Mailbox Goodies

    Hello all. Today I was lucky enough to make a trip to Cape May New Jersey and back so I could drop my daughter off at a beach house she and her friends are staying at for the holiday weekend to celebrate their graduation from high school. After approximately 350 miles round trip with a mix of holiday weekend traffic, a stop off at CVS for a few things, and a quick detour to the LCS to grab a box of Archives (a post for another time but needs list is up) all I wanted was to get home and take a load off. My mail box offered a great pick me up when I saw a few of those great little packages we all love as card collectors.
    First envelope was a welcome back to Blogoland package from none other then my brother in blue and orange, The Brooklyn Met from Clear Cut Cards. Jason shot me an e-mail and a trade was born.

   It certainly couldn't be a Brooklyn Met package without some Mets. some Pagan's, a Pedro and some O D's.  I didn't buy but one pack of Opening Day this year so these are a great addition for me. First time since 2006 that I didn't build the Opening day set but they don't offer any different look then the flagship set any more so I have lost interest in doing the full set. If they change them like they used to I may return to them.

    Some crosstown rivals were in the mix. (Subway Series is around the corner). The Grandy Heritage sticker and the blue Tex /2012 top a great lot of Yanks. Throw in a couple of  Dontrelle Willis cards and a couple of 2012 Heritage knocked off my list makes this package a sweet pick me up when I got home.

   After that, a couple of E-Bay envelops round out the mailbox goodies.

 These are from a single auction for the Tom Seaver 04 Legendary Cuts jersey card in the center. The auction stated that there would be "bonus cards" based on the final bid price. I have no complaints as I was the one and only bidder and still ended up with 11 bonus cards that are from a nice mix of sets and years.

   This batch is from a lot of 17 cards I won from one seller. The Clausen patch cards were the first cards I found from the seller and a free combined shipping made me search a little further so these are my favorite eight out of the bunch I ended up with. My first Earl Campbell relic for the legends binder, an Archie Manning jersey along with a Bernie stripe and a fancy Tribute Vlad bat go great with two awesome patches on the Clausen's are a home run for me.

That rounds out the mailbox fun for me today. Thanks again Jason. Don't forget to check out The Pack Rip Cafe if you didn't see the 89 Donruss Pop-Up pack I ripped earlier this week.

Keep rockin those cardboard dreams!

Lets Go Mets!

Thanks for Reading!

Old School Players, New School Cards.

   Hello all. Not a lot of time today due to family commitments but I will show off  some cards of legendary players on modern cards with a premium twist. Old school on new school if you will.

 

2008 Donruss Diamond Kings #DK-30 Duke Snider sn'd 40/50

  The Duke of Flatbush! While I am not a Brooklyn Dodger collector, Duke Snider is a legendary player card looks awesome to me so it has a home in my collection. This DK series looks great, especially the bordered parallels.
   An interesting fact I came across, including Duke Snider only 9 players played for both the Brooklyn Dodgers and the NY Mets.

Bob Aspromonte
Roger Craig
Chico Fernandez
Gil Hodges
Clem Labine
Charlie Neal
Joe Pignatano
Duke Snider
Don Zimmer

2009 Upper Deck Black #32 Paul Hornung sn'd 171/250

American Flag Manu-Patch

   The Golden Boy, legendary Packers star. These many flag cards look sweet. I was torn as to which binder this card should go in but settled on my NFL Legends binder since it came with a Joey Porter card from the same set that will look perfect in my American Flag card collection.
 Interesting fact, he was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 1967 expansion draft, but retired without ever playing for them.

2001 Bowman Heritage #BHM-RK Ralph Kiner mini seat relic



  This Ralph Kiner seat relic is from Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1909 til 1970. As a Mets fan I always thought "Kiners Korner" was only the name of his Mets post game show but since learned that in his playing days at Forbes Field the left center field bullpen was dubbed "Kiners Korner" due to his habit of hitting home runs there.
   Fun fact, he is the only player to lead the league in home runs each of his first seven seasons in the league.

2001 Donruss Elite Back 2 Back Jacks #BB-45 Yogi Berra... sn'd 32/50

Game Used Bat

   A Yogi bat relic is too cool so when I saw this one I had to have it but when I flipped it over I was way surprised.............
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   A Phil Rizzuto bat relic on the flip side. Oh I get it now, Back 2 Back. Sweet card! I tried to find any info on Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto hitting back to back homers but came up with nothing, anybody out there know if it ever happened?

