Just Some Business

Normally I wouldn't post about a trade like this, but when these cards came in I was so excited that I just can't not post about it. The trade which is my biggest, and best ever for sports related business cards took out some serious wants.

Things started while doing the good old famous search for sports related business cards on e-bay. During this search the name of a fellow member or the business card collectors club I'm a member of popped up. Normally these searches will come up with cards from the wantlist, but nothing from the level that this batch had. Usually containing only a couple cards I've never felt it was worth it to pay the price only for two or three cards. Jeff's batch had a good amount though, and was worth trying to contact him in hopes that there might be more.

Luck was on my side as Jeff got back to me with the news that he did have more of a few of the cards in the batch. Thinking I would do something I'm not normally willing to do with a blind trade. We exchanged e-mails a couple times a week for one month to hash out what I would be sending his direction. Jeff wanted some other hard to find categories that weren't sports related for his. In the end this blind trade worked out better than I ever imagined.

I might not be the biggest basketball fan, but getting these was an awesome start. Being able to cross two more NBA teams off the shrinking wants is always good. Now all that is remaining to finish off the NBA is Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, and Toronto Raptors. If you either have one, or can get a business card from any of these teams I'd love to hear from you.

Ironically I have been thinking about artelope ideas for the Hawks, and just never sent one out. As for the Cavaliers I did send out an artelope which I've given up on, and consider a member of the 'Lost Files'. So why not just make it official, and show it off now while I'm talking Cavaliers.

Why the Cavaliers never responded will remain a mystery. Their business card shows the Lake Erie Monsters logo, and they have always been great to me. No loss as thanks to Jeff their is a Cavaliers business card residing in the collection.

From there two more wants from Major League Soccer joined into the fold.

Soccer cards were the reason I made this contact. The good news is he still had these two cards, the bad news is I think there was another two in the batch that he sold. No complaints though as adding these two works for me. As for the MLS there are 14 teams still missing, two are franchises that will be in their inaugural season in 2015. That is if they have a season due to the players, and owners currently having contract issues. Hopefully they work it out as I'm in the camp that believes no play could be devistating to the league.

Not to be left out the sport that rules the roost right now got some much needed attention. Thrown in was two cards for NFL teams that were missing in the collection, and one that is a new design.

Indianapolis is one of those teams I've thought about writing a few times, and for some weird reason just never did. Maybe the reason is one day this card would make its way into the collection without writing the team. Denver is a new design for a card that I'm beaming to add into the collection. As a fan of the Broncos it's always nice to add a new card from your favorite team into the mix. Jacksonville is another of those I didn't think I'd ever acquire. One of the first teams that I'd ever done an artelope for, I've been kind of shy about attempting again being they didn't return anything.

Closing out the showing off is some odds, and end that have never crossed my mind.

These are just four fun cards that will find some form of home in a binder. Adding cards that you've never even given a thought about is always a cool thing. Believe it, or not I have an area in a binder where these will fit perfectly.

Included was baseball, college, and some other sports that didn't get shown here. Inside was so much good stuff I had to do something I don't normally do, and share one of my business card trades.

Artelopes- Clearwater and Daytona

With baseball not far away some teams have already started putting out schedules. Currently among the list is Clearwater, and Daytona who both play in the Florida League.

The Threshers are one of two teams in the league that I collect schedules from. Finding out that the team had put out a schedule this early in the year I had to write the team.

With Clearwater using a shark as their logo the idea of doing sharks in the water only seemed natural. Originally the plan was to just do a couple fins, but the daughter injected her opinion. She said that there needed to be a little more shark than just a couple fins. So going with her idea what you see above is the end result.

Clearwater is one of the few teams that I don't mind just getting schedules, and no business card from. They have been so good to me in the past in sending business cards. Since getting all those cards the team hasn't gone through any sort of changes so everything is good.

Daytona went through two big changes this off-season. First the team went through an affiliation change from the Cubs to the Reds. Second is due to this huge change the team went from the Cubs to the Tortugas. What this did is left a huge hole in my Florida State League business card collection. While affiliated with the Cubs, Daytona was always good to me.

Attempting to do the full logo had me feeling a little out of my league. I could have probably pulled it off, but thought why not go with the partial design? Sometimes its better to go with something that you feel more confident about rather than forcing something you just aren't feeling. In the end it was a wise choice.

As a collector that has contacted Daytona in the past one thing about this schedule sticks out. Across the bottom it says early bird. Whenever you see this one a schedule another edition is sure to follow in a couple months.

A Lost Opportunity?

The great Fuji did a few of these style posts long ago, and those have inspired this very post. On Sunday the 15th the wife, and myself went to the monthly collector's market. This is an event held most the month's during winter, and is a fun event the two times that I have went.

