Site for betting news

One of the biggest supporters, and author of one of my favorite blogs, AJ of the Lost Collector blog, sent me a message on twitter asking for my new address.  Gracious as always, he had a few cards for the Jays collection to break in the new place.The PWE arrived yesterday with some cards that I probably never would have seen otherwise if it wasn’t for AJ’s generosity.If the Jays make it back to the postseason this year, it will largely be because of the offensive contributions of Encarnacion and Donaldson (MVP again?).  Bautista has been hurt a lot this season, and frankly I won’t be all that upset to see him walk after this season if he holds on to the contract demands that he spoke of earlier in the season.Not to be overlooked, but Martin and Tulowitzki have been significant contributors as well, especially Tulo’s defense at short which has been tremendous. The Topps Bunt cards aren’t that bad to be honest.  It’s a set that I probably would not have invested in, but I like the photos, and the logo in the background doesn’t dominate the card.Topps Chrome is another set that I don’t see myself buying any packs of this year, so these two Tulowitzki cards are most certainly welcome here in my house.   Until last week, I hadn’t purchased a card at all since the middle of July, largely focused on the impending move, the move itself, and the time I’ve spent making the new house inhabitable.  My reward for all the work was putting a few bucks into my COMC account and picking up a few cards, some of which will knock down the long neglected ’64 Topps want list!AJ also included a note expressing concern that he was adding to a collection that I’m trying to reduce.  Rest assured, the Blue Jays collection isn’t something that I’m looking to pare down!!AJ, thank you for the cards, they are appreciated!  Thanks for breaking in the new house.thanks for reading, Robert

Powered by WPeMatico

Numbers don’t lie.  A very old saying, one that I constantly add the caveat “but they can and are manipulated to tell the truth that a person wants to tell.”This post is not a rant, a whine, or even a cry for help.  It’s merely an observation based on numbers.I posted my first card for the SNIH set yesterday, and readership dropped, by half.  Again, not a whine or a bitch, just the truth.  What does that tell me?  That folks don’t care for hockey as much as they care for baseball.  I noticed it in the past as well when I wrote posts about Joe Sakic, any Maple Leafs cards that I may have picked up, or any other hockey subject that may have piqued my interest. What to do, what to do.  I want people to see the hockey cards that I pick up for this latest project, as well as anything else that may come across my desk.  So, I’ve decided to hide the SNI hockey cards in plain sight.  Build them into posts.  Likely towards the end, so people can skip over them (because who reads right to the end anyways?) when they read a post.Man, that still sounds bitter, doesn’t it??  Believe me, it’s not meant to be.  I know that the bloggers out there who enjoy hockey will still be interested and keep an eye out for these cards.  I’ve also got one supporter out there sending me a few to help with the cause (thank you Doug!). Meanwhile, here’s the 12th page of the original SNI set, cards 100 through 108.Card #100:  Todd Helton, 2010 Topps Finest #100/599.  Picked up at the 2012 NSCC.  Colorado card #3.Card #101:  Sean Burnett, 2011 Topps Gold #101/2011.  Courtesy of the Stats on the Back blog.  Washington card #3.Card #102.  Domonic Brown, 2012 Topps Opening Day #102/2012.  Courtesy of Brian from the Play at the Plate blog.  Philadelphia card #4.Card #103:  Eric Chavez, 2006 Topps Chrome refractor #103/549.  Purchased at a PA card show.  Oakland card #5.Card #104:  Carlos Tosca, 2004 Topps gold #104/2004.  Courtesy of Jim at the GCRL blog.  Toronto card #3Card #105:  Johnny Mize, 2009 Topps Triple Threads #105/525.  Picked up at the 2014 NSCC in Cleveland.  St. Louis card #8Card #106:  Josh Gibson, 2006 Topps Co-Signers #106/150.  Courtesy of Kevin from the Diamond King blog.  Pittsburgh card #1.Card #107:  Nathan Adcock, 2010 Bowman Chrome #107/500.  Courtesy of Eric from the Manupatches and Chrome Scratches blog (retired).  Pittsburgh card #2.Card #108:  Alex Rios, 2011 Bowman chrome blue #108/500.  I have no idea where this card came from.  Chicago White Sox card #3I got a little creative adding Josh Gibson as a Pittsburgh player, seeing as he played for the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords in the pre-integrated baseball era.  Carlos Tosca’s card is the first manager to be in the set, I think that there may be a couple of more manager cards in the set.  Fitting in with the serial numbered theme of this post, here is the 2nd card for the SNIH set, going all the way back to the 1999-00 Be A Player release.  I was fortunate enough to pull this card from a pack back in the day, and my luck pulling cards that were serial #’d this low was minimal at best.Maybe Oleg should have kept the helmet on.  Kvasha had an OK NHL career, playing in 493 games scoring 81 goals.  He would head back home after the 2005/06 season and play 7 more seasons in Russia before exiting at age 34.  Oleg was part of the big trade with the Islanders that brought Roberto Luongo to south Florida back in June of 2000.We’ll see how this goes…thanks for reading, Robert

