Bleedin' Brown and Gold

I know I've been rather remiss in posting up some of the wonderful packages I've received from fellow bloggers, so this specific post will address that situation plus provide a belated congratulations to one of my favorite bloggers.

For starters, there was this really great package from new father Marcus over at All the Way to the Backstop. In case you've been away from the card blogging world the past few weeks, Marcus Pond, a Texas schoolteacher and his wife, recently celebrated the birth of their newborn son, Maxwell Coleman Pond. And yes, the middle name is in honor of the late San Diego Padres sportscaster Jerry Coleman.

I wonder if maybe Marcus was passing out sports cards instead of cigars celebrating his son's birth, as this package came completely out of the blue and, yes, it contained a healthy gathering of brown and gold (and blue) Padres goodies.

For starters, he included a few newer San Diego Padres cards, to include some Jedd Gyorko cards - a 2013 Topps Wal Mart Blue Border, 2013 Topps Chrome RC, and a 2013 Bowman Platinum Sapphire. Also, a 1993 Donruss Dave Staton, 2005 Donruss Greats John Kruk, 2013 Bowman Top 100 Prospects Max Fried, 2009 Topps 50th Anniversary All Rookie Team Khalil Greene, and a 2014 Topps Update Seth Smith.

One of my favorite Padres, Trevor Hoffman, was well represented in this package, as evidenced by his 1997 Pacific, 2000 SPx, 1997 Score Premium Stock, 2006 Flair Showcase, 2002 Upper Deck Vintage, 2001 SP Authentic, 2009 Topps Heritage, and a 1994 Stadium Club.

I think Marcus knows I always like finding Padres players minor league cards and these cards truly fit the bill. Here's some 2012 Pacific Coast League Top Prospects Multi-Ad Blake Tekotte and James Darnell, 2011 Lake Elsinore Storm Coke Phil Plantier, 2012 Topps Pro Debut Jonathan Galvez, 2008 TRISTAR PROjections Kyle Burke, Danny Payne and Jonathan Galvez, and a 2013 Topps Pro Debut Max Fried.

And of course, there's some old-school San Diego Padres cards, at least as old school as a franchise originating in 1969 can boast of. Here's a 1970 Topps Al Ferrara and Chris Cannizzaro, 1975 Topps Chris Cannizzaro, 1975 Topps Jerry Turner RC (also with Benny Ayala, Nyls Nyman, and Tommy Smith), and 1969 Topps Alan Foster RC and Willie Davis.

I have a natural affinity to the late '70's Padres cards, especially since that's when I was living in "America's Finest City." So these are great cards of the 1978 Topps Jerry Turner, Gene Tenace and Gene Richards, 1976 Topps Bob Davis RC, 1981 Topps Dave Cash and Mike Ivie RC (with Darcy Fast and Derrel Thomas).

And finally, here's a hand-signed 2010 Topps National Chicle Will Venable, 2013 Bowman Chrome Prospects Refractor Zach Eflin, 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Top Prospects Refractor Max Fried, 1979 Kellogg's Gaylord Perry (1973-315 hits), 1989 Panini Stickers Marvell Wynn, 2012 Topps Stickers and 2014 Topps Sticker Swinging Friar. You have to admit the Swinging Friar is a great mascot, especially when compared to other teams' fishes, birds and other assorted animals.

Once again, thank you Marcus and belated congratulations on the birth of your newest son.

Its time once again to post my monthly booty earned from the COMC (Check Out My Cards) website. As you may well know, if you complete more than a few of their COMC Challenges, you can earn enough COMC dollars to pick up a nice little stack of free cards

I'm now up to 240,055 points, good for $240 worth of free sports cards (and yes, I've spent almost every penny of that on COMC cards). As a matter of fact, I'm more than happy to share some of my most recent purchases accumulated through COMC in this post.

For starters, I had a great opportunity to add some new cards to my Tony Gwynn collection. I was able to find some food issues, newer cards, minis, serial numbered, glossy, and other unique Gwynn cards. I'll begin with this 1990 Sunflower Seeds #11, 2000 Metal Hit Machines #H4, 2013 Panini Father's Day Museum Collection #MC3, 1993 Duracell Power Players I #14, 1988 Drake's #14, and 1998 Metal Universe Universal Language #19.

When it comes to Gwynn minis, you can't go wrong with these 1987 Hostess Stickers #16, 1992 Topps Micro Gold #G270, 1993 Topps Micro #5, 1991 Topps Cracker Jacks I #26, and 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini #287B.

And then there's the glossy and serial numbered, including a 1998 Fleer Tradition #315, 2000 Bowman's Best #40, 2000 Topps Gold Label Class 3 #11 1998 Pinnacle Inside #37, 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Standing Ovations #5 S/N 3490/5000, and 2001 Post #17.

Of course, I'm always looking for "older" Padres cards, so I grabbed these 1974 Topps #250A Willie McCovey, and 1974 Topps "Washington" cards, #148B Dave Hilton and #32B John Grubb. And then there's this 1979 OPC #95 Randy Jones (one of my favorite Padres pitchers), 1970 Topps #151 Dave Roberts, 1973 Topps #268 Jerry Morales, 1971 Topps #548 Don Mason, and 1971 Topps Coins #133 Ollie Brown. I had won a stack of these coins on a bid board at a local sports card shop, but the only Padre to be found belonged to Mark Davis.

And then of course, I just had to pick up a Padres autograph card, in this case a 2005 Origins Old Judge Autographs #AO Akinori Otsuka. A pair of Ken Caminiti cards beckoned, including these 1998 Tops Tek Patterns 32 #68 and 1997 Donruss Preferred X-Ponential Power #10b S/N 492/3000. And then I just had to have these 2005 Reflections Purple #78 Mark Loretta S/N 54/99, 2003 Sweet Spot #212 Miguel Ojeda S/N 332/1430, 2013 Panini Father's Day #41 Jedd Gyorko S/N 48/499, 1987 Fleer Limited Edition #16 Steve Garvey, and 2009 Upper Deck Goudy #168 Trevor Hoffman.

Lately, it seems as if COMC is finally catching up on their inventory listings, so it appears that the challenges are starting to slow down. If that's the case, then it may be awhile before I'm able to tap into this mother lode again.

Another package I've recently received in the mail (but have taken forever to post) is from Christopher over at Nachos Grande. An avid Legos collector, I had sent him a Christmas card with a Lego mini character.

He was touched by the card and elated with the Lego character. In return, he sent me this wonderful collection of San Diego Padres cards and goodies.

You know, it's always great to be gracious and good enough to send a gratuitous group of Gwynns, so Christopher saw fit to send along a few cards of Mr. Padre, himself. Here's his 2000 Impact Mighty Fine in '99, 1997 Collector's Choice All-Star Connection, 2008 Upper Deck Heroes, 1998 Collector's Choice, 1987 Topps, and a 2014 Stadium Club.

For a team created in 1969, it's hard coming up with vintage cards. However, Christopher saw fit to include these Padres "Vintage" cards - a 2004 Upper Deck Vintage Miguel Ojeda, 2007 Topps Heritage Brian Giles and Adrian Gonzalez, 2004 Upper Deck Vintage Brian Lawrence, and 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Kahlil Greene and Edwin Moreno.

How about a 1996 Circa Fernando Valenzuela, Wally Joyner and Andy Ashby, 1991 Studio Tony Fernandez, Brian Lawrence. Oliver Perez and Shane Victorino, 2002 Fleer Fall Classics SP Steve Garvey. A friend and I used to have a blast mimicking a few pitchers' pitching motions and Valenzuela was one of them that was so much fun to copy, especially due to his heaven-directed look, as part of his wind-up. Al Hrabosky, the Mad Hungarian, was another one that was fun to mimic.

