Instead of stashing my holiday money in my bank account, I decided to splurge on some singles on checkoutmycards.com.  If you haven’t already, you should check them out (pun intended).  I got some great deals on some sweet cards.  Here they are:

Above is a Garret Anderson ‘Dual Materials’ Jersey card 73/75 from Fleer Ultra.  I love the look of the card and the dual jersey is pretty cool.

On the right is a Vladimir Guerrero UD Sweet Spot Sweet Threads.  Nothing too special, but I had to get a Vladdy.  P.S. The wrinkle on the Vlad scan is just the penny sleeve, no worries.

Above is a Chone Figgins SP Authentic Auto 467/550.  Again, I like the design and picture of the card and the sig is pretty clean.  I know it’s a sticker, but the back does say it was personally autographed and sent to Upper Deck by Chone Figgins so still legit.

On the left is a Darin Erstad On-Card Auto; another SP Authentic and it’s a chirography.  This is one of my favorite cards that I bought.  It’s a clean auto and really stands out.  On the right is a Darin Erstad 2004 Donruss Throwback Threads Blue Jersey #/100.  Darin Erstad is one of my all-time favorite Angels players.

I thought these cards were pretty awesome and a great addition to my collection, what do you think?

Thanks for reading,

Angelsfan!

It’s been a great year in the Priceless Pursuit household.  For one, it’s a “household” that we bought a few months back after an eight month search.  And of course, the birth of our son topped off a wonderful year when he joined as at the beginning of December, just one day before this guy’s birthday (the cute one… on the bottom.)  So I’m considering treating myself to something nice to cap it all off.

The two options I’m most considering are a box of 2008 Sweet Spot (in the low $80s) or a box of 2008 UD Ballpark (closer to $100).  I’d get double the hits out of Ballpark (and spare me the lecture on relics; I love ‘em!), but I sure do love me some sweet spot autographs.  I suppose a box of ‘09 Sweet Spot can be thrown in to the mix as well.  This is uncharted territory for me, as I usually stick to stuff that most would consider mid-range, at best, but even that is a bit of a stretch.  I’d considered buying just a single pack of UD Ballpark for the longest time, but that hardly seems the economical thing to do.

So I turn to the blogosphere – which higher end box should I go after?  Or perhaps the ‘best’ answer is “none of the above”.  Your input is welcome, either in the form of a comment or a vote in the poll below.

I’m hooked on Sweet Spot.  The 2009 set features my favorite base design yet – and I’m keeping track of ‘em all as opposed to 2008 when I sent most of them out as part of trades or stuffed away in the closet.  I’m not actively pursuing the entire set, but I’d definitely like to complete it down the road.

However nice the base may be, this product is all about the hits.  In my last pack I pulled a short printed Sweet Beginnings autograph of Trevor Cahill and watched as my dad pulled a Derek Jeter/Ken Griffey, Jr., dual swatch.  Good stuff!  There were still three packs left if the opened box at my shop on Friday, and the owner mentioned that the sweet spot auto hadn’t yet been pulled… foreshadowing?  You betcha!

I pulled a sweet spot autograph of Mr. Sweet Spot himself, Chad Billingsley:

He’s a decent enough young pitcher, and I’m not going to be picky about which sweet spot autos I pull, but I still had hoped for a slightly bigger name.  I’ve watched countless breaks of this stuff online, going all the way back to the ‘07 tins, and I feel like Billingsley appears more than any other player.  This particular card is numbered out of 199, so it’s not like it’s any more common than any of the other autographs in the set, but I really do feel like I see this card (or the very similar 2007 version) ALL the time.  Maybe it’s just me…

May as well scan and display the far less exciting base cards:

My apologies to Mr. Sizemore, whose head I’ve lopped off for the sake of a rectangular scan.  I’ve had a nice run lately when it comes to pulling good cards out of packs and boxes, and I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

Another Friday lunch break has come and gone, and with it I’ve made my last card shop trip of 2009.  Immediately after the holidays I’m leaning pretty heavily towards collating a few sets via cheap boxes online, so we’re not looking at a return to the shop until early January.  A quick photo of what I picked up:

I feel like I’ve got to try one more round of packs from ‘09 Topps Updates and Highlights before posting my need list.  I’m a little over 20 cards short of the set, I so know I won’t complete it after today’s purchase, but I have so much fun opening these that I can’t resist trying to collate it all myself.  I’m enjoying the inserts, and the box was freshly opened so there’s a reasonable chance of pulling a relic or auto.  If I do purchase any more Topps Update, it’ll definitely be of the jumbo pack variety.

