Trade With Coot Veal and the Vealtones: Vintage Dodgers Are The Best.

I completed my second trade with Dustin from Coot Veal and the Vealtones. Dustin contacted me about some Dodgers' bait he had and after a handful of e-mails we had worked out a deal complete with both new and old cardboard.

Vintage! Vintage first, because of course vintage first. This '57 Podres immediately caught my eye from a trade bait post Dustin put up and I just had to have it. That Brooklyn B had a lot to do with my desire to acquire.

Floating heads! Would you believe it wasn't Wally Moon that attracted me to this 1962 Topps Leaders card? Mr. Clemente has a strong and growing hold on me.

We round out the vintage portion of this trade post with a well-loved 1952 Bowman of Carl Furillo. It pairs nicely with the well-loved '52 Bowman Campanella I have.

Moving on to more recent cardboard we start with a triple relic of Don Drysdale. It's a bit creased but I'm not passing on game-used Drysdale cards. It's #'d 42/99.

I was able to add many a new Matt Kemp card, starting with this manufactured coin thing from 2013. It's also numbered, 47/99 to be exact. It's....heavy.

The rest of the Kemp pickups plus 5 new Clayton Kershaw cards for my Kid K PC. I'm closing in on 400 unique Bison cards and should be there by the end of 2015.

Dustin also added a pair of new Russell Martin cards along with a pair of much appreciated and needed Allen & Ginter inserts and a relic I sent to Stupienski.

Thanks for a wonderful trade Dustin!

Awesome Contest Winnings From All About Cards, Because TCSP Is Lame.

A tale of intrigue and excitement and Polish trickery awaits. Let's get right to it, shall we? A while back, I entered a contest over at All About Cards. Participants were tasked with guessing the team and decade of debut of the player whose cut auto would be pulled out of a TCSP product. I went with Dodgers and 1940s, because vintage Brooklyn Dodgers is fantastic in any form.

Lo and behold, the above popped out of the TCSP box. A 1/1 cut auto of Carl Erskine, who made his big league debut in late July of 1948. I was stoked to win, and Ian, All About Cards' excellent proprietor, put me into contact with the TCSP folks. After filling out a few forms and waiting a few weeks (I believe TCSP is located somewhere in Poland), my prize arrived. TCSP had decreed a cut auto numbered out of five or less as the prize, but what I received was anything but.

The TCSP people sent me a pair of Bryce Harper "RCs" that are each numbered out of 100 and look as though they've pilfered a photo of the Nats' phenom from a high school yearbook photo shoot. I let Ian know what had arrived, and after a bit of runaround from the TCSP staff, he was informed that they had marked me down as having been sent the cut auto, didn't really believe I had been sent the Harpers, and either way, were out of cut autos.

After being told all of this, Ian went above and beyond to rectify the situation. He sent me the Erskine cut auto he pulled, as well as the above stamp card /50 the box yielded. It's my first Erskine auto, which is pretty cool. But he didn't stop there. Among the various other things to come my way were four Ginter needs (three Hometown Heroes and one base need - scanned in the Beckett, realized after that I already had it).

Ian also sent along a pair of vintage Dodgers. Mr. Unibrow himself on a beautiful '61 is always a welcome sight around these here parts.

Last but certainly not least, Ian knocked off two cards that have been on my Want List seemingly forever. The mini Kershaw Heritage RC is just nails and an awesome add to my Kid K Collection, and young Brox is awesome as well.

Ian, you are a mensch in the truest sense of the word. You went above and beyond, and I really appreciate it. Many, many, many thanks! I'll keep you updated with the TCSP potential 8x10.

Clayton Kershaw, 2011 Cy Young Award Winner! Oh, and Contest # 2: Guess The Price and Hope To Be Right!

Congrats to Clayton Kershaw on winning the 2011 NL Cy Young Award! Though I would have voted for Roy Halladay, Clayton, Doc, and Cliff Lee all had tremendous seasons, and thankfully this isn't one of those cases where the winner is an egregious selection. Again, Halladay was a little better, but Kershaw had himself a season for the ages, and I'm stoked to see my favorite pitcher and an all-around swell guy - who just so happens to play for my favorite team and encompass a large chunk of my collection - take home the Cy.

Now on to the second part of the post. It's about time I held my second contest. I was very pleased with the reaction to the first, although I do apologize for how long it ended up dragging on. That was unintentional, and I've made a concerted effort to ensure that does not happen this time around. So, to gain entry into this contest, I only ask you answer the question you'll find below. Everyone who wagers a guess gets an entry, and if you'd like to play pimp, you can earn a second entry. Please leave a link to your pimping ways in the comments if you choose to attain that second entry. Onwards to the actual contest. I was fortunate to score this amazingly fantastic Clayton Kershaw 2009 Allen & Ginter Auto some time ago (and what better day to finally post it, am I right?). It's a wonderful addition to my Kershaw Collection - now thirteen autographs strong - and instantly becomes one of my favorite cards period, Kershaw or otherwise. Take a guess as to how much it ran me, and you've got your entry. There's a catch, however.

The Kershaw arrived and settled into my anxious and awaiting hands with a friend....the above Jay Bruce 2009 A&G Auto. So, in actuality you're guessing how much both cards ended up running me, as I purchased them together. I'll have a post up detailing how I came to own these pretty little things, including the all-important price, in a week's time. It will soon be scheduled to publish, so when it hits, the contest will be closed. I'll try to include a reminder about said contest in each of the upcoming week's posts, and might even throw up a link at the top of the blog. Or not. Depends on how difficult that is, and how lazy I am. If nobody guesses the exact amount, the nearest guess wins. If nobody is within two dollars (high or low of the actual cost), then the randomizer will come into play. If nobody guesses the exact amount and more than one person is within two bucks, Random.org will also make an appearance.

Anyhoo, it's about that time I talk about the prizes.

A pair of well-loved pieces of vintage, including the greatest unibrow mankind has ever seen, an auto few some Danny Peoples' mother somebody might enjoy (what a lovely Super Box hit that was), and a Chris Bosh relic #'d out of 100. The Moon actually appears to have some sort of fire damage on the back, but it's still a sweet card. Plus, as is the usual for contests around the card blogosphere, cards of your favorite teams and players will be included....unless I'm out, and if that's the case, I'll find something to your liking. Either way, we're talking about free cards, and I have a great LCS. So you'll enjoy what you get, I promise.

Good luck to those who participate, and once again, congrats Clayton on a phenomenal season! Sign the man long-term, Uncle Ned.