In 1991 Topps released Stadium Club, featuring a glossy UV coating on both sides of the card, gold foil stamping on the front and a nice, borderless action photo on the front. Christopher made them part of his package, including these Topps 1995 Stadium Club Andy Benes, Brad Ausmus, and Andy Ashby, 1994 Stadium Club Archi Cianfrocco, 1996 Stadium Club Glenn Dishman, 1992 Stadium Club Paul Faries, and a 1996 Stadium Club Joey Hamilton. Oh yeah, here's a 1995 Topps D3 Andy Benes, too.

Here's a 2008 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Morgan Ensberg, 1982 Topps Luis Salazar and Joe Lefebvre, Ken Caminiti 1996 Pinnacle, 1997 Collector's Choice, 1997 Collector's Choice Crash the Game Exchange, 1997 Collector's Choice All-Star Connection.

And finally, here's a Jake Peavy 2005 Upper Deck Classic, 2008 Topps Year in Review, 2005 Topps Opening Day, 2000 Topps Stars Sean Burroughs, Derrek Lee 1997 Collector's Choice, 1994 Score RC, 1998 Upper Deck, and 2000 Topps Stars Ryan Klesko.

He also included a Padres pencil and Padres Sportsclix character (of course, I can't find the box with his cards again, so I can't tell you who the Padres player was).

This past Sunday was the third Sunday of the month, so that means it's time for the monthly Urbandale American Legion card show. With 70+ degree temperatures and generally gorgeous weather, this month's show was very well attended, both from a dealer's standpoint and as far as the number of collectors in attendance.

The nickel and dime boxes were definitely out in force, so it was a no-brainer to pick up these San Diego Padres cards - a 1995 Topps Embossed Andy Benes (#40), Bip Roberts (#57) and Joey Hamilton (#87), 2000 Stadium Club Trevor Hoffman (#18), 2002 Topps Reserve Xavier Nady (#31), and 2003 Donruss Champions Sean Burroughs (#220).

And then there was this bunch of 2000 Pacific cards, which included Wally Joyner (#367), Andy Ashby (#361), Ben Davis (#362), Ruben Rivera (#372), and Sterling Hitchcock (#364). If you know of my love for minor league cards, then you also know I couldn't pass up this 1992 Waterloo Diamonds Fleer/Procards Shawn Robertson (#2154). Signed as a free agent by the Padres in 1991, he only played two seasons of minor league ball, in Spokane of the Northwest League (Low-A ball) and in 1992 with Waterloo (Class A). After that, he appears to have fallen off the face of the earth.

I also picked up these 1995 Stadium Club Andy Benes (#26), 2001 Bowman's Best Sean Burroughs (#129), Mat Latos (#50), 2011 Bowman Platinum Bold (#50) Stadium Club Members Only Parallel Dustin Hermanson (#107), 1997 Pinnacle Jason Thompson (#180), and 2001 Upper Deck Vintage Ryan Klesko (#289).

While I've only picked up one or two packs of 2015 Topps cards, I have yet to pull any Padres cards. Fortunately, I was able to find seven 2015 Topps cards, which included Yonder Alonso (#99), Yasmani Grandal (#338), Rene Rivera (#3), Jesse Hahn (#145), Everth Cabrera (#28), and Carlos Quentin (#32). I also grabbed a 2015 Topps team card, as well. Of these six cards, only half - Alonso, Hahn and Quentin are still with the club - everyone else has been traded to make up the new-look 2015 Friars.

Even though I wasn't able to attend last month's show, Myron, one of my favorite dealers was still looking out for me and had these Padres cards set aside for me, as well as a few team sets. I was more than happy to find these gorgeous Tony Gwynss, which included a 1991 Topps Cracker Jack I (#36), 1998 Revolution Showstoppers (#35), and a 2015 Donruss Tony Gwynn Tribute (#2), as well as2013 Pinnacle Artist's Proof Jedd Gyorko (#187), 2014 Bowman Platinum Toolsy Die-Cuts Austin Hedges (#TDCAH), and a 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autographs Jose Urena (#BCAPJUR) of his hands.

He also had a1993 Upper Deck 28-card team set and a 1994 Collector's Choice 19-card team set put aside for me.

Talk about a blast from the past. During last month's COMC pick-up, I came across a bunch of 1988 San Diego Padres Starting Lineup Talking Baseball cards. I actually bought this electronic card game, made by Parker Brothers Toys of Beverly, Mass., for my oldest son's birthday that year.

This electronic game, which set you back about $100 in the day, was basically a small computer and keyboard housed in a miniature baseball stadium, which allowed you to respond to baseball game situations. The cards, measuring 2-5/8 x 3, were part of the Starting Lineup Talking Baseball game, which also included a team game cartridge. And it only took four "C"-sized batteries to operate.

For those of you who aren't too familiar with this electronic game, here's an actual TV ad for Starting Lineup Talking Baseball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SMQ5hw3a3c

There were 42 cards in the complete National and American League "All-Star" set, including seven instruction cards (without player pictures) as well as Tony Gwynn (21b). Like Panini and other card companies today, Kenner only had a player’s association license for the game, so of course, there are no logos on the uniforms or hats.

You could also pick up one of the 26 individual teams sets, so you could play, say the San Diego Padres against the San Francisco Giants. You have to remember though, there was no interleague play, or even Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Miami (Florida) Marlins, or Tampa Bay Devil Rays, for that matter. And while the Los Angeles Angels played in Anaheim just off of I-5, there were no Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Here's the 14 San Diego Padres cards I picked up through COMC.

The entire San Diego Padres Team Set includes

1-Shawn Abner

2-Roberto Alomar
3-Bobby Brown
4-Joey Cora
5-Mark Davis
6-Tim Flannery
7-Goose Gossage
8-Mark Grant
9-Tony Gwynn
10-Stan Jefferson
11-John Kruk
12-Shane Mack
13-Carmelo Martinez
14-Lance McCullers
15-Randy Ready
16-Benito Santiago
17-Eric Show
18-Garry Templeton
19-Ed Whitson
20-Marvell Wynn
21-Batting Order Checklist.

Even though I'm not actually a basketball fan, I'll watch the college game on occasion. And like most Americans, I'll usually fill out a bracket or two for the NCAA tournament. This year I entered two - one with the Old Chicago restaurant chain, the other with San Diego's City Beat magazine.

Despite not following the college game, I didn't do too bad on my picks. In the City Beat challenge, I finished 48th (44,539 of 173,661 nationally) and in the Old Chicago contest, I finished 16th at our Des Moines location (1,902 nationally), and yes, I picked Wisconsin and Duke in the finals, but with the Badgers coming out on top.

I received a coupon for a free Chicago 7 Calzone for doing so well on my picks (after winning nachos and pepperoni rolls earlier), so after my wife and I went to OC for supper, we swung by the Target store at the mall.

Despite the fact that members of the San Diego Padres have been far and few in recent card releases, I'm hoping fall's update sets will be chock full of the newer Padres players picked up by Preller.

So for whatever reason, I decided to pick up a 30-pack of Donruss for grins and giggles.

Perhaps it was the picture of Tony Gwynn on the cover. I mean, how can you go wrong with a pack of cards with Tony Gwynn on the cover.

As for the cards themselves, they seem to be okay, but certainly nothing to write home about. However, it appears there's several SP variations for more than a few of these cards out there. For example, the Mike Trout card alone has a total of four variations. While this particular card is the regular one, there's a reverse negative SP, an SP of Trout fielding, and an SP of Trout as league MVP.

