One season, four teams
Mets, Padres, Angels, Yankees
Each division too
 |
| 1990 Pacific Senior League #186 Dave Kingman |
"Kong" went coast to coast and back again in 1977:
 |
| via Baseball-Reference.com |
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Repack Haiku #110 (Dave Kingman)
"Kong" went coast to coast and back again in 1977:
Monday, July 8, 2019
Time Travel Trading Update #32
The last update failed to generate any new trades. In the past to keep things moving along, I picked some cards from the stack and basically held them for ransom. If nobody traded for them, I pulled them from the stack and added them to my collection. This idea hasn't been a huge boost to the trades either, so I came up with an idea that I hope will pique some curiosity and interest.
I'm offering a completely blind trade!
|
|
I've picked two cards from the stack - one from the 80's and one from the 70's. I'm looking for one or two brave souls willing to blindly send me a card from the previous decade in exchange for these mystery cards. Plus as an added bonus, I'll include an additional card from the stack - a 2 for 1 deal!
If this doesn't generate any interest, I'll reveal the two mystery cards and pull them permanently from the stack.
Or, if you want to know what you're getting, just make me a straight up trade for any of the cards below!
So, any willing volunteers? Help me keep this stack of cards flowing! Traders needed! Comment below or send me a trade through the Trading Card Database (User Name: Kep75)!
The Time Travel Trade Stack:
2018 Topps
#502 Xander Bogaerts
2017 Bowman
#12 Trea Turner
2008-09 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#128 Tim Thomas
1998 Score
#60 Carlos Delgado
#68 Scott Rolen
#74 Mark McLemore
1993 Classic Draft Picks (basketball)
#33 Will Flemons
#67 Bennie Seltzer
1992 Fleer Ultra
#594 Dave Righetti
1991 Upper Deck
#778 Dave Righetti
1990-91 Hoops (basketball)
#168 Glen Rice (RC)
1990 Upper Deck
#626 Frank Viola
1990 Pro Set - Theme Art (football)
#10 Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers / Dallas Cowboys
1989 Fleer
#29 Bob Welch
1989 Score
#495 Larry Parrish
1986 Sportflics
#122 John Tudor
1986 Topps
#5 Rose Special '75-'78
#6 Rose Special '79-'82
#401 Fernando Valenzuela (Turn Back The Clock)
1985 Topps
#694 Joe Carter
1982 Donruss
#NNO Checklist 545-653
1982 O-Pee-Chee E.T. The Extraterrestrial (non-sport)
#15 Among Elliott's Toys
1981 Topps
#100 Rod Carew (AS)
#210 Jim Palmer
1980 Topps
#2 Willie McCovey (HL)
#143 Bruce Bochte
#157 Willie Wilson
#290 Steve Garvey (AS)
#605 Terry Forster
#671 A's Future Stars
1979 Topps
#25 Steve Carlton
#130 Bob Watson
#214 Boston Red Sox (TC)
#465 Reggie Smith
#680 Carlton Fisk (AS)
1978 Donruss KISS (2nd Series) (non-sport)
#99 Paul Stanley
1978 Topps
#63 Don Zimmer (MGR)
#131 Bert Blyleven
#295 Bill Lee
#373 Jim Willoughby
#424 Boston Red Sox (TC)
#482 Rick Miller
#706 Rookie 1st Baseman (Cage/Cox/Putnam/Revering)
1977 Topps
#524 Rowland Office
1976 Topps
#50 Fred Lynn (ASR)
#70 Roy Smalley/Roy Smalley Jr. (FS)
#78 Cecil Cooper
#118 Boston Red Sox (TC)
#193 '75 NL Home Run Leaders
#597 Rookie Pitchers (Aase/Kucek/LaCorte/Pazik)
1975 Topps
#220 Don Sutton
#310 '74 Victory Leaders
#378 Derrel Thomas
#402 Bob Tolan
1974 Topps
#38 Don Kessinger
#67 Tommy Helms
#141 Pat Bourque
#158 Jack Billingham
#158 Jack Billingham
#227 Mike Lum
#349 John Vukovich
#372 Ken Reitz
1974 Topps - Team Checklists
#NNO Montreal Expos
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#53 Richard Lemieux
1973 Topps
#18 Leroy Stanton
#29 Tony Taylor
#30 Tug McGraw
#36 Steve Barber
#68 1972 Leading Firemen (Carroll/Lyle)
#75 Vada Pinson
#79 Jim Willoughby (RC)
#80 Tony Oliva
#85 Ted Simmons
#98 Dick Woodson
#99 Carl Taylor
#116 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#145 Bobby Bonds
#225 Albert Oliver
#230 Joe Morgan
#232 Ken Singleton
#240 Bobby Murcer
#258 Tommy John
#325 Boog Powell
#329 Ed Kranepool
#365 Rico Petrocelli
#368 Bill Buckner
1972-73 Topps (hockey)
#8 Stanley Cup Trophy
1972 Kellogg's All Time Greats
#1 Walter Johnson
1972 Topps
#43 Rick Wise
#109 Jerry May
#437 Maury Wills
#438 Maury Wills (IA)
#450 Mickey Lolich
1971 Topps
#16 Ken Singleton (RC)
#63 AL 1970 RBI Leaders (Howard/Conigliaro/Powell)
#71 AL 1970 Strikeout Leaders (McDowell/Lolich/Johnson)
#90 Joe Pepitone
#95 Luis Tiant
#105 Tony Conigliaro
#146 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#183 Gil Hodges (MGR)
#195 AL Playoffs Game 1 - Powell Muscles Twins!
