eBay Summer Purchases Continued: Franchise Edition

Another edition of my summer eBay purchases.  Well, I do not see another one of these in my drafts, so I guess this is the last edition.  It only took a couple of seasons...

This time we have the "Franchise Edition" and look at Tom Seaver and David Wright.

Tom Seaver really needs no introduction to Mets fans.  His accomplishments are well known among baseball fans:

1967 National League Rookie of the Year

3-time NL Cy Young Award (1969, 1973, 1975)

1969 World Series champion

Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992 (highest first ballot vote percentage)

Seaver has quite of few modern cards, but not a whole lot of variety of photos.  Not complaining, just an observation.

The current face of the franchise is, of course, David Wright.  While the 2014 season will hopefully go down as an off-year for him, he still ranks among the best Mets player of all-time.  He currently is the all-time Mets career leader in runs, hits, doubles, and RBIs.  

Zistle Trade #12

Here are more cards received through another Zistle trade.

This trade was with user clutchcity52.  I saw he had a number of basketball cards on his want list that I had on my trade list.  I sent him what was probably my largest trade offer that I have sent on Zistle, so far.  Every thing went smoothly with the trade and I received a number of Mets cards in return.

I like how the Carlos Beltran in a throwback uniform blends right in with the older cards that precede it.

Here is Eric Young, Jr.'s second Mets Topps card.  This card is quite good looking that has so much going on, but not too much to distract from the player.  Well done, Topps!  Young was non-tendered this off season, so he is now a free agent.

The 2009 O-Pee-Chee set is a nice looking set with some decently good photography.  It features both action shots along with studio shots.  I feel like if I was buying packs in 2009, I would have been buying these.

eBay Summer Purchases Continued

It has been a little while since my last post.  I went on vacation with the wife then started back to work full steam.  Things do not really settle down for me during flu season (protip: get your flu shot people!), but I have some more posts to put out there.  I have completed some more recent trades and box breaks that I will get to at some point in the near future.

In the mean time, here are some more of my summer eBay purchases.  This time we will focus on the hits.

Here are some relic cards I received.

Some autos from various Mets, some who made it to the majors, some who did not, and one who has yet to get the call.

Wilmer Flores is projected to be the Mets starting shortstop Opening Day 2015 if no deals are made.  There has been a lot of talk about the Mets pursuit (or lack thereof) of a shortstop this offseason.  There were more options available earlier in the offseason and now there are less options.

Is Flores the worst option?  No.  Should the Mets give up top prospects for someone with a large contract who has been injury prone?  Probably not.  I see Flores as a fine option with most other options being not much of an upgrade.  His defensive skills need to improve, but he can provide some offense that the team lacks at a much cheaper cost.

Zistle Trade #11

Here is another trade completed through Zistle.  This one with user richardsonpilot.

He initiated the trade mainly looking for some Donruss Diamond Kings.  He offered some Mets and a handful of other cards I was looking for to complete some PCs I am working on. 

Here are the Mets I received:

Zistle Trade #10

Another Zistle trade in the books!  This one with user AUTaxMan.  This is my second trade with him and both have been very pleasant.

He was looking for some 2013 Topps Update cards and offered some in return along with some 2014 Topps.

Here are the Mets I received in the trade:

I have been looking to get an Eric Young, Jr. Mets card for a little bit now.  I moved on from buying 2013 packs, so I had to wait for someone to offer it in a trade.  Both of his Topps cards (this 2013 Topps Update and his 2014 Topps) are a couple of good looking cards.

BONUS CARD:  I didn't receive the Carlos Delgado bat card in this trade.  I got this from Wes over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  He was doing a World Cup of Trading and I decided to participate.  It was a simple concept.  Claim a card and then send him something in return.

eBay Summer Purchases Continued: Catcher Edition

Here are more of my summer purchases off of eBay.  This is what we will call the "Catcher Edition" and focus on two of the Mets well known catchers plus a cameo from a rising star catcher.

First, Gary Carter.  Gary was traded to the Mets from the Montreal Expos after the 1984 season.  In his first season with the Mets, Gary hit a career high 32 home runs and helped lead the team to a 98 win season.  The following year the Mets went on to win 108 games and the World Series.

Next up is Mike Piazza.  Mike came to the team in 1998 via trade with the Florida Marlins.  He immediately made the Mets a better team and reached the World Series in 2000.

