A Random Mish Mash of Sunday Happenings

Well, ever since my wife and son flew back to the states my house has been A) way too quiet, B) way too lonely and C) way too boring.

So what have I used all this extra time for?

Well, cardboard silly.

I spent a decent amount of time yesterday and today getting my 2008 Topps Set in order, to find out what holes need to be filled. I also counted EVERY single one of my Houston Astros cards in my team collection (this does not include my Richard Hidalgo cards) and came to a VERY large number, one that was much larger than I thought it would be.

-- On the 2008 Topps set, these are my needs:

• Series 1 - 150, 220, 298

• Series 2 - 343, 348, 349, 354, 364, 365, 370, 371, 376, 402, 405, 409, 415, 423, 450, 455, 463, 496, 514, 516, 536, 540, 547, 553, 562, 571, 576, 579, 580, 584, 595, 597, 615, 619, 624, 628, 631, 632, 642

-- Total number of Houston Astros cards in my team collection (mind you, this is autos, game used, inserts, parallels, base, etc.) is a whopping four thousand, one hundred and seventeen or, 4,117, for those less inclined to read a number out. Like I said, much larger than I thought, though it is fueled by my excess of doubles on 80's and 90's junk wax.

-- I also worked on my Astros Topps team sets, but have yet to record the ones I need. I plan on doing this over the following week, since I have very little to do then.

-- I will also have many, many new cards to post soon, as I have 17 auctions from eBay I still have not received. One won't arrive until the beginning of July (4 boxes of Allen & Ginter, my first box purchases in about 4 years), while the rest should arrive within the next 7-8 business days.

-- For the rest of tonight (it's already 9:23pm here), I plan on typing up my COMPLETE trade list of all my serial numbered and non-serial numbered inserts, parallels, rookies, the few game used I have and the odd auto or two I didn't sell, so I can post it as it's own separate entity and hopefully work a few trades soon.

-- Finally, within the next three weeks or so, I will FINALLY deploy to Afghanistan. I do not know which day yet, as I have things I am getting done back here in Germany (shipping my household goods back to the states, clearing housing, general Army stuff), but I will give everyone a rough estimate, when I do know. Don't fret, I am sure I will post with the same in frequencies as I do now, but maybe with some odd stories peppered in.

As per usual, if you got any questions, comments, gripes, what have you, feel free to email me (anicolausk at yahoo dot com), leave a comment, or hit me up on Twitter (@BalkFour).

Will you be the end of the chase?

I have finished roughly 75% of my first set attempt, 2008 Topps. I need your help, my blogger faithful. I am coming up empty in trades on the few message boards I frequent and I REFUSE to buy what I need from eBay (I prefer to trade for the cards/receive gifts over paying, it makes it feel like more of an accomplishment).

This is what I need for Series 1 and Series 2:

Series 1:
6-9-13-22-25-50-57-79-85-88-95-101-102-111-126-131-133-135-146-163-165-171-173-181-193-
212-245-259-263-278-286-290-294-297-299-303-315-322-323-326-327-330
Series 2:
332-343-348-349-350-354-364-365-370-371-375-376-381-392-399-402-405-406-409-410-412-415-423-425-430-
431-432-433-443-450-455-456-462-463-472-475-478-484-494-496-507-511-514-516-522-
529-530-531-536-540-541-547-553-556-558-562-568-571-576-578-580-584-588-593-594-595-597-
603-612-615-619-624-625-626-627-628-631-632-635-638-642-644-651

Here's the deal, I am trading inserts (I can get you a list) 1 for 5 and I will trade game used 1 for 15 and, if you got a particularly enticing amount of cards I need for the set, I am willing to trade an auto for base cards.

Just shoot me and email with what you got and we can work out a trade (if you have 15 or more, feel free to take a gander at my trade post from yesterday and let me know what game used you like).

EDIT #1: I have updated the list based off of an email I have received detailing a trade for some of the set.