USA USA USA

USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

Over at JD's Wild Cardz contest i chose number 66. I got the US of A. Yeah!!!!!!

Here are the medal count for the Olympics

1	Flag ofUnited States	2	2	4	8
2	Flag ofFrance	2	0	2	4
3	Flag ofGermany	1	3	0	4

Yeah I got 14 more entries for JD's Wild Cardz's Olympic Contest, so my total entries are up to 18.

Call me cocky but i have a strong chance to win gold.

I'm not a big fan of the Olympics, the only event I'm looking forward to is the Mens Ice Hockey. Hopefully we win gold.

So go watch the Olympics and cheer for your country or your "adopted country".

The Padres Vintage Collection

Updated: February,13 (4 new additions)

1969 TOPPS - PADRES (8/32)

14 Al McBean

38 Zoilo Vesalles

74 Preston Gomez

98 Dave Giusti

129 Bill McCool

149 Ollie Brown

184 Roberto Pena

197 Dick Selma

223 Tom Dukes

249 Ed Spiezio

271 Larry Stahl

304 Rookie Stars - Bill Davis / Clarence Gaston

333 Ivan Murrell

359 Dick Kelley

387 Bobby Klaus

408 Nate Colbert

452 Al Ferrara

473 Jose Arcia

501 Tony Gonzalez

536 Rookie Stars - Danny Breeden / Dave Roberts

592 Rookie Stars - Rafael Robles / Al Santorini

617 Jesse Gonder

637 Rookie Stars - Jerry DaVanon / Frank Reberger / Clay Kirby

659 Johnny Podres

1970 Topps Condition - PADRES(6/30)

11 Nate Colbert

44 Roberto Pena

79 Clay Kirby

103 Frank Reberger

130 Ollie Brown

151 Dave Roberts

179 Ivan Murrell

212 Al Santorini

234 Tommy Dean

262 Jerry Morales - Jim Williams

284 Jack Baldschun

314 Bill McCool

329 Chris Cannizzaro

345 Al Ferrara

352 Bob Barton

374 Tommie Sisk

392 Walt Hriniak

421 Pat Dobson

474 Dick Kelley

494 Larry Stahl

513 Preston Gomez

526 Ron Herbel

573 Mike Corkin - Rafael Robles - Ron Siocum

587 Jose Arcia

604 Clarence Gaston

639 Dave Campbell

644 Gerry Nyman

657 Padres Team

694 Gary Ross

718 Ed Spiezio

1971 Topps - PADRES(5/30)

6 Ed Spiezio

25 Clarence Gaston

46 Dave Campbell

106 Tom Dukes

126 Danny Coombs

134 Jose Arcia

153 Gary Ross

179 Mike Corkins

214 Al Ferrara

235 Nate Colbert

262 Padres Rookies-Jim Williams-Dave Robinson

274 Ron Slocum

301 Earl Wilson

333 Clay Kirby

364 Tommy Dean

383 Rod Gaspar

408 Rafael Robles

426 Chris Cannizzaro

448 Dave Roberts

467 Al Santorini

482 San Diego Padres-Team Card

505 Ollie Brown

548 Don Mason

569 Ivan Murrell

589 Bob Barton

611 Tom Phoebus

656 Gerry Nyman SP

696 Jerry Morales

711 Larry Stahl SP

737 Preston Gomez SP

15 Down! 70 to Go!

Slow

My posts have been scarce; unlike my card collection. I've been hitting eBay auctions pretty hard these couple of past weeks. Searching and searching through thousands of auctions for any steals. I'm picky when it comes to eBay There few rules i live buy(get that pun).

1. Nothing over $5.00 (shipping included)

2. Nothing from 1987-2002

3. Only rookie cards,relics, and autos, and cards to complete sets

4. Only Padre players or players from Mexico

So there you have it, those are my rules to eBay. It makes a purchase seem more than just another card.

Check this contest

Head over to JD's Wild Cardz hes going to make the Olympics fun. He has a great contest going. Make sure to enter.

This Weeks Mail-day Part:1

I finally got my 2 packages from eBay. Got some great deals on some awesome cards. Now all these cards are Padres. Lets Start with the first package.

Aaron Poreda, 2007 Bowman Sterling Prospect Auto
(2) Adam Russell, 2008 Bowman Sterling Rookie Auto

Kevin Kouzmanoff, 2007 SPX Rookie SIgnatures
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 2007 Bowman's Best Auto
Steve Garrison, 2008 Donruss Threads Auto, and Serial #'d 1861/1999!