The Mets' current catcher does not want to be left out.  Here is Travis d'Arnaud, who arrived from the Toronto Blue Jays via the R.A. Dickey trade.  It looks like Topps used some of Travis' minor league jerseys for these cards.

Zistle Trade #9

This trade was with user neckababy1.  I reached out to him because it looked like he would be a good trade partner, since he is also a Mets fan.  I targeted the Panini products because I still can not bring myself to buy a pack.  Maybe one day...

Here are the Mets I received:

Group Break at Waiting 'til Next Year

There were some "new" aspects of the hobby I had to experience when I started back collecting.  Group breaks were one of those aspects.  

Thanks to Tom over at Waiting 'til Next Year I was able to participate in my first group break.  The break took place over the summer and included 1989 Swell, 1990 Swell, 1991 Swell, and 1990 Pacific Legends.  Sure, it is not the high-end product that most seem to like participate in for group breaks, but it was perfect for me to test the waters of group breaks.

I, of course, chose the Mets for my team in the break.

1990 Pacific Legends and 1991 Swell

1990 Swell

1990 Swell cont. and 1989 Swell

From this break I learned that Harvey Haddix was a pitching coach for the Mets from 1966-1967.  You may have heard of Mr. Haddix as having pitched an unprecedented 12 perfect innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Milwaukee Braves in 1959.  His perfect game was ultimately stopped in the 13th inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates lost 1-0.

Tom also threw in a stack of SSPC that I will show in a future post.  Thanks for the extras and for hosting this group break!

eBay Summer Purchases (plus a contest pimp)

I had another round with eBay this summer.  I decided to change things up this time around.  Instead of watching the auctions until the end, I decided to just place one or two bids and see what would happen.  Well, when all was said and done, I ended up with a nice stack of Mets cards.

First, lets start with some vintage Mets.

Next up are some modern cards.

The two auto cards are Juan Urbina and Fernando Martinez.

Urbina is one of the young Mets pitching prospects who has been playing in the rookie and low A leagues for the past few years.  He turned 21 years old this year and is the son of former All-Star closer Ugueth Urbina.  The older Urbina, a 2003 World Series champion with the Florida Marlins, has had an interesting post-career life.

Mets fans will remember Fernando Martinez as a promising prospect that eventually went bust.  He was highly ranked amongst multiple publications as the top Mets prospect.  He played very well in the minors, but just never materialized in the majors.  He also played briefly for the Houston Astros who ended up trading him to the New York Yankees.  He was suspended in August 2013 as part of the Biogenesis scandal.

To close out this post is a little contest pimping.  CaptKirk42's Trading Card Blog is having a contest celebrating the fifth anniversary of his blog.  Check it out and join in!

Zistle Trade #8

Here is another trade completed on Zistle this summer.  This one was with user dvdgao.  He reached out to me for some Cardinals and offered some Mets.  We reached an agreement after a couple exchanges.

Here is what I received:

Zistle Trade #7

Another post.  Another Zistle trade.  This time I traded with user bjbernier78.  He was featured on the Zistle blog as he is out serving in Kuwait.

I believe he initiated this trade looking for some 2013 Topps for his set needs.  Among the Mets I received included:

That is another Keith Hernandez (and that stache) with the Cleveland Indians.  This trade was actually started after the previous Zistle trade, but I received these cards all the way from Kuwait first.

Here are a couple more modern cards I received as well.  Not pictured are a few 2013 Topps Chrome cards.

Juan Lagares was one of the bright spots for the Mets this season.  He leads the majors in awesome catches* and deserves some Gold Glove recognition this off-season.  He ranks among the top defensive outfielders in the National League and has been earning the praise of many players and coaches throughout MLB.  Oh, and that is without having played in as many games as the other top ranking outfielders.

*not an actual statistic

Zistle Trade #6

I am still working through my Zistle trades.  Here is one with user ToppsTradeKing.

This trade was not as smooth as all of my other trades I have completed on Zistle.  Not being truthful about what you sent, saying you sent the cards out when you really did not, and not following through to correct things is a not cool.

Anyway, I mostly received some junk wax cards.  The cards were mostly ones that I used to have back in the day and wanted back in my collection.  The Mets related cards I received in this trade were:

It is a little strange that three different Gary Carter cards look so similar.