Also pictured is a pack of 2009 Sweet Spot.  There’s a killer sale of this stuff online today over at Dave and Adam’s – $81 for a whole box – but I don’t like spending that much on cards all at once.  The shop owner said she didn’t think the sweet spot auto had been pulled from the box yet (same box from the one my dad and I picked out of last week), so I chose the middle of the three remaining packs.  Not bad odds!  I was oh-so-tempted to rip this pack in store and buy the others until I found the sweet spot auto, but then that’d defeat the purpose of NOT buying an entire box of the stuff online. Wish me luck – I’ll post the contents later this weekend.

Of course, no afternoon at the card store would be complete without three bargain relics.  There were ZERO baseball relics.  I picked out a Shaun King, London Fletcher, and Sage Rosenfels… all garbage, to be sure.  But hey – they were half priced, so it was three relics for a buck!  The Rosenfels is serial numbered (out of 999… big deal, right?) and features his college uniform, which… well… still makes this card virtually worthless.

All of the packs will be opened tonight.  Mom is planning on getting out of the house for a little while, so I’m eagerly anticipating a “guy’s night” of pack ripping with Joseph.

Οι Sugarman 3 αποτελούν ιδρυτικά μέλη της δισκογραφικής Daptone Records και κάποια μέλη τους, συμμετέχουν πλέον στους Budos Band. Το 2001 κυκλοφορούν το “Sweet Spot”, που περιλαμβάνει κάποια singles και κομμάτια από τα 2 πρώτα LP τους. Revival funk, jazz, soul και groove, βγαλμένα από το παρελθόν με μεράκι και μαεστρία και με τη σφραγίδα γνησιότητας της Daptone Records. 3,5/5.

myspace.com/sugarman3

Don’t forget to enter the Shot Not Taken Christmas and 10,000 Views Contest. You can enter once a day.

I go to my local card shop at least once a week and this week I stumble upon a conversation between a couple of customers and the shop owners about the best pulls in the store. I was definitely going to buy something but talking about and seeing pictures of all those great cards pulled in the store really motivated me to pull something special. I got really hyped up (which can be good or bad) and bought a pack of 2009 Sweet Spot Baseball.

The Base Cards:
Tim Lincecum
Cliff Lee
Miguel Cabrera
Chase Utley
Mark Teixeira
Johnny Cueto
Freddy Sanchez

The Hit:
Reggie Jackson Sweet Spot Classic Patch Card 3/44!!!

Wow what I sweet three color patch card of Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, who I kind of met in person. Remember I am from NYC so Reggie Jackson is kind of a big deal here (even in an A’s jersey). This is beautiful card and what make it so great was that everyone in the store was congratulating me on my pull and people were taking pictures of it. It really made it that much more special. I honestly think card collecting is a social thing and not meant to be enjoyed by yourself which is one of the reasons I blog I guess.

I meant for this to be a post about my card shop haul, but I ripped open all the wax in a fury of excitement before snapping a picture of the goods.  I walked away with a 100 ct. box of 9-pocket sleeves, seven packs of ‘09 Topps Updates and Highlights, and a pack of ‘09 Sweet Spot.

Nothing crazy in the U&H packs, but a highlights post of all the fun stuff in my Updates and Highlights box (and additional packs) is coming shortly.  For now, check out a potentially decent pack of Sweet Spot.

Base, base, base:

Base, base, base, base:

Let’s be honest, most people don’t care about the base cards. Personally, I like ‘em a lot, but collating the entire set would be incredibly expensive.  Perhaps I’ll put the whole thing together eventually.  The hits are what Sweet Spot is all about, and mine was a Sweet Beginnings autograph of Trevor Cahill, numbered out of 65:

Not bad, I don’t think, although when I asked the pitching phenom guru about Cahill’s prospects, he responded with, “Who?”.   Uh oh.  But at least it’s low numbered, which must be some sort of parallel to the regular Sweet Beginnings set since everyone I’ve seen has been numbered out of 400+.  Cahill is still young, so there’s plenty of time for him to become a household name.

Grandpa Joe picked up his first pack of Sweet Spot at the shop and pulled something much better:

He very generously gifted the dual relic to baby Joseph, who is quickly developing a nice card collection of his own.

