The Budget eBay Collector for June - The Decision

Well I got several ideas from you guys along with a few of my own.  Some of them were just about impossible to be successful, some I will use in the future.  This month, I will be taking my talents to the 1960s.  The goal for this month is to acquire 1 card from each flagship Topps set of the 1960s on my $5.00 budget.  Also, the 1960s will be defined as 1961-1970 the way the decades should be defined.  When you count, you don't start with zero.

Sound too easy?  It may prove to be for certain years, but 1961s and 1962s are rarely listed for cheap prices.  I will do my best and show off the rewards once either the goal is complete or the budget is busted.

I hope you all enjoy the month.


BTW, a quick group break plug for Colbey at Cardboard Collections.  He has a few teams remaining starting at $4 shipped for his All Chrome group break. 

One more quick reminder, the second group break at the Quarry will be announced one week from today.  Here are a few teaser pics that could let you figure out the sets.

More details to come.

The RETURN of the Budget eBay Collector for June

For the moment, I have put the Sunday Afternoon Blaster on hiatus.  It is somewhat for financial reasons, but mostly it is because my local Wal Mart has run out of interesting buys.  I will still occasionally buy a blaster here and there and maybe it a monthly feature or if I find a new location to purchase them it will  be back and stronger than ever. 

With the temporary departure of one longtime feature, I figured why not bring back another feature that has been on the shelf for a bit, the Budget eBay Collector.  For those of you new readers that have not seen The Budget eBay Collector before, here is the link to the description of this idea. 

I will be starting up again on June 1st, but not before I get some input from my loyal readers "i.e. you guys."  In the first edition, the only limitations I put on myself were no cards from the "overproduction era" of cards (1986-1993).  The second edition, I made it more difficult by limiting myself to only parallels, serially numbered cards, vintage (1975 and before), and hits.  I completed both successfully.

Now my question for you is, what will the terms of this month's buying adventure be?  Feel free to leave a comment with a suggestion or idea for me.  My first thought was to go with an all Hall of Famer attempt, but there are many routes I could go, such as all oddball cards or all non-baseball.  Let me know what you think and the more ideas the better.

The Budget eBay Collector - March results

1. 2009 Bowman Chrome Refractor #47 Mike Jacobs

Well, last time I started with a 1979 card of potential HOF pitcher in Jack Morris.  This time I start with a journeyman first baseman who was a non-roster spring training invitee (with the Rockies) at age 30.  Um, it's a little bit of a drop off, but it's still a cool card and who doesn't love refractors.  This card should already be in the possession of Eric from Manupatches and Chrome Scratches.  I got this one for 28 cents shipped (I may have overpaid, but I had just lost 27 auctions in a row).  $4.72 remaining.

2. 1964 Topps #64 Ted Abernathy

Not a great condition, but not a bad card either that became the newest "oldest card I have" and is one of Jaybee's five Topps 300 and then some for 1964 (Could someone explain why please).  I didn't know anything about Abernathy before this purchase, but it seems he was one of the first closers along with Hoyt Wilhelm and others.  This card is significant because it is the first year Abernathy became a reliever after 4 years struggling as a starter with the Senators.  He finished his career with 148 saves (quite a high total for back then).  He compares to Steve Bedrosian, Mike Jackson, and Roger McDowell to give you an idea of him.  I picked it up for 45 cents shipped.  $4.27 remaining.

3. 2004 Donruss Throwback Threads Gold Century Proof #179 Jim Edmonds #'d 11/100

Now we're talking.  A #'d to 100 card of great player that never played for the Rockies, but I always liked him mainly for his fantastic catches.  Edmonds retired after a 17 year career this spring and I feel even older now because I was in high school when he was a rookie.  I don't think he was quite a Hall of Famer, but he should get some love from the voters.  Could he be a future member of The Cubicle of the Unique?  Probably not, I think he will get around 10-15 votes for his defense alone.  I got this one for 85 cents shipped.  $3.42 remaining.

