A Quick and Easy Contest at Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle

Do you like contests? Do like making the minimal possible effort to accomplish things? Have I got the contest for you to enter!

As the title says, Greg at Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle is holding a contest, and all you've got to do to enter is leave a comment.  The prize hasn't been specified, other than it will be specifically tailored to the winner's collecting interests, which pretty much guarantees you want this prize.

You can promote it for another entry, much like this, but maybe that's more effort than you want to put forth; I'm not here to judge you.

eBay Wins #231

Today I've got two more eBay penny cards, which are fairly ordinary, but caused me to learn a lesson.

1988 Topps Traded
#29T Pete Smith
#111T Kevin Coffman

How do I know these are 1988 Topps Traded and 1988 Topps Traded Tiffany cards? The fronts are whiter and the backs are brightly colored, just like the regular 1988 Topps Tiffany set. The rarity of Tiffany means I can be fairly sure these aren't those since I picked them up so cheaply, but the key to certainty is apparently found on the back.

1988 Topps Traded
#29T Pete Smith
#111T Kevin Coffman

Those two asterisks on the bottom left indicate a non-Tiffany card, at least according to a few collector-maintained sites and videos. I think it all checks out, but I'm sure I'll revisit this question every time I get a brightly colored 1988 card and check through the cards in my collection to make sure they're all sorted correctly.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	4176
Total Spent	$56.82
Per Card	1.361 cents
Change	0 cents

Zistle Trade #25

This was a small trade on Zistle where I think I got the better end of the deal objectively. But, the trader was a team collector of another team and needed some 1994s I had to spare, so I got these 1981s in return.

1981 Topps
#152 John Urrea
#348 Bob Sykes
#635 Bobby Bonds

I must admit I don't really know much about John Urrea or Bob Sykes; they were on my wantlist because they are Cardinals. And I even forget Bobby Bonds was a Cardinal every time until I'm reminded by seeing a card of his. A lot of that is because these cards are a bit older than I am.

I now have 5 Cardinals from this set, but there's still 21 more to go. That's probably a team set I won't ever finish without purchasing the cards individually, but they'll stay on my wantlist just in case someone offers another trade like this one.

eBay Wins #230

This may look like it belongs it my last 2 eBay posts, but it's a Topps Tiffany card. I suppose I should have scanned the back to show off the bright orange background, because you can't tell much difference from the front scan.

1988 Topps Tiffany
#305 Steve Sax

I've got a smattering of this Tiffany cards, but this is the first from 1988 for me. They seem to be relatively rare compared to the ubiquitous flagship sets, in that I don't find myself drowning in piles of them. All in all, not bad for a penny.

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	4174
Total Spent	$56.80
Per Card	1.361 cents
Change	0 cents

Can't Stop Promoting Sport Card Collectors Just Yet

OK, this is the last one for now. If you're not in Sport Card Collectors' multi-week Sports Challenge contest, you're only about 10 points behind the leader, so now's your chance to get in and play with the rest of us.


Week 2's games have been posted, so with perfect picks you can grab 10 points right there. Of course, I plan to have perfect picks this week too, so you won't quite be in the lead just yet, but the contest will run for 4 weeks total.

More Promoting, I Couldn't Resist - Sport Card Collectors Again

I thought about not promoting this contest, once again at Sport Card Collectors, since I've been doing that so much lately, but with the prize being a fairly rare Kolten Wong relic, I had to grab any extra entries I could.  Take a look at this.

2016 Topps Tier One
Tier One Relics #T1R-KW Kolten Wong #064/199

Maybe it's not as exciting if you're not a Cardinals fan, but that's a beauty of a card to me. Go enter for your chance at it too.

Yet Another Sport Card Collectors Contest

There are so many giveaways going on at Sport Card Collectors they're getting hard to keep track of. The latest is one is on a review post of 2016 Topps Series 2, released just a few days ago.

The prize this time is not from the box itself though, it's cards from your favorite team, so I figure, why not enter. If a few more people get in there will be 2 winners, and if a lot more do, there will be 3.

