Showing posts with label Diamondbacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diamondbacks. Show all posts

Friday, July 4, 2025

Happy Independence Day!

Just a quick little post wishing all of my readers a Happy 4th of July! It'll be a fun day for my family, as my wife is planning a gender reveal for her sister on that day. I personally have no clue if the "little fire cracker" will be pink or blue...

2015 Panini USA
Stars & Stripes - Fireworks
#8 Kyle Schwarber

It'll be a different 4th of July no doubt. In addition to the gender reveal party, my town has decided to swap out the annual fireworks show for one using drones. On one hand, I've seen a few online and they look cool, and no doubt dog owners and combat vets will be appreciative. However, it's just not the same and will take some getting use to. I do appreciate a good Laser Show though!

2012 Topps - Career Day #CD-14 Dustin Pedroia
 
Maybe I'll enjoy a freshly grilled hot dog!
 
2017 Topps Opening Day - Incredible Eats
#IE-16 Kayem Fenway Frank
 
Although nothing beats a nice juicy burger...
 

2012 Topps Update
- Golden Debut Autographs
#GDA-MH Mark Hamburger (AU)

 
...especially if I wash it down with a (root) beer or two.
 
1958 Hires Root Beer #44 Hank Aaron
 
However you enjoy today, I hope it's relaxing, fun, and safe. Happy Independence Day, America!

2018 Topps #659 Arizona Diamondbacks (TC)

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Ranking 50 Years Worth Of Topps #330 Cards #40 - #31

In honor of my 50th birthday, this week I'm ranking all 51 Topps base cards numbered #330 since 1975. Why #330? Because my birthday was on 03/30. Why 51 cards when I've turned 50? Because that's how math works, and as my father-in-law likes to say: I didn't turn 50, I started my 51st year of existence!
 
Today we continue the count down starting with the 40th best #330 in the history of Topps base sets (since 1975 - get with the theme here!). Rankings are purely subjective to my whim. 

#40 - 2005 (David Wright/Craig Brazell)


 
One of the fun things about the Future Stars subset is that you know it's pretty hit or miss when it comes to predicting actual stardom. This card is a great representative of that - on one hand you have Hall of Fame hopeful David Wright, and right below him a guy who only made it into 29 games. It's a boring card really, but Wright's star power kept it out of the bottom group of cards.

#39 - 1980 (Al Cowens)



Another card I initially thought would be more in the mid-level range. Nothing against it at all, just found myself picking other cards ahead of it!

#38 - 1990 (Ron Darling)


 
Bonus points to Darling for being a player I've met and gotten a signed ball from!

#37 - 1993 (Danny Tartabull)


 
Tartabull was always one of those guys I hated seeing step up to the plate when he faced the Red Sox. He hit the ball hard, and that is shown in this card.

#36 - 1985 (Leon Durham)



Major League Baseball needs more guys named Leon.

#35 - 2001 (Don Baylor)



Manager cards are cool, especially when it's a well known and well respected player. If he wasn't squinting in this picture he might have been ranked higher.

#34 - 2010 (Brandon Allen)


 
I like how the border and team name are in sync with the player's jersey. This card could have been cropped better though.

#33 - 1984 (John Candelaria)



The "Candy Man" is sticking out his tongue while wearing that fantastic pillbox style hat.

#32 - 1977 (George Hendrick)



The hat, the jacket, the foo-Manchu mustache...Hendrick had style!

#31 - 2019 (Lorenzo Cain)



If a player's uniform isn't this dirty by the end of a game, he isn't trying hard enough!
 
The countdown continues tomorrow with #30-21! 

Monday, October 14, 2024

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Colorado Springs, CO

I'm trying to make an effort to finish off the 2024 Topps Red Sox cards. If I can expand that to knock a few more from the base set in general, all the better.  That was my thought process on a recent TCDB trade with a gent named Eric. I sent him some set needs, he sent me back some as well:
 

I'm down to needing 3 more Red Sox cards for this set (Refsnyder, Grissom, and Dalbec), and my full set stands at just under 75% complete. I'll probably throw a want list up once I hit the 80% mark, and maybe I'll get myself motivated to knock it out before the year ends.

