Let's Make A Deal

I'm going to take a page from Thorzul and try to move some relic/insert cards rather than using eBay or just letting them sit collecting dust in their white cardboard coffin. Each of the cards shown below are up for grabs and so if you are interested in any of them leave me a comment on this post [or send me an e-mail to heartbreakingcards@gmail.com] telling me which card(s) that you are interested in and what you would like to send me in a trade. I collect things beyond what I list on the side of my blog so don't be afraid to offer things that may not fit with my "what I'm collect" list.

I know a lot of these aren't worth much so I'm not looking to receive too much in return.  I'm really just looking to turn these into cards I would want.

If you don't have anything to trade and instead want to make an cash offer you can do that too. I would charge $1.00 for shipping for single cards and $1.50 for two or more cards.  I promise to not send your card in a plain white envelope.

Once I accept an offer I'll change the image and mark it as "Trade Accepted" so everyone will know that that particular card is off the market.

If we do reach a deal and I've never done a trade with you before, you'll need to send your half of the trade first before and then I'll send my part upon arrival.

If you've got questions, just shoot me an e-mail at heartbreakingcards@gmail.com.

2008 Topps Triple Treads #181 Brian Bannister Triple Relic Autograph #06/25

2007 Upper Deck Elements #CCE-BB Brian Bannister Jersey Autograph #043/350

2003 Upper Deck Game Face #GG-CB Carlos Beltran Dual Jersey

2005 Donruss Champions #56 Edgardo Alfonzo Bat Relic

2004 Bowman Heritage #258 Billy Buckner  Autograph #57/99

2005 Fleer Patchworks #PO-LG Luis Gonzalez Jersey Relic #020/199

2007 Topps Allen and Ginter #AGR-RA Rich Aurilia Bat Relic

This lot of inserts will hopefully find a home all at once.  Here are the cards:

Middle Row:
2010 Upper Deck #404 Evan Meek #98/99
2010 Topps Update #US-8 Fred Lewis #0111/2010


Bottom Row:
2011 Topps #107 Aubrey Huff Gold Version #0010/2011
2010 Topps #567 Mike Pelfrey Gold Version #1704/2010
2011 Topps Update #US105 Joel Hanrahan Gold Version #0755/2011

2008 Topps Chrome #234 Callix Crabbe Autograph

2007 Bowman Draft Picks #BDPP75 Luke Hochevar Jersey Relic

2006 Upper Deck #I-PA John Patterson Autograph

2006 Topps Update #AS-GM Gary Matthews All-Star Workout Jersey Relic

2001 Upper Deck SP Game Used Edition #JK Jeff Kent Jersey Relic

2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot #MM-SK Scott Kazmir Jersey Relic

2003 Upper Deck Superstars #AD/PW-C Adam Dunn/Peter Warrick Dual Jersey Relic

2005 Upper Deck Portraits #57 Dontrelle Willis Jersey Relic #32/99

Eau Claire, WI Baseball Hall Of Fame

The town I was born in, Eau Claire, WI, has a pretty interesting baseball history.  Hank Aaron played his first professional baseball game in Eau Claire when the Milwaukee Braves had a farm team there in the 50's.  The center of Eau Claire baseball is Carson Park, the baseball stadium located in the town's largest park in the middle of town.  Back in March, I stopped by the park to get some photos of the old building and see the newly installed Eau Claire Baseball Hall of Fame.

Baseball as been played at Carson Park since 1935 and is currently home to the Eau Claire Express of the Northwoods League.  There most notable former player is Washington Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann.

In 1994, the city built a statue to commemorate Hank's first professional game in Eau Claire.  They went with the younger looking Hank as he would have been when he played in Eau Claire rather than the 755 home run hitting Hank that we all think of in our minds.

Along with Hammerin' Hank's statue, they also have a series of plaques that honor each of the region's baseball legends.  Here are a few of my favorites.

First and foremost being my all-time favorite, Andy Pafko. 

Tom Poquette played for the Royals and was included in Fred Lynn's 1975 rookie card.  In the 1977 set, Topps even gave him the Topps All-Star Rookie Cup award. 

Vic Johnson is another local player that made it to the majors with the Red Sox and Indians in the 40's.  Unfortunately, he doesn't have any baseball cards that I could obsess over.