Go check it out here.

2016 Stanley Cup Projections Recap

I only started tracking my Stanley Cup projections right before the end of the 2nd round, so I'll only include the final two rounds in my recap. I started off with the right winner, as Pittsburgh was projected most likely to win at the beginning of the Conference finals.  But as they lost and other teams won, St Louis, Tampa, and San Jose were all favored at one point or another

Worst position for Pittsburgh:
16% on May 20, down 2-1 in the Conference finals


Best position for San Jose:
47.3% on May 26, having won the Western Conference and still waiting for game 7 in the Eastern Conference.


Best position for a Conference Finals loser:
Tampa Bay, with 34.7% on May 23, up 3-2 in the Conference Finals


And here are the final playoff results for 2016.


Pittsburgh over San Jose

Stanley Cup Finals
SJS 2-4 PIT

Conference Finals
TBL 3-4 PIT
SJS 4-2 STL

Round 2
STL 4-3 DAL
NSH 3-4 SJS
PIT 4-2 WSH
NYI 1-4 TBL

Round 1
MIN 2-4 DAL
CHI 3-4 STL
NSH 4-3 ANA
SJS 4-1 LAK
NYI 4-2 FLA
DET 1-4 TBL
PHI 2-4 WSH
NYR 1-4 PIT

Another Sport Card Collectors Contest

I've got another contest to promote at the same blog as my last post, Sport Card Collectors.

This is a longer contest that will go for a few weeks, where you'll get points by picking games. Week 1's games are all this weekend, but you'll need to enter (on this post) by 8pm tomorrow for your picks to count.

There are a bunch of prizes, so check out that first link to see them all. Good luck!

2016 Topps Archives Contest at Sports Card Collectors

Sports Card Collectors is having an autograph giveaway from 2016 Topps Archives. Just go leave a comment to enter.

2016 Topps Archives
Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-RJ Randy Jones

The prize is this Randy Jones autograph. He played from 1973-82, so a bit before my time, but I'd still like to add this autograph to my collection.

Zistle Trade #24

I made another smallish trade on Zistle, for some needs from the overproduction era. A few are base cards, but 6 of the 9 are either from traded sets or inserts, so they're a little harder to track down.

1988 Fleer #276 Jose Canseco
1988 Fleer Update #U-68 Todd Stottlemyre
1989 Donruss Bonus MVPs #BC-15 Cal Ripken
1989 Score Young Superstars II #20 Todd Stottlemyre
1989 Upper Deck #674 Ozzie Smith
1989 Upper Deck #754 Todd Zeile
1990 Donruss Bonus MVPs #BC-10 Ryne Sandberg
1991 Topps Traded #83T Phil Nevin
1993 Topps Gold #3 Ryne Sandberg

I've long been working on the 1990 Donruss set, and Ryne Sandberg was one of the two Bonus MVPs I didn't have yet. I've got the other on the way in another trade, too, so that insert set is nearly complete along with the base set, which I think is almost complete except for some errors and variations. I have a lot of 1989 Donruss base cards, but not many bonus MVPs, so the Ripken is a good get for me. The two Todd Stottlemyre cards are just because I collect Todd Stottlemyre, much like the Ozzie, Todd Zeile, and Jose Canseco cards. I put the Team USA cards from 1991 Topps Traded on my list after getting a few of them in the past and liking them, and finally there's a 1993 Topps Gold, also of Ryne Sandberg. I've still got over 780 of those to go to complete that set.