Favorite Card: How big is your card Nick Fortes?

Thanks for the trade Eric!

Friday, August 9, 2024

Back To The Card Shop!

I had an opportunity to once again visit the local area card shop that opened earlier this year. It seems to be doing OK, but I wonder how viable it'll be long term. Speaking with the owner, it doesn't look like he'll be getting in any new product, as the prices and minimum purchases that he'd have to meet are ridiculously high. Which is a shame. Fortunately for him, he deals is lots different collectables and memorabilia and such.
 
Of course I wasn't there for Starting Lineups or their ilk. He had a small box of dime and nickle cards up front, so that's where I started. Unfortunately it was pretty much all football and basketball. I did however find some baseball, and some new baseball at that!
 
 
If I would have guessed, it looks like he opened up a blaster box himself. Still, I was able to find these Series 1 needs, all for a buck!
 
Of course I had to look through his team boxes and see what Red Sox cards peaked my interest.
 
 
The Mo Vaughn name plate card is probably my favorite score of the day. All the while it was pretty much me and the owner in the store (not surprising being middle of a Thursday). It gave us the opportunity to talk about a variety of hobby topics, from this year's hot rookies to some Project 2020 he recently acquired, even touching base on all those poor junk wax cards commons that aren't worth the cardboard they're printed on.
 
I had just enough time on my lunch break to check out some vintage singles, and for some reason I found myself primarily going through a large stack of 1980 Topps. I have just little over half of the set, and since I already own the key card from it (Rickey!), it's a set I'll probably make a big push to complete someday.
 
 
I only got through about a 1/3 of what he had, and a lot of what I did go through had cards with noticeable paper loss, but I was able to find a few needs, including a few Hall of Famers. 

As I was checking out, I saw he had a few old packs available for a reasonable price, so I grabbed a few for nostalgia reasons. If nothing else I can do a pack wars post with them and get an extra blog out of it!
 
 
$10 and roughly 45 minutes of my time well spent!


Monday, February 19, 2024

Time Travel Trading Update #86

 
7 years. I'm starting the 7th year of this little trading endeavor. I started out with just a single pack of 2018 Topps, and now almost 300 trades later and I'm still going strong. It's been tradition each year to include a pack of the latest Topps base set. This will be the 7th pack I've added, the rest is all you guys. Thank you so much for the support!
 

 It seems you can't find single packs in the retail stores anymore, so I had to buy a blaster box and pick one. And yes, full disclosure, I pick the pack that I like the least. Not that this one is bad or anything.

By adding this pack, I also get to do something I've never done before: Start a post with cards from 2024, and (spoiler alert!) end with a card from 1924, a nice neat 100-year span! But first, we have some great trades to go through...
 
We start things off a trade from Bo (Baseball Cards Come to Life!). You might have missed Bo's regular offerings last month. Bo's return trade from last time came a bit later than normal, and just missed my self-imposed deadline.

As always, some great cards! There's a little football and basketball mixed in with the baseball, plus a very cool cards from the 1952 Topps Look 'n See set!
 
Another one of my regulars, the always generous Brendan (The View From The Third Floor) picked up some early 80's cards. He usually sends more than he trades for, and is probably one of the main reasons why my trade stack has over 800 cards in it now!

I'm seriously considering snagging that Helton card for myself. I'll let everyone else have first crack at it though!
 
Guess who's back? (Back again!) Bo is back! (Tell a friend!) Now that song is stuck in my head... Anyway, Bo didn't waste any time sending cards for last month's trade. This one packs a wallop with over a dozen 1955 Topps cards!

Hey, the Pacific Legends are cool too, but those 55's!
 
Next up is my third trade with John (Adventures Of A Baseball Card Collector). He picked up some vintage needs, and sent back a quintet of great cards:


We finish things up with my trade with Jon (A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts), who snagged that great Lou Gehrig oddball card. He made the trade worthwhile!

I find it amusing when different trade partners send me cards from the same set. Just like that, I now have two cards from the 1952 Topps Look 'n See set! On the right is a card from the 1924 Lambert & Butler Wonders of Nature set - 100 years older than the first cards I showed on this post. Amazing.