Getting Chuck Carr in a Mets uniform was something that eluded me.  I saw Chuck play quite a bit when I lived in South Florida and he played for the then Florida Marlins.  He played quite well for the expansion Marlins team and even led the National League in stolen bases.  He pretty much started to regress after that 1993 season.

I learned of him playing for the Mets (only 16 games, though, from 1990-1991) while he was playing with the Houston Astros in what turned out to be his final year in the majors.  He started that 1997 season playing for the Brewers, but was released after he popped out on 2-0 pitch.  He missed a take sign which upset the Brewers manager Phil Garner.  When confronted, Chuck seemed to channel his inner Rickey Henderson by replying "Chuckie don't play that game.  Chuckie hacks on 2-0."

Reddit Trade

I completed a trade on reddit recently.  Someone was looking to get rid of some 2007-2008 products.  We worked out a trade for a handful of Mets cards for some Angels cards.  I think this was my third or fourth trade on reddit and things have gone smoothly so far.

Most of what I received were Upper Deck products, but there were some 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter and 2007 Topps Update.

The majority of the cards I received were of various Upper Deck releases.  Upper Deck had some pretty decent card designs for their main set releases.  Some of their secondary releases were hit-and-miss, in my opinion.  I really enjoy the Masterpieces set, though.

 

I am trying to find a good and efficient way to scan cards.  I like this method of using a 9-card page to keep things more neat looking.

Zistle Trade #5

Another Zistle trade in the books.  This one with user hpennington22.  He has completed the most trades on the site and the only user with over 100 trades completed.

He initiated this trade for some of my 2014 Topps Heritage duplicates.  This time the Mets cards were not the majority of what I received.  Since I show my Mets cards here, though, these are the Mets that I received:

The scan does not do justice to the R.A. Dickey card.  It is so much better looking in person! 

Only one current Met of the bunch.  As much as I like Ike Davis, it looks like the Mets made the right choice by trading him and giving Lucas Duda more playing time.  Duda has really turned into a respectable player and has shown he can handle being an every day player at first base.  He hit his 22nd home run of the season in today's lost to the Cubs.  

Zistle Trade #4

Another "recent" Zistle trade.  This time with Raz over at The Raz Card Blog.

I recall starting this trade because he had a Hakeem Olajuwon card on his want list and I want to get rid of all of my non-baseball cards.  I found another dozen or so cards he wanted and a dozen or so cards I wanted and sent him the request.  This was probably the least back-and-forth trade I have done so far on Zistle (which is a good thing!).

Here are the Mets I received in the trade:

Look at those nicely scanned cards...

That is my first Jacob deGrom card.  Jacob has been pitching quite well his last few starts (really, overall since being called up).  He didn't get as much talk as Noah Syndergaard has gotten, but that has not seemed to matter to him.  His recent success can get any Mets fan excited about the team's future.

More from eBay

Here are some more cards from my last eBay run.  I have auto cards for both David Wright and Zack Wheeler, so I needed some game used relics to complement the auto cards.

A couple more autos...one of the Mets lone 2014 All-Star selection, Daniel Murphy.  I still think David Wright was snubbed since his numbers are similar to Aramis Ramirez.  Either way, Daniel Murphy deserves to be there.

  

 

This card was probably the one I looked forward to receiving the most.  With a little copy-and-paste magic, you can see the front and back.  The relics are a bit on the small size, but I am not complaining about a Willie Mays relic.

  

These are my first attempts at scanning cards.  A little crooked, but I am getting there.

Zistle Trade #3

Here is another trade completed on Zistle.  This one I initiated with user shoebox.  I had some L.A. Kings and he had some Mets.  Among them were these:

When I was younger I despised the 1989 Bowman set.  I did not like how the cards were larger than the rest of my cards.  They would not fit in any of the (few) card boxes I had, so I had to waste extra space for them.  Now that I am better equipped to store them I can look into getting those Mets players I missed out on years ago.

Cards from Chavez Ravining and New Additions

Alex over at Chavez Ravining sent over a handful of Mets cards a while back.  In a previous post, I mentioned my disinterest in the unlicensed products.  Well, I might have to change my stance on them after having some now thanks to Alex.