Successful Inventor Rich Spencer Rocks the Marketing and the Golf World!

By Andrew R. Spriegel

December 13, 2009

Here is a brand new golf tee that adds additional distance to you drive!  Why, it has less mass and therefore there is less resistance than a golf tee when driving a golf ball.  As you can see the tees are die stamped into a Teslan Business Card!  That’s right a business card, talk about building you brand.    Note: The Stealth Tee Conforms with the USGA Rules of Golf.

Car dealers that have reported that when the person given the card runs out of tees (5 tees last about two full rounds of golf) they come back to the dealer for more cards!  What a great way to sell a car.

So you thought you knew everything about a golf tee and then along came Rich Spencer! 

Rich Spencer

Rich is a driven individual that wanted to provide a residual income for his wife Bonnie and their children.  Rich is a US Army veteran who served for the United States both during and after the Gulf War.  An avid golfer, Rich recognized the need for new innovative golf products. 

Rich has a background in marketing and sales and decided to fuse the worlds of golf and marketing together with the revolutionary new and ORIGINAL:  ”Stealth Tee Card”.   

MyTee (pronounced “mighty’) Golf Products, LLC is dedicated to creating 100% American made products, jobs and services.

Teslin Cards:
Teslin plastic cards are a non-petroleum based synthetic paper product. No harmful toxins are produced during the production of the Teslin cards, unlike their petroleum based counterparts. Teslin cards are printed with superior color consistency and are less susceptible to breakage and snapping due to their ductile/elastic properties. Some additional environmental features include: Non-toxicity, no ozone depleting constituents, no cellulose-based material (no forest harvesting), incinerates in an atmosphere of excess oxygen to yield water, carbon dioxide, energy and clean ash (from silica filler).

Today will be a good day.  The baby only woke up twice last night, and only one of those was for a feeding.  The second wake-up was a changing, but I can handle those before the baby even knows what hit him.  So before breakfast things are already looking up – it’s nice to go in to the weekend energized.

I’m also playing hookie from work.

Yep – clean cut, salt of the earth Joe is leaving work early for a “doctor’s appointment”, but by “doctor’s appointment” I mean trip to the card shop with grandpa.  Yes, I normally ditch work for an hour or so on Fridays to go to the shop, but this time I’m not comin’ back!

Joseph’s ‘09 Topps Updates and Highlights set is coming together nicely, as we’re still 39 cards from completion.  An Updates and Highlights “highlights” break is coming soon; Joseph and I (see, it doesn’t count as money that I’ve spent if we’re doing it together…) have purchased and been gifted about 10 packs in addition to the box, and I’ve already mixed all the inserts together, so a true box break is impossible at this point.  After the next round of packs are purchased I’ll scan and post the good stuff.  Without giving anything away, I’ll simply say that I’ve defied the odds with this box.  And I don’t even mind being 39 cards short, since I see it as a big enough window to justify more packs before turning to the blogosphere/checkoutmycards.com.

We also need more 9-pocket sheets to display them, so I’ll pick up a box of those, and I’ve got a hankering for more Sweet Spot so a box of the ‘09 stuff will be purchased, too!  I’ve given myself enough time since the 1/1 pull that I don’t think I’ll be disappointed if all I get is a relic.

The only thing I’m uncertain of is how I’ll go about buying the ‘09 Updates and Highlights.  My shop sells seven regular hobby packs for $10, which yields about 56 base cards (assuming one Ticket to Topps Town and one insert per pack), but for the same $10 I can get a jumbo pack with approximately 44 base cards but much better chances of a relic/auto (almost 1:3 odds).  Hmmmm… I’ll go with my gut when I get there.  The reasonable thing to do would be to go for the seven packs, but I’m oh-so-tempted by the chances of a relic!

I’ll be sure to post a picture of my haul.

I sucked my thumb until third grade. And no, not just in private like some lucky kids. I was shy as a little girl. And I’ve been relatively shy ever since. But get me up in front of a crowd talking about something that excites me, and you would never imagine that there is a shy little girl inside.

Even as a kid, I would get up in church to read the Christmas story or lead the liturgy, and the little old people would come up to me afterwards and tell me how much they appreciated how nice and clear I had spoken (I’m sure it helps that I inherited grandpa’s loud voice). Even today, anytime I have to do an announcement or give a presentation, people almost always come up and tell me something that makes me think I’m a pretty darn good speaker. This blog post is actually inspired by the encouragement I received after a talk I gave last Sunday to an Entrepreneuring for Christ Sunday school class at Skyline Church. It’s so affirming that our strengths can often be seen early on in life and that God brings people into our lives to help name them.