Among the inserts I pulled were a Donruss Preferred Bronze Miguel Cabrera, Donruss Elite Inserts R.A. Dickey, Donruss Studio Jose Altuve, Donruss All-Time Diamond Kings, Donruss Diamond Kings Jacoby Ellsbury, and a Donruss 81 Chris Sale.

I did get a rookie card of the Washington Nationals' Michael Taylor and a pseudo-rookie card of Donruss The Rookies Joc Pederson.

The card I was the most happiest with though, especially since it was my lone Padres card, was the one that made this pack all the more worthwhile - a Donruss cardboard of Mr. Padre himself, just like on the front of the pack.

We were out again last night and I actually picked up another pack of Donruss. Stay tuned for 2015 Donruss Round 2.

I have to admit to a slight change of plans. While I mentioned I would post my second 30-card pack of 2015 Donruss in my next post, what I found at Target last night is definitely worth pre-empting that post.

Let me begin by telling you why I've been spending so much time at Target, as of late. Since October, I've been following the Weight Watchers program with my wife and we've been religiously working at losing weight together. We've finally gotten our heads wrapped around creating a new lifestyle of eating changes, watching our portions, documenting what we eat, and aggressively working out.

And it really, really works. As of last Tuesday, I finally hit my goal weight of 227 pounds, dropping 60 pounds in the process. So, it was time to make another Target trip to pick up some new jeans, since I've gone down a total of four pant sizes over that time.

So of course, as a further reward, I had to take a stroll down the sports cards aisle, where I found a pack of 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen. I've always liked this Topps offering and was curious about what this years cardboard class had to offer.

What I pulled were a Chris Carter Silver Border Framed #247 (S/N 232/499) (Astros), Billy Bulter #237 (A's), Trevor Balier #267 (Indians), Jason Vargas #57 (Royals), C.J. Wilson mini #280 (Angels), and a Jose Fernandez #132 (Marlins).

I had Ozzie Smith (in a St. Louis uniform - go figure) on the cover of the pack. The card fronts feature a dark brown, almost sepia-colored front, with white scrollwork and the player's last name, first initial, and team name. I can't say much about the card backs, as they're typical Gypsy Queen backs.

Again, Gypsy Queen doesn't seem to stray too far from what works and this year's offering doesn't really seem all that different from last year's issue. I like them and while I won't buy too many packs, I'll continue to collect all the San Diego players within this set.

While perusing the shelves, I also decided to pick up a pack of 2015 Topps Opening Day. The Topps set aimed at the low buck collector, it's kind of a fun, kitzy set to collect. Besides, who knows, maybe I'd get a decent Padres card or two, or perhaps this year's version of the Swinging Friar mascot card.

No such luck - Like the Gypsy Queen pack, I was shut out on Padres players. What I did get were 2015 Topps Opening Day Anthony Ranaudo RC #104, Christian Yelich #88, John Lackey #29, Matt Adams #169, Topps Opening Day Mascots Capper #M07, Greg Holland #23 and Jose Bautista #62.

Again, interesting cards, but I won't be buying too many packs, since I don't get too big a bang for my buck looking for San Diego Padres cards.

Next, I promise. I'll actually post that second pack of 2015 Donruss cards.

As I mentioned the other day I picked up a second 30-card pack of the 2015 Donruss baseball release just for grins and giggles. After pulling a Tony Gwynn (my only Padres card) in the first pack, I was feeling relatively okay about that pack. So, for whatever reason, I decided to grab one more pack after picking up some yardwork supplies at another local Target store (we have four just within a five-mile radius).

If I was moderately happy with that first pack, I would have to be mildly ecstatic with my second pack - which like the first, also had the pitcture of Tony Gwynn on the front.

This pack had a total of not one, but four San Diego Padres players, inlcuding a Donruss Preferred Bronze Rymer Liriano and common cards of Matt Kemp, Ian Kennedy and Everth Cabrera. Since Panini only has rights from the Players' Association, all the team logos are airbrushed out, which makes it fairly easy to include a new Padres player such as Kemp. However, Cabrera doesn't make much sense in this year's set, as he was granted free agency back in December 2014 and signed by the Baltimore Orioles.

My inserts included a Donruss Elite Yoenis Cespedes, Adam Jones, Donruss All-Time Diamond Kings Ernie Banks, Donruss '81 Masahiro Tanaka, Donruss Studio Matt Shoemaker and Donruss Rated Rookie Dalton Pompey.

I also pulled three oldies but goodies (at least two goodies, anyway), with Ernie "Mr. Cub" Banks, Bo Jackson and Pete Rose. I have to admit, however, I do get a kick out of that Pete Rose commercial for Skechers shoes. "Pete Rose here, in the hall," he says, as he's standing in his home's hallway. His wife then pops into view, telling him, "Pete, you know you're not supposed to be in the hall." At least I find it funny, anyway.

While its rather fun busting wax and it's been interesting in picking up this second pack, I think my fun meter has now been pegged as far as 2015 Donruss goes. While there's a wealth of SPs in the set and some of the inserts aren't too bad looking, a ho-hum layout, airbrushed team logos and not enough Padres cards to make things interesting, guarantees this is another set I'll just pick up my Padres cards as I come across them.

I almost hate to admit it, but I do spend a fair amount of time on Facebook.

As a sports fan, I use it to keep up with the San Diego Padres and its minor league system - El Paso Chihuahuas, San Antonio Missions, Ft. Wayne Tincaps and Lake Elsinore Storm. I also follow a couple Green Bay Packers groups, as well as the page for the Iowa Wild Hockey Club.

As a former San Diego resident who's hoping to possibly move back to "America's Finest City" upon retirement, there's a few groups there I stay in touch with. The way I look at it, if we do move back there, I want to be aware of what's going on in that particular neighborhood.

As a sprint car fan, there are racing groups. As a writer, there are groups I belong to in order to find possible story ideas. And of course, there are a few friends that I keep in touch this way.

Recently, the Lake Elsinore Storm, San Diego's Class A California League affiliate, ran a Facebook contest entitled Back in the Day Card Giveaway. Each day, for 10 days, they gave away autographed cards of former Storm players -- Dirk Hayhurst (10 cards), Jose Lobaton (9 cards), Logan Forsythe (8), Evan Meek (7), Cody Decker (6), Zach Britton (5), Rick Renteria (4), Josh Collmenter (3) Mike Moustakas (2), and Corey Kluber and Buster Posey (1).

After numerous entries, I was finally drawn in the Evan Meek giveaway. It wasn't long before I received a rather cool envelope from the Storm, which included this notecard.

Inside was my autographed Evan Meeks card.

Meek didn't actually spend that much time with the Padres, or the Storm, for that matter. Originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 11th round of the 2002 draft, he was released in June 2005 and then signed as a free agent by San Diego in September 2005. In August 2006, his Padres career ended, as he was traded to Tampa Bay, along with Dale Thayer, for Russell Branyan.

He then bounced back and forth between the Rays and the Pirates. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Rays in the 2007 Rule 5 draft, returned in May 2008, and then purchased by Pittsburgh in May 2008. He was then signed as free agent by the Texas Rangers (Dec. 2012), Baltimore Orioles (Feb. 2014) and the Washington Nationals (Jan. 2015).

His main claim to fame, however, was being named to the 2010 All-Star game as a Pirate.

They also enclosed a team decal, which is definitely going to find a home on my red Toyota Rav 4. you have to admit, that's a totally way cool logo.

To show you how behind I am on everything, here's the package I received last month from COMC. As I've stated (almost ad nauseum), if you complete their inventory COMC Challenges, usually 100 points for 50 cards, 1,000 points will give you $1 in COMC bucks, you can earn enough COMC dollars to pick up a nice little stack of free cards

I'm now up to 303,95 points, good for about $300 worth of free sports cards (and yes, I've spent almost every penny of that on COMC cards).

