Greetings Gnafia!
As I'm carefully figuring out how to utilize my allowance for August for my newly rediscovered hobby of baseball card collecting, I wanted to review/share with you what I believe is one of the neatest sets of baseball cards on the market.
Topps has, for the last 5 years, released a set called Allen & Ginters World Champions. The cards are printed on matte finished cardboard cardstock to give them a retro appearance. All of the art are hand drawn portraits and depictions resembling the original 1887 Allen & Ginter Tobbacco cards. This means they aren't as flash as the new cards, but they sure look really great. Since they're not a glossy finish, they take autographs on the card more readily for those people whom are interested in obtaining on-the-card autographs from their favorite players.
Not only is the base set highly collectible, what great product would be complete without utterly fantastic inserts? This is where Allen & Ginter truly shines.
They have short prints, parallels, and parallel short prints of their base cards, insert sets of some really neat subjects ranging from "Minds That Made The Future" which feature scientists and thinkers from different eras, "Floating Fortresses" (my personal favorite!) featuring famous warships from the age of sail through World War II, and best of all they have sets of framed relics and autographs.
To top it all off, many packs contain a miniature tobacco-card sized set with its own variations of short prints, parallels, and so on. IN ADDITION, each insert set may also feature a variation of the back, meaning you have to check front AND back to determine just how rare your inserts are! How fantastic is that?
But wait, there's more. Not only can you get some of your favorite baseball players in the base set, relics, autographs, and minis, but there are subjects whom are world champions in their own sports, like the Cornhole Champion of the World, a champion pingpong player, members of the US Women's Soccer team, and even famed boxer Manny Paquiao.
But by far the most unique thing about Allen & Ginters is the extremely rare DNA Relic inserts. There are unique 1/1 cards that contain an ACTUAL HAIR from subjects such as George Washington, Geronimo, JFK, and other really dead guys. Now, the odds of obtaining one of these cards is astronomical, but it's still hella cool.
Retail and Hobby packs go for $2.99 and contain 6 cards (5 if there is a framed insert) meaning they're in the mid-high range of cards. Of course, you can get value packs to get more bang for your buck, too.
All in all, I'm looking forward to August.
Until next time, Gnafia!
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Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
A Fresh New Week
Greetings Gnafia!
I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend! I know I certainly tried.
I'd like to bring up a new social game that I've found to be thoroughly entertaining. It's called CivWorld and it's made by Sid Meirs and Firaxis Media and is currently available for play on Facebook. It's completely free and kind of addicting, but in a good way.
For those of you who are familiar with the Civilization Franchise, CivWorld is a fresh new take on a friendly impression from our past. There are minipuzzles to keep you entertained, you collaborate with dozens of other players from around the world, and work together to advance your civilization and your city to greatness.
The part I LOVE the most about CivWorld is it's non-reliance on constant interaction. You could walk away from it for ten, twelve, twenty four, forty-eight hours, and you won't be completely blown out of the water by those people who have absolutely no life (like me) and all they do is hang out on CivWorld.
There ARE benefits to playing, but those benefits are rather miniscule for the most part. You can collect extra resources by running your cursor over bonus bubbles above your citizen's head, but these range from +1 to +4... hardly going to make much of a dent when you need 100,000 research to discover gunpowder. Then there are hourly contests and an occasional auction. The contests can be won passively, so don't worry if you're not there to participate in all of them!
The only downside I've found is if your machine is a little dated or bogged down, CivWorld can be painfully slow to load and sometimes painfully slow to respond. However, on newer machines it works like a dream and is very zippy.
CivWorld has even peaked the interest of my wife, and she's playing now. So go ahead, check it out on Facebook and let me know what you think in the comments section.
Until next time, Gnafia!
I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend! I know I certainly tried.
I'd like to bring up a new social game that I've found to be thoroughly entertaining. It's called CivWorld and it's made by Sid Meirs and Firaxis Media and is currently available for play on Facebook. It's completely free and kind of addicting, but in a good way.
For those of you who are familiar with the Civilization Franchise, CivWorld is a fresh new take on a friendly impression from our past. There are minipuzzles to keep you entertained, you collaborate with dozens of other players from around the world, and work together to advance your civilization and your city to greatness.