September 2013 was the last time going to this show, and I have no good reason on why I don't go more often. With finds like the bag of football helmets that I found last time for the great price of one dollar. I can't help, but wonder how many other amazing finds have been missed out on by not going more often.

This time we did fairly well as the wife picked up some old Disney comics on the cheap, and I completed a project I've had going for a few years now. Results like that just added to me wondering why we don't do this show every month.

Despite all the great finds it is the one purchase that I didn't make that I keep thinking about. Sitting on one of the first tables when you enter, but one of the last two we hit was one of these.

The one there was in much better shape, and priced much cheaper than the one in this picture. It was a beautiful sight that looked just as pristine inside. Why I turned it down I am honestly still on the fence about.

The dealer was asking only ten dollars, but I tried to talk him down with no results. He was at a solid ten, and I wasn't going to pay that amount. Maybe it was that my plan was to frame it, and hang it on the wall. With that as my plan ten dollars just seemed to much for a team I'm not a fan of.

Looking back at things I still can't decide if this was a lost opportunity, or if I'm fine with not getting it. Odds are I'll be wondering the answer for a little longer.

Over Before It Even Started

 

Here at the cat house for the last week we have been walking in the clouds. Pitchers, and catchers report which means baseball is right around the corner. College basketball is closing in on its tournament with two of the teams I root for doing quite well. Then there was the Daytona 500 being ran today. The excitement on all this build up was mind-blowing.

Suddenly all that was sucked right out of the house during the Xfinity race yesterday. With Kyle wrecking into the inside wall, and breaking his right leg, and left foot. From there he was rushed to the hospital, and into surgery for hours on the right leg.

All this leaves us here wondering who do we root for now, and how much racing will we watch? Currently I feel like a fan that just got told his team won't be playing any games for awhile. When they will start playing is unknown, and won't be known for awhile. Will we find some new driver to root for during this time, or just watch because we enjoy racing? Those are questions that might take weeks to figure out. The wife is already talking about rooting for the driver who fills in for Kyle. Myself I might go that route, or maybe take on a new driver until my guy returns.

Who knows, maybe this could lead into joining the Jeff Gordon group as he runs his last season before retiring. A chance to sit back, and enjoy watching one of NASCAR's all time greats in his last run. I was wishing him to do well, but not beat our guy in races.

More than anything Kyle. Know that we will be missing you, and you will be in our prayers for a safe recovery.

Tony Brings Me Off Hiatus

For almost three weeks now I have been on a sort of writing break. This break has been something I needed to recharge myself. Feeling the need to do some writing again I am back, and ready to go.

After taking this short break it's ironic that my first post would be dedicated to a blog with the name Off Hiatus Baseball Cards. You could make the claim that as bloggers we pick the order we post so it's not really that ironic. You could claim that, but you would be wrong in making that claim. Since starting this blog I have always done my posts related to mail in the order that they arrive.

The one thing you would be right in claiming though is that this hiatus didn't need to be so long. Tony sent the mailer with all these goodies on the 7th, and they were received not long afterwards. With so many cool looking schedules sent by Tony I feel ashamed that it has taken this long to thank him for sending these my direction.

Football schedules are way below baseball in my collection, but schedules like this might close that gap. I've always stuck to the Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bearcats, Miami Hurricanes, UNLV Rebels, and Utah Utes as the lone schedules. These might break into that small collection if I ever learn how long these were issued.

Even better looking than the football schedules is this 1989 White Sox schedule.It's tough to top a schedule that showcases four classic buttons, a bobblehead, and a couple other classic White Sox memorabilia.

Tony showed that you can top the White Sox with some schedules that showed just how cool being a Brewers fan can be. First he hit me with the always tough to come by regionalized re-elect schedule. In some regions, and for certain teams these are pretty popular. Unless you are connected to someone these are usually very tough to find. It'd be insane if you could find how many of these type of schedules exist that very few even know exist due to no collector living in the region the schedule was released..

Not to be outdone by the re-elect schedule Tony dropped some sweet beer sponsored schedules into the mix. With the beer history in the region how could you not have tons of schedules sponsored by a beer?

The Brewers aren't a one trick pony when it comes to their schedules. Other companies got into the action, but with simpler looking schedules. Sometimes the simple team logo works, especially when you are trying to promote your business through said schedule.

Thank you so much Tony for the awesome mailer. Sorry it has taken this long to show off what you sent.

#walletcard - Kyle's January Adventures

When the idea for the walletcard started sweeping the blogging world. I decided that rather than do the constant posting something like this could become. Each month I would end the month by doing the adventures of Kyle card. That leads us to today's post on what happened to Kyle card for the month.

Sadly Kyle didn't have any sort of a big month of travel or anything exciting like some other have shared. This isn't to say that at some point during the year he won't be popping up in other places as I do have some plans for him. Things are just slow around the cat house right now, it happens.