Unexpected gifts are so cool. God knit us together so creatively in the womb (Psalm 139). When there is an anomaly in how the world would expect us to turn out, I think it’s an extra special reminder that we are God’s creation and that the gifts are from Him alone. I love that my friends who know me well point out how odd it is that a crowd avoider like me loves to be in front of a crowd.

The gifts are from God, and so are the desires to use these gifts for a purpose.

My own life is evidence that the core of who we are and who we are meant to be will keep tugging at us even though we may take a strange path to get to where we are going. Every time I do one of those exercises that asks what I would be if money were no object, I inevitably land on motivational speaker. Years ago, I even went as far as to do an informational interview with a successful motivational speaker; I lost momentum when she told me I really need to write a book. And I lose momentum every time I think about how much energy it would take this introvert to actually be a speaker. And then there’s the fact that I don’t see a logical path to actually becoming a legitimate speaker.

But deep down I feel a sense of responsibility to be the person God created me to be. I want to be faithful with the gifts He has bestowed. God gives us the desires of our hearts – desires to serve the world with the best of who we are. We know from the parable of the talents that we are to do the most with what we have been given.

How on Earth I will end up living out my love for public speaking is a bit of a mystery. It will be interesting to see how God directs my path. I’m sure it will be an adventure. I know that God wants to use me for His glory, and so I will put my faith in His grace and power - and I will do my part to put myself out there and follow my heart.

Oliver Wendall Holmes is often quoted as saying, “The biggest tragedy in America is not the great waste of natural resources, though this is tragic. The greatest tragedy is the waste of human resources. The average person goes to his grave with the music still in him.”

What dream do you have in your heart that just will not go away? What music still needs to be shared with the world?

Side note: I hope no one reading this post ever sees me speak and thinks, “Really, she thinks she’s a good speaker.”

Side note number 2: Since I suspect a handful of parents will find this post googling strategies to get their kids to stop sucking their thumbs, I’ll tell you my secret. It was Mrs. Neeley, my third grade teacher, who made a deal with me that if I would stop sucking my thumb, she would stop biting her nails. I think she finally succumbed to acrylic.

This is one of my several Black Friday purchases today. It is a hobby pack of 2009 Sweet Sport Baseball which I got in my local hobby shop, Chameleon Comics and Cards, right after all the early morning shopping.

The pack:
Lance Berkman
Alex Rodriguez
Josh Hamilton
Clay Buchholz Jersey
Tiger Woods 20th Anniversary
Gerovany Soto
Ryan Howard
Adam Dunn

It is not the worst hit in the world but I admit I was kind of disappointed. Plus the jersey window seems small especially for an expensive product like Sweet Spot. Luckily I trade with a lot of Red Sox fans so maybe I can get something for it. I kind of like the design of the base cards but it looks like a regular Upper Deck base set design with the baseball thing of the bottom. But I know no one really buys Sweet Spot for the base cards, right?

O, I also got this David Lee jersey card (046/299) for free with my purchase. The guys at Chameleon are so awesome. It is from the new Donruss Elite product and I echo that the jersey placement is very poor. Donruss/ Panini needs to take out the Elite series words in the bottom and lower the jersey window.

So I was wandering through Target at lunch (buying something unrelated to baseball cards… promise!), and I came across this in the card aisle:

Whaaaaa?!!?! I didn’t know there was a retail version of Sweet Spot, did you?  Now, the tin says there are three packs per box, with one autograph or relic guaranteed.  This can’t possibly be a good deal, can it?  I don’t really feel like spending $30 to find out, so I’m hoping one of you… ummmm… felt like spending $30 to find out.  I’m assuming it’s three packs of base cards, which isn’t really the point of this product, but I have to admit that I’ve had passing thoughts of actually trying to collate the set.

Resist… urge… to… justify… Sweet… Spot… retail…

Have any of you been brave enough to try one of these tins?  I have an overwhelming feeling that it’s guaranteed to disappoint.

And oh-by-the-way-I-picked-up-a-pack-of-2009-Topps-Updates-and-Hightlights.  I’m only human.

Last week, another Paul offered to send me some Upper Deck First Edition Mets to help me finish my team set. He knocked out all of the series one cards on my wantlist, and even included the six cards from the First Edition Update set that I hadn’t realized that I needed.