The part I LOVE the most about CivWorld is it's non-reliance on constant interaction. You could walk away from it for ten, twelve, twenty four, forty-eight hours, and you won't be completely blown out of the water by those people who have absolutely no life (like me) and all they do is hang out on CivWorld.
There ARE benefits to playing, but those benefits are rather miniscule for the most part. You can collect extra resources by running your cursor over bonus bubbles above your citizen's head, but these range from +1 to +4... hardly going to make much of a dent when you need 100,000 research to discover gunpowder. Then there are hourly contests and an occasional auction. The contests can be won passively, so don't worry if you're not there to participate in all of them!
The only downside I've found is if your machine is a little dated or bogged down, CivWorld can be painfully slow to load and sometimes painfully slow to respond. However, on newer machines it works like a dream and is very zippy.
CivWorld has even peaked the interest of my wife, and she's playing now. So go ahead, check it out on Facebook and let me know what you think in the comments section.
Until next time, Gnafia!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Oh no! Not advertising!
Greetings Gnafia!
You'll notice some changes to the blog. It's no longer straight up stock, instead I've modified some things, added a bit of code, and in general made it a little more... bloggier.
The effect I'm hoping for is a little bit more traffic. I'd like very much to see this blog grow a bit and see just what we can accomplish with an infinite amount of time on our hands. To help with this, I'm planning on adding some contests in the future where you can win some cool stuff. Pending on the success of growth. I'd like to start with a $5 Amazon Gift Card. So be on the lookout for that.
How can you help? Click on the advertisements and sign up for things that interest you! If you like free things (money, prizes, whatever) then most of these links are straight up for you! I'm not promising instant wealth, but merely the opportunity to participate in legitimate programs.
You get out of them what you put in, and I firmly stand by that statement.
Until next post, Gnafia, keep clicking!
You'll notice some changes to the blog. It's no longer straight up stock, instead I've modified some things, added a bit of code, and in general made it a little more... bloggier.
The effect I'm hoping for is a little bit more traffic. I'd like very much to see this blog grow a bit and see just what we can accomplish with an infinite amount of time on our hands. To help with this, I'm planning on adding some contests in the future where you can win some cool stuff. Pending on the success of growth. I'd like to start with a $5 Amazon Gift Card. So be on the lookout for that.
How can you help? Click on the advertisements and sign up for things that interest you! If you like free things (money, prizes, whatever) then most of these links are straight up for you! I'm not promising instant wealth, but merely the opportunity to participate in legitimate programs.
You get out of them what you put in, and I firmly stand by that statement.
Until next post, Gnafia, keep clicking!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Simple Saturday and Sunday
Greetings Gnafia!
Just a simple Sunday posting to tide you all over until the week. I wouldn't expect another post until Tuesday as Mondays are usually pretty short in the office. Yes, this is one of those rare blog-from-home moments from the Gnodfather.
I wanted to briefly bring up ICS. You'll find the widget on the side right below the Swidget 1.0. ICS is a site where every 3 hours you take a few 3-questioned surveys for a chance to win prizes. Usually you're going to win tickets and coins that can be entered into a $50 and a $2 sweepstakes, respectively. You can also win instant cash prizes (usually a few pennies, but they add up!). I haven't won anything big yet, but when I do you will be hearing about it. Give it a try, once again I'll restate that anything I endorse doesn't come with any spam (using G-Mail, it all goes into my spam folder at least so I never have to deal with it!).
Nothing good on Listia, I put up another auction for some more MTG Rares to try and get some more credits. I missed out on a great opportunity for a 2005 Bowman Sterling Russ Martin relic/auto this week because I just didn't have enough credits. Ah well, you win some, and you lose some. That's how life is.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Gnafia. It's almost time to get back to work.
Just a simple Sunday posting to tide you all over until the week. I wouldn't expect another post until Tuesday as Mondays are usually pretty short in the office. Yes, this is one of those rare blog-from-home moments from the Gnodfather.
I wanted to briefly bring up ICS. You'll find the widget on the side right below the Swidget 1.0. ICS is a site where every 3 hours you take a few 3-questioned surveys for a chance to win prizes. Usually you're going to win tickets and coins that can be entered into a $50 and a $2 sweepstakes, respectively. You can also win instant cash prizes (usually a few pennies, but they add up!). I haven't won anything big yet, but when I do you will be hearing about it. Give it a try, once again I'll restate that anything I endorse doesn't come with any spam (using G-Mail, it all goes into my spam folder at least so I never have to deal with it!).