I can't go a month without picking up some more Tony Gwynn cards, so I'll begin with my Gwynn dirty dozen pick-up. It includes these 1999 Skybox Premium Soul of the Game #5SG, 1998 Paramount Team Checklists #29, 2000 Finest Moments Refractors #FM3, 1998 Upper Deck All-Star Credentials #AS19, 2014 Upper Deck National Convention #15 and a 2011 60 Years of Topps #105.

My other Gwynn cards feature these 2000 Pacific Ornaments #17, 2002 Diamond Kings T204 #RC22 (S/N 821/1000), 1995 Classic $10 Phone Cards #46, 2002 Donruss Originals Champions #C6 (S/N 183/800), 1999 Upper Deck Retro Tme Capsule #TC9, and a 1993 Leaf Gold All-Stars #R9 (with Jose Canseco).

As I'm a fervent fan of the old Padres mustard uniforms, I couldn't pass up these three cards. I also picked up an autograph, Luke Carlin's RC 2008 SP Authentic Autograph #145 (S/N 255/699), and Sean Burroughs' 2005 Diamond Kings Materials Bronze Bat-Jersey RC #185 (S/N 143/200). And of course, the three San Diego yellow uni cards - a 2002 Studio Classic Dave Winfield #CS16 (S/N 433/1000), 2006 Topps Rookie of the Week Ozzie Smith #20, and a 2002 Topps 206 Polar Bear Ozzie Smith #433.

Of course, being a hockey geek, I also had to pick up some hockey cardboard. Here's my 2013-14 Panini Contenders Justin Fontaine RC #130 (S/N 2/600) and Anton Belov RC #127 (S/N 384/600), 2011-12 Panini Contenders Marc-Andre Bourdon RC #191 (S/N 11/999), 2013-14 Panini Contenders Norris Contenders Slava Voynov #NC-7 (S/N 294/499), 2013-14 Panini Prizm Jonathan Huberdeau RC #243 and a 2014-15 Ultra Vladislav Namestnikov RC #171.

I know I said I was running behind on my posts and all, but it seems as if I barely posted my April COMC rewards, when my May COMC package arrived in the mail. Again, for every challenge you complete you get 100 points, for every 1,000 worth of points, yadah, yadah, yadah.

For this month's selection of Tony Gwynn cards, I opted for a 1995 Topps Stadium Club Ring Leaders (#RL7), 1998 Pacific Invincible Photoengravings (#12), 1992 Upper Deck FanFest Gold (#25), 1999 Ultra the Book On (#13), 2013 Topps Archives 1983 All-Stars (#TG), 2014 Finest Vintage Refractors (VFTG), 2014 Topps Hi Tek Spiral Bricks (#HTTGW), and a 2001 SP Game Bat Milestone (#77).

I was really excited when I found this next card, especially since I love the San Diego Chicken and it's rather hard finding unique cards with him. In this 1985 Mexico City Tigers TCMA #29, he's posing with the Mexican mascot, Chacho. I also picked up a 1993 Leaf Signature Autographs Joey Hamilton (#90), 2003 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Red Dennis Tankersley (#159) S/N 9/100, 1980 Burger King Pitch/Hit/Run Dave Winfield (#22), 1974 Padres McDonald's Disc Bobby Tolan (#12), and a 1998 Stars 'N Steel Ken Caminiti (#7). Those McDonald discs are rather hard to find, especially as a set, which originally came in a plastic baseball.

A pair of 2014 Andrew Cashner Bowmans - one a Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor (#66) S/N 216/250, the other a Bowman Green (#182) S/N 94/150, a 2011 Bowman Topps of the Class Anthony Rizzo (#TC20), 2008 Stadium Club First Day Issue Unnumbered VAR/Delivering a Pitch Josh Banks (#125b), a pair of Jedd Gyorko Bowman cards - one a 2014 Bowman Green (#190) S/N 116/150 the other a 2013 Bowman Draft Blue (#31) S/N 196/500, 2014 Bowman Prospects Purple Jordan Paroubeck (#BP58), and a 2013 Bowman Prospects Hometown Dan Phillips (#BP18).

For those of you who are hockey geeks like myself, and are just dying to find out what I picked up, here's a mess of autographed rookie cards. First up is a 2012-13 Certified Autograph RC Matt Donovan (#170) S/N 846/999, 2012-13 Certified Autograph RC Brenden Dillon (#160) S/N 51/999, 2013-14 SP Authentic Autograph RC Anton Belov (#317) S/N 631/999, 2009-10 SP Authentic Autograph RC Kris Chucko (#254), S/N 670/999, 2013-14 Panini Contenders Autograph RC Shawn Lalonde (#175), and a 2011-12 Panini Contenders Autograph RC Brett Bulmer (#224) S/N 361/800.

And finally, here's another autograph, 2012-13 SP Authentic Autograph RC Scott Glennie (#219) S/N 239/999, as well as a 2013-14 Score Jonathan Huberdeau RC (#648), 2013-14 OPC Valeri Nichushkin RC (#634), and a 2010-11 Justin Mercier RC (#122) S/N 184/499.

It must be that time of year. Jan and I have been talking about moving again, downsizing from out three-bedroom house into a one- to two-bedroom condo or apartment in the downtown area.

We've been living in our current residence in Des Moines since 1998, which marks the longest we've ever lived in one place since we've been married. Life in the military has certainly kept us on our toes, with moves to San Diego, Denver, Olympia, Wash., and back to Iowa.

During one of our moves, our moving company told us the average American family accumulates about 500 pounds of junk a year. I can believe it. I think I amass that much weight just in sports cards each year.

For whatever reason, I always seem to pick up massive quantities of sports cards I have no need for.
When I won that $1 bid board box o' cards a while back, it included basketball and wrestling cards I found at the bottom of the box.

Basketball? Meh, it leaves me cold. A player gets a hangnail and he's on the DL for two weeks. He gets a cramp and he has to be carted off the court.

Pro Wrestling? Give me a break! If I want histrionics, I'll go visit my two younger sisters. I'll take good old fashioned "folk-style" NCAA wrestling any day. This is Iowa, after all.

According to my wife, she feels I'm too much of a pack rat to just throw these cards away. More than likely, its the fact that I always believe someone may want or need these cards and can't justify tossing them out, even though they may be basketball, wrestling, or even racing cards.

My loss, however, may be your gain.

I'm going to attempt to post a Freebie Friday offer each week. It will feature cards I have no desire to keep, but am more than willing to pass along to a good home. I don't expect anything back in return (unless you truly feel the need to reciprocate), it's just that I can't toss these cards out with a good and clear conscience. If it's a huge set of cards, perhaps you can help with postage, if needed.

One thing I know for sure, getting rid of those cards I have sitting around will definitely make my wife happy.

In any case, here's my first Freebie Friday offers. They are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Whoever responds first, gets the cards. All I ask is that one person doesn't become a card hog and claim everything I post. Let's spread the wealth and let everyone share in the goodies.

Offer #1 - (BOOK) Classic Sports Card Sets: Best Sports Card sets from the 1950s and '60s.

Offer #2 - 1993-94 Jam Session and 1993 Classic Futures

1993-94 Jam Session - Jon Koncak (#7), Rodney Rogers RC (#57), Stanley Roberts (#99), Anfernee Hardaway RC (#159), A.C. Greer (#176), Jerome Kersey (#187), Bobby Hurley RC (#195), Lloyd Daniels (#204), Shawn Kemp (#214), Tyrone Corbin (#223), Pervis Ellison (#233), Tim Hardaway Gamebreakers (#6).