#208 Billy Martin (MGR)
#270 Rico Carty
#290 Tony Oliva
#374 Clete Boyer
#374 Clete Boyer
#385 Maury Wills
#388 Al Oliver
1971 Topps (football)
#22 Ken Avery (RC)
#110 Floyd Little (AS)
1970-71 Topps (basketball)
#16 Bob Weiss
1970 Fleer World Series
#1 1903 World Series Pirates vs Red Sox
1970 Red Rose and Blue Ribbon North American Wildlife In Danger (non-sport)
#32 Polar Bear
1970 Topps
#47 Bob Miller
#56 Phillies Rookies - Joe Lis/Scott Reid (RC)
#103 Frank Reberger
1970 Topps (football)
#135 Paul Warfield
1969 Topps
#66 Orioles Rookies
#139 Andy Kosco
1969 Topps - Deckle Edge
#13 Mel Stottlemyre
1969 Topps (football)
#73 Bennie McRae
#115 Randy Johnson
#154 Sam Baker
#175 Joe Morrison
1968 Topps
#4 1967 AL RBI Leaders (Yastrzemski/Killebrew/Robinson)
#309 Ken Henderson
#348 Larry Colton/Dick Thoenen
#449 Gene Oliver
1968 Topps - Game
#15 Steve Hargan
1968 Topps (football)
#7 Earl Gros
1967 Philadelphia (football)
#109 New York Giants (TC)
1966 Topps
#154 Chuck Hiller
1966 Philadelphia (football)
#104 Rams vs. Browns
1965 Topps
#27 Dick Bertell
#86 Les Narum
#87 Nelson Mathews
#108 Don Mincher
#111 Lee Thomas
#178 Dalton Jones
#239 Doc Edwards
#307 Barry Latman
1965 Philadelphia (football)
#193 John Paluck
1964 Philadelphia (football)
#172 Ken Gray (RC)
1964 Topps - Coins
#7 Frank Malzone
1963 Topps
#155 Bill Stafford
1961-62 Fleer (basketball)
#32 Willie Naulls
1961 Topps
#32 Ray Sadecki
#38 Bob Lillis
#96 Billy O'Dell
#165 Gino Cimoli
#258 Jack Sanford
#267 Norm Siebern
#273b 4th Series Checklist
#399 Cliff Cook (RC)
1960 Topps
#289 Willie Jones
#548 Don Mincher (RC)
1959 Topps
#298 Tex Clevenger
#424 Ken Aspromonte
1959 Topps (football)
#80 Joe Perry
1958 Topps Zorro (non-sport)
#83 Rude Awakening
1957 Topps
#66 Brooks Lawrence
#235 Tom Poholsky
#249 Dave Pope
#371 Bob Lennon
#406 Bob Hale
1956 Topps
#21 Joe Collins
#103 Willie Miranda (white back)
#156 Johnny Antonelli
1956 Topps Flags of the World (non-sport)
#70 Jordan
1955 Topps
#126 Dick Hall (RC)
1954 Bowman
#73 Don Mueller
1952 Bowman
#57 Clyde Vollmer
1938 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Tenth Series (J9-6) (non-sport)
#2 Black-throated Green Warbler
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: 35
Unique trading partners: 25
Number of cards mailed out: 105
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1956
Number of cards received: 263
Year of oldest card received: 1938
Friday, July 5, 2019
The Absolutely True Story Of Mike Perez (A Contest Entry)
March, 1992
"One last pitch, then you're done!"
Mike Perez nodded to his catcher and began his windup. His arm felt good, and this early in Spring Training, it was all he could really hope for. He fired the ball squarely into the catcher's glove, not quite a full strength fastball, but getting there. Happy with the workout, Mike began the slow walk back to the training room.
The path was quiet, as it usually was at this time of day. Off in the distance he could see guys doing sprints, while some photographers took pictures. The sounds of bats hitting balls, and balls hitting gloves permeated the air. As he walked along the wired fence, a young boy approached him.
"Excuse me, Mr. Perez, would you please sign my card?"
Mike was surprised by the sudden appearance of the child. The crowd of fans usually gathered near here closer to game time, hours from now, but one quick glance proved they were alone. Mike always believed a few seconds spent signing for the fans, especially the younger ones, was time well spent. He took the card and pen, transferring the pen to his writing hand as he did so. Mike briefly studied the card. It was one he hadn't called seeing before, but it was fairly unremarkable. Ironically, the photo showed him about to sign a baseball card.
"Hey Mike! Smile for Upper Deck!"
Mike looked over and saw Gene, one of the Cardinals' public relations guys, along with a photographer from one of the newer baseball card companies. He flashed a smile as the man with the camera took a few quick pictures, scribbled in his notebook, then moved on. "Thanks Mike!" Gene called out as he led the photographer to the next closest ballplayer.
Mike Perez finished signing the card. As he was about to hand it back to the boy, he was overcome with a strange sense of deja vu. He looked at the card once more. The palm trees, the fence, even the pen in his hand - it all looked so familiar. It was like he was looking at some fancy new Polaroid. As he returned it to the small child's hand, he nonchalantly flipped the card to peek the back. In a split second he was able to see the last line of stats, from this upcoming year!
He looked up and tried to get Gene's attention. He was far away now, but Mike yelled for him to come quickly. He barely heard the "Thank you, sir." from behind him, and when he finally did turn around, the boy was gone.
Mike Perez would see this card hundreds of times in the future. He always had the same thought: "How?"
July, 2099
Ziggy Anderson stepped out of the machine sweaty and breathless. His hand shook as he held the baseball card he just had signed. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Ziggy took a deep breath, counted to 5, and exhaled slowly. Calmer now, he reached over and turned off the Age Illusion Modifier (A.I.M.) - and the young freckled 12 year old morphed back into his actual 68 year old self.
Ziggy laid the card of Mike Perez on the table and just stared at it. Watched it, intently, for the next 10 minutes. He kept asking himself the same question over and over: "How?"
It was a one-in-a-trillion chance of probability. It's never been done before in the recorded age of time travel. If he arrived just 30 seconds earlier, even a few seconds later, he would have been fine. But to arrive at that very instance that card was taken? Inconceivable!
The slightest movement on the desk caught his eye. In horror, he watched the card change before his eyes. The card once showed Mike Perez, standing by a fence, holding his 1991 Topps rookie card. Now, in it's place, he's holding the exact same card that he appears on, creating a paradox of epic proportions.