Nothing good on Listia, I put up another auction for some more MTG Rares to try and get some more credits. I missed out on a great opportunity for a 2005 Bowman Sterling Russ Martin relic/auto this week because I just didn't have enough credits. Ah well, you win some, and you lose some. That's how life is.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Gnafia. It's almost time to get back to work.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Woohoo! Free Baseball Card!
Greetings Gnafia!
Well, this week has been mostly down, I'll be the first to admit. But it is never too late to turn things around, and just in time.
In my last post, I detailed using Listia and my experience so far. I've posted two auctions on there so far and am pretty satisfied with their outcomes and I am pleased to announce I won my first auction today! While coins remain pretty far out of my credit range so far, baseball cards have not and I proudly present to you my first FREE baseball card!
Woohoo! A 2010 Bowman Platinum Jiovanni Mier Autograph card! Yes, that is a Topps certified autograph! How cool is that? Who is Jiovanni Mier, you ask? He was drafted 21st overall by the Houston Astro's in the 2009 Amateur Draft. He plays short stop and is currently developing his talent in the minor leagues. The card itself isn't exceptionally rare and Jiovanni isn't really a big name prospect yet, but this kid is young and a phenominal short stop. In a few years the Astros will expect some big things from this kid! But hey, you can't beat the price, now can you?
It's also been a productive week on SwagBucks as I've wrangled in nearly a thousand of those bad boys this week alone. I'm going to keep the pressure on and see if I can set a personal best!
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! I'll see you all on the flip side!
Well, this week has been mostly down, I'll be the first to admit. But it is never too late to turn things around, and just in time.
In my last post, I detailed using Listia and my experience so far. I've posted two auctions on there so far and am pretty satisfied with their outcomes and I am pleased to announce I won my first auction today! While coins remain pretty far out of my credit range so far, baseball cards have not and I proudly present to you my first FREE baseball card!
Woohoo! A 2010 Bowman Platinum Jiovanni Mier Autograph card! Yes, that is a Topps certified autograph! How cool is that? Who is Jiovanni Mier, you ask? He was drafted 21st overall by the Houston Astro's in the 2009 Amateur Draft. He plays short stop and is currently developing his talent in the minor leagues. The card itself isn't exceptionally rare and Jiovanni isn't really a big name prospect yet, but this kid is young and a phenominal short stop. In a few years the Astros will expect some big things from this kid! But hey, you can't beat the price, now can you?
It's also been a productive week on SwagBucks as I've wrangled in nearly a thousand of those bad boys this week alone. I'm going to keep the pressure on and see if I can set a personal best!
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! I'll see you all on the flip side!
Friday, July 8, 2011
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Hail, Gnafia!
It's another beautiful Friday here in San Diego. When the mice are at play, clearly the cats are away. And all of the big cats here in the office certainly ARE away, so we little mice are going to play. Huzzah!
It's been a pretty quick week here. I've managed to complete some free surveys, netting me a solid amount of Swag Bucks (Refer to the Swidget on the side if you aren't familiar with Swag Bucks) and with this weeks wins my total Amazon Gift Cards has reached $100 from Swag Bucks. That is hawt. I'm almost set to make my third purchase for my American Silver Eagle Coin Collection, a Brilliant Uncirculated 2009 American Silver Eagle! I already have the 2011 and 2010's. The only bad news is the price has almost doubled since I started collecting these bad boys. Which I guess in a way is good, but I'd rather have more of a collection if the value is going to skyrocket as it has.
I also executed a trade via http://www.sportscardforum.com/. I traded a 2011 Topps Diamond Stars Matt Holliday for a random Minnesota Twins insert of equal book value. I like these kinds of trades because you never know what you're going to get. I'll be sure to let you all know what I end up with!
I'm also looking for contemporary cards made by Topps that aren't glossy. Regular cardboard types of cards that are good for autographs. I intend on sending some of them in to the Twins to see if I can't get a few autographs from some of the less-popular players. Also, I think I have a winner for my favorite Twin. Mr. Denard Span. He is a devout Christian and really represents somebody I can enjoy watching and not feel bad about because he's such an all-around swell guy. Thoughts?
