Another Meh.

Another miss on Angels.

Next up: Value Pack 3

Won Three Platinum Value Packs - Value Pack One

For a whopping 24,999 Get-It-Now credits on Listia.

Of course I could have saved all those credits and used them sparingly to pick off Angels cards here and there, could have gotten a lot for that many credits.  But I also figured Hey, it's not costing me anything, and it would have cost me 35-bucks to get these three value packs at Target, so why not.

Why not go crazy.

Plus instead of a handful of PWEs with a single known card each I now get to rip 9 packs of cards, and 3 packs of purple refractors, again for free.

Purple refractors.

You get three per value pack.

Don't know who these guys are.

The Arroyo card looks more refractory than the other two.

PACK 1

Nothing special, got a blue sapphire parallel though.

Meh.

PACK 2

Nothing special here again.

And no parallel.

I like the idea of 2 rookies/prospects and 2 of the more established guys per pack.

PACK 3

Hey there's a decent insert.

Xander Bogaerts Cutting Edge Stars.

Too bad there were no Angels in any of the three packs.

Next up: Value Pack Two

Completed Angels Team Set - 2007 Goudey

Eight cards in the Angels team set for 2007 Goudey.  The backs come in two varieties, red and green.

There's the nine players in the set superimposed over a retro Goudey background.  Someone out there can probably tell you off the top of his head what year Goudey had that background, but I cannot.  1930-something me thinks.

The only subject I would change is Gary Matthews.

Boy we had high hopes for him as an Angel.

And I'm surprised the EPA didn't have something to say about Garret Andersons card showing a belching factory in the background.

Red back variety obviously.

And green.

I think these were produced in the same numbers per color, meaning one color is not more scarce than the other.

SP as in ProSPects

Nice little lot of 5 cards I picked up on LiSPia. Har-har.

2004 SP Prospects

Let's see how these boys have fared in baseball.

Joshua LeBlanc - 4 seasons in the Angels system; made it to A+; didn't make the Big Club.

William Layman - 2 seasons in the Angels system; made it high as A ball; didn't make the Big Club

Freddy Sandoval - 3 years in the Angels system before making the Bigs for 11 games split between 2008 and 2009 for the Halos.

Hainley Statia - 2005-2010 in the Angels system; 2011-now in the Brewers system, AAA.  No MLB time.

Douglas Reinhardt - 2 seasons in the Angels system, then one in Baltimores.  Never made the Bigs.

Too bad more of them didn't get to Show, and stay a while.

Bobby Wilson's Long Return

No mail today, but these came last Friday.

2008 UD Timeline, 2010 Topps Update

814 days sent to Angel Stadium on July 17, 2012.

Where is Bobby Wilson now?

Well, when I sent this in 2012 he was still with the Angels obviously.

Baseball-reference tracks him thus since then:

October 22, 2012: Selected off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

November 30, 2012: Granted Free Agency.

December 13, 2012: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.

November 5, 2013: Granted Free Agency.

November 24, 2013: Signed as a Free Agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He appeared in 2 games for the Diamondbacks in 2014.

As far as I can tell he's still in their system.

I Swear Mister, It Was Already Opened

I bid on and won an already opened pack of 2008 Upper Deck X on Listia.

The pack was clearly listed as already opened and the contents were pictured for all to see.

That's why I bid.

I could clearly see what I needed towards the set I'm working on.

No wasting all those credits for cards I already had.

No sense in that.

Lost, however, was the adrenaline rush of ripping a pack to find a gem inside. 

But in this case it was an acceptable trade-off.

Didn't need any of these base cards.

The base set is done.

Always nice to see an Angel in there.

Didn't need this X-Cut.

I only need about 5 more X-Cuts and this wasn't one.

THIS is what I needed.

An XPonential 2 Pat Burrell.

Hi Pat Burrell.

Welcome to my set.

Big Score Late In The Season

So Scott Crawford and I have been kicking around the idea of starting another set collection, namely 2009 Upper Deck.  A massive set.  I knew that I had quite a few cards already, and after sorting and using a checklist found out I have about 600 of the 1006 (?) card set, plus another 30 or so of the 50 in the Update Set.  Still debating whether I want to undertake it, but kinda testing the waters to see.

We all know that 2008 -2010 Upper Deck rack packs can still be found discounted at Target and Walmart so I stopped by a Walmart on the way home from work looking for some.

But what I found, now that we're deep into the 2014 Postseason, was much better.

I was thumbing through a row of 2014 Topps Series 1 rack packs with the distant hopes of coming across one of these, but not really thinking I would actually find one. 

These came and went pretty quick back in February/March, snatched up by collectors and put up on ebay, so I was super surprised to find it this late in the year.  It was about the third pack from the back of a row of about 15 rack packs.  Maybe someone was hiding it with a plan to come back later to get it, because they didn't have the five and change in their wallet.

Sorry Bro, mine now!

Let's tear in shall we?

And this is the gem I was looking for.

Mike Trout Walmart Variation Gatorade Bath.

For 5 bucks.

Well, with the goody aside lets see what else I got.

Another Trout!

Three more Angels in the pack.

(Can't stand to look at CJ Wilson right now)

Four and a half Angels, not very typical for packs I've opened.

Five Yankees, easily.

Four Red Sox, often.

Three Cardinals, every time.

Now to the inserts

(which are all available if you're interested).

And for kicks, here's all the rest of the pack.

So, the moral of the story?

Keep digging deep through the card aisle guys, never know what you might find.

Oh and I completely forgot to look for any 2009 Upper Deck after I had the Trout Rack Pack in hand!