Don't Try This at Home

There can come a time in collecting when you begin to desire to change the most singular daily visual talisman of the whole collection: the Baseball Card in the display pouch on the spine of a card binder. Like this one -

I originally placed this reprint of Topps Update #US175 Mike Trout RC, from the 2016 Topps Celebrating 65 Years insert release (what would Topps do if it couldn't celebrate itself all the time?), as a "binder card" expecting to use that binder to hold my RC logo / First Topps Card collection that commences in 2011. Seemed apropos to use the biggest (read: most crazy valuable) RC logo of 2011, and for a long time, of all of the 2010s. 

Ultimately I went with a more whimsical choice, the classic 2014 Update Jon Singleton Photo Variation SP RC that I have babbled about on here multiple times. And thus the Trout RC is a bit superfluous, and no longer representational of what is in that binder. Plus I am tired of seeing the blank spot in the 2011 RC pages, and I am surely not going to place what is still a > $500 card in an ordinary binder page, so I need a reprint there. I would kind of prefer a white border version and will probably upgrade to one before too long, as they will now likely continue to fall in price from some discouraging (for a simple, mass-produced reprint) price points.

That binder that Trout anchored for me now contains running collections of things like the Checklist/Highlight cards from the Topps Baseball set, a Topps All-Star Rookies collection, some Leader cards, Memorial Patch cards, and single team pages for things like all their special caps, or all kinds of different little things that catch my eye. In short, cards from all of Major League Baseball, and multiple years of Topps Baseball cards, and at points even cards from other Topps sets.

Recently I came across an interesting Baseball Card in the 100% most complete sense possible of those two words, as the card features just a single object:

That's from a 2015 Opening Day insert set where fans submitted photos from stadiums all around MLB to Topps, as explained on the back of the card. The card sells about 3 copies every 2 years on COMC these days, netting the owner a quarter, or maybe 2.

But I like this card too much to ever sell it regardless of the value. One question became, while I happened to be sitting in front of the shelf holding my card binders, of where/how should I keep/display this ultimate Baseball Card. And then my ennui over continuing to gaze upon US175 every day answered the question — right on the spine of the binder of cards from all across the sport would be the just exactly perfect place.

And that's where the struggle began. Have you ever tried to remove a card from a binder display pocket? Holy Smokes.

Describing it as "not easy" is an understatement. I had to turn to professional help: actual metal tools -

Strike 1

That's a regular pair of needlenose pliers. Tips too fat. Plan B:

Strike 2

That is a specialty tool imported all the way from Pakistan, custom designed for just a single task: pulling "pin" bones from a fish fillet. I sadly declined on purchasing the much superior design from Japan, with a custom curved grip, a much more precision tip, and a far more stylish permanently unblemishable stainless steel composure, as the Japanese just don't allow blemishes, on anything really. Especially not Baseball Cards. It would have cost a cool $50 though.

But, it didn't work. Also too fat. Plan C-

Success

That "pair" (don't ask me why a pliers tool is always called a "pair," because I have no idea) of .... pin bone grippers has unfortunately already been used once, on an actual fish. Fortunately, it was a large Rainbow Trout so I guess it's still OK to use on a Mike Trout card. It was originally sold as a pair (correct) of these uniquely awesome tools for twenty bucks I think; I was happy to discover them as I couldn't possibly have McGuyver'd them anywhere else. I think.

Ultimately I think a pair of "hemos," short for "hemostats," would have worked much better. They are much smaller/thinner than the Pin Bone Pullers; I own several "pairs" of them as I have to try to remember to take them with me when fishing, which only happens on about 50% of fishing trips. But all of those proved to be way outside in my truck, and it's pretty gnarly outside, and, I'm lazy.

The surgery went poorly. It was like being a Taxi Cab driver suddenly forced to perform open heart surgery for the first time ever via instructions from the midnight shift at the hospital over the two-way radio, so the patient could get home on time for Christmas and the movie could end on a positive note. Yes, I was nervous. The results, were ugly.

Horrors.

My 2016 Topps Celebrating 65 Years 2011 Mike Trout RC insert is now permanently mangled and no one will want to buy it from me, ever again. Unless maybe if I slip a five spot into the penny sleeve with it and ask COMC to put it in the [EX to NM] "bucket" for me and then I'm sure I could easily get twenty bucks for it from some dummy, the way the pros sell Baseball Cards.

But that's, OK. That Mike Trout card is in a better place now.

 

Once US175's white bordered, $1- replacement arrives though, I'm not sure what I will do with the weirdly more valuable grey bordered 65th Anniversary version (collectors just can't resist pointless stamps on the front of cards, I guess), and that always bugs me. But that's a problem for another year, or, maybe, decade.

Recently I purchased a brand new Baseball Card binder, one that is officially for Baseball Cards and Baseball Cards only, unlike those old-school Collector's Album binders that let in those inferior sports. It boasted that it comes supplied with an "I.D. Label" for your convenience, which looks like this:

Jane, meet Plain.

I gare-and-tee that cards stored in a binder with this I.D. Label for a "binder card" will start out on the backfoot — more boring looking than cards with an authentic, carefully chosen, exciting Baseball Card proudly displayed on the outside.

The important thing now is that my all-crosst-MLB card binder looks much better. 

So all's well that ends well. The moral of the story is: select your "binder card" with great care, because if you change your mind, there might be four letter words involved, a lot of rummaging around in the toolbox, and things can go sideways in a hurry.

This has been a public service announcement.

There is now just one small problem, however. Appearing soon on my always-bottomless-never-ever-completed Baseball Card To Do list is a deconstruction / binder removal of the 2012 Topps Update set, represented there by Mike Trout's very first All-Star Game card. That one is now worth about $5 after I failed to extract it on time for a market peak of about twenty bucks, several years ago now. I'm already not looking forward to the surgery. Sigh.

And, another small problem. 2014 Topps is also on the no-binder-for-you list of designees handed down by the Commissioner. It seems the binder collection is being forced to become a little smaller; ironically to support collection expansion. As it just keeps Blizzarding outside, I just keep bindering up Baseball Cards I purchased > 10 years ago now. And all those binder pages need an appropriate lodgement on my bookshelf. Too many white border sets just won't get flipped through very often, compared to some more fun/colorful options.

But that means the glorious Coco Crisp 2014 Topps Baseball Card wouldn't grace my bookshelf any more? Say it ain't so, Joe, whoever he is. Don't worry - that will just become my Player Collection binder. Which means I should get going now, as I have to get to work on a Coco Crisp Player Collection to bat lead-off, among 19,723 other Baseball Card collecting tasks. 

A soothing, relaxing Hobby they tell me. That new binder I mentioned is creating a problem that is not small, at all. It, too, needs a just exactly perfect Baseball Card to beckon me to enjoy the contents held inside, every single day. The problem? That is my long-awaited (Baseball Card binders were always sold out, down at the LCS; theirs only ever said "Basketball" on them) ....... All Horizontal Binder. So I have to pick a Horizontal Baseball Card, of course. And then probably obtain an extra copy of it, because it will be the coolest Horizontal Baseball Card of them ALL.

But then, as if that decision wasn't monumental enough (1956 Jackie Robinson reprint is in the mental lead, right now) I have to place it on a binder spine that is designed to be .... vertical. I think, too much.