4. 1969 Topps #294 Jim Lemon

Well I have my first manager card from the 1960s.  Jim Lemon was a very good player in the late 50s / early 60s, finishing in the top 10 in MVP voting in 1959 with the original Senators franchise that became the Twins.  Here he is pictured in his only season as manager of the expansion Senators franchise that became the Texas Rangers.  But my god, what was Topps thinking with the back of this card?  The man lost his job and they aged him about 15 years and put a cartoon on there, wow.  The Senators finished last in the AL in 1968.  It was his only year as a major league manager.  He deserved more than a one year and out career.  Mr. Lemon passed away in 2006 at the age of 78.  I got this card for 40 cents shipped.  $3.02 remaining.

5. 1969 Topps #138 John Bateman

It seems like March is quickly becoming vintage month on the The Budget eBay Collector.  John Bateman was a journeyman big league catcher for 10 years with three different teams.  Neat fact alert, he was part of two of those franchise's special firsts, having caught the first no hitter in team history for both the Colt 45s and the Expos.  Mr. Bateman passed away in 1996 at the young age of 56.  I picked up his card for 40 cents shipped. (Same seller, different auction).  $2.62 remaining.

6. 2008 Topps Co Signers Silver/Red Pedro Martinez #'d 320/400

From my searches on eBay, I have noticed that there are a LOT of cards from both Pedro and Nomar listed at one penny with free shipping starting price.  I guess they come from a retiring Red Sox collector or something, even though this card pictures him from his Mets days.  Anyway,  this is the most common parallel of the approximately 395 parallel versions of this card (22 actually).  I spent 50 cents on this card.  $2.12 remaining.

7. 2008 Topps Co Signers Silver/Blue Pedro Martinez #'d 211/250

Another of my same seller, different auction purchases.  That me feel better about picking up these cards for usually less than postage and fees, but I don't really feel THAT bad anyway.  The sellers have the first option on price and know the chance they are taking by starting at one penny with free shipping in order to increase viewership.  Anyway, this is another parallel from the same set, except for some reason Oliver Perez is on this one.  I got this cheaper than the more common parallel.  I guess Oliver Perez does suck that much.  I got it for 41 cents shipped. $1.71 remaining (this challenge is in the bag)

8. 2006 Flair Showcase #182 Brandon Webb #'d 113/150

This revelation may surprise some of my readers, but as much as I dislike the D-Bags (oops, sorry D-Backs fans but they had to know that would happen when they named them) I have always liked Brandon Webb.  Why you ask, because he pitched for the University of Kentucky and he is a Kentucky boy.  I really hope he can make a comeback, because he went from one of the best in the league to forgotten very quickly.  That being said I always loved it when the Rockies beat him and I don't really collect him.  I seem to remember that there is a Brandon Webb collector out there, but I don't know who it is.  Never mind, I found him and this card is hopefully in his hands as of now.  I got this card for 41 cents shipped.  $1.30 remaining.

9. 2001 Fleer Legacy Ultimate #36 Manny Ramirez #'d 101/250

This is nice card of Manny before he became a complete dill-hole, but he is with Boston so he is was rapidly approaching that status at this point.  Aside from my personal bias, I really like this card even though it is a tad plain.  Sometimes simple is the best way to go with designs.  The only thing that would make this card better would be the placement of the team name and player position.  It looks awkward running up the card.  I picked this one up for 36 cents shipped.  $0.94 remaining (I think there might be a bonus card or two this month).

10. 1994 Pinnacle Artist's Proof #220 Armando Reynoso

This is the first Rockie of this month.  The Artist's Proof was Pinnacle main parallel throughout all of their sets in the mid 90s.  This parallel was basically just the Gold Stamp on the front, but some in other sets that I have seen these parallels look pretty good.  Onto Reynoso, he was the first Rockie "ace" in the expansion year.  He was plucked from the Braves in the expansion draft and traded to the Mets in 1996 for Jerry DiPoto.  I picked up this card for 17 cents shipped.  $0.77 remaining for bonus card(s).

Bonus 1. 1997 SP Marquee Matchups #MM2 Andres Galarraga

Well this is an insert, so it doesn't technically fall under the rules of the game, but since it is a bonus card (and a Rockie, of course) I consider it fair play.  Andres was the first star of the Rox with his run at .400 during the expansion year after several good years in Montreal and one bad year with the Cardinals (who I assume still hate him).  This is m first 1997 SP card and I like the look of this insert.  Shipping was the big issue with this card, I paid on 3-16 and it didn't get to my mailbox until 4-7.  I still consider this fair game, because it should have arrived well before March ended.  I got this beauty for 31 cents shipped.  $0.46 remaining.

