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!