2009 Sweet Spot Baseball Tin

First off Let me say that I did not know that they sold this type of product in Target.

Second, the presence of said product threw a monkey wrench into my original plan which was to pick up a blaster of Topps Update.

Third, I have never purchased a product that costs 10 bucks a pack so I am very apprehensive about my decision.

So anyways I succumbed to my impulsive whims and splurged. So what did 30 bucks get me...3 packs at 8 cards each. The package also emphasized the inclusion of "one autograph or memorabilia card in every tin, on average!" Yeah, I know. I am just hoping to pull a Fielder or Braun card and maybe a relic of someone I've heard about.

Well let see.

Pack 1


Pack 2


Pack 3


Meh. I know that this is a popular product and many people drop some considerable change on chasing autos and what not. I must say that the base cards are very nice looking, but is it really worth paying 10 bucks a pack. In my opinion no, but then again I am only chasing Brewers and not cruisin' for hits. Does anyone ever pull autos out of retail? I would guess not so that just adds to the expense of buying sweet spot at retail.

I am not quite sure what is going on in the Adam Jones jersey card that I pulled. The background is a little overwhelming/ distracting with the dark brown and light silver background. The player picture also seems to be an after thought.

Those issues aside, I really like the look of the base cards and how the raised seam on the base ball provides a nice foundation to the card composition. The cards also sport some decent photography and the thick stock is a nice aspect (especially since I just put an 87 topps set together). It was also nice to get at least a couple of players for my PC - Randy Johnson, Pujols, Mauer, and Jeter. I haven't seen a checklist but I would have been thrilled to get a Brewer, but oh well. Will I be buying another tin? Nope, but I am interested in getting all of the Brewers if anybody is willing to trade.

On the bright side...trade with Ryan's Memorabilia Blog

Growing up in Wisconsin its kinda hard not to be a Packer fan, or at the very least be aware of the team. So you can imagine the amount of hand wringing, gnashing of teeth, and yowling for firings that is going on today after yesterdays embarrassing defeat to the Buccaneers. While I am more of a Baseball fan than a Football fan, I still watch nearly every Packer's game during the season and all I can say is that yesterdays game sure brought back memories of watching football during the late 80's. Back when Packer fans were often found to be saying "we coulda won if" or "only if that play hadn't" You know, all of those loser laments.

So now that you know the collective state of mind, imagine now if you will the feeling of coming home after work in the dark, opening the mail box and finding...you guessed it, a nice yellow padded envelope of Baseball cards. In this case it was a great stack of Brewer cards sent by Orioles fan and Cal Ripken collector Mike over at Ryan's Memorabilia Blog. Check out his site and see if you can help add to his 500+ Ripken cards. To me that is amazing, 500 different cards of one player. Yikes, the most I have is about 90 different Prince Fielder cards.

Below are some of my favorites from the bunch.

First off is a 2007 Ultra Lucky 13 card of Ryan Braun. I had seen this card before at one of the local card shops and always wanted it. I never bought because the guy wanted too much for it at least by my standards).


The next card almost made me throw up and not because of the design but because who it is. 1990 Topps Gary "rat bastard" Sheffield. (yes, I am bitter and no, I don't take rejection well). Regardless, I am showing it because this is the set that drove me from collecting back in the day!


Past and future Brewer shortstops in 2009 Bowman Chrome. Perhaps you heard, but maybe not because it is Brewer news and I don't think they talk about such things on the East Coast, but the Brewers trading JJ Hardy to the Twins to open up the position to whiz kid Alcides Escobar. Here's to hoping that he doesn't suck.


2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom Big Ticket Ryan Braun. Not much to say about this card except it looks like whoever designed it spent about a whole minute thinking it out. Bleech.


2009 Goudey 4-in-1 featuring Pujols, Lee, Berkman, and Fielder. Is it me or is Lance Berkman one of the most under rated players in MLB? The guy is just solid. Plus, my wife likes him because he graduated from her alma mater Rice University.