    There you go, some old school legends on new school cards. I have to leave you with one vintage old school original card I recently got.

1963 Topps #473 New York Mets

    This card has certainly seen better days but still looks great in the Mets team card pages. If I come across another one reasonably priced I will see about upgrading but for now I still love it.

That wraps up my little contribution to Blogoland tonight.

Keep rocking those cardboard dreams!

I'm Back!!! + 2012 Gypsy Queen!

  Hello all!  It's great to be back out here in Blogoland! After a brief (about 9 months) hiatus I am ready to get back to regular posting here on The Buffet and on the Pack Rip Cafe (new pack tomorrow). While I wasn't posting I was still collecting and have some great new and old cards to share along the way with you.

   I must thank all the folks who offered the welcome back comments and e-mails when I posted the announcement a few days ago and can't wait to resume all the fun out here. Mariner 1 got my juices flowing again with some 1979 love along with a few other e-mails from others them a trade request from The Dimwit got me to pull the trigger on the return. I was also very touched to see a few blogs out there were kind enough to mention my return like it is a big deal (when it really isn't) although the Suzyn Waldman reference from Sam over at The Daily Dimwit  never gets less scary. If you never heard it check it out but don't say you weren't warned. As a New Yorker who heard that live when it happened and  many times since, it never gets easier. Thanks for the nightmares Sam.

  I already have 2 trades in the works and my want lists are updated as of today so I am all set. to rock and roll gang.

   I will return with some 2012 Gypsy Queen to get the ball rolling. I bought 2 boxes from my LCS as well as loose packs on other visits and have score some hits on the secondary market (E-Bay) also so I will share some of my favorites with you. I really like this set and 2012 is even better then 2011 in my opinion.  

First a couple of Mets of course.

   Good to see the Reyes as a Met since the jersey piece has to be. Topps got it right for a change by making the base and inserts reflect his new team the Marlins while the relics match the swatch from a Mets uniform. The David Wright was the first hit from the first box I opened so I knew I had to chase the set again.

   A couple of Pettite jersey's along with a legend like Eddie Murray were must have cards when I found their auctions.

    I am loving the minis and have become a huge fan of the minis from all different sets over the last couple of years. These are all regular backs.

    The bottom three here are Straight Cut backs while the top 2 are red backs. The Rod retail Gold was a cheap auction score.

    These premium minis are sweet! I actually pulled all of these myself so now I guess I have to chase the Gehrig mini rainbow, any help out there.



  Now here are some other relics and autos I have pulled along the way, traders if anybody is interested.

    The Braun auto relic redemption is probably the best in the bunch (lets see how long it takes to get here) but there are some other good ones in there too.

    There you have it, a small look into my 2012 Gypsy Queen endeavor. I have a want list on the sidebar but now have to go change it as while writing this post Sam from The Dimwit just e-mailed me with a bunch of cards I need. You rock Sam!! I also have to compile a list of minis I need.


That's all I have for the return of the Buffet. It's awesome to be back and thanks again for all the love out there for my blogs.

Keep rocking your cardboard dreams people!

Thanks For Reading!

Comming Soon

The Return

BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet

Stay Tuned!

Never Forget!

NEVER FORGET!

Pentagon

Shanksville, PA

Pentagon

Shanksville, PA

Freedom Tower today

Freedom Tower soon to be

All Gave Some!

Some Gave All!!!

Who Is This Guy and Why Does Everybody Want Him?

    Hey all. A question from my Diamond Give Away site portfolio. Who is  Bob Bailey and why do I get numerous trade offers for him on a daily basis on the site. I have a 2011 Bob Gibson diamond that gets lots of offers.....

 (I still haven't gotten the right one yet but he is up for trade) and that's very understandable but after him I get the most offers on this 73 Topps #505.

   Why? I never heard of him, the Expos are not exactly many team collectors target, it looks like the basic spring training pose, I just don't get it. There are 230 of them unlocked. I have several cards pre 1970 that don't get near the attention that this one does.  Is he an undercover super hero, pehaps the card has gold flakes inside.  Please, all you knowledgeable bloggers out there tell me why this is the second most requested card in my virtual collection. Let's hear all your theory's out there.