I know I’m in the minority, but I actually liked the First Edition set. Even though card companies have been using it for close to two decades, I don’t like that gloss finish on base cards.

Here’s the Mets Checklist:

185 Daniel Murphy
186 Nick Evans
187 Jose Reyes
188 David Wright
189 Carlos Delgado
190 Ryan Church
191 Carlos Beltran
192 Pedro Martinez
193 Johan Santana
194 John Maine
195 Endy Chavez
196 Oliver Perez
197 Mike Pelfrey
198 Jonathon Niese
349 Livan Hernandez
350 Jeremy Reed
351 J.J. Putz
352 Francisco Rodriguez
352 Johan Santana
354 Jose Reyes
355 David Wright
SQ9 David Wright Starquest
SQ15 Jose Reyes Starquest
SQ16 Johan Santana Starquest

He also sent along a few extra cards. A lot of the other baseball card bloggers have been opening 2009 Sweet Spot packs. I’m glad people enjoy them, but I just can’t accept the idea of a $20 pack of baseball cards.

And that’s a problem because the base cards are really pretty nice. Paul sent along a Francisco Rodriguez card from the set. There are 6 other Mets that I’m now going to want to track down.

2009 Sweet Spot Mets Checklist (base set only):

12 Carlos Beltran
27 David Wright
32 Francisco Rodriguez
55 Johan Santana
60 Jose Reyes
101 Bobby Parnell (autograph, /699)
110 Fernando Martinez (autograph, /330)

On a similar note, he sent along a Upper Deck 20th anniversary card commemorating David Wright’s Major League debut.

So far, there are 15 Mets cards in this set:

1456 Baseball Season Opens In Japan
1457 Baseball Season Opens In Japan
1458 Baseball Season Opens In Japan
1459 Baseball Season Opens In Japan
1460 Baseball Season Opens In Japan
1956 David Wright
1957 David Wright
1958 David Wright
1959 David Wright
1960 David Wright
2261 Tom Glavine
2262 Tom Glavine
2263 Tom Glavine
2264 Tom Glavine
2265 Tom Glavine

It’s nice to have one of these 20th Anniversary cards that actually fits somewhere in my collection, but I don’t see myself chasing the other ones down.

Thanks Paul. I’ll have some Hanley Ramirez cards and some bonus Marlins on the way to you by the end of the week.

Not a Gold Glover in my books

Here’s something that doesn’t come as a shock, mostly because we’ve come to expect garbage like it: Derek Jeter was awarded a Gold Glove yesterday, despite having about as much range as Troy Glaus. Here’s the thing with Gold Gloves, though — they’re not given to the best fielders at each position, they’re given to average-to-good fielders that can hit (such is the reason Johnny McDonald will never win the award, even if he was a starter). That, and guys that make few errors, mostly because they don’t get to many balls. Jeter falls into both those categories, so maybe he’s perfect. Anyway, ESPN baseball genius Rob Neyer echos my sentiments in his SweetSpot blog (Well, maybe I should say I’m echoing his sentiments. Either way, we both think it’s stupid.)

Anyway, here’s the full list of American League Gold Glovers: Joe Mauer (C), Mark Texiera (1B), Placido Polanco (2B), Evan Longoria (3B), Jeter (SS), Torii Hunter (OF), Ichiro Suzuki (OF), Adam Jones (OF) and Mark Buerhle (P).

The National League hands out its Gold Gloves today — expect much of the same criteria.

Doing things a little differently this time around for the near weekly card shop post. I got a shiny new iPhone for my birthday and I’m testing out the wordpress app. My initial impression is that it’d be far easier to use the computer sitting two feet away from me, but that’s not nearly as fun!

This week was an atypical trip, in a good way. My dad is in town on business so I took him to my shop so he could work on filling in the missing pieces for his ‘62 Topps set. It was fun to watch him put together a truly valuable set as I scanned the shelves in search of stuff that is… well… not as valuable as 1962 Topps. But hey – it’s all in the eye of the beholder, or something like that.

I knew going on that I wanted a pack of 2009 Sweet Spot. As I was watching my dad flip through a binder of ‘62 Topps commons a kid came in and purchased an entire six pack box of the stuff! Not a huge deal, but it’s too bad he didn’t open it on the spot so I could check out his hits. Then, a guy came in and purchased the five remaining packs in the already opened box of Sweet Spot. This stuff is hot. He was clearly in search of the “sweet spot” auto because he technically purchased one pack at a time… and didn’t get the sweet spot. No skin off my back , because it meant I’d get a fresh box to pick from!