Picked up all these cards for less than $6, talk about a steal. Now the extra Poreda and the SPX Kouz are up for trade.

Stat of The Day: "Strike 3"

Most Home Runs in a season while striking out fewer than 10 time?

Tommy Holmes in 1945

Year	Age	Tm	G	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP
1945	28	BSN	154	636	224	47	28	117	15	70	9	.352	.420
11 Seasons			1320	4992	1507	292	88	581	40	480	122	.302	.366

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

He hit 28 HR and only struck out 9 times. He had a great season in 1945 hitting .352. He finished 2nd in 1945 NL MVP voting. He only played for 11 seasons, but he ended up with a lifetime BA of .302.

2010 Bowman Preview

I know I'm a bit late on this but if you haven't seen the preview than here is your chance.

Let's start with the base card.

It has a real clean and basic design. Nothing too amazing, I still don't know if I like it or not. At least it's better than last year.

1st Bowman chrome

This card looks amazing. The border will look great with the chrome. This card is already on my want list can't wait till it hits ebay.

Will I Buy: I'll probably buy a box later on, when they get cheaper. I liked last years design and this year looks like a huge improvement.

Tonys Home

A new addition to my collection and my new favorite card. Believe it or not this is my first card purchase from eBay. It was a total of $6(shipping included). It's in good quality, nicely centered with slightly damaged corners. Nevertheless it's still an awesome card.

T-206 on eBay

One of the most popular vintage card set, the T-206 has hit eBay this past weekend. Two cards from the set, A Ty Cobb(5 EX Grade) and an Izzy Hoffman(8 NM-MNT Grade) are being auctioned off separately . Six days are left to bid and the Ty Cobb card has reached over $1,500; the Izzy Hoffman $250. I can't imagine what the final price on the Ty Cobb card will be. I'll post a update when it's over.

Questions for you readers.

Have Collectors & Sellers ditched auction houses for eBay?

Do they make more of profit on eBay or at other places.

Retired Numbers: Andre Dawson

Team: Montreal Expos

Retired Numbers: 8,10,13

#10 Andre Dawson(Outfield):

Montreal Expos (1976–1986)

Chicago Cubs (1987–1992)

Boston Red Sox (1993–1994)

Florida Marlins (1995–1996)

Best Season: 1987 .287 BA(178 H)/.328 OBP/49 HR

Career Stats: .279 Ba(2,774 H)/ 314 SB/ 438 HR/ 1591 RBI

Top Record: 1 of 3 players to have at least 400 HR & 300 SB

Awards: Hall of Fame(inducted in 2010), 1977 NL ROY, 1987 NL MVP

Best Card: 1977 Topps #473 Andre Dawson Rookie Card

Is This The Year

2009 was an okay year for collecting cards. Some products succeed others failed miserably. We are all awaiting the first baseball release of the year. There is a lot of speculation of how the year is going to turn out. I'm going to list improvements I would like to see and a few predictions for 2010.

1. Lower Prices:

Prices were ridiculous in 2009. Why would anyone buy a 80 dollar box when most of the time the cards are worthless. I don't just want a slight price change but a drastic one. Companies are taking advantage of buyers thinking they'll buy anything they make and most of the time they do. Lower prices would make us all feel less guilty of buying boxes.

2. Make Less Products

Companies are making so many products that it's driving many people away from collecting. So many products were released last year and half of them were awful. They should spend more time on 3-5 products instead of 10 + a year.

3. Include More Relics in Products

Lets face most relics and autographs are worthless, but for many people they are meaningful. Lets say 2010 Topps Baseball include 5 relics; It would sell like crazy. It would be easier to collect a whole set of relics. What do people look for when buying packs, relics.

Imagine a $3 pack that has 1:4 odds of a relic. I would defiantly buy more boxes with more relics included.

4. Make Better Looking Cards

A few sets last year had a nice design and the others were terrible. There are so many ways of making nice looking cards, just look around at all the custom cards. If companies would

put more effort and time on there designs people would buy more. The number one factor in deciding which pack or box to buy is in how much you like the design. Better design is the key.

2010 Prediction: There will be a slight rise in the amount of collectors, mostly consisting of children. Topps products will be okay kinda like 2009, but a bit better. 2009 & 2010 will be the same just with more advertising this year. Topps will get a lot

of pressure from MLB this year to create a better product and there products will improve significantly in 2011 not 2010. At the end of the year MLB will not be satisfied with Topps.