2016 Stanley Cup Projection, June 10

Pittsburgh over San Jose

Stanley Cup Finals
SJS 2-3 PIT

Conference Finals
TBL 3-4 PIT
SJS 4-2 STL

Round 2
STL 4-3 DAL
NSH 3-4 SJS
PIT 4-2 WSH
NYI 1-4 TBL

Round 1
MIN 2-4 DAL
CHI 3-4 STL
NSH 4-3 ANA
SJS 4-1 LAK
NYI 4-2 FLA
DET 1-4 TBL
PHI 2-4 WSH
NYR 1-4 PIT

Team	Strength	Cup
PIT	0.593	77.7
SJS	0.568	22.3

After 5 goals in the first period, I was wondering if this game might wind up 8-7 or something outlandish like that, but the 3-2 score held all the way until San Jose scored an empty net goal to make it 4-2. They've got a fighting chance, but of course every game is an elimination game, so they'll have to keep winning. There's another 2-day break for travel back to San Jose, and to avoid stepping on the NBA Finals I suppose.

eBay Wins #229

Today I have the rest of the 1988 Topps that I started in my last eBay post, with plenty more Cardinals.

1988 Topps
#534 John Wathan
#536 John Morris
#544 Jim Traber
#546 John Candelaria
#549 Albert Hall/Dale Murphy/Ken Griffey/Gerald Perry
#557 Craig Reynolds (x2)
#600 Mike Schmidt
#613 Bobby Thigpen
#616 Jay Aldrich

John Morris is obviously a Cardinal, but so is Gerald Perry, in that Braves Leaders card I sort of forgot was horizontal until I started writing this post. Whoops. Just turn your head a little, it's good for your neck after hours at the computer.

1988 Topps
#617 Oddibe McDowell
#618 Cecil Fielder
#619 Mike Dunne
#621 Gene Nelson (x8)
#629 Kelly Downs
#632 Steve Shields
#642 Bob Dernier
#643 Rocky Childress
#658 Tim Conroy

I know Cecil Fielder played for the Blue Jays, but it still hits me oddly every time I see it. He's supposed to be a Tiger. Every player "belongs" on their 1992 or 1993 team in my mind, because that's when I started watching baseball. And yes, Gene Nelson was another multicard player from that A's lot I bought. That Bob Dernier card is a prime example of why I need to get through all these eBay cards and put them in my collection. I traded for it pretty recently, even though I've had these cards sitting in my "to post" box for who knows how long.

1988 Topps
#662 Jim Rice
#667 Luis Quinones
#697 Steve Lombardozzi
#700 George Brett
#702 Mike Gallego (x2)
#718 Mike Felder
#720 Tim Raines
#724 Danny Tartabull
#729 George Bell/Fred McGriff

Mike Gallego was one of Tony La Russa's favorites he eventually brought over to the Cardinals. He didn't put up fantastic numbers, but I remember him being a solid bench player.

1988 Topps
#740 Rick Sutcliffe
#752 Mark Grant
#754 Mike LaCoss
#761 Tony Armas
#768 Dickie Noles
#769 Cecil Cooper
#779 Tom Glavine
#784 Joe Sambito
#785 Alvin Davis

Rick Sutcliffe was probably best known as a Cub, but he finished his career in St. Louis, making 14 starts in 1994.

1988 Topps
#791 Ted Simmons

I could claim I left Ted here alone since he was a Cardinal, but really it was just poor planning on my part. When I get a giant stack to scan, sometimes I lose track, and don't count how many cards are left until too close to the end to even it out nicely with some scans of 8 instead of 9. I believe there were 10 left when I realized my blunder.

Once again these were from the half-cent box, knocking my per-card average down by almost one hundredth of a penny, which sounds like a ridiculous thing to track when you say it like that!

eBay Bargain Tracker
Total Cards Bought	4173
Total Spent	$56.79
Per Card	1.361 cents
Change	-0.009 cents

2016 Stanley Cup Projection, June 7

Pittsburgh over San Jose

Stanley Cup Finals
SJS 1-3 PIT

Conference Finals
TBL 3-4 PIT
SJS 4-2 STL

Round 2
STL 4-3 DAL
NSH 3-4 SJS
PIT 4-2 WSH
NYI 1-4 TBL

Round 1
MIN 2-4 DAL
CHI 3-4 STL
NSH 4-3 ANA
SJS 4-1 LAK
NYI 4-2 FLA
DET 1-4 TBL
PHI 2-4 WSH
NYR 1-4 PIT

Team	Strength	Cup
PIT	0.593	90.5
SJS	0.568	9.5

With a 3-1 lead, Pittsburgh is now over 90% likely to be the Stanley Cup champions this year. After watching most of this series I'd say that's consistent with what I've seen, as they appear to be dominating the games despite the relatively close scores. The teams have 2 days off to travel back to Pittsburgh, and Game 5 will be Thursday night.