1993 Classic Futures - Bill Edwards (#2), Malcolm Mackey (#42), William Davis (#43), Charles "Bo" Outlaw (#55), Mike Peplowski (#59), Thomas Hill (#72), Ed Stokes (#77), Ray Thompson (#87), Gary Troit (#94), Byron Wilson (#94), Rex Walters (#95)

Offer #3 - 10 Assorted Topps Allen and Ginter Minis

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini A and G Back #167 Marie Curie

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter #10 Gary Stewart

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Monsters of the Mesozoic #MM24 Carnotaurus

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini National Animals #NA40 King Cobra/Republic of India

2010 Topps Allen and 206 Mini Historical Events #HE15 May 18, 1910/Earth Pases through tail of Comet Halley

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Lords of Olympus #LO10 Gaea

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Step Right Up #SRU9 Knife Throwing

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini World's Most Mysterious Figures #WMF3 Kasper Hauser

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter #140 Tommy Lee

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Codes, Cyphers and Crypotgraphs #SHE Shugborough Hall Inscription

Offer #4 - 19 Assorted Topps Allen and Ginter

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter #9 Kelly Kulick

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter #110 Sherlock Holmes

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter #185 X-Rays

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter #119 Nancy Lopez

2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Minds that Made the Future #MMF40 Benjamin Franklin

2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Ascent of Man #AOM3 Choanoflagellates

2012 Topps Allen and Ginter #211 Keegan Bradley

2012 Topps Allen and Ginter #51 Don Denkinger

2012 Topps Allen and Ginter #237 Al Unser Sr.

2012 Topps Allen and Ginter World's Tallest Buildings #WTB6 Empire State Building

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter One Little Corner #AB Asteroid Belt

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter #62 McKayla Maroney

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter #35 Kevin Harvick

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter #11 Robin van Persie

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Civilizations of Ages Past #IRV Indus River Valley

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Palaces and Strongholds #HP Hohenschangau Castle

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Palaces and Strongholds #SP Summer Palace

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Martial Mastery #GD Gladiators

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Martial Mastery #RM Romans

Last Saturday was a bittersweet day, as Des Moines is now temporarily short one card shop. One of my favorite brick-and-mortar stores within the metro area, Ryanscardz, made the decision to close his doors, with the ultimate plan of relocating to a new shop closer to his Waukee home later this fall.

Owner Ryan Grother opened his Hickman Road retail shop on July 2, 2012 and has been running it solo ever since. As if he wasn't busy enough running a successful card shop, Ryan and his wife, Carissa, became the proud parents of twin sons in January.

It wasn't long, however, before lack of sleep, doctor's appointments, babysitting issues, the daily nine-mile , one-way commute, as well as sharing quality time with this lovely family began eating into store hours. All this may have turned out to be the "perfect storm," which eventually led him to this decision.

Ryan writes in his weekly Facebook page notes, "I've had this little secret eating away at me for some time now. My lease is expiring at this location and I have chosen not to renew it. With our two awesome boys at home that I can't quit talking about, I need to make more money! That means I need to find a more affordable venue and build an even better, leaner and meaner store!

"Carissa and I initially started planning this back in September. This is an exciting time for us. We do not have a new location currently picked out and feel that it is the right time to take a little break, while I plan the future of ryanscardz," writes Ryan.

Besides taking care of his family, Ryan is looking forward to getting a little fishing and golf time in as well - Something that was hard to do for a five-days a week card shop operator.

I had to swing by his current shop one last time to bid him farewell until fall. And, as usual, I couldn't leave his shop without picking up some Padres goodies .

Within his baseball teams box, I found these San Diego cards - 2014 Topps Update Red Hot Foil Seth Smith (#US81), 2014 Panini Prizm Rookie Reign Reymond Fuentes (#10) and a 2014 Topps Update Red Hot Foil Tyson Ross (#US283). Smith and Fuentes are ex-Padres, as Smith is now with the Seattle Mariners and Fuentes is currently with the KC Royals, playing next door with their AAA affiliate, the Omaha Storm Chasers.

I also picked up a 2013 Select Casey Kelly Autograph (#224) S/N 469/500 and a 2014 Topps Update All-Star Stitches Tyson Ross (#ASRTR). Ross currently sports a 5-7 record as part of the Padres pitching rotation. In 16 starts, he's put together a 5.33 ERA, with 102 K's and 70 BBs. He's also given up 12 homers, a rate of almost one per game.

I also picked up a couple of 2015 Tony Gwynn cards, which I've already filed away.

While I am extremely sad to see Ryan leave, I am happy that things are working out so well for him and his young family. I'm definitely looking forward to when he reopens his shop this fall.

I recently received my monthly package of COMC goodies I get through completion of their inventory challenges. For every 1,000 points, I get $1 in COMC bucks, 100 points for every 50-card challenge. To me, it's just a little work for a few "free" dollars, and those "free" dollars definitely help to boost my card collection.

As for what I received in this month's COMC delivery, let's get started. In fact, I'm going to begin with a few cards of the puck persuasion.

Actually, I'll begin with a 2003-04 BAP Memorabilia Masks III Ryan Miller (#5), 2010-11 SP Authentic Colby Cohen Autograph RC (#289) S/N 261/999, 2010-11 Donruss Fans of the Game Michael Ontkean (#4), 2013-14 Upper Deck Young Guns Tom Wilson RC (#212) and a 2014-15 Ultra Vladislav Namestnikov RC (#171).

Slap Shot has always been one of my favorite movies and you have to love that Ontkean card. The Chiefs' Ned Braden is now 69, and was also cast as Sheriff Harry S. Truman in Twin Peaks. An actual college hockey player, he scored 63 goals and 111 points in his three years and 85 games as a University of New Hampshire Wildcat. As a junior, he led the team with goals, finishing second his senior year. I also recently found a 2011-12 Pinnacle Fans of the Game Steve Carlson Autograph card and a 2011-12 In the Game Enforcers autograph card of Bill Goldthorpe (Ogie Ogilthorpe). And yes, I'm definitely on the lookout for anything and everything Slap Shot-related.

Of course, I have to take advantage of picking up any new Tony Gwynn cards I can get my hands on, and this month I added another 16 unique cards to my Gwynn collection. After all, free cards are free cards, right? Especially when it comes to a one-of-a-kind Hall of Famer like Gwynn.

Here's his 1998 Fleer Tradition in the Clutch (#IC8), 1989 MSA Holsum Discs (#6), 1988 King B Discs (#5), 1999 Black Diamond Mystery Numbers (#M28) S/N 1910/2800, 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Major League Hard Drives (#10) S/N 1479/2500, and a 1994 Studio Series Stars (#1) of 10,000. I don't know what it is about the discs I like, but for whatever reason, I like them. Perhaps it's the fact that they're just odd enough, that I really like them. Tony Gwynn has approximately 28 disc "cards," of which I now own 16. By comparison, San Diego pitcher Randy Jones has 22 disc cards (18 of which I own).

Here's Gwynn in his 2005 Prime Cuts (#94) S/N 233/399, 1998 Sports Illustrated Then and Now Road to Cooperstown (#RC4), 1999 Finest Team Finest Blue (#TF19) S/N 915/1500, 1992 Colla All-Star Game (18), 2014 Topps Museum Collection Green (#100) S/N 76/199, and a 2005 Donruss Classics Membership (#19) S/N 214/1000.