Ziggy pulled up a search field on his wrist computer and began researching the card. Fortunately, it looks like the anomaly had a minimum impact. It appears collectors accepted this strange oddity of a card as nothing more than a graphically altered promotional gimmick. Still, he would have to be more careful. He couldn't afford another misstep if he was going to complete his ultimate collection of autographed baseball cards.
Ziggy checked his list and pulled the next card from the stack - a 1997 Stadium Club Neifi Perez. Ah, Colorado! Maybe he'll take some extra time and do some skiing as well. Historic files suggested the Rocky Mountains were quite spectacular before global warming melted all that snow.
A few punched in coordinates, a slight adjustment to his A.I.M. device, and Ziggy Anderson disappeared once more into the past. Another autograph will soon be his.
I hope you enjoyed my story! It's another entry for a contest hosted by Daniel at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. Interested in winning some awesome cards? Check out his post here!
"One last pitch, then you're done!"
Mike Perez nodded to his catcher and began his windup. His arm felt good, and this early in Spring Training, it was all he could really hope for. He fired the ball squarely into the catcher's glove, not quite a full strength fastball, but getting there. Happy with the workout, Mike began the slow walk back to the training room.
The path was quiet, as it usually was at this time of day. Off in the distance he could see guys doing sprints, while some photographers took pictures. The sounds of bats hitting balls, and balls hitting gloves permeated the air. As he walked along the wired fence, a young boy approached him.
"Excuse me, Mr. Perez, would you please sign my card?"
Mike was surprised by the sudden appearance of the child. The crowd of fans usually gathered near here closer to game time, hours from now, but one quick glance proved they were alone. Mike always believed a few seconds spent signing for the fans, especially the younger ones, was time well spent. He took the card and pen, transferring the pen to his writing hand as he did so. Mike briefly studied the card. It was one he hadn't called seeing before, but it was fairly unremarkable. Ironically, the photo showed him about to sign a baseball card.
"Hey Mike! Smile for Upper Deck!"
Mike looked over and saw Gene, one of the Cardinals' public relations guys, along with a photographer from one of the newer baseball card companies. He flashed a smile as the man with the camera took a few quick pictures, scribbled in his notebook, then moved on. "Thanks Mike!" Gene called out as he led the photographer to the next closest ballplayer.
Mike Perez finished signing the card. As he was about to hand it back to the boy, he was overcome with a strange sense of deja vu. He looked at the card once more. The palm trees, the fence, even the pen in his hand - it all looked so familiar. It was like he was looking at some fancy new Polaroid. As he returned it to the small child's hand, he nonchalantly flipped the card to peek the back. In a split second he was able to see the last line of stats, from this upcoming year!
He looked up and tried to get Gene's attention. He was far away now, but Mike yelled for him to come quickly. He barely heard the "Thank you, sir." from behind him, and when he finally did turn around, the boy was gone.
Mike Perez would see this card hundreds of times in the future. He always had the same thought: "How?"
July, 2099
Ziggy Anderson stepped out of the machine sweaty and breathless. His hand shook as he held the baseball card he just had signed. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Ziggy took a deep breath, counted to 5, and exhaled slowly. Calmer now, he reached over and turned off the Age Illusion Modifier (A.I.M.) - and the young freckled 12 year old morphed back into his actual 68 year old self.
Ziggy laid the card of Mike Perez on the table and just stared at it. Watched it, intently, for the next 10 minutes. He kept asking himself the same question over and over: "How?"
It was a one-in-a-trillion chance of probability. It's never been done before in the recorded age of time travel. If he arrived just 30 seconds earlier, even a few seconds later, he would have been fine. But to arrive at that very instance that card was taken? Inconceivable!
The slightest movement on the desk caught his eye. In horror, he watched the card change before his eyes. The card once showed Mike Perez, standing by a fence, holding his 1991 Topps rookie card. Now, in it's place, he's holding the exact same card that he appears on, creating a paradox of epic proportions.
Ziggy pulled up a search field on his wrist computer and began researching the card. Fortunately, it looks like the anomaly had a minimum impact. It appears collectors accepted this strange oddity of a card as nothing more than a graphically altered promotional gimmick. Still, he would have to be more careful. He couldn't afford another misstep if he was going to complete his ultimate collection of autographed baseball cards.
Ziggy checked his list and pulled the next card from the stack - a 1997 Stadium Club Neifi Perez. Ah, Colorado! Maybe he'll take some extra time and do some skiing as well. Historic files suggested the Rocky Mountains were quite spectacular before global warming melted all that snow.
A few punched in coordinates, a slight adjustment to his A.I.M. device, and Ziggy Anderson disappeared once more into the past. Another autograph will soon be his.
 |
| 1993 Upper Deck #204 Mike Perez |
*********************
I hope you enjoyed my story! It's another entry for a contest hosted by Daniel at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. Interested in winning some awesome cards? Check out his post here!
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Repack Haiku #109 (Danny Tartabull)
Another Royal,
Another acting credit
Appeared on "Seinfeld" twice
 |
| 1990 Bowman #375 Danny Tartabull |
Just like his former teammate Bret Saberhagen, he's got his own IMDB listing!
Monday, July 1, 2019
6 Degrees Of Mookie - The Charles Hudson Connection
It's time once again for "6 Degrees Of Mookie" - the fabulous game show
blog post where I take a random card in my collection and attempt to
connect it to current Red Sox superstar Mookie Betts! Let's take a look
at today's contestant!
Hudson was a pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1983 to 1989. His career pretty much ended in August 1989 after he drove intoxicated into a telephone pole and had to have reconstructive knee surgery. The most interesting thing about this card is it shows him holding the ball in a split-finger fastball grip.
Hudson didn't play for the Yankees for very long, but long enough to play with the immortal Rickey Henderson.
Rickey's last stop was with the Dodgers in 2003. Even then I bet he could still out-run a fresh legged young David Ross.
Ross of course went on to being a key member of Boston's 2013 World Series title run. Mookie would make his debut the following year.