Bonus 2. 2005 Upper Deck Reflections purple parallel Joel Peralta #'d 38/99

A pretty nice card of one of the worst Rockies pitchers ever.  Of course, he is an Angel in this card and was a Royal after that, but came to Colorado in 2009.  He is pitching for Washington and doing a pretty good job.  This fact makes his 2009 stint with the Rockies even more annoying.  Anyway I bought this card for 31 cents shipped.  $0.15 remaining and with that I will call it a month, since I went 11 cents over budget in January.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON MARCH

That brings an end to the March Budget eBay Collector.  Here are my January results for comparison.  Which month was better?  Personally I think I did much better in March, but had more fun with it in January.  Not that it wasn't fun in March, but the sequel is often less fun than the original.  I think the biggest problem was that I won the first 9 cards by the 3rd of the month and couldn't get card #10 until the 16th.  I lost 81 auctions in a row before the Reynoso.  I was going for the home run with 94 cents remaining, but finally decided 3 singles would get the same run across the plate.

The Budget eBay Collector March Quick Stats

Well, another month down for The Budget eBay Collector.  For those of you that are unaware, here is what The Budget eBay Collector is all about.  All in all, it was pretty successful.  I am happy with my pickups.  One weird fact about this month was that my first nine cards were bought within the first 3 days of the month and the last three didn't come for nearly two weeks later.

Since I am waiting for the arrival of the last two cards, I figured I would show off some raw stats as a slight teaser. 

Cards purchased: 12
Keeper cards purchased: 5
Purchased cards already traded: 2
Sports represented: 1  All baseball this time.
Card companies represented: 5
HOFs purchased: 0 current (1 guaranteed, 1 highly probable w/o steroids; doubtful with)
Rockies purchased: 2
Teams represented: 10 (2 Rockies, 2 Mets)
Budget stuck too?: Yes, in fact I was 15 cents underbudget.
Total $ amount spent on shipping: $0.00
Oldest card purchased: 1964 (2 others from 1969)
Serial #'d cards purchased: 6
Most expensive card including shipping: $0.85
Least expensive card including shipping: $0.17
Fun had?: Not as much fun as the first, but sequels rarely are...still overall a good time.
$5 well spent? - Yes, what I am not keeping I shouldn't have any problem trading away.

The RETURN of the Budget eBay Collector for March

Everyone seemed to enjoy The Budget eBay Collector in my first month here and the results column from January is still my most commented post.  I consider myself a pioneer of sorts because I even had another blogger try the challenge.  Even though Scott was unsuccessful, it sounds like he had fun doing it.  I had a blast doing it and I figured I would revive the original for March.  I was debating whether I should stick with the original rules or augment them for a little less repetitiveness.  I decided to stick with most of the original rules, while changing it up a bit to make it a little more challenging.

*QUICK SIDEBAR* The $5 budget applies to eBay purchases only.  I will still be buying blasters for Sunday and the occasional unopened box or five from online shops and of course my shipping budget for trades.  Yeah it's technically breaking your budget, but I will not purchase singles or lots from anywhere until this experiment is complete.


Here are the original rules of the game from my January post.

1. The $5.00 budget WILL factor include shipping costs meaning no cheap buying of the 1 cent card with $42 shipping here.

2. I will allow myself single card purchases only.  No big lots, they would make the next rule too easy.

3. The goal of this experiment will be to acquire 10 cards that will either fit into my collections or be decent buys (read: trade bait) in general.

4. At least 2 of those must be numbered, parallel, auto, or relic cards.

5. 15 non consecutive minute time limit per day (I'm using an old stopwatch...remember kids no cheating)...this limit is in place for three reasons.  First, to make it a little challenging to select some quality cards.  Second, I don't have the time nor the desire to look more than that.  Lastly, I know myself and if I looked longer I would break my budget VERY quickly.

6. No cards from a major overproduction era set.  Quick sidebar, I hate the term "junk wax" on this blog you will see the replacement term "overproduction era." I started collecting in this time period and to me no matter how many cards were produced, I still think they are great (but don't send me all your quadruples please!).


Rules 1, 3, 5, and 6 will remain the same.  Rules 2 & 4 will be augmented slightly. And a rule #7 that I used for the original, but didn't post.