I still don't think I will purchase packs of these, but they are rather nice looking cards in person.  I might be interested in obtaining all the Mets cards.

I have added a couple of pages to this here blog.  I added a Trade Bait page that lists cards that are available for trade by decade.  Also, I added a Mets All-Time Roster page.  It is something I am trying to keep me focused on my collection.  Take a look at both and get in touch with me if you find something that interests you.

Zistle Trade #2

I started a few draft posts last month with the idea of posting them over time, but haven't had the chance to get back to them.  Let's see if I can get things going again...

Here is another trade I completed on Zistle "recently".  The trade was with user BengalsFan1 who requested a number of Bengals cards.  I happily obliged as I am trying to trade away any and all of my non-baseball cards.

In return, I received a number of Mets cards.

I have never been a big fan of the Opening Day sets.  I get that the set is marketed more towards casual or younger fans, but I wish they would make the cards somewhat different than the standard set.  The 2008 Topps Opening Day set was nice in that Topps went with a different color border (red versus the white of the standard set).

I also received these 2008 Topps Opening Day Flapper cards in the trade.  The Jose Reyes has already been "flapped".  It is a cool concept for the kids, but too hard to photo each fold.

I figured that I already had all the Mets players from the 1989 Fleer set, but I guess I did not.  Only five more to finish that one off (30, 44, 50, 51, 52).

Contest happening at Play at the Plate

Head on over to Play at the Plate to enter into a contest to win a 2014 Bowman hobby box.

Topps generously donated this box to celebrate his 2000th post.  That is like 285x more posts than I have...

Goodbye Ike and some auto cards...

We are a few weeks into the 2014 season now.  I think the Mets are playing better than what most expected out of them.  They are playing .500 ball now, so I am happy!  There are still improvements to be made, of course.  Like, maybe playing all of their games on the road?

Ike Davis is now gone.  I was always a fan of his, so I am a little sad to see him go.  However, it just never worked out for him in New York.  Playing in New York may have been the problem all along as there have been many former Mets players to play better once leaving.  I really hope Ike finds his way with the Pirates.

I have been working my way through those recent eBay purchases.  The two cards above were part of one purchase that included a handful of various Mets cards.  Probably my favorite purchase were the following three auto cards.  These three players have bright futures ahead of them.

Noah Syndergaard should be arriving sometime in June and is poised to be part of the Mets future pitching powerhouse.  Zack Wheeler has already shown he has the stuff to pitch quite well.  

Dominic Smith is just 18 years old, so he has a few years until being MLB-ready, but this first round draft pick could be our first baseman of the future.

So it begins...

Opening Day 2014 is here!  It is one of my favorite times of the year.  Every team is in a position of some sort to win it all.  Some will take more work than others.  Some will cruise right to the playoffs.  As of now, though, everyone has a chance.

The New York Mets are no exception.  Most have ruled out post-season play for them, and rightfully so.  They have gone from worst to first before.  I feel they will find success this year, but probably not World Series success (hope I am wrong!)  While I don't think they will be punting this season, they are heading in the right direction.  To me, this is just as exciting to being the favorite to win it all.

2015 is where most Mets fans eyes are looking toward, but this season is looking to be pretty exciting!

New Donruss and Donruss Originals Trade

One of the recent releases that everyone seems to have already posted about is the reintroduction of Donruss.  They brought back the Diamond Kings and Rated Rookies, of course.  They also throw in all of the parallels that are common place in the hobby.  Donruss were some of the first set of cards I had, but I can't get past the lack of logos.  I do not plan on purchasing any of these, so my thoughts really come from pictures I have seen of the product.  

If we get the right shot...

...then we don't have to airbrush as much...

I like the base card design and the return of the middle names on the back of the cards.  Diamond Kings could be considered the most well known name associated within Donruss' history.  They seem to have dropped the artwork for Photoshop/filtering, so that is a bit disappointing.

I received some 2002 Donruss Originals as part of another trade completed on Zistle.  I find these to be very similar in execution to the recent release - bringing back the old using the new.  The 2002 set brings back designs from 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1988, but with year 2002 players.

My favorites have to be the '82 Piazza and '84 Alomar, both in their pinstripes.  Both cards seem to embody the throwback feel of the set.

A few others received from the same trade:

There is that Diamond King artwork...

I still like Ike!