  That's all for now. Keep rockin your cardboard dreams gang!

Thanks for Reading!

Joy Of A Completed....Name! and A Contest Plug.

Hey all. Almost the end of a very busy work week (got called in to work tomorrow again) and I have a "Joy of a Completed" post to share with you all. I have a completed name I have been working on for a while. I am fairly cheap when I shop for singles on e-bay, COMC, the LCS, etc. so this took some time but I finally got the last letter of the 2009 Topps Finest letter patch autos for Bobby Parnell.

   Oops, I cut the last "L" off but it's really there.

     That's better. These manu letter patches are serial numbered to 170 and he did a nice job with the signatures on fairly thin letters. The "R" was most elusive and last letter I needed and it finally came a couple of weeks ago courtesy of an e-bay auction that stayed in my price range. The timing is great as Mr. Parnell has a real chance to become the Mets closer since the trading of K-Rod to the Brewers for a couple of unknown players to be named later. Terry Collins says he will determine his ninth inning pitcher by the situation but we all know that the hot hand will get the job after a couple of weeks go by and somebody stands out. Bobby can throw gas so if his control holds up he has an excellent chance to secure the closer role.

     I also grabbed this sweet looking blue refractor /25 along the way. My next letter project may be the John Niese letters from 2009 Finest and Josh Thole letters from 2010 Finest as I have a couple from each already so if anybody has any let me know.

   On the contest front, go on over to Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle and jump on in his first contest before it's too late. He has a great blog from out west and is an awesome trader so you can't lose.

   That's all for now. Keep rockin your cardboard dreams people!

Thanks for Reading!

Some LCS Scores! and I have an auction running.

   Hello all. I have a few scores from 2 of my LCS's. First up is some stuff from the shop I work near sometimes and a couple of weeks ago that was just the case so here are a few highlights.

    In honor of 3000 and then some I have to show the Jeter 1997 UD3 Future Impact. They couldn't have a better subset to put  Jeter in. The picture sucks but the silver part on the right side is actually transparent with another image. Congrats on a hell of a day in you quest to reach 3000 hits Mr. Jeter.

   A nice Pagan RC, a bargain box Zeile jersey and a good deal on the Pelfrey manu patch were fun too. 

     Mike, the owner, also gave me a sweet deal on these 9 Mantle cards. They are the first 9 in a 19 card set from 1996 Stadium Club Members Only. He told me they were one per box at the time so I hope chasing them is doable. Now I begin the search for #MM10 thru MM19 so if anybody can help, please drop me a line.

     Next I have some goodies from the other LCS I frequent. I was on the way to pick up my two dogs from "kennel camp" yesterday and the shop is on the way so when I volunteered to go pick up the dogs after a nine hour drive back from NC I certainly had some other motive in mind as well. I feel a little bad when I go in there now since the owner died back in March but the guy (John) running the shop for his wife is also very cool and certainly is doing a fantastic job keeping the shop alive. He in fact said he was glad to see me as he found a few binders in the back while organizing and thought I may like to check them out since he knows how much I like relic cards. I am surely glad he did as here are a bunch I found to my liking.

  A couple of Curtis Martin's and a Leon Washington jumped out of the football side and I grabbed the Giles on the sweet patch alone.

   What can I say about this group, a couple of Gwynn's, Palmer and Murray representing the O's quite well and Bo knows dual relics pretty nicely.

    The two biggest (at least by price) finds are these Ripken and George Brett cards. My first Brett and second Ripkin (Shushi Platter got me my first) relics are awesome. John was quite fair on the prices on all these so I am real happy with all the additions to my collections. Sorry gang, none of these are for trade as it was mostly personal collection items during these trips although there were a couple of other cards that some of you may see down the road in trades.   

    On a different note, I have re listed the Wrapper Redemption auto of Randy Jackson /60 (Cubs) I got on E-Bay so again if a blogger buys it I will throw in some kind of bonus cards depending on what you collect. If you are interested send me an e-mail and I will let you know the reserve price and maybe I can lower it a bit for a loyal reader. If you direct somebody else to the auction and they buy it and mention your name I will give you a "finders fee" in the form of some cards also. Check it out HERE.

    That's all for now. Keep rockin your cardboard dreams people!

Thanks for Reading!