As always, my thanks to Bo, Brendan, John, and Jon!
 
As always, these cards are all available in exchange for an older card. You can claim your cards below, or through the TCDB (Kep75). Let's make some trades! 
 

The Time Travel Trade Stack:

2024 Topps
#85 Jose Ferrer (RC)
#120 Edwin Diaz
#171 Jacob deGrom
#225 Brusdar Graterol
#239 Keibert Ruiz
#258 Nathan Eovaldi
#265 Alika Williams (RC)
#282 Alek Thomas
#304 Evan Longoria
#314 Max Muncy

2024 Topps - Stars of MLB
#SMLB-25 Pete Crow-Armstrong

2024 Topps - Stars of MLB Chrome
#CSMLB-1 Paul Goldschmidt
 
2022-23 Donruss (basketball)
#131 Kendrick Nunn
#151 Jae'Sean Tate
#188 Nassir Little
 
2022 Topps Opening Day - Opening Day Autographs
#ODA-LWJ LaMonte Wade Jr. (AU)  
 
2021-22 Donruss - Magicians (basketball)
 
2021-22 Donruss (soccer)
#183 Jose Macias (RR)
 
 
2020 Leaf Draft - Gold (football)
#66 CeeDee Lamb (AA)
#77 Collin Johnson (TD)   

2017-18 Donruss (basketball)
#75 Chandler Parsons
 
2017 Topps - MLB Award Winners
 
2015-16 Donruss (basketball)
#49 John Wall
 
2014 Topps
#253 Todd Helton (BH, CL) 
 
2012 Topps Stickers
#237 Bernie Brewer (MAS) 
  
2010 Bowman - Prospects Black
#BP51 Chase D'Arnaud
#BP56 Rolando Gomez

2010 Bowman Platinum - Prospects
#PP38 Brian Johnson      
 
2010 Topps (football)
#249 David Garrard
 
2010 Topps Chrome (football)
#C141 T.J. Houshmandzadeh
 
2009 Bowman - Chrome WBC Prospects
#BCW18 Tao Bu  
 
2009 Donruss Americana (non-sport)
#50 Francesco Quinn
 
2008 Topps New York Yankees
#NYY8 Jason Giambi
 
2008 Topps (football)
#301 Larry Fitzgerald (PB) 
 
2007 Upper Deck MLB Rookie Card of the Month
#ROM-4 Ryan Braun 
 
2007 Playoff Prestige (football) 
 
2006 Topps Updates & Highlights
#UH172 Mike Piazza (SH)
 
2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia
#44 Shawn Green
 
2004 Bowman Chrome
#263 Jeff Allison (FY, RC) 
 
2004 Just Rookies - 05 Preview Autographs
 
2002 Fleer Maximum
 
2002 Upper Deck World Series Heroes
#88 Andy Petitte
 
2001 Topps Archives
#20 Gaylord Perry
 
 
1999-00 Topps (basketball)
#16 Eric William 
 
1999 SkyBox Metal Universe (football)
#116 Tiki Barber
 
1999 Stadium Club
#214 Tony Saunders 
 
1998 Pinnacle Performers
#14 Hideo Nomo
 
1997 Collector's Choice
#215 Glenallen Hill  
 
 
1997 Pinnacle Inside
#111 Matt Williams

1997 Pinnacle X-Press
#64 Craig Biggio   
 
1997 Upper Deck
#13 Mark Lemke

1996 Leaf
 
1996 SP
 
1996 Upper Deck
#358 Todd Worrell
 
1995 Finest (football)
#124 Trent Dilfer     
 
1995 Skybox Jumanji (non-sport)
#31 Help Us Finish
 
 
1994-95 Finest (basketball)
#43 Rex Chapman  

1994 Collector's Choice
#636 David Justice (UC&P)
 
1994 Finest
#413 Mark Portugal
 
1994 Fleer
#295 Tino Martinez 
 
1994 Panini Stickers
#207 Sean Berry
#208 Wil Cordero 
 
1994 Classic Four Sport (multi-sport)
#145 Chad Penney  
 
1994 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis 500 Champions Collection (racing)
#NNO Danny Sullivan
#NNO Mario Andretti
 
