Knocking Off Another White Whale, Starring Ryan Getzlaf.

I think the term "White Whale" may have long ago jumped the shark on this here card blog of mine. After picking up my first White Whale, I've acquired a number of other cards that I've chosen to tag with that moniker. Perhaps not all should have been given that label, although each and every one of those cards was a big need for me and an equally big get when I was finally able to cross it off of my Most Wanted List. This newest pickup is no different, and is the latest of my whales to be poached from the sea and placed on a pedestal in my collection.

On-card baby....nice! Ryan Getzlaf is my favorite hockey player, and Panini Dominion is just an all-around amazing product, by far my favorite hockey release that I can recall. The above card is pretty much a match made in cardboard heaven for me. When I came across these on-card autographs and saw Getzy was on the checklist and donning the Captain's C, I knew I had to pick one up. After missing out on a number of them for between ten and fifteen bucks (getting sniped on one, completely whiffing on even bidding on a few others) I finally dug in and made sure the above, #'d 25/50, didn't slip by the wayside, snagging it for right around the price of a blaster.

It's by far the most prized Getzlaf card I own, and will proudly serve as the cornerstone of my Getzlaf Collection. The back mentions Ryan playing baseball as a kid and making it all the way to peewee nationals; it's a unique write-up, and a nice touch. I've decided to pick up every Getz Dominion auto or relic I come across that's reasonably priced and can be won without breaking the bank. Like the below, which looks oddly similar to the above.

Yeah, I picked up a second, and it's numbered 14/50 (one off of The Captain's number). It ran me just $12 shipped, and was a handful of dollars cheaper than the first one I landed. I wasn't lying when I said I love Dominion and want to pick up every Getzlaf hit from the product that I can get my hands on. This blog may become real Dominion-heavy in the future.

Happy Birthday, Al Rosen!

Flip Rosen turns a cool 88 today, and considering his birthday falls on February 29th, it's a good thing this is a leap year. Al is a man I greatly admire and heavily collect, and one day I hope to add a signed baseball, bat, and 8x10 to my cardboard collection of the Indians' great.

Happy Birthday Hebrew Hammer!

Here's to many more years of health and happiness!

The Best Kevin Love Card I Own: Bowman Orange Rookie.

First and foremost, a big congratulations goes out to Kevin Love for winning the 3-point contest at All-Star weekend, and for an excellent showing in the ASG itself. Way to represent UCLA! I spoke recently about needing an upgrade to a Kevin Love rookie card that arrived from eBay dinged. This wasn't entirely what I had in mind at the time, but I'm more than happy to take it and run with it.

The newest addition to my Love Collection, and it instantly becomes the centerpiece of my Kevin Love cardboard PC. I do have an autographed 8x10 of Love from an appearance he did at my LCS way back when (which will hopefully be clearer when I retake a picture of it in the near-ish future). The orange goodness above is serial-numbered 265/299, and was had for $10.51 delivered. At roughly half of what it books for, I'm happy with the deal I ended up landing.

This will remain the centerpiece of my Kevin Love PC until that elusive auto becomes less elusive, or I somehow come across a ridiculously good deal for one of the lower-numbered parallels of this card. I am very much into the orange border; bright colors work tremendously well in my opinion when it comes to card borders on parallels.

An Adrian Beltre Autograph Yields A Trifecta.

After examining my collection, I realized I was missing a few cards that would really be great additions. One of those was an autograph of the second best third baseman - and best man defensively at the hot corner - in franchise history, Adrian Beltre. After a few misses on eBay, I was able to land the sweet signature below.

On-card! Always an appreciated touch. I scored the Beltre for $7.01 shipped, and after it arrived, it hit me that this pickup served to complete my latest Trifecta.

The above bat relic was an LCS pickup from their eBay store, and is hand-numbered 4/4. I really love some of the old Fleer releases, and what an appropriate name for a set featuring bat pieces: Lumberjacks.

The above rookie was acquired in a trade with Night Owl some time ago. The effect the chrome has in making Adrian seemingly pop off of the card itself....awesome.

Another Trifecta in the books, and one I wasn't even attempting to put in said books. I think that makes it a bit sweeter and a tad more enjoyable.

Cause You Win Some and Lose Some (Contests), Sandra Bullock: A Few Thank Yous.

Some thank yous are in order. First up, Derek from Tomahawk Chopping - Cardboard & More! held a contest, and I was one of a number of winners. My prize is the massively sweet die-cut Shawn Green jersey relic below. The design of this 2002 Fleer Focus Kings of Swing relic is just amazing. Many thanks Derek (and many more to follow)!

Next, Brian from 30-Year-Old Cardboard held a contest, and the randomizer spit my name out. My prize is the below relic. Thanks for the great contests and the awesome prize Brian!

Next up, my third contest success from the great Andrew over at Sports Card Info. He holds at least a contest a week, and I was fortunate enough to pick up this sweet on-card auto of Flyers' defenseman Erik Gustafsson. His signature reminds me somewhat of the John Hancock of former Flyer, current Duck, and Plaschke favorite Luca Sbisa. Gracias Andrew!

Continuing on, another contest win over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk netted me the below graded rookie card. Jon, Colbey, any interest? Thanks as always for your generosity Wes!

Penultimately, Sam over at The Daily Dimwit held a sly contest that involved reading an entire post of his. I did, and was the first to correctly answer a trivia question which asked how many no-hitters Nolan Ryan threw in his career. My prize is a partial set of 2012 Topps Prime 9 Redemptions. I don't have nearly enough Babe Ruth cards, so the Great Bambino is staying with me. The rest are up for grabs though (on hold temporarily, however, as I'm about to offer them to someone). Thanks Sam!

And finally, the aforementioned Derek sent me a few singles simply because he's a generous dude. No contest involved with this package of cards. First up, a new Kemp and a new Kershaw; it marks my first 2012 card for Kemp, and second for Kershaw.

Also included in the bubbler was a smattering of player collection cards, from Long Beach State Dirtbags to a Chrome J-Hey to a Cole Hamels. Man, Hamels on the Dodgers next year would be sweet. Kershaw, Cole, and Bills. What a dreamy rotation that would be....

Thanks again to all of the above-listed great bloggers!