The NEW rules

2. I will allow myself to purchases lots, however each lot will only count as one card toward the goal of 10.

4. EVERY card must be an auto / relic / parallel / serial numbered.  Exceptions to this rule will be vintage cards (my definiton of vintage is cards produced the year before I was born...in my case 1975 Topps is the latest I can buy) and of course any cards for my personal collections (Rockies, Mashburns, or 76-78 Topps Rookie Cup Cards I don't have).

7. All cards must be IN HAND by the end of March to count toward the goal.

Some people may ask 'Why on Earth would you make this challenge more difficult?'  To them I say, why the hell not?  If I fail, I'm not fired from the blog community or anything and there's no point in doing this if it's going to be a cake walk either.

So what do you guys think of the rule changes?  Am I crazy?  I'll answer that yes I am.  Do you think I have a chance at success?  Have you ever been probed by alien creatures?  (just seeing if you are still reading)

Keep tuned for updates and I hope this version is as enjoyable as the original.

Recent buys from eBay

Since I don't have a card shop anywhere near me (closest is about 40 miles away), internet buying is my main source of purchasing.  I just thought I would show off a recent acquisitions from eBay. 

A couple of new cards for my Jamal Mashburn collection.  I got both of these surprisingly cheap.  Combined for under $3.00 total shipped in two separate auctions.  I think I paid $5 for the Topps Pristine base card around a year ago on Sportslots, so I was thrilled getting the jersey for $1.35 shipped.

A card that would've been right at home in The Budget eBay Collector.  A 2001 Topps Reserve Jeff Cirillo for 12 cents shipped.  I picked the Neifi Perez in a trade with someone, so that leave me only Todd Helton from having this team set complete.  Yeah only 3 Rockies make a team set, but for some sets it's only Todd Helton, so at least we got three here.

 

 These cards are 2004 Topps Chrome Presidential Pastime refractors.  I actually bought these for a trade with a fellow blogger, but for the life of me I can't remember which one.  I only remember seeing the set on his/her wantlists.  If you or any anyone you know of are collecting the PP refractors, I have James Madison and James Monroe up for trade.

 Finally, I picked up this 2010 Topps Peak Performance bat relic of Troy Tulowitzki.  Price = $4.99.  But that's not all I got for the $4.99, I also got these two.

 2008 Topps Update Angel Berroa (Dodgers) bat relic and a THICK 2001 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Elpidio Guzman (Angels) bat relic serially numbered 523/700.  It is about the thickness of three normal relic cards.  (Cheesy announcer voice):  But wait, that's not all you get.
*UPDATE* Both bat cards are now with new owners.  I hope they enjoy them as much as I do the Tulo.

 The seller also threw in these two as a bonus to the lot of 3 bat cards.  A 1996 Score Ken Griffey Jr. and a 1997 Donruss Mark McGwire.  Not bad at all.  The Dodgers and Angels bat relics are up for trade (does anyone know of any Angels collectors?) as well as the Griffey and McGwire. 

The Budget eBay Collector - January Results

In a couple of earlier posts I described the rules and the stats of this experiment. Well the final two cards arrived on the last day of the month, so far SUCCESS.  The results are shown below in order of purchase.

1. 1979 Topps #251 Jack Morris

Morris' second card and the first in which he appeared solo.  I am on the fence on whether he should be in the Hall of Fame.  I think he will pull a Jim Rice and get in on the last ballot, but like Rice I am not sure if he belongs or not.  Odd factoid, card arrived in a toploader, but no penny sleeve.  I expected the opposite for the price.  I got this card for 12 cents shipped. $4.88 remaining.

2. 1994 Upper Deck American Epic #14 Christy Mathewson

Before you move on, click on the back of that card and read it.  You gotta love a card in which you can learn someone was a football star at Bucknell, his worst vice was checkers, and he was exposed to poison gas in a military drill.   6 cents shipped.  How can you beat that?  5 cents you say?  Well, okay then smartass.  $4.82 remaining.

3. 2002 Donruss Classics #166 Joe Morgan /1500

The card looks refractory from the scan but it isn't.  Most of my family loved the Reds because it is the closest team to where I live.  I wasn't as big a fan and I missed Joe Morgan's heyday, but I thought this card was cool as soon as I saw it.  Plus, you get to see the Colt 45's name on the back, you couldn't get away with that name today (see Washington Wizards).  $1.51 shipped (yeah, I know I splurged but I'm not going hungry yet). $3.31 remaining.