I've also started putting some things up on eBay to see if I can't generate a little extra cash flow from decluttering the house. Speaking of decluttering...
I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about Listia. Listia is a free auction-based website where people put up their items they no longer want and other members bid on those items using Listia credits. Credits are obtained by various means, most of them 100% free. So it's kind of like a sophisticated swap meet. There's all sorts of great stuff on there, from practical to impractical. Baby clothes, cool coins, baseball cards, random weird stuff, anything goes! I'm getting into it and have already completed my first auction. I encourage everyone to check it out! Click here to sign up and see! You'll start with a few hundred credits to get yourself started, and it might be good enough to get a neat little trinket or something!
Thats all for now, have a great weekend Gnafia!
It's another beautiful Friday here in San Diego. When the mice are at play, clearly the cats are away. And all of the big cats here in the office certainly ARE away, so we little mice are going to play. Huzzah!
It's been a pretty quick week here. I've managed to complete some free surveys, netting me a solid amount of Swag Bucks (Refer to the Swidget on the side if you aren't familiar with Swag Bucks) and with this weeks wins my total Amazon Gift Cards has reached $100 from Swag Bucks. That is hawt. I'm almost set to make my third purchase for my American Silver Eagle Coin Collection, a Brilliant Uncirculated 2009 American Silver Eagle! I already have the 2011 and 2010's. The only bad news is the price has almost doubled since I started collecting these bad boys. Which I guess in a way is good, but I'd rather have more of a collection if the value is going to skyrocket as it has.
I also executed a trade via http://www.sportscardforum.com/. I traded a 2011 Topps Diamond Stars Matt Holliday for a random Minnesota Twins insert of equal book value. I like these kinds of trades because you never know what you're going to get. I'll be sure to let you all know what I end up with!
I'm also looking for contemporary cards made by Topps that aren't glossy. Regular cardboard types of cards that are good for autographs. I intend on sending some of them in to the Twins to see if I can't get a few autographs from some of the less-popular players. Also, I think I have a winner for my favorite Twin. Mr. Denard Span. He is a devout Christian and really represents somebody I can enjoy watching and not feel bad about because he's such an all-around swell guy. Thoughts?
I've also started putting some things up on eBay to see if I can't generate a little extra cash flow from decluttering the house. Speaking of decluttering...
I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about Listia. Listia is a free auction-based website where people put up their items they no longer want and other members bid on those items using Listia credits. Credits are obtained by various means, most of them 100% free. So it's kind of like a sophisticated swap meet. There's all sorts of great stuff on there, from practical to impractical. Baby clothes, cool coins, baseball cards, random weird stuff, anything goes! I'm getting into it and have already completed my first auction. I encourage everyone to check it out! Click here to sign up and see! You'll start with a few hundred credits to get yourself started, and it might be good enough to get a neat little trinket or something!
Thats all for now, have a great weekend Gnafia!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Happy July of America!
Greetings Gnafia!
I trust everyone enjoyed celebrating the birth of our nation! Safely, of course.
As promised in last weeks 'cliffhanger' (if you can call it that) I told you I found a new hobby and dropped a few hints. Thanks to a lot of temptation from a certain co-worker, I have found my way back into the hobby of collecting baseball cards.
Now, the Gnodfather's parents are surely rolling their eyes at this point. "Oh boy, we've done this before... don't you have enough already? Come get them out of our basement damnit!" And I said last week that I claimed those and will get them as soon as I am in the vicinity. Now, I investigated the possibility of collecting baseball cards for free. Unfortunately that opportunity just really doesn't exist. It does, but it's very tricky and slow, and I wanted something a little more immediate.
The Rules:
1. $20 monthly limit. Does not include postage for online trades.
2. The goal is enjoyment of the hobby, not to make money. That's why it's a hobby. I'll rant on this later.
3. The Twins are my favorite team. I don't have a favorite player determined... yet.
Now, a bit on how baseball cards have progressed since I was a wee gnome of knee height.