1993 Leaf
 
1993 Stadium Club
 
1993 Action Packed Hall of Fame (basketball)
#37 Connie Hawkins
 
1993 Classic '93 Hockey Draft (hockey)
#40 Saku Koivu 
 
1993 Classic Four Sport (multi-sport)
#246 Mike Rathje
 
 
1992 Front Row Draft Picks
#46 Ed Christian   
 
 
 
1992 Pinnacle
 
1992 Score
#845 Kenny Lofton (RP) 
 
 
1991-92 Upper Deck (basketbal)
 
1989-92 Racing Champions Stock Car (racing)
#01126 Geoff Bodine
 
 
1991 Score
 
1991 Score Rookie & Traded
#58T Fred McGriff 
 
1991 Topps
#575 Robin Yount

1991 Ultra
#130 Lou Whitaker  
 
1991 Upper Deck
 
1991 Fleer (football)
 
1991 Pro Set (football)
 
1991 Pro Set Platinum (football)
#81 Lawrence Taylor
 

 
1991 Topps Desert Storm (non-sport)
#147 Working Together   
 
 
1990-91 Pro Set Super Bowl XXV Silver Anniversary (football)
#88 Nick Buoniconti
#134 Johnny Unitas 
 
1990-91 Fleer (basketball)
#21 Kelly Tripucka
#21 Kelly Tripucka
 

1990 Fleer
 
1990 Pacific Legends
#34 Don Kessinger
 
 
1990 Score (football)
#436 Chet Brooks (RC)
 
1990 Topps Traded (football)
#102T Howard Cross (RC)
 
1989-90 Fleer (basketball)

1989-90 Hoops (basketball)
#64 Armon Gilliam

   
 
1989 Topps
#628 Matt Williams
#648 Sandy Alomar Jr. (FS, RC, VAR)
#764 Robin Ventura (FRDP, RC)
 
1988 Card Collectors T-206 Reprint
#NNO Matty McIntyre
 
1988 Donruss 
 
 
1988 Pacific Legends I
#11 Harvey Haddix
#71 Chuck Connors
 
 
 
1988 Topps Toys "R" Us Rookies
#13 Mike Henneman
 
1988 Topps Traded
 
1987 Fleer Update
#U-108 Kevin Seitzer

1987 O-Pee-Chee
#345 Andre Dawson
#371 Dave Schmidt
 
1987 Topps 
 
1986 Donruss
 
 
1986 Fleer Baseball's Best Sluggers vs. Pitchers
 
 
1985 Topps #403
Cory Snyder (OLY, RC) 
 
1985 Topps (football)
#53 Lions Team Leaders (TL)
 
1984-85 Topps (hockey)
#3 Tom Fergus 
 
1984 Donruss
#625 Runnin' Redbirds 

1984 Fleer
 
 
 
1983 O-Pee-Chee
#104 Ron Guidry  
 
1983 Topps
#398 Manny Trillo (AS)

1983 Topps Drake's Big Hitters
#14 Dave Kingman
 
 
1982-85 Galasso Baseball Hobby Card Report T-206 Reprints
 
1982 Dover Publications Reprints National League
#15 Robin Roberts
 
1982 Fleer
#185 Gary Carter 
 
1982 Topps
 
1982 Topps (football) 
 
1981-82 Topps (hockey)
#51 Dale McCourt (TL)
 
1981 Donruss  
 
1981 Fleer
#427 Steve Braun

1981 Topps
 
 
1980 Topps 
#65 Al Bumbry
 
#281 Vern Den Herder 
#505 Joe Washington
 
1979 Kellogg's 3-D Super Stars
#25 Darrell Porter (COR, SP)

1979 Topps 
 
1979 Topps (football)

1978-79 Topps (basketball)
#118 Kevin Porter 

1978 Topps  
 
 
1977 Dover Publications Classic Baseball Cards Reprints
#10 Lefty O'Doul
#18 Jimmie Dykes
#99 Hal Chase
#NNO Melvin Harder
#NNO Fred Merkle
 