And these four cards round out my latest Gwynn acquisitions - a 1998 Sports Illustrated BB (#131), 1993 Colla All-Star Game (#18), 1985 Drakes (#14), and a 1998 Kenner Starting Lineup Card (#15).

Working through COMC also provides a great opportunity to pick up a few newer Padres autographs.

My most recent signatures include a 2014 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs Tommy Medica (#198), 2014 Bowman Sterling Rookie Autograph Refractors Yangervis Solarte (#BSRAYS) S/N 100/150, 2011 Topps Tier One On the Rise Autographs Logan Forsythe (#LF) S/N 868/999, 2013 Bowman Platinum Relic Autographs Cory Spangenberg (#CS), 2011 Prime Cuts Prospect Signatures Michael Kelly (#MK) S/N 170/299, 2013 Bowman Prospects Autographs Blue Dane Phillips (#DP) S/N 367/500, and a non-autograph, but game-used 2007 Topps Unique Solo Shot Relics Adrian Gonzalez (#AG) S/N 106/275.

I was able to add a pair of 1991 Topps Desert Shield cards, with an Andy Benes (#307) and Mark Parent (358), as well as a pair of 2014 Panini Prizm Prizms Camo of Will Venable (#30) and Everth Cabrera (#41). This 1998 Topps Tek Pattern 31 Ken Caminiti (#68), and 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Black Wave Refractors Jedd Gyorko (#31) were also nice additions. As I've said before, I really have a soft spot for those Desert Storm cards, especially since I was unable to track any down while I was deployed at that time.

And finally, I got my grubby little hands on a little Padres slash, dash and color.

2014 Topps Yellow Robbie Erlin (#281), 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospecs Blue Wave Refractors Jordan Paroubeck (#BCP58), 2014 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractors Tyson Ross (#164) S/N 5/150, 2010 Bowman Prospects Orange Jaff Decker (#BP109) S/N 36/250, and a 2007 Bowman Orange Mike Cameron (#40) S/N 244/250.

As of this morning's COMC statistics, I'm now up to 369,680 points, and sit 47th on their leaderboard, as far as all-time challenges go. The stats further point out I've received about $370, good for 335 cards, 13 of which are yet awaiting shipment in next month's collection.

Well, it's done and finally over!

After 17 years of owning a 3-1/2 bedroom house, we've actually taken the plunge, selling it and moving into a nice, 2-bedroom, 2-bath apartment.

The funny thing is, we weren't really planning on selling our house - at least not for another two years when I have to retire from the Iowa National Guard. In late June, my wife checked with our bank to see what we had left on our mortgage and mentioned we were thinking about down-sizing in a few years.

Two days later, our banker called back saying he had a real estate agent friend, who had a young client who just lost out on a house in our area. He was wondering if they could stop by look at our place. After two visits, the buyer came by a third time, with his mom in tow, to look it over. Within a few days, he asked if he could make an offer and provided one we felt we couldn't refuse at this point in time.

Of course, we now had to find a new place to live. We quickly narrowed down our choices, deciding to either remain here in Johnston, or find a nice apartment downtown. We settled on a nice, village-style apartment complex slightly more than a half mile from our former home.

And that, my friends, was the easy part.

Even though it seems as if we had a bit of time before the move, I had to depart for three weeks of annual training at Fort Polk, La. Shortly after I returned, my wife had to spend another 10 days out at the Iowa State Fair as part of her job.

That wasn't our only headache. Simply put, what do you do with that mass of stuff accumulated from 17 years of residing in one place? As my wife loved to point out, "Most of that crap belongs to you."

To give you an idea of my dilemma, here's a picture of just a small portion of my card collection room. This doesn't take into account the cards stacked against the other wall, the additional shelf space in the basement, nor the additional cards in my home office.

Again, my basic issue is I hate to throw anything out, because I know someone, somewhere wants and/or needs that stuff. Even the gaming cards. Even the basketball cards. Even the wrasslin' cards.

So, we began collecting boxes from work and began picking up those huge plastic tubs. We made numerous runs to our local Goodwill, Stuff, and Half Price Book stores, while giving away a whole bunch of other unneeded items to family and friends. We got a climate-controlled storage unit to put what we wanted to keep in, plus loaded up half of one of the two garages we got with our apartment.

Once everything was finally packed, we rented a Ford truck to haul most of our stuff and hired a local moving company for our bigger items like the bed, dressers and china cabinet. Then came the final reckoning of those items we weren't quite sure whether we wanted to keep or not, as well as a final dusting, mopping and cleaning of the house.

It was, however, a bitter-sweet afternoon when we signed the final paperwork and after 17-years of home-owning, turned in our keys and garage door openers to the new owner. What proved to be two to three weeks of a very stressful time for both us and our two dogs was finally over with the stroke of a pen.

Now that we're finally situated into our new place, though, we've discovered the fun part of figuring out exactly where everything is and what exactly did we pack certain items in. Our winter hats and gloves? Not exactly sure where they are. Some of my wife's art supplies? There's a chance they may be in the corner of our storage unit. The books I want to put into our new bookshelf? I haven't a clue.

My wife and I have, however, reached a working cardboard compromise -- I can keep my four, 5,000 count boxes of Padres cards on a shelf in the closet of our office, as long as she can't see them. Also, I can keep no more than two boxes of my inventoried baseball cards in the apartment, as well. So, if I need to bring in another box to inventory, that's fine. I just have to put it back into the storage unit once I'm done.

I can live with that.

While we thought we may have a few problems getting used to a smaller place, we really love it here. Things are so much more relaxing -- I don't have to worry about mowing the lawn anymore, or having to replace a leaky water heater. We're now actually free to do fun stuff on the weekends again.

Heck, I can't even wait to begin blogging again. Now, if I can only find that last box of cards......

Over the course of our move, the mail continued to pore in, which, in this case, included my latest batch of cards from the COMC website. To date, I've earned 467,825 points (good for about $467) through their inventory challenges, and have used that to order more than 400 cards.

I get free cards, they get help in inventorying the thousands of cards they get each week. For every inventory challenge I complete, I get 100 points. For every 1,000 worth of points, they give me $1 that I then put toward the purchase of even more baseball and hockey cards.

But enough of that. Let's move on to those cards...

Being a die-hard San Diego Padres fan, it's a given I'll grab Tony Gwynn cards whenever possible.

Here's Tony's 2002 Topps Chrome 5-Card Stud Kings of the Clubhouse Relics Jersey (#5KTG), 2007 Topps Sterling (#145) S/N 153/250, 1997 Donruss X-Ponential Power (#10a) S.N 1622/3000, 1998 Upper Deck All-Star Credentials (#AS19), 1995 Collector's Choice Gold Signature (#73), 1998 Donruss Preferred Great X-Pectations Tony Gwynn/Jose Guillen (#20) S/N 1433/3000.

I also picked up copies of Gwynn's 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Great American Heroes (#8) S/N 2318/2500, 1998 Donruss Silver Press Proofs SG (#410) S/N 1500, 1998 SP Authentic Sheer Dominance (#SD19), 1990 Starline Long John Silver (#4), 2004 Playoff Champions (#12) S/N 1784/1997, 2002 Donruss Elite All-Star Salutes (#2) S/N 445/2001.

Lastly, here's Tony's 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Ticket Masters Tony Gwynn/Ken Caminiti (#5) S/N 308/2500, 1994 Pacific Silver Prisms (#35) and 1994 Pacific Silver Prisms Circular (#35).

By the way, on Monday, Oct. 19, a section of San Diego's Interstate 15 from Scripps Poway Parkway to Camino Del Norte, which runs near Tony Gwynn's longtime-home in Poway was dedicated the "Tony Gwynn Memorial Freeway." Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, Tony's wife, Alicia, and family members all took part in the ceremony.