4. 2008 Topps Chrome X-Fractor Troy Tulowitzki

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! I had my maximum bid up with 90 minutes to go and I thought I would get sniped, but lo and behold I got a great Rockie, an XFractor, and a rookie cup card all in one.  How great is that?  Boy, I can't wait until this historic card is reprinted in this year's Topps set...yep, that's sarcasm.  $1.75 shipped (and well worth it).  $1.56 remaining (gotta start being selective now).

5. 2006 Topps Special Edition Rookies #321 Bruce Gradkowski

I had him on my championship fantasy team this year, so I figured what the heck, but my first thought after the auction was over was that this is one of those "Why did I just buy that?" purchases.  However, after checking out COMC the cheapest there was $1.30 + extra fees and the "book value" is $4 (whatever that means).  Pretty good deal.  17 cents shipped.  $1.39 remaining.

6. 2002 Topps206 Polar Bear Mini #390 Adam Dunn

Let me start off by saying that unlike most in Blogland, I am not overly enamored with all these throwback sets, specifically those dealing with T206 and 1952 Topps.  I realize these designs are iconic, but give it a rest Topps and do it maybe once a generation to give it a sort of special feel.  Anyway onto Dunn I think this is the short-print version of his card (correct me if I am wrong).           15 cents shipped.  $1.24 remaining.

7. 2003 Topps205 Triple Folder #38 Alex Rodriguez / Miguel Tejada

Here's your B-12 shot Miguel

This is another of the throwback sets with everyone's favorite Alex Rodriguez.  While we are here, this is another topic in which I disagree with most of my fellow bloggers.  Honestly, I don't love that steroids were used, but what's done is done.  If it wasn't for McGwire / Sosa in 1998, I probably wouldn't be a baseball fan today.  But that's a topic for another day.  I got this beauty for 16 cents shipped. $1.08 remaining.

8. 2006 Topps Turkey Red Black parallel #534 Doug Mientkiewicz

Along with Mark Grudzielanek, Mientkiewicz was one of the funner names of the late 90s / early 2000s.  Here he is shown as a Royal, although I still think of him as a Twin.  I like the Turkey Reds better as a standalone set better than an insert set.  I think I would like them a lot better if only modern players were used.  Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth's stats haven't changed for a long time so why the need for new cards of them every year.  But I digress.  I got this one for 25 cents shipped.  $0.83 remaining.

9. 2007 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts #11 Joe Cronin

I love the design of this card.  I knew the name, but I didn't know a lot about Joe Cronin before this purchase.  It turns out he was a busy guy.  He was President of the American League for for 15 years after being general manager of the Red Sox for 10.  Oddest fact about him was that he was traded by the Senators while serving as player/manager to take that same role with Boston for another 10 years.  I got this card for 36 cents shipped.  $0.47 remaining.

10. 1994 Leaf #397 Larry Walker

Here is Walker in his pre-Colorado days playing in what has to be Wrigley Field.  Not a horrible design on that 94 Leaf set, but not a great one either.  (Bitch mode on) How does Larry Walker only get 20 percent of the Hall of Fame vote?  I didn't expect him to be a first ballot lock by any means, but 20 freaking percent.  I think voters are not choosing Rockies based on the home ballpark which is totally unfair because Major League Baseball knew Denver was at high elevation when they sanctioned the franchise.  Todd Helton will probably face the same bias when he is eligible.  (Bitch mode off)  I got it for 11 cents shipped.  $0.36 remaining.

11. 2006 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor #101 P.J. Daniels /150

Can you go wrong with a rookie refractor numbered to 150?  Of course you can, what a dumb question.  When it is a fourth round rookie running back that never played a snap in the regular season, it could be counted as wrong.  That being said, he still made it to pro ball which most people cannot do and this is a cool looking card of the Ravens pick and I got it cheap enough.  I would be happy to ship this off for a numbered Rockies bust.  32 cents shipped. $0.04 remaining.  (not getting a 52 Topps as the last one)

12. 2006 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor #178 Julius Jones /150

Well, I went slightly over budget.  I had bids on the last two cards with a 36 cent maximum and surprisingly won them both.  Can't complain though.  Another blue refractor makes this a starter set now.  I normally do not buy football cards, but at this time of year there were more football cards than baseball cards on eBay.  You have to work with the materials available.  I got this one for 15 cents shipped.  11 cents over budget.