Random TCDB Card:
1989 Topps #236 Charles Hudson
Hudson was a pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1983 to 1989. His career pretty much ended in August 1989 after he drove intoxicated into a telephone pole and had to have reconstructive knee surgery. The most interesting thing about this card is it shows him holding the ball in a split-finger fastball grip.
| Teammates in the 1989 Topps set | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
Hudson didn't play for the Yankees for very long, but long enough to play with the immortal Rickey Henderson.
| Teammates in the 2003 Upper Deck set | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
Rickey's last stop was with the Dodgers in 2003. Even then I bet he could still out-run a fresh legged young David Ross.
| Teammates in the 2014 Topps Update set | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
Ross of course went on to being a key member of Boston's 2013 World Series title run. Mookie would make his debut the following year.
Degrees of Mookie: 3
Friday, June 28, 2019
Payday Pack - Murderous Glare
Remember the Fairfield repack box I recently wrote about? It also came with a pack of 2015 Topps, one of the better set designs Topps has had in recent years. Just to break things up a bit, I'm going to use it for this week's Payday Pack. Here are the Top 3 pulls:
I know psyching out the opposition is a part of the game, but Weaver looks like he's ready to straight up kill someone. I would not want to be in the batter's box with him on the mound!
This is a great card featuring a Hall of Famer. I like the black and white contrast between the two uniforms.
Superman himself couldn't strike a better pose as he flies through the air. JBJ is a marvel in center field!
Other Contestants Not Appearing On Stage:
#149 Daniel Murphy
#82 Nick Tepesch
#201 Tommy LaStella
#43 Starlin Castro
#261 Lance Lynn
#186 Rex Brothers
#84 Jonathan Schoop
#230 Jean Segura
#161 Howie Kendrick
Chris at Nachos Grande has been doing a series called "(Even) Better Know A Blogger" where he asked some volunteer bloggers to respond to a questionnaire. Last night, I was the featured blogger, so if you haven't already, go check it out! It's been fun looking at the responses my fellow bloggers have given!
Also, if you'd like a shot at winning a Dave Winfield rookie card, head on over to Johnny's Trading Spot - He's got a very time consuming contest going on, and right now it's seems that I'm the only active participant! Guessing games are a lot more fun when more people are playing, so head on over and try your luck! I won't be mad if you win, I promise!
3rd Place
 |
| 2015 Topps #213 Jered Weaver |
I know psyching out the opposition is a part of the game, but Weaver looks like he's ready to straight up kill someone. I would not want to be in the batter's box with him on the mound!
2nd Place
This is a great card featuring a Hall of Famer. I like the black and white contrast between the two uniforms.
1st Place
Superman himself couldn't strike a better pose as he flies through the air. JBJ is a marvel in center field!
Other Contestants Not Appearing On Stage:
#149 Daniel Murphy
#82 Nick Tepesch
#201 Tommy LaStella
#43 Starlin Castro
#261 Lance Lynn
#186 Rex Brothers
#84 Jonathan Schoop
#230 Jean Segura
#161 Howie Kendrick
**********
Chris at Nachos Grande has been doing a series called "(Even) Better Know A Blogger" where he asked some volunteer bloggers to respond to a questionnaire. Last night, I was the featured blogger, so if you haven't already, go check it out! It's been fun looking at the responses my fellow bloggers have given!
Also, if you'd like a shot at winning a Dave Winfield rookie card, head on over to Johnny's Trading Spot - He's got a very time consuming contest going on, and right now it's seems that I'm the only active participant! Guessing games are a lot more fun when more people are playing, so head on over and try your luck! I won't be mad if you win, I promise!
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Repack Haiku #108 (Mark Melancon)
Became an All-Star
After bad stint with Red Sox
Flipped for "Brock Star" Holt
 |
| 2014 Topps #188 Mark Melancon |
There are few things worse for a fan than having a guy play horribly for your team, get traded, and then find immediate success with his new team. At least the Red Sox got a fan favorite and future All-Star out of this one.
Monday, June 24, 2019
The Worst Card Ever Made (A Contest Entry)
This past year, baseball card collectors witnessed firsthand the worst card ever produced. It's not the worst because of the card itself, really. The design is simple and not overdone. The photograph, while lacking action, does show a clear close up. It's not some lowly journeyman reliever who will be forgotten over time. In fact, it depicts a young MLB superstar during the potentially greatest moment of his young career.
An argument could be made that this card is bad because it was only available online, and for a price much higher than a modern baseball card really should go for.
But it is a memorabilia card! That would help justify the cost some, right? There's just something special about owning a swatch of jersey or a splinter of bat from your favorite player. This however...
That's right folks, I'm talking about Topps' ultimate money grab, the famous tablecloth relic from Manny Machado's press conference. For those of us who appreciate the business side of baseball more than the game itself, is a card highlighting Manny's required presser after he signed with San Diego for the meager sum of half of San Diego.
Topps, ever the innovator, felt that fans should have a sense that they were there among the journalists and suits. They've already done the club uniform routine before, so what else could they use? In a true eureka moment, some Topps peon hung around until after everyone left and grabbed the tablecloth. That tablecloth ($15.29 at Wal-Mart) would bring in hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars! Genius!
The worst thing? People bought it. Topps made their money, and then some. Good grief, someone actually paid $800 for the SN1 parallel! $800! Why would someone spend that much on a tablecloth relic when they could get 160,000 cards from the glorious 1988 Donruss set for the same price?
Now Topps knows the truth - no relic is too ridiculous! Ladies and Gentlemen, we've opened up a Pandora's box for Topps. I can just see it now....Topps, like a carnival barker with megaphone in hand, announcing the future of baseball cards:
New from Topps: "Relics From History!" - An exclusive online only set of cards featuring one-of-a-kind relics from baseball's brightest stars!
This post is the first of hopefully many entries for a contest hosted by Daniel at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. Interested in winning some awesome cards? Check out his post here!
An argument could be made that this card is bad because it was only available online, and for a price much higher than a modern baseball card really should go for.
