We Have Another Majority - 2011 Bowman Chrome Draft Red Refractors #/5

Earlier this year, right before the COVID Pandemic kicked off in full force, I was able to pick up the majority of Brandon Laird's 2008 Bowman Chrome Red Refractors #ed/5.  Sitting in my collection are #s 1, 2, & 4.  Fast forward 8 months to today and I am now the majority owner of Brandon Laird's 2011 Bowman Chrome Draft Red Refractors #ed/5.  My scanner still stinks picking up slabbed cards, but here are the 3 that are now sitting in my collection:  #s 3,4, & 5!  Wondering if cards #1 and #2 will ever show up one day.  Brandon did not have as good of year as in past while playing in Japan, but the COVID-shortened season definitely did not do anyone any favors.  Here is hoping next year will bring more success to him.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and stay safe out there Black Friday shopping!

We Have a Majority - 2008 Bowman Chrome Red Refractors #/5

I have been collecting Brandon Laird (now playing in Japan for the Chiba Lotte Marines) cards for a while now and became interested in Brandon's career for two reasons: 1) I worked with his mom in CA several years ago so would get to hear about his adventures in Japan, and 2) I collect some Japanese sports cards and it was a natural fit.  I've been trying to track down all his U.S. cards and parallels from 2008 to present.  I haven't dove too deeply into his Japanese cards since those tend to be a bit more expensive, but I do monitor auctions for cards from his U.S. playing days.  Recently, I was able to add the third #ed to 5 2008 Bowman Chrome Red Refractor meaning I now own a majority of the 5 that were printed.  Not sure I will be able to add the final two, but would be cool to have all 5 in possession at some point in my life.  Anyone else ever have a majority of refractor parallels of any players?

2011 Bowman Chrome Baseball Superfractor - Brandon Laird 1/1

A month or so ago I was updating the Brandon Laird section of the Trading Card Database with photos and cleaning up a few other odds and ends.  I noticed the empty photo holes for the 2008 and 2011 Superfractors and figured they would stay empty for a long time.  A few weeks ago, however, eBay worked its magic and the 2011 Bowman Chrome Superfractor popped up.  The seller and I worked a deal and now I finally own a graded card.....my first ever....although I will likely crack it out of its plastic prison soon.

The good news is that I have far exceeded my #11 collecting goal this year with this purchase.  Maybe I'll add a few inexpensive Yuta Tabuse cards and call that goal complete.

By the way, Brandon moved teams in the offseason and will now be playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

 

Unfortunately my scanner really sucks with graded cards, but it is on our list of new things to purchase this year so maybe I'll get a better scan at some point

My First 1 of 1! Brandon Laird Yellow Printing Plate

I have many "1 of 1s" in my sumo card collection....older cards that I am pretty sure only one card has ever survived.  However, I have never owned an actually modern-day, serial-numbered 1 of 1 until just a few days ago.  I picked up this Yellow Printing Plate of Brandon Laird's 2011 Bowman Chrome card.  In fact, I have never owned a printing plate either so I have killed two birds with the proverbial stone.  Now the challenge will be to find the other three (3) colors.  Wish me luck!  Thanks for stopping by!

What's wrong with these Brandon Laird Bowman Chrome Cards? - Come on Topps!

The interns were at it again at Bowman.  Maybe this is a known problem or this has been discovered before with these 2008 and 2011 Brandon Laird cards, but can anyone tell me what is wrong with the 2011 card?  5 free packs of Japanese baseball/basketball for the first correct answer.  Come on Topps!

Brandon is in his 4th year with the Nippon Ham Fighters over in Japan and is doing a fairly well with the team through the 3/4 of the season mark.  It'll be interesting to see what he does as I believe his contract extension is up at the end of this season.

Taste the Rainbow - Brandon Laird 2011 Bowman Draft and Draft Chrome

I've been following Brandon Laird since he went over to Japan in 2015 to play for the Fighters.  Fuji got me started on my Laird collection last year and I have been going nuts these past few weeks rounding out holes in my collection for his American cards.  Soon I'll be diving into his Japanese cards.  I never was one for autos, refractors, or parallels, but to be honest it has been fun chasing these down.  I am a rookie when it comes to all this so if there are any errors or holes in my story, I'd love to know about it so I can get it fixed.  I'll show the set collections as I "finish" them....can you truly ever finish some of these with all the 1/1s floating around?

Here are Laird's 2011 Bowman Draft and Draft Chrome cards that I have accumulated so far.  If I am reading the Trading Card Database correctly, here are all the cards available in this series:

- #26 2011 Bowman Draft
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft - Blue S/N #ed to 499
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft - Gold
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft - Red
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Printing Plates - Black/Cyan/Magenta/Yellow #ed to 1
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome - Purple
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome - Red
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome - Superfractors
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome - Blue #ed to 199
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome - Gold #ed to 50
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome - Orange #ed to 25
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome - Gold Canary Diamond #ed to 1
- #26 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome Printing Plates - Black/Cyan/Magenta/Yellow #ed to 1

After writing the checklist out it seems I still have a ways to go.