Mike was very generous an included several relic cards including this 2007 Ultra Dual Materials Ben Sheets game used, serialized 029/160. I, like most Brewer fans, have mixed feelings about Ben Sheets. He was an awesome pitcher during the darkest days of the team, struggling through that 106 loss season in 2002. But when the team needed him the most during the playoff push in 2008 he failed to show up and finished the season on the DL. Ultimately he was overshadowed by CC.


2009 Goodwin Champions Bill Hall. Billy will always be an enigma...How could one who was once so good fail so hard two years later. Hopefully he can find it again with Seattle because he always did what was best for the team with little complaint.


Last but not least, an awesome 2007 Upper Deck Essential Elements Dual relic of Prince Fielder. Obviously this card is great with the shiny refractory finish and jersey bits from the Big Guy himself. Okay, maybe not worn by Prince but who cares.


Thanks Mike, the cards are very much appreciated.

House cleaning trade list pt. 2

A few weeks back I posted some relics that I put up for trade. All were nothing special as far as star power but I was sure that somebody would want them. I got a pretty decent response so I thought that I'd put up a second group of cards that I am not keeping for my PC and don't really want to put up on eBay. Besides, there has to be someone out there that wants them for cheap.

And like I mentioned in the previous package I'm looking for Brewers in return, any kind of Brewers..old Brewers, new Brewers, bad Brewers, not so bad Brewers, good Brewers, GREAT Brewers. If you got em I want em.

2006 Ultra Scott Rolen Ultra Fine Fabrics game used jersey card


2006 Ultra Brian Giles Feel the Game game used jersey card


2008 Allen & Ginter Fausto Carmona Autograph


2008 Allen & Ginter Jeff Francis Autograph


2009 A Piece of History Jay Bruce Timeless Moments game used jersey (Roller marks front and back)


2008 Timeline Adam Dunn 2004 UD Timeless Teams Gold serial 20/25


2008 Goudey Sports Royalty lot


So there you have it, its not much because I think that most of these came from retail packs. So if you see something you like make an offer, it will likely be accepted!

I still have a bunch of other cards to organize and put in to team lots. I am thinking about posting a list of some of the teams that I have available so if you are interesting in swapping team lots let me know.

2009 SP Authentic Blaster

Once again I found myself in the card aisle at Target. This time the decision was between a 8 pack Fairfield Repack for ten bucks or a SP Authentic blaster for twenty. The repack showed two packs of 2007 Turkey Red which is a bonus in my book. Unfortunately the other two packs that I could see were of 2007 Topps Update, and I think I saw another 2007 Topps in there also, a very big minus that greatly outweighed the positives of the repack in general. So needless to say I went with the SP blaster.

Up front, I generally like the base cards from the SP products (except SPx - I cannot stand those stupid X's in the background). The 2009 version are in themselves are a decent clean designs that showcase the player over a subdued background. I also like the thicker stock with a semi-glossy finish. I also pulled a Faces of the Game insert, that I think looks pretty good with a nice close up of the player.

All accolades aside, the price point for Upper Deck products in general is always much higher than the comparable Topps offering. In this case, the blaster contained 8 packs of 5 cards = .50 cents each. Now, its not that I wouldn't pay 50 cents for some of these cards. Albert Pujols or even a Ryan Howard, Yes. For a Brandon Inge or a Derek Lowe, ehhh NO. In general it just seems high to me. Lastly, it feels like every time I pull an autograph or relic from an Upper Deck product it is damaged. And again this is the case, I was lucky enough to pull an Jesus Flores auto but it has a huge chip on the upper edge. Not exactly what you want to see and it is one of the reasons that I tend to favor Topps over UD - quality contol. Although I will say that it seems much easier to pull hits in UD products but if they are always damaged...


Overall I think that SP Authentic is a nice product, aside from the obvious quality control issues. So now onto the cards. I scanned all of the packs in order so you can see what each card looks like. If you see something you like let me know.

