An Order of Nachos, Please

I’ve been very remiss when it comes to revisiting some of the gang of card collecting bloggers, and decided to remedy that a bit. I noticed that there were a few Twins I needed on the trade page at Nachos Grande, and interrupted Chris’ Gint-a-Cuffs posts to put together a trade with him. It had been over five years since our last trade (?!) which does not really seem possible.

You can tell that someone went to a lot of work looking through their cards by the variety of cards in the trade, and besides the handful of Twins A&G minis from his trade page, here are some examples of what else he found:

clockwise, from top left: 2018 Panini Donruss Signature Series #SS-MG Mitch Garver; 2018 Topps Gypsy Queen Missing Blackplate #88 Byron Buxton; 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter #348 Trevor Plouffe; 2009 Topps Target Retro #212 Denard Span; 2003 Topps Heritage #293 Cristan Guzman; 2003 Fleer Box Score #121 Lew Ford; 2017 Topps Rediscover Topps Silver 1993 Topps #363 John Smiley; 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter #78 Jose Berrios; 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter #74 Brian Dozier

Meanwhile, I took his wantlist webpage and visited the friendly neighborhood LCS to roust up some cards he was looking for — scavenger hunt! It was good to get back to my roots, so to speak, and flip a trade with a blogger instead of off of a board like The Bench. Thanks for the swap, Chris!

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And as usual, a few more additional pickups:

clockwise, from top left: 2015 Topps Chrome Refractor Purple #AR-TM Trevor May [147/250] (auto); 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Sweet Swatch Dual Memorabilia #DHM Justin Morneau w/Hafner (dual jersey); 2003 Donruss Team Heroes #290 Michael Cuddyer (auto); 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings Materials Framed Red B&W #132 Lew Ford [63/100] (jersey/bat)

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Killer Cards

The blog posts are getting further apart, so here’s an update on the collection to fill the space while we wait then next few games for the Twins to lock down a playoff spot — it’s been a while!

I finally have all of my backlog of autographed and game used cards scanned and posted. Some are newly acquired, including the two Harmon Killebrew cards and my first autograph of Twins player and one-time manager John Goryl (the 210^th different Twins player in my autographed card collection), plus another manufactured patch letter, a Boof Bonser “N”.

clockwise, from top left: 2007 Upper Deck SP Authentic By The Letter Signatures “N” #BL-13 Boof Bonser [33/75] (manu-patch/auto); 2004 Fleer Greats #GBA-HK Harmon Killebrew (auto); 2003 Fleer Fall Classics Series Contenders Harmon Killebrew (bat); 2003 Upper Deck Prospect Premieres Star Rookie #P46 Matt Moses (auto); 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Ultimate Future Signatures #FS-JK Jason Kubel [03/25] (auto); 2013 Topps Heritage Real One #ROA-JG John Goryl (auto); 2003 Upper Deck UD Patch Collection Rookie Innovation #160 Willie Eyre (manu-patch); 2003 Donruss Champions Rookie #157 Rob Bowen [352/375] (auto)

A Brass Reprise

Since I do the majority of my trading The Bench I am not good at checking up on any of the neighborhood gang of card collecting bloggers, but just like over a year ago I rang the doorbell over at Tomahawk Chop. The Trumpet Man had three nice Twins cards that I needed in exchange for some of my Braves trade bait.

clockwise, from top left: 2016 Topps Chrome #RA-JOS Jose Berrios (auto); 2016 Topps Triple Threads Gold #ARC-JBE Jose Berrios [67/99] (auto); 2016 Topps Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Red Ice #BDPP85 Derrick Penilla [03/25]

Interestingly enough, the Derrick Penilla red ice was the only one I already had from that set! It’s nice having go-to people that collect Braves cards that I can strike up a trade with now and then. Thanks again!

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In other baseball collecting news, I found an eBay seller that had several By The Letter cards that I needed (all within my price point), which allowed me to complete my first set — the By The Letters Rookie Signature autographed set of Alexi Casilla, numbered 1-of-50 or 1-of-75:

2007 Upper Deck SP Authentic By The Letter Rookie Signatures #188 Alexi Casilla (auto)

Joe Cool

Not long ago I was able to snag one of Joe Mauer’s rookie autograph cards; with a little luck I was able to do it again, and this time in a lot that contained eight other rookie autograph and relic cards from 2002 Bowman’s Best.

2002 Topps Bowman’s Best #110 Joe Mauer (auto)

I’ve already turned three of the extra eight cards into five additional Twins relic cards that I needed. That’s the kind of transaction that a card trader likes to have!

Some more acquisitions below the break…

(Above) Average Joe

Whenever I see your smiling face
I have to smile myself
Because I love you

“Your Smiling Face” – James Taylor

2002 Bowman Heritage #BHA-JM Joe Mauer (auto)

I luckily managed to find one of Joe’s rookie year autograph cards on The Bay at a price well below the normal going price there. Even though it was poorly categorized and hidden among all the other cards listed on eBay, when I stumbled upon it I recognized it for the card that it is. Welcome home, Rookie Joe!

Some more acquisitions below the break…

Déjà Vu!

David K holds an awesome monthly giveaway on The Bench for cool AU or GU cards, and since a significant time had passed since my last win, I was eligible to play again. This past May I won once more!. Here was the prize:

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Light Blue Material Signature #16 Cal Ripken Jr. [18/35]

Excellent!!