But it is a memorabilia card! That would help justify the cost some, right? There's just something special about owning a swatch of jersey or a splinter of bat from your favorite player. This however...
 |
| 2019 Topps Now - Sping Training #ST-1F Manny Machado (MEM, SN1) |
That's right folks, I'm talking about Topps' ultimate money grab, the famous tablecloth relic from Manny Machado's press conference. For those of us who appreciate the business side of baseball more than the game itself, is a card highlighting Manny's required presser after he signed with San Diego for the meager sum of half of San Diego.
Topps, ever the innovator, felt that fans should have a sense that they were there among the journalists and suits. They've already done the club uniform routine before, so what else could they use? In a true eureka moment, some Topps peon hung around until after everyone left and grabbed the tablecloth. That tablecloth ($15.29 at Wal-Mart) would bring in hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars! Genius!
The worst thing? People bought it. Topps made their money, and then some. Good grief, someone actually paid $800 for the SN1 parallel! $800! Why would someone spend that much on a tablecloth relic when they could get 160,000 cards from the glorious 1988 Donruss set for the same price?
Now Topps knows the truth - no relic is too ridiculous! Ladies and Gentlemen, we've opened up a Pandora's box for Topps. I can just see it now....Topps, like a carnival barker with megaphone in hand, announcing the future of baseball cards:
New from Topps: "Relics From History!" - An exclusive online only set of cards featuring one-of-a-kind relics from baseball's brightest stars!
- Who wants a napkin relic from Ronald Acuna Jr? We're pretty sure he ate at the same Subway store we got it from!
- Justin Verlander's 3-year-old nephew drew a picture of a cow - we ripped that bad boy up and made it into a card. Get them while they last!
- Do you want a popcorn bag from the movie theater where where Aaron Judge sat and watched "Fifty Shades Of Grey?" It's yours!
- Mike Trout rode to the stadium in an Uber car and we cut up the seatbelt! Hurry supplies are limited!
- How about a pillowcase from a hotel Mookie Betts once slept in? We can't be sure if he used it, but who cares?
- They said we couldn't do it, but we did! For the next 24 hours, we proudly offer this one of a kind relic of a Post-It note Bryce Harper used to write down his next hair appointment! Only $799.99!
*********************
This post is the first of hopefully many entries for a contest hosted by Daniel at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. Interested in winning some awesome cards? Check out his post here!
Friday, June 21, 2019
Confessions Of A Master Pickpocket
Back in my high school/college days, I would often gather with some friends and play Dungeons and Dragons. I usually ended up playing some sort of spell caster, but every now and then I'd develop a thief to play. I remember one campaign where our adventuring party was low on funds, so we decided to stage a performance at a local town. While my friends were wowing crowds with their feats of skill, I walked among the onlookers and picked the gold from their pockets. I had amazing luck - high monetary gains without even coming close to getting caught. I ended up with about 3 times as much gold as we were hoping for. I then proceeded to tell my friends that I scored half that amount, and secretly pocketed the rest for myself. The DM admired my moxie and rewarded me greatly. As far as role playing games were concerned, it was one of the few memorable things I did.
I never tested my pick-pocketing skills again - until now. The amazing Julie of A Cracked Bat, practically dares her regular blog readers to pick her pocket! The potential score was too much to resist, and once again luck was on my side. Check out the rewards of my thievery:
So many awesome Red Sox cards! Plus, since I was not in an adventuring party, I get to keep them all! I think the Dom DiMaggio reprint is my favorite, although the Luis Aparicio is sweet too.
Thanks again, Julie - may all your dice rolls be 20!
I never tested my pick-pocketing skills again - until now. The amazing Julie of A Cracked Bat, practically dares her regular blog readers to pick her pocket! The potential score was too much to resist, and once again luck was on my side. Check out the rewards of my thievery:
So many awesome Red Sox cards! Plus, since I was not in an adventuring party, I get to keep them all! I think the Dom DiMaggio reprint is my favorite, although the Luis Aparicio is sweet too.
Thanks again, Julie - may all your dice rolls be 20!
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Repack Haiku #107 (Andy Allanson)
Google can be weird
Went looking for some fun facts
Found a shirt instead
 |
| 1990 Score #452 Andy Allanson |
There's has to be a story here, but this shirt is just awesome:
Monday, June 17, 2019
Is Fairfield Running Out Of Junk Wax?
I was coming towards the end of another repack for my weekly haiku series, so it was time to buy another pack. My go-to place has been the Dollar Tree, which usually has 30-card packs repacks available for a buck. I haven't seen these cards there in awhile. I hope they haven't stopped selling them. I was left with no other option but to but one of Fairfield's 100-count (plus a pack!) boxes for a reasonable $5. That should have provided me with enough 80's and 90's goodness to continue my series for a long time. Upon opening the box, I was met with something quite unexpected! There was very little junk wax to be found!
No classic wood-grain borders! No red with paint splatters! No gray with white pinstripes! Where are all the junk wax?
In fact, out of the 100 loose cards in the box (104 actually - bonus!) only 28 were produced before 2011. A whopping 73% of my repack was cards from the past decade:
2018: 4 cards
2017: 1 card
2016: 28 cards
2015: 8 cards
2014: 2 cards
2013: 25 cards
2012: 6 cards
2011: 2 cards
About half of the box was from Topps' 2016 and 2013 base sets! How weird is that? Not that I'm complaining - I didn't get back into collecting until a couple of years ago, so most of these modern cards will be new to my collection. Still, I was expecting the standard fare of late eighties/early nineties overindulgence.
To top it off, a lot of these newer cards were from parallel sets. Among the goodies I got were:
- A couple of framed parallels from Gypsy Queen
The blue Red Sox card was actually the front card showing on the package. No wonder why I picked this particular box, huh?
- A 2017 Leaf card of potential 2019 MVP Cody Bellinger
I didn't even know Leaf was still around!
- A bunch of 2016 All-Star Game stamped parallel Topps cards!
These were exclusive to a boxed set, weren't they?
That's pretty good for a repack I must say! I'm impressed. I'm tempted to go back to see if another box has similar cards.
I'll probably take one or two from each year of the modern stuff to go with the junk wax cards. That'll give me plenty of haiku material to work with!