Twenty bucks down the drain. I wanted to spend a little more since it’d been a couple weeks since I’d last gone to the shop – other than a sweet spot auto the only other “big” card I want is a patch autograph. 2008 SP Authentic was on sale, five packs for 20 bucks. Since I don’t particularly care who I get a patch auto of, and the odds in the ‘08 packs are the same as in ‘09, I figured I’d increase my chances by going with the older stuff.

Whew… That was lot of effort to say that I picked up five packs of SP Authentic and one Sweet Spot. I’ll think I’ll stick to writing entries from the computer.

A pic taken from the phone, still fresh in the bag from the card shop:

You can all finally exhale as I’m about to relieve you of the suspense of what could possibly have been lurking inside my pack of Sweet Spot.  I’m in search of a sweet spot autograph, and I figured that since I typically spend $20 on random packs in search of hits, I may as well buy just one pack for twenty bucks and guarantee myself something nice.  Let’s see what was inside…

#24 Chase Utley, #51 Jeff Francoeur, #55 Joba Chamberlain. The base cards are growing on me.  The stock feels thicker to me now that I’ve purchased plently of other products over the past couple months to compare it to.  Still not sure how much I like the overall design (I actually like the backs more!), but they’re alright.  Not like anybody buys Sweet Spot for the base, anyway.

And a few more, #92 Scott Rolen, #2 Aaron Rowand, #87 Roy Oswalt.

Of course, the requisite Yankee Stadium Legacy card.  I have about 30 of these now.  Sure beats UD Retrospective…

And the hit, a dual swatch Lance Berkman and Mark Teixeira.  The Teixeira swatch is a classic new team logo/old picture, made even older looking since the card was put out in 2008, before he joined his current team.  I’m amused by the laziness in such an expensive product.

There ya go – my second pack of 2008 Sweet Spot.  I’ll probably pick up one more pack this weekend before switching over to the 2009 version, which may actually be available Friday… so maybe this will have been my last ever pack of ‘08.  How sad.  Of course, a little price break on the ‘old’ stuff could keep me interested…

Another Friday, another trip to the card shop.

I was actually deciding between three different options this week, and since polls usually end up in ties, I sought the advice of a few trusted opinions on how I should spend my money.  The options are as follows:

1. Six random relics from checkoutmycards.com.  I would’ve bought stuff from UD Ballpark, Allen & Ginter, and maybe Sweet Spot.  All would’ve been Yankees.
2. Random sampling of a new 2009 product, similar to what I did last week with the Ticket To Stardom and SP Authentic.
3. A “pack” of 2008 Sweet Spot and a few treasures from the 3-for-$2 relic bin.

I chose door number three, figuring it’d result in four total ‘hits’, with the chance of one of them actually being good (from the Sweet Spot).  Six relics off the internet would’ve been cool, too, but less fun.  I’ll save random packs for a rainy day.  Thankfully, the relic bin – which is actually on a consignment shelf – had been refreshed since the last time I dug through it.  So before I get to the Sweet Spot pack break, check out these beauties…

2006 Flair Showcase Stitches Byron Leftwich.  The bin only had one baseball relic that I wanted, but football relics are just as fun.  No particular reason for choosing this card other than liking the ‘06 Showcase baseball set.

2009 Rookies and Stars Longevity Calvin Johnson, numbered 148/299.  Hey, a good relic!  I would’ve been pumped to pull this in a pack, assuming I liked buying football cards.  I don’t know the difference between “Longevity” and the non-longevity set.  Perhaps this guy can shine a light on it for us?

And the lone baseball relic (that I liked) in the box, 2009 Goodwin Champions Curtis Granderson.  Considering that ‘09 Goodwin is on the short list of “random pack day” candidates, I was pumped to find this in the bargain bin.  Even better is the fact that I can now spend my money elsewhere since I already have a hit from the set.

All of these relics are for trade, preferably relic-for-relic.  I’m not picky.

