My Newest Alfonso Soriano Card

I received this 2007 Fleer card of Alfonso Soriano recently. Best of all, it was free. I signed up for Swagbucks and had enough points for this card in about a day with little effort. You earn points by taking surveys and doing web searches and such. I was shocked that baseball cards were available as an award. That’s kind of why I signed up. I like the 2007 Fleer cards because they weren’t too expensive and didn’t have a glossy front. They’re great for autographs. Sure he is wearing a Nationals uniform on a Cubs card but it doesn’t matter. Soriano has been a bit of a nomad since he left the Yankees. He is not the player that he was several years ago. He is now 35 believe it or not. He hit 26 home runs this year, but at the expense of his batting average which was only .244. However, he did make $19 million this year. That’s pricey.

Topps Silk: Rafael Soriano

I have purchased another 2011 Topps Update Silk Card. This one is Rafael Soriano of the Yankees. This is my first Yankees Silk card. I only paid $2.24 shipped for this card. Soriano is basically a setup man to David Robertson who is a setup man for Mariano Rivera. Soriano started out as the 8^th inning guy but Robertson took the job. Soriano had an OK season in 2011 but his best season was in 2010 with the Rays. The card is serial numbered 8/50. It is a really nice addition to my Yankees collection.

Topps Silk from eBay

I purchased my first 2011 Topps Silk card on eBay. The subject is Jon Garland of the Dodgers. Actually, he is technically a free agent right now. It is a card from the Update Series. The serial number is 42/50 which has no significance at all. I entered a high bid of $2.00 for the card which is a lowball bid, but that’s not unusual for me. Someone outbid me and ran the price to $2.25. I wasn’t about to get into a bidding war over a Jon Garland card. But that bidder later retracted his bid which probably caused some potential buyers to ignore this item. I wound up winning this card for $1.34! Barely enough to cover shipping. Thanks mystery bid retractor.

TTM Mailbag: Brandon Morrow

I received a TTM autograph return this week from Brandon Morrow. I sent two cards to Blue Jays Spring Training and received both back in 237 days. Both the Topps Heritage and Upper Deck First Edition cards were signed in blue Sharpie. Unfortunately, each card has a tiny smudge on the front. It is still a very nice return and my longest to date which gives some hope for some cards that I sent out during spring training. I try to send to Blue Jays players during spring training so that I can avoid sending packages into Canada. I can’t wait for spring training to start in 2012. At best, there are only 5 games remaining this season.

Flea Market Finds

I picked up three baseball cards at a local flea market recently. The first is a 1998 Topps Opening Day card of David Justice. Justice is shown in a Cleveland uniform where he spent parts of four seasons. The next card is a 1998 Pinnacle of Jason Giambi. Giambi had some decent years as a Yankee. Somehow, he is still playing. Most recently, he played with the Rockies. The final card is most intriguing. At first glance, it looks like a standard 1988 Topps card of Nolan Ryan. However, the border is actually blue instead of white. Also, the card number is “N” which is kind of odd. The card actually looks like it was cut from a sheet or possibly a box of Twinkies. It’s an interesting little mystery card. It’s a pretty good haul and a good time was had by all.

1984 Topps Lot

I recently purchased a lot of 100 1984 Topps cards at a flea market. The cards are in pretty good shape. I really just wanted the Robin Yount card which was the only visible card. The other cards are basically commons. However, buried deep within the stack of cards was a 1994 Signature Rookies Autograph of Kurt Miller. Not exactly Sandy Koufax, but not a bad find. Hey, an autograph is an autograph. Miller spent parts of five years in the big leagues with the Marlins and Cubs. Miller finished his career with a 7.48 ERA and a 2-7 record. Again, he’s not Sandy Koufax. So I got my Yount card and a nice surprise. I don’t really have much use for the other 99 cards so if anyone is interested in trading, let me know.

Card Supplies

One of the least glamorous purchases I make for my baseball card collection has got to be supplies. I just bought a box of 100 9 pocket Ultra Pro pages for about $20.00 on eBay. I go through these like water. Almost all of my cards end up in these pages. In a pinch, I will buy them in Target. If a card show is coming up, I will buy supplies from a dealer at the show. I haven’t bought supplies from a local card shop in over 10 years. Am I getting ripped off? What is the best source for card supplies?

Dollar Store Packs Part Two

So here is my second pack of 2011 Topps from Dollar Tree. I only received five cards. There’s nothing spectacular, but I could’ve done worse.

Reid Brignac

Vladimir Guerrero

Chase Headley

Marlon Byrd

Jose Contreras

The Guerrero card is probably the highlight of the pack. The Contreras card certainly isn’t. I think he just turned 70. Decent pack for a buck.

Dollar Store Packs Part One

I haven’t opened any packs lately. So I figured I would pick up a couple of packs of 2011 Topps Series 1 from Dollar Tree. These packs only have five cards in them, but the price is right. Anyway, here are the results from the first pack. I didn’t get anything terrific, but who cares? The pack only cost a buck.

Brandon Morrow

Desmond Jennings

Daniel Descalso

Jay Bruce

Yunel Escobar

Jesus Montero Has Arrived

In case you live under a rock or just don’t live in New York, Yankees prospect Jesus Montero made his Major League debut this week. He got his first hit this weekend. Today, he hit his first (and second) home runs against the Orioles. This guy is supposed to be the real deal. Of course, that’s what they said about Todd Van Poppel and Brien Taylor. A search of eBay for his cards yields 850 results. Judging by the prices, I won’t be buying any of his cards anytime soon. The 2008 Bowman Chrome Autos seem to be the high dollar card so far. Different variations are going for $100-$200. It looks like Montero, who is a catcher by trade, will serve as the DH for the Yankees for the rest of the season. This means that Jorge Posada is now a bench player. It is sad to see Posada’s run with the Yankees end like this, but father time catches up with every player. I can’t imagine that Posada would return to the Yankees if he doesn’t retire. As an aside, for the price of a 2008 Bowman Chrome Montero autograph, you could buy an ARod or Jeter autograph. Let that sink in.