Printing Plate Mailday

Here is the last of my string of eBay wins. This is a 2011 Topps Series 2 Kevin Youkilis 1/1 cyan printing plate. This is my first plate form this set.



I had a plate kick a while back, but I haven't been digging the plates as much lately. I have been on a "high end" kick where I have been looking to buy cards worth $100+. That ended pretty quickly when I ran out of money, so that is how I ended up with this. This is in really good condition for a plate but it still shows some use. It also has a pretty good "picture" on it. A lot of the cyan plates I have seen have a "picture" you can barely see.

-20youksox

Taking Care Of Some "Dirty Laundry"

I have always been a fan of unique relic swatches including base, glove, ball, hat, etc.. One of my favorite types of swatches is the laundry tag. I love the colors and the fact that there are actually recognizable words on it. Another thing about them is that they are quite rare. Not many products offer these relic cards, but one that does is Upper Deck Ballpark Collection. I recently bought one of these in the mail of my favorite player Kevin Youkilis. This is actually my third laundry tag patch.



And here are the other two...





Hopefully I will be able to get some more of these laundry tag cards. If you have a laundry tag card, please post a picture below in the coment section for everyone to see!

-20youksox

"Mini" Mailday and 1 Pack Break

As many of you know, I had been on an eBay losing streak recently, but that streak has snapped and I won 3 great auctions at great prices. I received one of them in the mail yesterday...



This is a 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Kevin Youklis Extended Mini card. These cards are only available as minis from inside the rip cards. These extended minis are generally worth $40-60 depending on the player, but I paid only $10 because the listing didn't have a picture until a few hours before the end of the auction. This is a really nice card and will fit great into my Kevin Youkilis PC and my really small rare mini PC that I will post sometime.

Next, I broke a single pack of 2012 Topps Heritage. Nothing super exciting that I know of, but I did pull something interesting. I pulled this Carlos Beltran card...



Notice the Cardinals logo, and picture. Now here's the back...



Says he plays for the Giants. I can't figure out if this is an accidental error that is common, or an intentional error that is really rare. If anyone knows about this card, please comment below.

-20youksox

Small Pickup from 2012 Heritage

I have kind of been in a card drought lately. I keep trying to pick up really nice stuff on ebay, but I am on a big losing streak. I keep getting sniped and it is starting to piss me off, so I am going to try for some lower end stuff to get the mojo train rolling again. Here is my latest pickup from 2012 Heritage which was actually free. I asked someone if they would be willing to trade it to me, and they said they weren't interested in trading but the would send it to me in a PWE.



Not super high end, but a nice looking card. This is a Walmart Blue tint SP variation.

-20youksox

My Bracket LOL

To be fair, I know nothing about college basketball. I don't watch it, and don't care for basketball in general. Anyways, here is my bracket just for fun. You can laugh all you want, but what if I actually picked right????



Also busted a sucky box of 2011 Updates and Highlights today. I will post a review tommorow when I am less angry about it.

-20youksox

2012 Topps Tribute Packing Error: Fixed

A while ago, Topps anounced that Tribute to the Stars autograph cards would be inserted as a bonus hit in 2012 Topps Tribute. Because of the way they packaged the product, the cards aren't bonus hits any more. Topps released that they will make good on this. If you send in an autograph card that looks like this...



Then you can send it in to Topps and they will send you a pack of 2011 Bowman Sterling which has 2 autos and one relic with the card you sent in. This is great, but I'm not really sure why they don't just send you another pack of Tribute. A pack of Sterling costs less than a pack of Tribute, so it almost seems like a downgrade to me. Here is the address you can send these in to...

The Topps Company
Sports & Entertainment
Attn: Customer Support – 6th Floor
1 Whitehall Street
New York, New York 10004-2109

This offer expires on March 9, 2013 (if the world doesn't end hahaha).

-20youksox

2012 Topps Tribute

2012 Topps Tribute is starting to be opened by collectors everywhere, and I am getting excited. These cards are beautiful, the best design I have seen since UD stopped making baseball. Since Topps has been a monopoly, I haven't really been thrilled with many products, but this product is really special. I especially love the on card autos and the World Series relics. Another huge plus for me is that they are encapsulated.



The only con for me is the value. The checklist isn't as good as last years, and its tough to buy a box of this for $300 only to pull a couple $20 autos and a few $10 jerseys. I this was $150, I would definately buy some but at double that there is no way me or the "average collector" could afford it.



-20youksox