Finally, the box/pack of 2008 Sweet Spot.  It was the last one left!!  Good thing, because I was dead set on getting a pack of the stuff and I would’ve been severely disappointed had my shop actually been out of it.  At first, the owner thought they were out, and just forgot to take the box down, but it was laying flat.  Whew!  He also mentioned that he was getting more Sweet Spot in over the weekend… which is nice.  I’m officially in the chase for one of those sweet spot ball/glove autographs, so I’ll definitely get more of this stuff in the future.  And I think ‘09 Sweet Spot comes out at the end of October, doesn’t it?  A discount on the remaining ’08s would be nice, but probably unlikely because of the Strasburg/Longoria/Alexei Ramirez autos floating around.  I just may give the ‘09 a shot if they’ve got it in next time I’m there.

Wanna see what’s inside?? I bet you do!!

To be continued…

The sweet spot is the part of a bat (whether cricket, baseball or any other sort of bat) that sends the ball the furtherest from the force you put behind it. Its the part of the bat you strive to hit the ball with time after time but still manage to clip it with the edge sending the ball feebly away from where you intended.

How much of my energy do I spend operating out of my sweet spot where my passions meet my natural giftings and my effectiveness is maximized (however you define that) and how much time do I spend working around the edges on things that I don’t naturally enjoy and/or am not naturally gifted at.

From a work perspective there is always aspects which will not be ideal or enjoyable but at the core it is important to ask yourself if you are working out of your sweet spot or are you just fumbling around trying to make it work anyway.

I bought this pack in a moment of weakness a few months ago.

You see, I absolutely crave the thrill of a big hit and it’s no secret by now that I love relics.  Gray swatch, white swatch or striped swatch, big or small, I like ‘em.  When looking for boxes to buy online, I most definitely take in to consideration how many hits are “promised” in each box.  Heck, even on supply-day trips to the card shop I often stand at the counter and stare at all the new packs, calculating the cheapest pack with the best chances of pulling something with a little piece of jersey on it.

I stink at picking packs.  Though I seem to be able to pull an occasional autograph, it’s rarely someone I’ve heard of, let alone collect.  And sometimes, when I’m feeling especially beat down in my quest for something fancy, I cave and pick up a quick and easy pack (or box, in this case) guaranteed to contain a hit.  In this case, it’s 2008 Sweet Spot.

The box promises one autograph or memorabilia card in every pack (on average), so you can be almost 100% positive something good will be inside.  I can’t imagine the disappointment that’d accompany the rare pack with NO hits; I’d be pissed.  There’s a silver wrapper inside of the box that gives specific odds: Game Used Memorabilia Cards are inserted 2:3 packs, Autographed Cards are 1:3.  What I’d really like is one of those “glove” or “ball” autographs.  Let’s see what I got…

#8 Alfonso Soriano, #86 Robinson Cano.  Old Yankees second baseman, new Yankees second baseman!  I would’ve preferred a shot of Soriano swinging, since that’s what he’s better known for, but a shot of flip-up (or down, in this shot) shades will do.

#62 Josh Beckett, #89 Ryan Braun.  2007 cards are the Brauns you want.

#SS-CJ Chipper Jones Sweet Swatch, #YSL 2455 Billy Martin.  No autographed glove or ball, but at least the relic is a decent one.  I’m not sure how to feel about the Yankee Stadium Legacy set.  I’m a Yanks fan, so they’re OK, but they’re a bit overkill.  The insert set is stupidly big, and I don’t like how the same cards are spread through so many different brands.  There’s something wrong with pulling the same card in a box of Sweet Spot as a pack of Heroes. It shouldn’t happen.

#59 John Smoltz, #32 David Ortiz.  I just had to end with a Sox card, huh?

I’m lukewarm on the base cards.  They’re a bit boring, and since they essentially cost $2 per card they’re too simple.  At least they’re fairly thick, just not my cup o’ tea, is all.  No complaints about the relic, though.  For $20, these packs are what they are: quick and dirty hits.  I’m sure there’ll be more of these packs in my future…

FORESHADOW!!

I bought this pack a looooong time ago but never got around to posting it.  I thought that I’d eventually buy another pack of this stuff but wasn’t sure when.  But today, as you all know, is Friday.  And for me, Fridays usually mean card shop!!  I figure I usually spend $20 on packs in search of a hit, so today I’m going to buy one pack of Sweet Spot to make certain I get something nice.  I also may raid the bargain relic bin, just because.  I’ll return to random packs next week.

Justin Verlander red ink auto Sweet Spot….. Looking for something nice in return….. Please let me know what you got to offer…. Most of you know what i like, holla at your boy!!