Has anyone else noticed a decrease in "junk wax" era cards with their repacks?
Friday, June 14, 2019
First Impressions: 2019 Topps Big League
It took a month after the set's release, but I finally have my hands on a blaster of this year's Big League set. With this, my First Impressions series has come full circle - the 2018 Topps Big League set was the first one I did! Topps has changed the set a lot since its initial offering - gone are the legends of years past, Players Weekend variations, and the Ballpark Landmarks subset. New are subsets featuring Award Winners and Highlight from the previous year. Although I have no problem with these subsets, I wish they would have found another fun subset to appeal to kids. (That is who this set is still targeted for, right Topps?) Anyway, on to the cards, and my initial thoughts on them.
#B3 Mike Trout (Blaster Box cut-out)
I guess, by virtue of being on the box, this has the honor of being the first card. Although the border is a different shade from the base set, I can still talk about the set design here. Overall, I like the concept of the design - the pictures scattered on a table/desk motif. I've always loved the wood grain look on baseball cards, and here it is used subtly and is very well-done. The team flags are fantastic, too. My main quibbles are with the name banner and the execution of the scattered photos. I don't mind that Topps used a tilted frame to showcase the photos, but the fact that the photos themselves aren't tilted along with the frame annoys my undiagnosed OCD tendencies. The name plate is also skewered at a different angle than the frame, which makes it look even more off.
#311 Aledmys Diaz
#375 Christian Yelich (AW)
Now this is an amazing card! A beautiful shot of Yelich receiving his Hank Aaron award from none other than the legend himself! I would love to see more cards of current players interacting with players of the past. The J.D. Martinez counterpart is officially a wanted card now...
#245 Taylor Ward
#117 Scott Kingery
#SCR-LG Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Star Caricature insert)
#233 Evan Longoria (Gold parallel)
#209 Ian Desmond
#119 Mallex Smith
#347 AL Runs Scored Leaders (Betts/Lindor/Martinez) (SK)
The hot streak continues! This is the 3rd straight set I've done a First Impressions on that has given me a Mookie Betts card. I guess winning an MVP for the World Champs makes a player stand out!
#61 Kyle Seager
#36 Marcus Semien
#164 Luis Severino
#45 Xander Bogaerts
#365 AL Wins Leaders (Snell/Kluber/Severino) (SK)
#WC-6 Billy Hamilton (Wall Climbers insert)
Here's one of the inserts from the set, Wall Climbers. I think they could have done better with this card. Besides the poor angle that makes it look like he's laying on a tarp, Topps makes the unfortunate decision to celebrate a play that Hamilton made last year as a Cincinati Red and then change his uniform to his current team. It's one thing to Photoshop a new uni on a generic base card, but when you're specifically highlighting a particular game/play/achievement, then stick with historical accuracy.
#216 Pablo Sandoval (Gold parallel)
#56 Mark Trumbo
#202 Paul DeJong
#101 Travis Jankowski
#156 Daniel Palka
#159 Justin Verlander
Here's what the back of the cards look like. It's pretty much the same as last year, although the white makes the extra unused space stick out more. The Did You Know? section returns again, to my personal delight. Verlander gets my vote for best trivia fact of the blaster.
#139 Welington Castillo
#373 AL WHIP Leaders (Verlander/Snell/Kluber) (SK)
#38 Kyle Gibson
#PW-18 Starling Marte (Nicknames insert)
Big Leagues does the Players Weekend nickname cards again, only this year they are a separate insert set. The great thing about this particular set is the back actually explains the meaning behind nickname! I now know why Marte had "Tato" on his back - that's important information people!
#67 Touki Toussaint (Gold parallel)
#294 Kyle Tucker
#108 Corey Kluber
#302 Kyle Freeland
#15 Ryon Healy
#100 Jose Altuve
#273 Eddie Rosario
#167 Adam Duvall
#144 Jose Peraza
#BO-14 Joey Gallo (Blast Off! insert)
#352 NL RBI Leaders (Baez/Arenado/Yelich) (SK) (Gold parallel)
#183 Victor Robles
Big Leagues has some great action shots, including this one. Victor looks like he's showing us his "jazz hands!"
#40 Blake Snell
#111 Joey Lucchesi
#299 Roberto Osuna
#385 Christian Yelich (AW)
#28 Marcus Stroman
#133 J.D. Martinez
#360 NL Slugging Leaders (Yelich/Story/Arenado) (SK)
#SCR-CD Chris Davis (Star Caricature)
#249 Franklin Barreto (Gold parallel)
Take the Field contest card
#262 Eugenio Suarez
Kurt Bevacqua would be proud!
#90 Brandon Belt
#231 Scooter Gennett
#37 Derek Dietrich
#154 Jose Berrios (Blue parallel)
#308 Tucker Barnhart (Blue parallel)
#283 Shane Bieber (Blue parallel)
Each blaster box comes with a pack of 5 blue bordered parallels. Each pack seems to contain a gold/yellow parallel also. As with color parallels, they seem to look better depending on the team represented.
#350 NL Doubles Leaders (Freeman/Rendon/Markakis) (SK) (Blue parallel)
All in all, not a bad follow up to the premiere release. There's no sophomore slump here!
#B3 Mike Trout (Blaster Box cut-out)
I guess, by virtue of being on the box, this has the honor of being the first card. Although the border is a different shade from the base set, I can still talk about the set design here. Overall, I like the concept of the design - the pictures scattered on a table/desk motif. I've always loved the wood grain look on baseball cards, and here it is used subtly and is very well-done. The team flags are fantastic, too. My main quibbles are with the name banner and the execution of the scattered photos. I don't mind that Topps used a tilted frame to showcase the photos, but the fact that the photos themselves aren't tilted along with the frame annoys my undiagnosed OCD tendencies. The name plate is also skewered at a different angle than the frame, which makes it look even more off.
#311 Aledmys Diaz
#375 Christian Yelich (AW)
Now this is an amazing card! A beautiful shot of Yelich receiving his Hank Aaron award from none other than the legend himself! I would love to see more cards of current players interacting with players of the past. The J.D. Martinez counterpart is officially a wanted card now...