I sure 2010 will be a fun year for collecting and LWax will be here to review it all and comment on any news. Remember to comment I would like to hear your thoughts.

My Wish-List

Christmas is just 2 days away. Like with any collector our wishlist are filled with card related products. So I'll give you my ultimate wish list of singles,set or boxes.

1. 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn Rookie Card

Tony Gwynn was a great player. Love the uniforms.

2. 2007 U.D. Black Adrian Gonzalez Relic & Auto

The Patch looks so amazing. A Gon is my favorite player.

3. 1959 Topps Bob Gibson

The 59' set's design is a thing of beauty.
4. 2009 A & G Hobby box

5. 2009 Topps Chrome Everth Cabrera Auto

Cabrera impressed me a lot last season. This card looks good with the chrome.

6. 2009 Sweet Spot Hobby Box

So There you go thats my wishlist. Hope you have a good Christmas, I know I will. I'm going to take a break from posting. See you Monday.

Want-list: 2008 Masterpiece

Wants
16 Jonathan Papelbon
26 Grady Sizemore
40 Alex Gordon
47 Prince Fielder
54 David Wright
75 Tony Gwynn
Doubles:Jose Reyes, Mariano Rivera

I'm trading all my SP cards: Yogi Berra, Albert Pujos

Contact me or reply to get some trades going

A Year in Review

2009 was the first year of collecting cards. I mean I was collecting since I was in 6th grade but never something serious. Ever since the card store at the mall closed a few years back, I stopped buying any cards. Except the 2 or 3 packs I bought every year. This past year I started getting into baseball a lot more. Although my Padres weren't very good this year, I did start following them more. I became more interested in cards and started looking for a card shop.I was lucky to find 2 great shops in my area. So thats how I became a collector. Now to my favorite and worst cards of the year.

Best looking base card
2009 Allen & Ginter

Best looking inserts
2009 Topps

Top card I pulled
09 Topps Career Best Relics Ryan Howard Bat

Worst Card I pulled

Best set to collect
2009 Allen & Ginter

Wrost Set
2009 UDX

2009 was a fun year for me collect and I hope 2010 is even better. Happy Holidays Blog-o-sphere thanks for 2009.

The Fifth Man

Although, the free agent is barley heating up the Padres are looking to barley make any signings.

With Correia signing a 1 year/3.6 mil. contract the Padres rotation is set for the 2010 season.

The Padres rotation is Peavy less this year, but with all the young talented starting pitcher the rotation is going to surprise many people.

I'll try to give you non-Padre fans a little info on these pitchers

Chris Young

Was injured most of the last 2 seasons. His last full season was back in 2007 when he posted a 3.12 ERA. He's not ace material, but he will be leading the rotation offering some mentoring for the young pitchers.

Kevin Correia

Had a breakout season last year leading the Padres in wins with 12. His ERA was 3.91, but post the All-Star break he had a 3.26 ERA.

Mat Latos

Latos is one of my favorite Padre next to only Adrian Gonzalez. His fist year in the big leagues was an exciting one, in 7 outta 10 starts he allowed 2 or less earned runs. I can't wait for is 1st complete season, he learned a lot during the 09 season.

Clayton Richards

Came over from the White Sox's in the Peavy deal. He's not going to be an ace, but a back of the rotation guy. Don't expect an amazing season,but a solid one. Leaving U.S. Cellular Field and the American League will drastically improve his statistics.

This fith spot in the rotation up for grabs. Unless the Padres sign a starter or trade for one, they'll probably have Wade Leblanc or Tim Stauffer fill in the hole.

New Looking Site

I Just changed the theme, now there's a main gallery page. I really like this theme it looks nice and clean. Hope you guys(& girls) like the new update. Also I would like to thank all my readers I reached a 1,000 views. I know It's a little bit, but it's a start.

2008 Masterpiece Retail Box Break

After many weeks of not buying any pack I decided to buy some during the Black Friday sales. Although I got to the sale at two o'clock I still found some great products to purchase. I ended up buying a box of 2008 Masterpiece for $10. It was a retail box, but I didn't care. This was my first box that I've ever opened and the experience was great. Let's get to the cards now.

Retail Box Results

Base set : 84/90 (93%)

Short Print : 2/30

Hits :

C.C. Sabathia Relic

Navy Jim Palmaer #'d/125

Thoughts: It was a good box, with some surprise hits, what more could've wanted for the ten bucks. It's cheaper than a blaster. I really like this set with the mix of legends and current players. I was disappointed that I did not get the Tony Gywnn card I was looking for. I hope to complete this nice looking set.