I decided that my goal would be to sell it and use the proceeds to acquire one or more autograph cards of the Twins players I didn’t currently have yet. My LCS owner posted on eBay for several weeks, but only with so-so inquiries. Eventually he sold it to someone in-store, and with the cash from the deal, I purchased these beauties plus a few others I picked up on my own:

clockwise, from top left: 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP205 Miguel Sano (auto); 2005 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Signature Red #54 Paul Molitor [44/49] (auto); 2016 Topps Stadium Club #SCA-MS Miguel Sano (auto); 2005 Fleer eX ConneXions #CDA-CK/JM Joe Mauer w/Casey Kotchman [22/50] (dual auto); 2011 Topps Triple Threads Unity Relics Gold #TTUSR-234 Justin Morneau [3/9] (jersey); 2015 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Gold #CCR-JMA Joe Mauer [36/99] (jersey); 2005 Upper Deck SP Authentic #53 Joe Mauer [101/350] (auto); 2012 Topps Finest Refractor X-Fractor #AR-BD Brian Dozier [151/299] (auto)

I particularly wanted to procure the Sano RC AU, and the difficult Finest Dozier AU — his only certified one. Some other recent pickups below the break…

A Brassy Trade

I’ve been doing trades on The Bench almost exclusively for the past few months, so it’d been a while since I’ve traded with any of the neighborhood gang of card collecting bloggers. After finishing a trade with my Good Trading Buddy™ at Peggy’s, I had quite a few Braves cards left on my Tradebait webpage, so I contacted The Trumpet Man at Tomahawk Chop. Not only did he find some cards he could use, but he had some nice Twins cards I needed, cards like:

clockwise, from top left: 2008 Upper Deck SP^x Winning Materials Position #WM-JN Joe Nathan [27/75] (jersey); 2014 Topps Chrome Refractor Gold #144 Joe Mauer [14/50]; 2015 Bowman Chrome Refractor Purple #4 Byron Buxton [218/250]; 2014 Topps Finest Refractor Green #60 Joe Mauer [028/199]

I need to frequent the websites of the old gang again. Thanks once more for a great trade — trombone 7^th position salute to you, sir!

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A few others I’ve picked up:

clockwise, from top left: 2015 Topps Update All-Star Stitches #STIT-GP Glen Perkins (jersey); 2004 Fleer Hot Prospects #83 Trevor Plouffe [139/299] (auto); 2004 Fleer Hot Prospects #99 Matt Fox [120/299] (auto); 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Memorabilia Series #GCM-MO Justin Morneau (jersey); 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCAP-AM Amaurys Minier (auto); 2009 Upper Deck UD X #UDXJ-JM Joe Mauer (jersey); 2005 Donruss Prime Patches #45 Justin Morneau [148/150] (bat); 2004 Fleer Hot Prospects #89 Kyle Waldrop [159/299] (auto)

198? Uno!

With yesterday’s mail, my collection of unique Twins players cards with certified autographs is now up to 198. Who was card #198? Delmon “swing at the first pitch” Young, who only has a Twins autographed card in two different 2008 sets: Upper Deck’s UD Premier and Topps’ Triple Threads. Does the gang at WGOM miss posting “Uno!” in the game logs after each of his at bats? Not one bit.

A few updated stats regarding my AU Twins collection —
Most Different Cards: Glen Perkins (65), Lew Ford (45), Jason Kubel (25), Boof Bonser (21), Jacques Jones (21)
HOFers: Bert Blyleven (3), Rod Carew (1), Harmon Killebrew (3), Paul Molitor (2)
Non-players: Mark Wilson (scout – 1)
Certified AU Twins card players (that I know of) that I don’t have: Earl Battey, Reno Bertoia, Billy Beane, Brian Dozier, Stephen Gonsalves, Nick Gordon, John Goryl, B.J. Hermsen, Tom Kelly (manager), Ralph Lumenti, Hal Naragon, Bill Pleis, Kirby Puckett, Terry Ryan (general manager), Roy Smalley, Frank Sullivan, TC Bear (mascot), Jesse Ventura (fan), Dave Winfield

Several of the cards I need are Heritage Real Ones or All-Time Fan Favorites, and most all of these players are only in one set of cards — the main exception being Puckett ($$$). These pop up on eBay periodically, but not quite in my price range. Still, makes for a fun scavenger hunt!

clockwise, from top left: 2008 Upper Deck UD Premier Stitchings Signatures #PSTI-DY Delmon Young [03/25] (manu-patch/auto); 2007 Upper Deck UD Premier Premier Stitchings #PS-71 Johan Santana [04/50] (manu-patch); 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Light Blue #101 Joe Mauer [100/200] (jersey); 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Ultimate Star Materials #SM-JU2 Justin Morneau (jersey); 2008 Upper Deck SP^x Winning Materials Limited SPX #WM-JM Joe Mauer [04/99] (jersey); 2004 Bowman Heritage Threads of Greatness Gold #TG-JM Joe Mauer [49/55] (bat); 2015 Topps Career High #CHR-JM Joe Mauer (jersey); 2005 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Memorabilia Bronze #34 Harmon Killebrew [03/50] (jersey)