What he did do was make the weekly trip northbound for the daughter's guitar lessons. Those days are behind him now as the lessons will be on hold for a bit. Outside of those trips he's gone to work with me. He's done the weekly ritual of Goodwill visits, and had a blast doing them.

In honor of the not so exciting month we will see how Kyle is doing.

Looking at the left handed side you can see that the gloss is starting to take a hit. Nothing makes it more obvious than the 1, and spade in the upper left are fading. Compare it to the 1, and spade on the lower right, and it becomes a bit more obvious.

Another hit Kyle has taken isn't showing very well in the scan. On the left, and right around the bottom of his sunglasses. There is a bend in the card that goes to the silver design. This isn't the only bend as the entire length of the card is starting to bend from its location in my wallet. Any time I pull out my debit card the plastic card holder section of my wallet gives Kyle some abuse.

It'll be interesting to see how Kyle looks after five or six months of this type of abuse. For now he's holding up, but shwing the signs of abuse that a card takes being in my wallet.

Sticking Around

While my player collections have gone through some changes for this new year. There are still three guys who remain the core of my collecting. When I decided to get back into collecting, and trying to finish old sets. Running with player collections weren't in the original plan. Since then things have changed drastically, and the players have become the part I enjoy the most.

Wilin Rosario

Deciding to get into player collecting I thought it would be best to do two players from my two favorite teams. For the Rockies I chose Wilin Rosario, and the recently taken out of the loop Juan Nicasio. Interestingly Wilin was going to be a kind of side player with Juan being the star of my Rockies collection. Things changed quickly as Rosario has the cooler looking cards in my opinion. Keeping the auto, patch, and bat cards out of the equation. The Rockies purple catching gear worn by Wilin has given his cards a better look than Nicasio's cards.

From things I have been reading this off season. 2015 will be a huge year for Rosario who will be going through big changes. Colorado signed a new catcher to take over the duties behind the plate, and had shopped Wilin as a trade chip. As time progressed the team began reconsidering the idea as right hand hitters are valuable commodities. Deciding to keep his bat the team has had Wilin work on both first, and the outfield. How well he takes to either position remains a mystery.

Kyle Seager

Much like Rosario was in the players section. Seager was kind of a side player that has risen to top of my collecting. As other players for Seattle dropped out of sight, and have fallen off the wants. Seager has stepped up, and become a cornerstone to the Mariners, and their future plans. All this should lead to some interesting cards coming out for the third baseman.

The downside is we live in the Northwest, and Mariners cards have the regional cost added in. This has meant adding Seager cards can be a little tougher than normal. Other than the few I've gotten in packs, and a miracle find or two in dime boxes. The collection's greatest additions came from a trade with a fellow blogger. Odds are this will continue to be the trend with Seager as he establishes himself as a star for years to come.

 Mike Trout

 

One thing I wanted to do most when I decided to collect players is have a superstar in the mix. At the time it was between two young players named Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout. The decision didn't take too much thought before coming to the conclusion that Trout was that player.

A couple things came into play that made Trout the obvious choice. One was he plays out here on the west coast, and odds are would get more exposure around here. Another was related to my pocket schedule collection. Trout was playing in Salt Lake which happens to be one of my favorite minor league teams. It becomes so much easier to collect a player who's currently on a team you root for. Last was I once bought a pack of Topps minor league, and pulled the Trout card above. This meant I had a starting card for the collection.



How the two new players will blend in with these big three is going to be an interesting question. What I do know is that right now these three are something I enjoy right now. Odds are one day the player collecting might even drop down to just these three players, or a new combination of three players. It just seems that for some strange reason I like to have two lesser guys in the bullpen. Maybe as these three keep establishing themselves that thinking will fall to the wayside. Until then I plan on running with the three main guys, and two in the wings.

Artelopes- Canton Charge

On Saturday I was going to finish up the third post about the player collections. As you can tell by a quick look down, it didn't happen. Then came this morning, and the fact it's Super Bowl Sunday. So instead of doing that post my thought was to run with an artelope return.

Still continuing my attack on the NBA Developmental League. I sent out this request to the Canton Charge who are the league's affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

For some weird reason I had the idea come into my mind one day to do a Pac-Man chasing ghosts. This could have worked for any team, but I chose Canton. Being they are a basketball team I decided to do the pellets as basketball's to keep with the theme. Another add on was the sword being carried by Pac-Man. The daughter thought it would be a cool addition due to the team's logo having a sword. I think it could have turned out a touch better, but overall it came close to my idea.

As for the return I got the desired results. First off the team included the current season pocket schedule.

Included was the much appreciated business card that was the entire reason for writing the team.  Thanks to the Charge my needs list for the NBA Developmental League is now down to 9 teams. There are still five requests lingering with hopes slowly dimming for returns on all but two.