Pack 1


Pack 2


Pack 3


Pack 4


Pack 5


Pack 6


Pack 7


Pack 8

Trick or TreatD by BigD

We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon at the Milwaukee Zoo with the little guy and some of his friends for the "Boo at the Zoo" trick or treating. Wow, what a great time. It was perfect for the little ones as their wasn't a lot of people and no really big kids to get in the way of their ramblings and amblings. Plus, their was candy! Needless to say, he crashed on the way home.

When I got home and took the mail out of the box it was apparent that the little tykes weren't the only ones getting tricked or treated. In the package was an ebay purchase and a package from BigD author of Hey, That's Mine blog and Texas Rangers fan. He had contacted me earlier about trading Brewers for Ranger cards and being the procrastinating sucker that I am, I said yes but only got the package out early this week. Oh well, all's well that ends well. I hope he enjoys the cards I sent as much as I enjoy the ones received.

First, the card from the ebay purchase just because I am a firm believer that you can never have too many Prince Fielder Jersey cards, especially when they only cost you as much as a pack of cards. Or in this case $3, including shipping. It always amazes me that people end their auctions at weird times like 4 o'clock in the morning.


Okay, now that the gratuitous card shot is out of the way on to the money shots. BigD sent a great variety of past and present Brewers that will add to the ever growing mess that I call a collection but to make it easier to present I choose a handful of cards to show.

If you read this blog only occasionally you should have figured out that Robin Yount was my childhood idol and my all-time favorite player. So it should be no surprise that he should be chosen as the first Highlight. It might be overkill, but he is also the second card chosen...just because I can and I sometimes get a little power mad.

2000 Upper Deck Legends Robin Yount.


2001 Upper Deck Legends Robin Yount.


2005 Fleer Platinum Lyle Overbay. Lyle was a solid player during his two years in MKE. Back in 2004 and 2005 there was nothing like hearing 17,000 fans chant OOOOOOOOO during his at bats. Back then our season tickets in the cheap seats were gold because we could move and sit anywhere. Now that the Crew attract 3 Million fans a year, we actually have to sit in the nose bleed section.


2004 Fleer Authentix Geoff Jenkins. Geoff was the best player on some very bad teams. I was sorry to see him go after the 2007 season because he had some good years among the injuries.


2007 SP Authentic Rickie Weeks. I say with all of his injuries, trade him for some pitching. The Brewers have given him and JJ Hardy enough time and we know what we got. Rickie's got talent but I am not sure he'll ever put together that breakout season.


2009 Upper Deck X Ryan Braun.


2009 Upper Deck X Xponential 3 Prince Fielder.


1993 Triple Play Action Baseball Orioles Vs Brewers Robin Yount Game Card. Nice Oddball that I had never seen before. These are the type of things that make trading great.

And the game piece opened up...


Thanks again BigD. I'll keep an eye out for Rangers for you.

Only two remain...

I recently received a package from Greg at Lake Effect Baseball Cards. In it were a handful of 87 Topps cards including the Mark McGwire card shown above. It seems that Greg is also working on putting this set together and had a few to spare. Thanks Greg for sending these my way. As a result, my 87 Topps set is down to only two cards needed - nos 400 George Brett and 792 Checklist. I sure hope that the checklist isn't the last to go...

Greg also included several other Brewer cards for my collection including a Jeff Cirillo Rookie 1995 Pinnacle Artist Proof. Very nice!


A couple of Greg Vaughns, including shiny 1995 Bowmans Best and a 1993 Donruss MVP. The latter also has some shiny elements to further highlight the season that Greg had in 1993 - 30 hrs and 97 rbi.


A 1993 Post Cereal Robin Yount and a 1993 Upper Deck Then and Now. The Upper Deck card is particularly awesome because it is holographic -you can't see it well in the scan but on the right side of the card is Robin as he was in 1993.


Lastly is a 1986 Gorman Thomas Glossy All-Star. While not of Gorman as a Brewer, he is by most accounts always associated with Harvey's Wallbangers. And for good reason, he was a founding member.


Thanks again Greg. I'll check your wants and see if I can return something in kind.