2016 Stanley Cup Projection, June 5

Pittsburgh over San Jose

Stanley Cup Finals
SJS 1-2 PIT

Conference Finals
TBL 3-4 PIT
SJS 4-2 STL

Round 2
STL 4-3 DAL
NSH 3-4 SJS
PIT 4-2 WSH
NYI 1-4 TBL

Round 1
MIN 2-4 DAL
CHI 3-4 STL
NSH 4-3 ANA
SJS 4-1 LAK
NYI 4-2 FLA
DET 1-4 TBL
PHI 2-4 WSH
NYR 1-4 PIT

Team	Strength	Cup
PIT	0.593	72.5
SJS	0.568	27.5

San Jose won in overtime last night, and this series will have to go to at least 5 games. I almost missed the game winning goal, since I was trying to get some stuff done and missed almost the first 10 minutes of overtime. Luckily they stretched this game a little longer than game 2.

Pittsburgh is still nearly a 3 in 4 favorite. Tomorrow San Jose will try to win game 4 at home, then they'd need to take at least one in Pittsburgh to win the cup.

Another Sports Card Info Soccer Win

Just about a year ago, I won a soccer contest at Sports Card Info, and now I've won another one.

2016 Topps MLS - Base Autographs #85 Dominic Oduro #24/350

I've started paying more attention to MLS over the past year, as there are rumblings of St. Louis getting an expansion team. It won't be here for awhile, but with the Rams having left, there may be a little room in my sports watching schedule by the time they come around.

Thanks to Sports Card Info for the contest!

2016 College World Series Contest

It's College World Series time again, which means the annual contest at Autographed Cards is on. I'm a little late promoting this year, but you've got until 11am Central Time tomorrow (Friday) to enter phase 1, which can give you a few extra points to help give you a head start for the main part of the contest. Right now, you'll just need to pick the 8 teams that will advance from each 8-team Super-Regional.

This is the 7th annual contest, and my 6th time participating. I'm pretty sure I'm due for a big win. SLU is not in the field yet again, nor is Mizzou, so I'll be rooting for Southeast Missouri State to win their Super-Regional as I watch the contest unfold.

2016 Stanley Cup Projection, June 2

Pittsburgh over San Jose

Stanley Cup Finals
SJS 0-2 PIT

Conference Finals
TBL 3-4 PIT
SJS 4-2 STL

Round 2
STL 4-3 DAL
NSH 3-4 SJS
PIT 4-2 WSH
NYI 1-4 TBL

Round 1
MIN 2-4 DAL
CHI 3-4 STL
NSH 4-3 ANA
SJS 4-1 LAK
NYI 4-2 FLA
DET 1-4 TBL
PHI 2-4 WSH
NYR 1-4 PIT

Team	Strength	Cup
PIT	0.593	83.2
SJS	0.568	16.8

San Jose isn't out of it yet, but a 2-0 deficit puts them down to about a 1 in 6 chance of winning their first Stanley Cup. They took Pittsburgh to overtime last night, but gave up the winning goal just a few minutes in. I sometimes feel like overtimes shouldn't be sudden death, because a lucky bounce can change the outcome of a game. On the other hand, if 5, 10, or 20 minutes were mandated to be played, it's possible that there would be another goal and a tie at the end of overtime, necessitating yet another extra period, and resulting in increasingly sloppy play as the players tire out. So maybe the solution is somewhere in the middle, but I'm not sure what that looks like.