#245 Taylor Ward
#117 Scott Kingery
#SCR-LG Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Star Caricature insert)
#233 Evan Longoria (Gold parallel)
#209 Ian Desmond
#119 Mallex Smith
#347 AL Runs Scored Leaders (Betts/Lindor/Martinez) (SK)
The hot streak continues! This is the 3rd straight set I've done a First Impressions on that has given me a Mookie Betts card. I guess winning an MVP for the World Champs makes a player stand out!
#61 Kyle Seager
#36 Marcus Semien
#164 Luis Severino
#45 Xander Bogaerts
#365 AL Wins Leaders (Snell/Kluber/Severino) (SK)
#WC-6 Billy Hamilton (Wall Climbers insert)
Here's one of the inserts from the set, Wall Climbers. I think they could have done better with this card. Besides the poor angle that makes it look like he's laying on a tarp, Topps makes the unfortunate decision to celebrate a play that Hamilton made last year as a Cincinati Red and then change his uniform to his current team. It's one thing to Photoshop a new uni on a generic base card, but when you're specifically highlighting a particular game/play/achievement, then stick with historical accuracy.
#216 Pablo Sandoval (Gold parallel)
#56 Mark Trumbo
#202 Paul DeJong
#101 Travis Jankowski
#156 Daniel Palka
#159 Justin Verlander
Here's what the back of the cards look like. It's pretty much the same as last year, although the white makes the extra unused space stick out more. The Did You Know? section returns again, to my personal delight. Verlander gets my vote for best trivia fact of the blaster.
#139 Welington Castillo
#373 AL WHIP Leaders (Verlander/Snell/Kluber) (SK)
#38 Kyle Gibson
#PW-18 Starling Marte (Nicknames insert)
Big Leagues does the Players Weekend nickname cards again, only this year they are a separate insert set. The great thing about this particular set is the back actually explains the meaning behind nickname! I now know why Marte had "Tato" on his back - that's important information people!
#67 Touki Toussaint (Gold parallel)
#294 Kyle Tucker
#108 Corey Kluber
#302 Kyle Freeland
#15 Ryon Healy
#100 Jose Altuve
#273 Eddie Rosario
#167 Adam Duvall
#144 Jose Peraza
#BO-14 Joey Gallo (Blast Off! insert)
#352 NL RBI Leaders (Baez/Arenado/Yelich) (SK) (Gold parallel)
#183 Victor Robles
Big Leagues has some great action shots, including this one. Victor looks like he's showing us his "jazz hands!"
#40 Blake Snell
#111 Joey Lucchesi
#299 Roberto Osuna
#385 Christian Yelich (AW)
#28 Marcus Stroman
#133 J.D. Martinez
#360 NL Slugging Leaders (Yelich/Story/Arenado) (SK)
#SCR-CD Chris Davis (Star Caricature)
#249 Franklin Barreto (Gold parallel)
Take the Field contest card
#262 Eugenio Suarez
Kurt Bevacqua would be proud!
#90 Brandon Belt
#231 Scooter Gennett
#37 Derek Dietrich
#154 Jose Berrios (Blue parallel)
#308 Tucker Barnhart (Blue parallel)
#283 Shane Bieber (Blue parallel)
Each blaster box comes with a pack of 5 blue bordered parallels. Each pack seems to contain a gold/yellow parallel also. As with color parallels, they seem to look better depending on the team represented.
#350 NL Doubles Leaders (Freeman/Rendon/Markakis) (SK) (Blue parallel)
All in all, not a bad follow up to the premiere release. There's no sophomore slump here!
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Repack Haiku #106 (Chris Capuano)
All-Star with Brewers
Won silver with U.S.A.
In Baseball World Cup
 |
| 2013 Topps #191 Chris Capuano |
Monday, June 10, 2019
Time Travel Trading Update #31
One trade to show off this time around, courtesy of a TCDB member named Mike. Mike offered up some more 1974 Topps cards in exchange for some newer greats, including a couple of Hall of Famers. That's right, folks - only here would you see someone willing give up a Carl Yastrzemski (not going to lie, that hurt a little...) for Pat Bourque, or Rickey Henderson for Mike Lum! My goal is to get the older card, not necessarily the better card! Heck, I already had a Jack Billingham and it was worth Albert Pujols to me!
Here's the latest cards available:
Keep the trades coming! Turnover is a good thing! Comment below or send me a trade through the Trading Card Database (User Name: Kep75)!