Powered by WPeMatico

I had pretty good luck pulling gold signature cards from the ’14-’15 MVP packs that I bought.  I managed to pull 3 of them, 2 of which will be part of the SNIH set.  Interesting that Boedker adds his jersey number 89 to his signature.  We’ll see if the folks in San Jose see and hear a lot of #89 this year.  Pretty good photo on the front of the card, although you can’t see his face, King Henrik Lundqvist is easily identifiable behind Mikkel.1199 cards to go, 39 more for the Coyotes.thanks for reading, Robert

Powered by WPeMatico

OK, just in case you haven’t heard, I’ve decided to go ahead with the hockey version of the Serial Numbered Insanity project.   I’m a glutton for punishment.  I have put a page at the top of the blog, but just in case you don’t want to be bothered looking it over, here’s what it says…A little different from the baseball version this time, largely because I learned a couple of things as I went along.  I can’t wait to see how this set progresses…Here are the “rules”:This set is going to be a little smaller, 1200 cards.  40 cards by 30 teams.I’m sure that this is going to last longer than a year, so when the new Las Vegas team comes in, they won’t be a part of the set.   Each team will be represented at least once in the first 100 cards of the set. No jerseys/autographs in this set, similar to the baseball version.  Inserts are fine.No restriction on card companies this time.  This is different from the baseball version, which I restricted to Topps/Bowman products.   In the Game, Upper Deck, Topps, Panini are all an option.I’ve kind of loosened it up a bit, allowing more companies to be a part of the set for a couple of reasons.Variety:  It kind of got a bit boring towards the end of the baseball version, because we was seeing the same sets over and over again.  With multiple card companies involved, we should see more types of serial numbered cards, hopefully making it a little more fun for everyone.Difficulty:  Unlike baseball that has Topps pumping out their gold parallel with 2000+ serial numbers each year, hockey doesn’t have that so much.   There are a few hockey sets that go over 1000, but not a lot.  We’ll see how hard it is to get cards 1000-1200.The blogosphere:  I’m sure that out of the “big 4”, hockey is probably last on the majority of collectors lists as far as collecting goes.  Yes, I know that there are some notable exceptions to this (Doug of Sportscards from the Dollar Store instantly comes to mind), but there are a lot of collectors out there that probably couldn’t tell me what a puck is as well.  It’s not a bad thing, it just limits the amount of people that may want to contribute.  I had 67 different bloggers/readers send me cards for the baseball version, I’m sure that I won’t come close to that on the hockey side.  Again, not a bad thing!!Maybe pumping out these posts might sway a person or 2 to pick up a hockey card here and there, possibly add a player or set to their collection that they may not have been interested in in the past. ’97 Leaf Limited insert of Mats Sundin.  It’s in play this time around.  It’s one of 28 cards I already have towards the set.   Just 1172 to go. Let the games begin.Thanks for reading, Robert

Powered by WPeMatico

I mentioned the other day that I was going to touch every card I had in monster boxes and determine if it would stay or go.  I didn’t even mention office supply boxes, in which I found a cobra!Yep, Dave Parker was hiding among paper clips and thumb tacks, in a top loader and ready to be removed and added to the other 18 cards I have from the ’82 set.  I figured if I can find a card there, the other 700+ shouldn’t be that hard to find.  So I added a want list for the ’82 set today.Meanwhile, I finally got around to scanning another page from the SNI set for a post; this page actually has 2 cards each from 2 of the more generous bloggers to this grandiose cause.  Enjoy!Card #91:  Carlos Beltran, 2009 Topps Tribute #91/99.  Courtesy of Max from the Starting Nine blog.  New York Mets card #2Card #92:  Joe Saunders, 2009 Topps Unique #92/1199.  Courtesy of Jason Williams (blog unknown, sorry Jason).  Los Angeles Angels card #4Card #93:  Barry Zito, 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones #93/150.  Purchased at the 2012 National.  Oakland card #4Card #94:  Scott Rolen, 2011 Gypsy Queen Brown framed #94/999.  Purchased at a card show in PA.  Cincinnati card #4Card #95:  Mike Gonzalez, 2008 Topps Heritage refractor #95/599.  Courtesy of Kyle from the JABO blog (retired).  Atlanta card #8Card #96:  Craig Biggio, 2007 Bowman Blue #96/500.  Courtesy of Max from the Starting Nine blog.  Houston card #5Card #97:  James Baldwin, 2003 Topps Chrome refractor #97/699.  Courtesy of Brian from the Play at the Plate blog.  Kansas City card #2Card #98:  Fausto Carmona, 2010 Topps gold #98/2010.  Courtesy of Michael from the Nomo’s Sushi Platter blog.  Cleveland card #4Card #99:  J.D. Martinez, 2011 Topps gold #99/2011.  Courtesy of Brian from the Play at the Plate blog.  Houston card #6Still no Pirates, something that is “kind of” solved in page 12, you’ll see when I post it in the next couple of days.By the way, I decided to start the hockey version of SNI.  The tab is up at the top, try not to hurt yourself when you roll your eyes.  All the “rules” are there for your perusal, and don’t be afraid to ask any questions.  My objective is to post cards as they come in, 1 at a time, just to keep the blog rolling along. This 5-6 post a month roll I’ve been on has got to stop.  One way or another.Thanks for reading, Robert

Powered by WPeMatico