1977 Topps
 
1977 Topps (football)

1976 Topps

1976 Topps (football)

1975 Topps
 
 
1974-75 Topps (hockey)
#13 Syl Apps
 
 
1974 Topps - Traded
#43T Jim Wynn
 
1974 Topps (football)
#3 Don Hansen

 
1972 Topps  
#323 Earl Weaver (MGR) 
 
1971 Topps
 
1971 Topps (football)
#8 Walt Garrison (RC)
 
1970 Topps
#2 Diego Segui
#287 Fred Talbot   #390 Willie Davis    
 
1970 Topps (football)
 
1969 Globe Imports Playing Cards Gas Station Issue
#2♦ Paul Casanova
 
1969 Topps
#19 Ken Suarez
 
1969 Topps - Four-in-One Singles (football)
#NNO Ralph Baker
#NNO John Bramlett
#NNO Billy Martin
#NNO Bob Talamini 
 
1968 Topps
#98 Gary Sutherland

1967 Topps

1966 Topps
#10 Tony Cloninger
#12 John Tsitouris
#13 Lou Johnson
#16 Larry Brown 
 
1965 Topps
#17 Johnny Romano
 
1964 Ed-U-Cards Washington Senators Baseball Card Game
#NNO Ball

1964 Topps 
 
1963 Topps
#26 Ray Moore
 
1962 Topps
1961 Topps
#125 Steve Barber 
 
1960 Topps

1959 Topps
#394 Jim Grant (RC) 

1957 Topps
#133 Del Crandall
 
1956 Topps (football)
#51 Ted Marchibroda
 
1955 Bowman
 
1955 Topps
#12 Jake Thies (RC)
#14 Jim Finigan (RC)
#30 Vic Power
#32 Ed McGhee
#34 Wayne Terwilliger
#48 Bob Kennedy
#49 J.W. Porter
#55 Rip Repulski
#59 Gair Allie <30>
#61 Spook Jacobs
#66 Ron Jackson (RC)
#68 Jim Davis (RC)
#81 Gene Conley
 
1955 Bowman (football)
#9 Don Stonesifer
 
1954 Topps
#215 Ed McGhee

1954 Bowman Power For Peace (non-sport)
#91 USS Coral Sea (CVB43)

1953 Topps
 
1952 Topps Look 'n See (R714-16) (non-sport)
#75 Elias Howe
#92 Louis Daguerre 
 
1951 Bowman (football)
#118 Frank Reagan
 
 
1939 Wills's Garden Flowers by Richard Sudell (non-sport)
#38 Petunia

1938 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Tenth Series (J9-6) (non-sport)
#2 Black-throated Green Warbler
 
1938 Churchman's Boxing Personalities (boxing)
#45 Ted Broadribb
#48 Arthur J. Elvin 

1937-38  Diamond Matchbooks Tan 6 (hockey)
#NNO Glenn Brydson
 
1935 Church & Dwight Useful Birds of America Eighth Series (J9-4) (non-sport)
#10 California Jay

1933 Church & Dwight Useful Birds of America Fifth Series (J9-1) (non-sport)
#5 Indigo Bunting 
 
1925 Sports Records (multi-sport)
 
1924 Imperial Tobacco Co. of Canada (ITC) Dogs Series (non-sport)
#4 Otter-Hound
 
1924 Lambert & Butler Wonders of Nature (non-sport)
#25 Army-Worms and Fly 

1922 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Third Series (J7) (non-sport)
#7 Prothonotary Warbler

1915 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America First Series (J5) (non-sport)
#1 Quail
 
1910 Champions (T218) (multi-sport)
 
1890 N245 Sweet Caporal Actors & Actresses (non-sport)
#NNO Frankie Raymond

The Time Travel Trading Project is simple in concept. I started out with a random pack of 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards. My aim was to trade every card in that pack for something older. Each card I receive in turn is then made available for trade, with the goal to get the oldest card I can get.

Number of trades completed: 289
Unique trading partners: 73

Number of cards mailed out: 1,571
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1910-11

Number of cards received: 2,305
Year of oldest card received: 1890