First and foremost, Major League Baseball has negotiated exclusive rights to the Topps company, effectively making them the ONLY source of OFFICIAL baseball cards. Other card companies, like Upper Deck, still exist but they do not deal with current players and logos. Weird, I know. Inserts have become all the rage. Back in the day, inserts were just starting to become popular as the card companies started to move away from just their base sets in the 80's and early 90's. This made opening a pack of cards that much more exciting, and still does. The internet also includes the possibility for an online 'giveaway' which is equally exciting as opening a pack of cards. Double your pleasure, double your fun! The inserts have become much more elaborate and exciting, too. Swatches of game worn jerseys, bats, baseballs, and manufactured glove plates have been incorporated into the card for a really neat looking piece of memorabilia. Topps has also gotten players to sign cards, so you end up with an authenticated autographed card straight from the pack. Very cool stuff. This year is Topps' 60th anniversary, and to celebrate they made a very limited edition set of cards with a quarter carat diamond insert into the card. These cards are not only incredibly rare but incredibly badass and incredibly expensive.
I'm using the forum www.sportscardforum.com to negotiate trades and network with other collectors from around the country. So far it's been pretty productive and the other traders have been very welcoming. This means I can trade all those lousy A Rod, Derek Jeter, and other crummy Yankees cards for much more appealing Twins cards. I mean, who the hell wants to look at present-day Yankees cards, anyways? Yuck.
So, I hope this has been informative for you, I'll be sure to keep you posted as to pulls, trades, and other progress in the hobbies. I'll probably try the method of obtaining autographs that my mother used in the early 90's - mailing stuff to people with a SASE requesting an autograph. I won't be getting a Joe Mauer autograph or anything, but some of those other players that kind of make you go... "Who?" and autographs are really neat, anyways!
Thats all for now, PEACE!
I trust everyone enjoyed celebrating the birth of our nation! Safely, of course.
As promised in last weeks 'cliffhanger' (if you can call it that) I told you I found a new hobby and dropped a few hints. Thanks to a lot of temptation from a certain co-worker, I have found my way back into the hobby of collecting baseball cards.
Now, the Gnodfather's parents are surely rolling their eyes at this point. "Oh boy, we've done this before... don't you have enough already? Come get them out of our basement damnit!" And I said last week that I claimed those and will get them as soon as I am in the vicinity. Now, I investigated the possibility of collecting baseball cards for free. Unfortunately that opportunity just really doesn't exist. It does, but it's very tricky and slow, and I wanted something a little more immediate.
The Rules:
1. $20 monthly limit. Does not include postage for online trades.
2. The goal is enjoyment of the hobby, not to make money. That's why it's a hobby. I'll rant on this later.
3. The Twins are my favorite team. I don't have a favorite player determined... yet.
Now, a bit on how baseball cards have progressed since I was a wee gnome of knee height.
First and foremost, Major League Baseball has negotiated exclusive rights to the Topps company, effectively making them the ONLY source of OFFICIAL baseball cards. Other card companies, like Upper Deck, still exist but they do not deal with current players and logos. Weird, I know. Inserts have become all the rage. Back in the day, inserts were just starting to become popular as the card companies started to move away from just their base sets in the 80's and early 90's. This made opening a pack of cards that much more exciting, and still does. The internet also includes the possibility for an online 'giveaway' which is equally exciting as opening a pack of cards. Double your pleasure, double your fun! The inserts have become much more elaborate and exciting, too. Swatches of game worn jerseys, bats, baseballs, and manufactured glove plates have been incorporated into the card for a really neat looking piece of memorabilia. Topps has also gotten players to sign cards, so you end up with an authenticated autographed card straight from the pack. Very cool stuff. This year is Topps' 60th anniversary, and to celebrate they made a very limited edition set of cards with a quarter carat diamond insert into the card. These cards are not only incredibly rare but incredibly badass and incredibly expensive.
I'm using the forum www.sportscardforum.com to negotiate trades and network with other collectors from around the country. So far it's been pretty productive and the other traders have been very welcoming. This means I can trade all those lousy A Rod, Derek Jeter, and other crummy Yankees cards for much more appealing Twins cards. I mean, who the hell wants to look at present-day Yankees cards, anyways? Yuck.
So, I hope this has been informative for you, I'll be sure to keep you posted as to pulls, trades, and other progress in the hobbies. I'll probably try the method of obtaining autographs that my mother used in the early 90's - mailing stuff to people with a SASE requesting an autograph. I won't be getting a Joe Mauer autograph or anything, but some of those other players that kind of make you go... "Who?" and autographs are really neat, anyways!
Thats all for now, PEACE!
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