WHAT I LEARNED (aka the part you will skip over)

1. Always check the free shipping box.  The Perez I bought for 1 cent with $1.50 shipping that I didn't notice.

2. This is a great option for getting good trade bait or for collectors of popular teams, but not for getting Rockies unfortunately.

3.  I didn't realize how much time I spent browsing eBay until I had a stopwatch running.

4. Not only did I get the cards for $5, I also got 11 toploaders and a handful of penny sleeves.  Can't complain about that.

5. This was a good way to own some cards that I would have never even thought to look for on COMC or Sportslots.

6. I had a good time doing it.  It was really fun winning an auction for the total price of 6 cents.

7. I bypassed some cards that I normally would've splurged on, that's probably a good thing.

8. I will be doing this again on a bi-monthly or tri-monthly basis.  But honestly I can't limit myself to $5 every month.

Every card seen here excluding the Tulowitzki and the Morris is available for trade.  Email me or comment below if you want certain cards.

The Budget eBay Collector January Quick Update

A little while ago, I embarked on a little collecting experiment which I am calling The eBay Budget Collector.  The details and rules are here, but as a quick recap I had a $5.00 budget and the month of January to get 10 cards.  Simple, huh?  Several people mentioned to me that it was a good idea and for that I thank you.  Since I haven't mentioned it in a while I thought I would provide a quick update on my progress. 

Assignment complete.  There quick enough for ya. 

I am still waiting on a few of the cards to arrive, but I figured, for you stats geeks (like me) out there, I would provide a rundown of what I got without giving too much away.

Cards purchased: 12
Keeper cards purchased: 1 definite, maybe a couple of others (Yep that means trade bait)
Sports represented: 2 ( 9 Baseball, 3 Football )
Card companies represented: 5
HOFs purchased: 3 (potentially more)
Rockies purchased: 1 (not really surprised nobody sells Rockies on eBay)
Teams represented: 12 (2 Reds, 1 combo with 2 different teams)
Budget stuck too?: No, I overshot by 11 cents (Oops)
Total $ amount spent on shipping: $2.00 (on two different cards)
Oldest card purchased: 1979
Serial #'d cards purchased: 3
Most expensive card including shipping: $1.75
Least expensive card including shipping: $0.06
Fun had: Quite a bit actually, kinda frustrating toward the end though
$5 well spent? - I think so, I probably could have done better, but hey it's 5 bucks.

If you were bored by this, I'm sorry but why are you still reading?  I will show off my loot as soon as I get everything in and scanned.  I hope you guys are enjoying this little experiment, because I will probably do it again in a couple of months.

The Budget eBay Collecting Experiment

As a collector of limited funds, I thought it was be a service to everyone to start a new feature.  Well since the blog is only a few days old, everything is a new feature.  I gave myself a $5.00 budget and the rest of January to shop for and (hopefully) receive cards from eBay.  I have set some ground rules for myself as well.

1. The $5.00 budget WILL factor include shipping costs meaning no cheap buying of the 1 cent card with $42 shipping here.

2. I will allow myself single card purchases only.  No big lots, they would make the next rule too easy.

3. The goal of this experiment will be to acquire 10 cards that will either fit into my collections or be decent buys in general.

4. At least 2 of those must be numbered, parallel, auto, or relic cards.

5. 15 non consecutive minute time limit per day (I'm using an old stopwatch...remember kids no cheating)...this limit is in place for three reasons.  First, to make it a little challenging to select some quality cards.  Second, I don't have the time nor the desire to look more than that.  Lastly, I know myself and if I looked longer I would break my budget VERY quickly.

6. No cards from a major overproduction era set.  Quick sidebar, I hate the term "junk wax" on this blog you will see the replacement term "overproduction era." I started collecting in this time period and to me no matter how many cards were produced, I still think they are great (but don't send me all your quadruples please!).


I will post the results of this experiment either at the end of the month or when have blown the budget and received all cards.  If this is successful, this will become a regular feature here.  Not a monthly one though, because there is no way I can limit myself to $5 every month.