Harv Tomter was the long time coach of the Eau Claire Cavs which was only semi-professional team in Eau Claire for decades before the Express came along.  I've got his autograph on my Cavs programs through the years.  

Pardon My Chrome

If you were to make a list of the recent product that deserve to be on the chopping block it would be 2010 Topps Chrome.  As anyone who has opened it knows, the quality of the cards is one of the worst ever as the cards are warped and each card requires a top loader if you want to add it to your collection.

The only way a person could possibly pardon 2010 Chrome from execution is at a steep discount.  And that's exactly what I found at Walmart during my late night Thanksgiving day visit: a 2010 Chrome blaster for $11.98.  This bring the blaster to $1.50 per badly-warped-pack.

I''ll spare you the base cards and just get into the inserts.  There were no autographs in the blaster and in total I pulled seven inserts breaking down into one purple refractor, three regular refractors, and three x-fractors.  My purple refractor is of Jon Link who spent the 2011 pitching in AAA as a middle reliever.  Last year he was considered the 30th best prospect in the Dodgers system.

#173 John Link RC Purple Refreactor 587/599

And my three refractors are of Joe Saunders, Tim Lincecum, and a rare Cliff Lee as a Mariner refractor.  Since going 17-7 and 16-7 in 2008 and 2009 Joe has had two rough seasons with Angels and Diamondbacks.

And now we come to my personal favorite, the X-Fractors.  It turned out all three cards were of players with health problems.  Kendry Morales missed nearly all of the 2010 season with a broken leg and he missed all of 2011 due to problems with his rehabilitation of the 2010 injury.

#56 Kendry Morales X-Fractor

After missing the 2010 season with a torn medial collateral ligament Daniel Murphy had a great start to 2011.  He was batting .320 over 109 games until he again injured his MCL and was out for the rest of the season.

#33 Daniel Murphy X-Fractor

Brennan finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting last year and was off to a great start to 2011 until he needed surgery on this thumb and had to miss the rest of the season.

#182 Brennan Boesch X-Fractor

Let's Pepper Spray Some Junk Wax

As you've flipped around the interwebs these past few days I'm sure you've seen photos of the police response to the protesters at the University of California-Davis.  They look something like this:

You may have also seen a really funny parody of these photos in which the pepper spraying cop is placed into famous settings.  Here are a few of my favorites:

This brings a new meaning to "In Your Eyes."

So I took it the to the logical next step and made my own Pepper Spray Cop baseball cards:

Was Kevin Mitchel safe?  Who cares, he can't breath!

Pepper Spray Cop was out at second but Cookie got a face full of the Ghost Chili.

Say what you will about Pepper Spray Cop, at least he doesn't like gimmick cards!

Antique Junk

During a trip to New Mexico for my work I stopped off at an antique shop that I had driven by a few times in El Paso.  You never know what card treasures will lie within and although I had hoped for your the best but as it often is, only disappointment awaited me.

We begin with three cans of Pinnacle at $20 each.  Sure, Pudge Rodriguez is a future Hall of Famer but Ryan Klesko and Albert Belle for $20?  You can find these for about $5 each on eBay with better players.  I'm surprised that it looks like we haven't opened a can of these yet on A Pack To Be Named Later.

And now we come to the junk wax...all the usual suspects are here at a price tage of $3.00 a pack or at a 2 for $5.00 rate for those big spenders out there!  

My Topps Commemorative Patch Collection

Last time I highlighted my non-baseball patch collection....and today I'll give you my commemorative patch collection.  Since 2009, Topps has been including these reproduced patches in blasters of their flagship product.  I've always treated them as a nice little bonus in the two or three blasters I would buy a year but recently I've been buying a new one every few weeks.  You can find these for a little as $3.00 a card or as much as $35-50 for a patch of a Yankee great, be it Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth.

2010 Topps Series 1

2011 Topps Series 2

2011 Topps Series 2

2010 Topps Series 1

2010 Topps Series 1

2011 Topps Series 1

2009 Topps

2009 Topps

2009 Topps

2010 Topps Series 2

2011 Topps Series 1

2011 Topps Series 2

2010 Topps Series 1

2009 Topps

2010 Topps Series 1

2011 Topps Series 1