I decided to pick up a few Padres autographs while I had the available funds, which included these 2009 Finest Autograph RC Matt Antonelli (#157) S/N 87/107, 2004 SPx Swatch Supremacy Signatures Young Stars Adam Eaton (#AE) S/N 73/999, 2005 Studio Private Signings Silver Freddy Guzman (#231) S/N 2/100, 1996 Leaf Signature Autographs Scott Sanders (#202) and Joey Hamilton (#90)

Apparently, there's a total of eight, 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Ozzie Smith (#41) cards, and I was able to find four different flavors within the COMC site, including a Yellow S/N 179/299, Orange SN 32/399, Green S/N 2/199, and a regular, plain old, Rookie Cup Card. There's also a blue, gold, red and silver card, as well. I also picked up this 1990 Baseball Wit Rollie Fingers (Unnumbered), and a 1984 Donruss The Chicken (#651). When it comes to the Chicken, how can you not like this San Diego fowl? I was able to get the Chicken to autograph a photo of him kissing my wife from his last visit here during an Iowa Cubs game.

Rounding out my baseball card "purchases" are these 2005 Finest Refractors Black Jake Peavy (#55) S/N 28/99, 2014 Bowman '89 Bowman is Back Silver Diamond Refractors Trea Turner (#89BIBTK), 1993 Tops Commanders of the Hill Andy Benes (#28), 1977 Padres Schedule Cards Bobby Tolan Kneeling/Holding Cleats in Hand (#58B), 1974 Padres McDonald Discs John Grubb (#5), and a 1979 Topps Comics Dave Winfield (#31).

If you're a Slapshot fan, this first card should be easily recognizable - It's the 2011-12 ITG Enforcers Autographs Bill "Goldie""Harpo" Goldthorpe (#ABG). If you recognized him as Slapshot's Ogie Ogilthorpe, the goon brought in by the Syracuse Bulldogs for the championship game, you'd also be correct. I loved the line from Charleston Chiefs announcer, Jim Carr as he introduces Oglethorpe in the finals: "This young man has had a very trying rookie season, with the litigation, the notoriety, his subsequent deportation to Canada and that country's refusal to accept him."

My other hockey cards include the 2013-14 SP Authentic Autograph RC Anton Belov (#317), 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee Update Aaron Ekblad (#U30), and 1996-97 Zenith Champion Salute Paul Coffey (#4) and Mike Richter (#14).

I just placed an order for another 40 cards from COMC, so it won't be long before I'll have a few more cards to show.

Having a unique, mono-syllabic name like "Duff" is quite the interesting experience, to say the least. Growing up, I've certainly heard all the jokes and plays on words of my name that can ever possibly exist.

According to the dictionary, duff, as a noun, is "A flour pudding boiled or steamed in a cloth bag," and "decaying leaves and branches covering a forest floor." As an adjective, duff is "of poor quality," or "incorrect or false." As a verb, it means "beat someone up," or "a mishit, as in a shot." And then there's the phrase, "duffer" which is often used to describe certain golfers and/or old people.

And, believe me, I'm not about to go into some of the other definitions that duff entails (pun intended).

In junior high school, I remember coming across a book in our school library, entitled "Duff, the Story of a Bear," published in 1950 by William Marshall Rush. There recently was a movie out at the cinemas, entitled "Duff," and of course, there's always Duff Beer, Homer Simpson's favorite beverage of choice.

While there's a few folk with Duff as their last name - American writer James Duff, actor Howard Duff, actresses Hilary Duff and Haylie Duff, while Canadian hockey player Dick Duff also comes to mind - you don't come across too many with the first name of Duff.

There's Duff McKagan of Guns 'N Roses fame, and the Food network's Duff Goldman, but Duff is actually just their nicknames.

And then there was once a baseball player named Duff Brumley.

When I first came across Mr. Brumley, he was a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system. I remember the surprise of finding someone else with the first name of Duff, and them being a baseball player, to boot. Heck, I actually wrote him a letter about having been blessed with such a unique name. Of course, I never heard back from him.

Duff was drafted by St. Louis in 1990 (24th round) and spent his entire Cardinal career within the Redbirds minor league system. On July 30, 1993, he was traded to the Texas Rangers (as the infamous player to be named later) for P Todd Burns. The Cards would release Burns that September.

At the age of 23, Duff appeared in his first of only two MLB games for the Rangers, debuting June 1 against the Brewers, while pitching his last game June 6 against the Yankees. After facing 22 batters in 3.1 innings, he compiled a 16.20 ERA, with six hits, six earned runs, one HR, five BBs, and four Ks. He finished out his baseball career over the next two years, playing in Texas', Cincinnati's, Seattle's, and Philadelphia's minor league systems.

After retiring from baseball, he served as a police officer with the City of Cleveland, Tenn., from 1997 until 2010, at which point he was fired. He then lost an appeal against the City of Cleveland, Tenn., "seeking review of the City Manager's ruling affirming the City's decision to terminate his employment."

He is now a Freight Coordinator at Riverside Transport in Charleston, Tenn.

And now for the rest of my Duff story...For those curious minds who remain interested in how I got my name.

Shortly after I was born, my grandfather looked in on me in my crib as I wailed, screamed and flailed away.

"My, he's quite the duffer, isn't he," was his comment upon laying eyes upon his first grandchild.

So they shortened it to Duff and gave me his middle name (Ellis). Actually, I think there's an island out there on the east coast named after us.

One of my favorite bloggers would have to be Mark Fujimoto over at The Chronicles of Fuji. A Bay-area Californian, he's a collector of the San Jose Sharks, Seattle Seahawks, LA Lakers, and Oakland A's, as well as the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Padres (as if I needed any more reason to enjoy his musings).

Amongst his best reads, are his flea market finds, which are the stuff of legends.

Mark was kind enough to send me a package of Padres cards more than a few months back. Since we were in the middle of packing for our move, I scanned the cards, put the photos into my blog folder in my computer and promptly forgot about them.

The cards themselves are nestled comfortably within my collection of Padres cardboard somewhere within the confines of our storage unit. The memories, however, remain forever.

Who'd of thunk that San Diego had this many players who spent time on the USA Baseball team rosters? Mark began with a very nice bunch of Padres USA Baseball memorabilia, enclosing a 2010 Bowman Draft USA Baseball Jerseys Chris Okey (#USAR13) S/N #/949, 2002 Sweet Spot USA Jerseys Tagg Bozied (#TB) and Jake Gautreau (#JG), 2004 USA Baseball 25th Anniversary Signatures Blue Ink Rob Bowen (#BOW) S/N #/510, 1995 Signature Rookies Previews Signatures Glenn Dishman (#8) S/N 1830/6000, and a 2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Relics Mat Latos (#ML).

He then also included these 2013 Bowman Platinum Chase Headley (#46), 2013 Topps Chrome Yonder Alonso (#149), 1974 Topps Randy Jones RC (#173A), 2013 Hometown Heroes Chase Headley (#132) and Jake Peavy (#225) cards, and a 2014 Donruss Everth Cabrera (#113).

A great package of cards from a very gracious and kind blogger, who's also a great read.

Thank you Mark!

The first snowfall has finally hit the Iowa heartland and approximately seven inches of the white, fluffy stuff has landed in the Des Moines metro area. Now that we've moved into our snazzy little two-bedroom apartment, I can't wait to throw that first log onto our new fireplace.

Last night's snowfall also presents a perfect opportunity for a lazy Saturday afternoon at home. And what better opportunity to wade through my latest batch of COMC "purchases." As you may or may not know, I've been making "free" purchases from COMC as a result of helping with their inventory efforts. This is just the latest batch of cards resulting from that assistance. So far. I've earned 484,730 points, good for about $484 in cards.