Welcome home cardboard surprises

When I started this post two weeks ago, I had just got home from a week at our corporate offices in ATL. It was my first time visiting the site since our "transition" or merger. These types of things are very tiring, and I am not used to traveling because it is not part of my job. I do it when asked but I don't enjoy it. Because of this, I always look forward to the return even though it makes the week seem longer. This time the return was sweeter than usual because I came home to five bubble mailers sitting on the desk - two were from trades, one from ebay, and two other mailers from Bloggers who just sent cards out of the blue. I love surprises, especially those containing Brewer Baseball cards.

Obviously I have alot of blogging detailing ahead. This feat is compounded because I am already behind on some other trades that I put together, so the plan is to show of some highlights from the surprise packages sent by Mike from JD's Wild Cardz and Mark from Stats-on-the-back. Hopefully, I can get back on track and post some highlights of the other packages during the week. I hate to admit it but some of the trades were completed nearly a month ago!

So from Mike...


2009 Goodwin Champions of some Milwaukee Brewers, including a Fielder Game Used. I like the look of these cards, especially the minis.



2009 Ticket to Stardoms of Prince, JJ, and Rickie. The Weeks is a die-cut, even though that is difficult to see. The shiny Ticket to Stardom inserts are the only cards from this set that I think look any good. The base cards are just atrocious.





Shiny 2009 Topps Chrome of the the big fella. What a year. There has been some talk of trading him in the off season to maximize his value. While it is true that the Brewers need pitching, I don't think they will do this at the expense of the offense.

2009 Heritage Alcides Escobar. The Brewers shortstop of the future. It is 99% given that JJ Hardy will be moved in the offseason for pitching and clearing the way for the defensive wonder. He proved in limited playing this year that the stick will follow.

Thanks Mike, I'll be looking out for some phenoms for you!

And from Mark, who sent a very large stack of a mixture of "a few HOF, 87 Topps, an 08 UD, and a heap of Brewers." This may take some time so grab a beverage and relax.

First out of the box was a group of HOF for my Topps Collection of HOFs including the last Kirby Puckett needed to complete all of his regular issue Topps cards (edit: as put this in the collection I realized I still needed two more. Doh!!). Also in the package were some Gary Carters and Eck's and a sole Winfield from that god awful 1990 set.


Next up were a handfull of 87 Topps cards that put me one step closer to completion of the set. Many of the cards were HOFs and Mets, including Strawberry who at the time was the young hitting machine. I alway liked Darryl and he was a stud when he played for the Mets.


While the above are truly appreciated, the bulk of the package was truly tremendous- if you are a Brewer collector, if not, who cares because they are all mine! Or as my 20 month old says Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! AGGGGGHHH!!!

I'll start with some of the oldest first, mainly because I don't have too many of these and these are pretty much the beginning of the team sets for these years. So double kudos for starting some of these for me...

1973 Topps


1974 Topps


1981 Fleer

Mark also sent a good mixture of cards from the mid 90' to the early 00's (aughts?!). These also very much appreciated because I am severely deficient in these sets and cards. Some of the highlights from these years are below, but because he sent so many I thought I would pick only five cards to show.

1993 Bowman of Greg Vaughn. Greg was a masher for the Brewers from 1989 to 1996 and is often remembered for his ability to strike out. Mark sent a very generous helping of this set and because of this I will have to find a spot in a binder for this team set.


1997 Score Jeff Cirillo. One of my all-time favorite Brewers and current FSN Wisconsin Brewers analyst. His wiki page suggests that Jeff "is the Brewers all-time career leader in batting average at .306." Doesn't sound right to me but I am too lazy to double check elsewhere.


1998 Metal Universe Dave Nilsson. Crazy looking cards. This one shows Dave at 1st base amongst driftwood and the ocean. Who knows...The aussie was a solid performer for several years.


1998 Upper Deck Mike Matheny aka "The Toughest Man Alive". Sadly, he is still suffering the effects of post concusion syndrome.


1999 Upper Deck Bob Wickman. Wisconsin native and former closer, played for the Brewers from 1996 to 2000. Wickman retired after the 2007


So there you have it, a very belated thank you post for some surprise packages from fellow bloggers. Thanks again Mike and Mark, the cards are very much appreciated.