The Time Travel Trade Stack:
2018 Topps
#502 Xander Bogaerts
2017 Bowman
#12 Trea Turner
2008-09 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#128 Tim Thomas
1998 Score
#60 Carlos Delgado
#68 Scott Rolen
#74 Mark McLemore
1993 Classic Draft Picks (basketball)
#33 Will Flemons
#67 Bennie Seltzer
1992 Fleer Ultra
#594 Dave Righetti
1991 Upper Deck
#778 Dave Righetti
1990-91 Hoops (basketball)
#168 Glen Rice (RC)
1990 Upper Deck
#626 Frank Viola
1990 Pro Set - Theme Art (football)
#10 Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers / Dallas Cowboys
1989 Fleer
#29 Bob Welch
1989 Score
#495 Larry Parrish
1986 Sportflics
#122 John Tudor
1986 Topps
#5 Rose Special '75-'78
#6 Rose Special '79-'82
#401 Fernando Valenzuela (Turn Back The Clock)
1985 Topps
#694 Joe Carter
1982 Donruss
#NNO Checklist 545-653
1982 O-Pee-Chee E.T. The Extraterrestrial (non-sport)
#15 Among Elliott's Toys
1981 Topps
#100 Rod Carew (AS)
#210 Jim Palmer
1980 Topps
#2 Willie McCovey (HL)
#143 Bruce Bochte
#157 Willie Wilson
#290 Steve Garvey (AS)
#605 Terry Forster
#671 A's Future Stars
1979 Topps
#25 Steve Carlton
#130 Bob Watson
#214 Boston Red Sox (TC)
#465 Reggie Smith
#680 Carlton Fisk (AS)
1978 Donruss KISS (2nd Series) (non-sport)
#99 Paul Stanley
1978 Topps
#63 Don Zimmer (MGR)
#131 Bert Blyleven
#295 Bill Lee
#373 Jim Willoughby
#424 Boston Red Sox (TC)
#482 Rick Miller
#706 Rookie 1st Baseman (Cage/Cox/Putnam/Revering)
1977 Topps
#524 Rowland Office
1976 Topps
#50 Fred Lynn (ASR)
#70 Roy Smalley/Roy Smalley Jr. (FS)
#78 Cecil Cooper
#118 Boston Red Sox (TC)
#193 '75 NL Home Run Leaders
#597 Rookie Pitchers (Aase/Kucek/LaCorte/Pazik)
1975 Topps
#220 Don Sutton
#310 '74 Victory Leaders
#378 Derrel Thomas
#402 Bob Tolan
1974 Topps
#38 Don Kessinger
#67 Tommy Helms
#141 Pat Bourque
#158 Jack Billingham
#158 Jack Billingham
#227 Mike Lum
#349 John Vukovich
#372 Ken Reitz
1974 Topps - Team Checklists
#NNO Montreal Expos
1973-74 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#53 Richard Lemieux
1973 Topps
#18 Leroy Stanton
#29 Tony Taylor
#30 Tug McGraw
#36 Steve Barber
#68 1972 Leading Firemen (Carroll/Lyle)
#75 Vada Pinson
#79 Jim Willoughby (RC)
#80 Tony Oliva
#85 Ted Simmons
#98 Dick Woodson
#99 Carl Taylor
#116 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#145 Bobby Bonds
#225 Albert Oliver
#230 Joe Morgan
#232 Ken Singleton
#240 Bobby Murcer
#258 Tommy John
#325 Boog Powell
#329 Ed Kranepool
#365 Rico Petrocelli
#368 Bill Buckner
1972-73 Topps (hockey)
#8 Stanley Cup Trophy
1972 Kellogg's All Time Greats
#1 Walter Johnson
1972 Topps
#43 Rick Wise
#109 Jerry May
#437 Maury Wills
#438 Maury Wills (IA)
#450 Mickey Lolich
1971 Topps
#16 Ken Singleton (RC)
#63 AL 1970 RBI Leaders (Howard/Conigliaro/Powell)
#71 AL 1970 Strikeout Leaders (McDowell/Lolich/Johnson)
#90 Joe Pepitone
#95 Luis Tiant
#105 Tony Conigliaro
#146 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#183 Gil Hodges (MGR)
#195 AL Playoffs Game 1 - Powell Muscles Twins!
#208 Billy Martin (MGR)
#270 Rico Carty
#290 Tony Oliva
#374 Clete Boyer
#374 Clete Boyer
#385 Maury Wills
#388 Al Oliver
1971 Topps (football)
#22 Ken Avery (RC)
#110 Floyd Little (AS)
1970-71 Topps (basketball)
#16 Bob Weiss
1970 Fleer World Series
#1 1903 World Series Pirates vs Red Sox
1970 Red Rose and Blue Ribbon North American Wildlife In Danger (non-sport)
#32 Polar Bear
1970 Topps
#47 Bob Miller
#56 Phillies Rookies - Joe Lis/Scott Reid (RC)
#103 Frank Reberger
1970 Topps (football)
#135 Paul Warfield
1969 Topps
#66 Orioles Rookies
#139 Andy Kosco
1969 Topps - Deckle Edge
#13 Mel Stottlemyre
1969 Topps (football)
#73 Bennie McRae
#115 Randy Johnson
#154 Sam Baker
#175 Joe Morrison
1968 Topps
#4 1967 AL RBI Leaders (Yastrzemski/Killebrew/Robinson)
#309 Ken Henderson
#348 Larry Colton/Dick Thoenen
#449 Gene Oliver
1968 Topps - Game
#15 Steve Hargan
1968 Topps (football)
#7 Earl Gros
1967 Philadelphia (football)
#109 New York Giants (TC)
1966 Topps
#154 Chuck Hiller
1966 Philadelphia (football)
#104 Rams vs. Browns
1965 Topps
#27 Dick Bertell
#86 Les Narum
#87 Nelson Mathews
#108 Don Mincher
#111 Lee Thomas
#178 Dalton Jones
#239 Doc Edwards
#307 Barry Latman
1965 Philadelphia (football)
#193 John Paluck
1964 Philadelphia (football)
#172 Ken Gray (RC)
1964 Topps - Coins
#7 Frank Malzone
1963 Topps
#155 Bill Stafford
1961-62 Fleer (basketball)
#32 Willie Naulls
1961 Topps
#32 Ray Sadecki
#38 Bob Lillis
#96 Billy O'Dell
#165 Gino Cimoli
#258 Jack Sanford
#267 Norm Siebern
#273b 4th Series Checklist
#399 Cliff Cook (RC)
1960 Topps
#289 Willie Jones
#548 Don Mincher (RC)
1959 Topps
#298 Tex Clevenger
#424 Ken Aspromonte
1959 Topps (football)
#80 Joe Perry
1958 Topps Zorro (non-sport)
#83 Rude Awakening
1957 Topps
#66 Brooks Lawrence
#235 Tom Poholsky
#249 Dave Pope
#371 Bob Lennon
#406 Bob Hale
1956 Topps
#21 Joe Collins
#103 Willie Miranda (white back)
#156 Johnny Antonelli
1956 Topps Flags of the World (non-sport)
#70 Jordan
1955 Topps
#126 Dick Hall (RC)
1954 Bowman
#73 Don Mueller
1952 Bowman
#57 Clyde Vollmer
1938 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Tenth Series (J9-6) (non-sport)
#2 Black-throated Green Warbler
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: 35
Unique trading partners: 25
Number of cards mailed out: 105
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1956
Number of cards received: 263
Year of oldest card received: 1938
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)