First off, I made huge inroads into my 1977 San Diego Padres schedule card collection. Here's the Willie Davis, Nate Colbert, Tuba Man Jim Eakle, and Dave Winfield. In the second row are John McNamara, Willie McCovey, Hernandez and Colbert, and Rollie Fingers. I am now down to 10 cards left of the 89-card set. The only cards I have left to find are: 1A Bill Almon (Kneeling); 5 Bob Barton; 10B Dave Campbell (Kneeling, capless); 32A Fred Kendall (Batting pose): 38C John McNamara (Looking straight ahead, smiling); 42A Fred Norman (Short hair, kneeling); 46B Gene Richards (Shown from the thighs up); 51 Ballard Smith, GM; 57A Derrell Thomas (Head shot, wearing glasses); and 57B Derrell Thomas (Kneeling, not wearing glasses).

There were plenty of opportunities to find a few Padres autographs, so here's eight more opportunities to help build up my collection, which includes a 2009 Finest Refractors Autograph Matt Antonelli (#157) S/N 5/75, 2005 Origins Old Judge Autographs Akinori Otsuka (#AO), 2007 Upper Deck Spectrum Rookie Retrospectum Signatures Clay Hensley (#CH) S/N 13/199, 2004 Upper Deck Etchings Blue Ink Justin Germano (#134) S/N107/200. Second row - 2007 SP Authentic Kevin Cameron Autograph RC(#136a) S/N 12/75, 2005 Topps Autographs Mark Loretta (#ML), 2001 Fleer Showcase Sweet Sigs Lumber Xavier Nady (#18), and a 2014 Panini National Treasures Game Ball Signatures Yangervis Solarte (#99) S/N 95/99.

While I'm not a huge memorabilia fan, I felt I just had to pick up a pair of bats, especially this pair, a 2002 Sweet Spot Classics Game Bat Dave Winfield (#BDW) and a 2015 Donruss Bat Kings Matt Kemp (#20). After Matt Kemp became the first Padres player to hit for the cycle, I just had to get some Kemp lumber. This is more than likely an airbrushed artwork of a Dodgers uniform on the front. With the current boring Padres uniforms, I don't see much how you can tell the difference.

What's a COMC purchase without a healthy addition of Tony Gwynn cards. In this package, I added Tony's 1998 Pinnacle Epix Game Orange (#E9), 2000 Black Diamond Gallery (#G6), 1997 Stadium Club Pure Gold (#PG6), 1999 Fleer Brilliants Blue (#79), 1994 Kraft (#24) and a 1995 Kraft.

How about a pair of 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Minis - 252A & 252B.The main difference is the helmets located between Gwynn's shins on the 252B, which makes this a VAR card. I also added a 1995 SP Silver and two 1991 Star Nova cards (#105 and #103).

Rounding out my baseball purchases are these two 1974 Nate Colbert cards - a Padres McDonald Disc (#3) and Kellogg's (#19), two Ozzie Smith cards - a 2012 Topps Archives Reprints (#116) and a 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Red (#41) S/N 240/499, some Hostess Padres - a 1978 Rollie Fingers (#14), 1977 Randy Jones SP (#26), and 1976 Randy Jones (#143), and then a 1989 Padres Magazine Randy Jones/Wins Cy Young (#16).

And I'll conclude with my lone pair of hockey cards. We're Iowa Wild season ticket holders and we've seen both of these players play for the Iowa affiliate. First off is the Panini National Treasures Retro Phenoms Autographs Tyler Cuma (#RPTC1) and a 2014-15 Upper Deck AHL Box Set Johan Gustafsson (#39). Gustafsson elected to return to Sweden this year, so Iowa had to turn to new goalies this year. Cuma is also playing overseas, serving as a D-man with Vienna's Graz 99ers of the Austrian Hockey League

It's yet another month, so it's another opportunity to garner another batch of free COMC "purchases." Things have been slowing down a bit on the inventory assistance side, as I only earned about 6,000 points. Fortunately, I had a few bucks set aside, so I was able to get another great batch of cards.

Since this blog is "Bleedin' Brown and Gold," it only stands to reason that I would start out my acquisitions with a bunch of Padres goodies. It begins with a 2005 Upper Deck MVP Batter Up! Gaylord Perry (#14), a 2012 Topps Retired Numbers Patches Dave Winfield (#DW), a 2014 Panini National Treasures Jesse Hahn (#163) S/N 15/99, a 1974 Padres McDonald Discs Dave Roberts (#11), 1970 Topps Ron Herbel (#526), and a 1972 Topps Garry Jestadt (#143).

While I'm not a huge memorabilia/game used collector, I just couldn't pass up that Hahn Marine Camouflage jersey piece. Beginning in 2000, the Padres wore a Navy Seals-inspired camo jerseys on Military Opening Day. Now in their 13th year, San Diego sports these jerseys for both Military Opening Day and every Sunday home game. While I already have a copy of the Marine Corps-inspired jerseys, which they've worn for the past five years, they recently unveiled their 2016 unis based on the Navy's blue camo uniforms and I'm now dying to get my hands on one.

Do you really believe I can actually pick up a few COMC cards and not grab a few Tony Gwynn cards? If so, then you don't know me very well. 1995 Studio (#25), 2005 Diamond Kings Heritage Collection (#25), 1997 Padres Mother's (#2), and a 1999 Finest Complements Dual Refractors (#C2).

I've been a Green Bay Packer fan ever since I was a wee lad during the Lombardi era. When I had the opportunity to pick up cards of my early idols, I just couldn't pass these up. They include these 1961 Topps Boyd Dowler RC (#43), 1958 Topps Jim Ringo (#103), 1955 Topps Dave Hanner (#131), 1959 Topps Lew Carpenter RC (#95), 1959 Topps Dan Currie RC (#162). I love the simplicity of these early cards.

What self-respecting Packer fan doesn't like Dave "Hawg" Hanner, a member of the Packer Hall of Fame? Hanner spent his entire 42-year football career with the Green Bay Packers. He only missed four games while playing as defensive tackle (1952-64), and left defensive end (1961-62). He then served 16 seasons as a defensive line coach, defensive coordinator, and finally assistant head coach and defensive coordinator under Bart Starr. He closed out his career as Green Bay's quality control assistant (1982) and scout, until his retirement in 1996. Sadly, Hanner passed away in Sept. 11, 2008, at the age of 78.

And finally, I had to scratch my hockey collecting itch, adding these two Chicago Blackhawk cards - 2015-16 Upper Deck MVP Ryan Hartman SP RC (182) and a 2014-15 Upper Deck Ice Trevor van Riemsdyk (#92) S/N 364/999.

I also picked up a few extra cards for all those good little sports card bloggers as part of my annual "Bleedn' Brown and Gold" Christmas Card list. And yes, I checked my list twice, trying to figure out who was naughty and nice, and got most of my cards into the mail the past week. There's just a couple I still have to get into the mail, though.

Cards from across the Pond

February goodies from COMC

I'll have a boxful of Nacho's, please

March Urbandale Card Show

1988 Kenner Talking Baseball

A 30-card pack of 2015 Donruss

On a roll? 2015 Gypsy Queen and Topps Opening Day packs

A 2nd pack of Donruss - Any better luck?

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April COMC pick-ups

May COMC Package

Freebie Fridays featured forthwith!

Bye Bye Ryan, for now...

My June COMC Card delivery

Finally over the moving blues!

August COMC Package

A Duff by any other name

Fuji strikes again

November COMC purchases

December COMC Cards